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Arnold J. “Toynbee says in his Civilization on Trial (p. 94): ‘In studying history as a whole [we] should… relegate economic and political history to a subordinate place and give religious history the primacy’.”  “George Bancroft… wrote: ‘Each page of history may begin and end with:  Great is God, and marvelous are His doings among the children of men…. [But] it is when the hour of the conflict is over that history comes to a right understanding of the strife and is ready to exclaim: “Lo, God is here, and we knew Him not”’ [Genesis 28:16]” (Ewald M. Plass, What Luther Says [Saint Louis:  Concordia, 1959], pages 654, 651).

Notice in these quotes the deserved indictment of negligence:  That is, nations commonly have not noticed God’s workings in their histories.  Yet they could and should have known.  Indeed, the Lord expects us to know them. Yet we regularly have disregarded the knowledge of them which he has supplied beforehand.  Thus we could and should rightly be scolded for our negligence to sit up and pay attention to an event caused by the Lord.

This would apply to the Lord’s prophecies as well.  God prophesies not for his benefit.  The Lord would know what he will do.  The purpose of these prophecies will be to prepare men ahead of time for a future event which God would be bringing for their warning and comfort.

This book will concern itself with those divine prophecies which Christians today will neglect.

 

John the Baptist

 

For example, consider the biblical prophecy of John the Baptist!  Notice how it was commonly ignored!  In fact, it was only after he had died and finished his work that followers of God finally understood the prophecy (Matthew 17:10-13). The purpose for a prophecy of a godly man, such as John the Baptist, will be for God’s people, as well as for unbelievers, to sit up and to take notice of him, to repent of their sins, to believe the gospel, to do so ahead of time, to do so for their comfort and assurance, and to look forward to his godly preaching and activity.  After the prophesied man would appear, the purpose then will be for these same reasons, that is, that God’s people will be built up in the faith (edified) by his spiritual preaching, all the while being assured that he has been divinely sent.  He is to be listened to, and his message is to be obeyed because he has been sent by God as his special messenger on an important, divine mission to sinners.

In biblical texts that should sound familiar to you, since they will be read in church as the Gospel readings for the Third and the Fourth Sundays in Advent, namely, Matthew 11:2-10 and John 1:19-28, our Lord Jesus and John the evangelist taught that John the Baptist was that messenger, that “voice of one crying in the wilderness” who fulfilled those prophecies of Scripture given about him in the Old Testament (Malachi 3:1; 4:5; Isaiah 40:3-5) and in the New (Luke 1:13-17).  See also Matthew 11:14 and 17:10-13!

Therefore, realize that a biblical prophecy is also a biblical doctrine, or teaching:  the same thing as an article of faith!  For example, understand that the doctrines of the resurrection of the body, and of the life everlasting, which you confess each Sunday in the creeds, are, just the same, prophecies that not yet have occurred!

Hence the prophecies of the Old Testament taught about John the Baptist, that is, the Bible taught of him; he was a biblical teaching, a doctrine, not in the sense that the Bible taught that there was a king called “Herod”, but with this difference: it first prophesied of John, directing the people to watch for him.  Then God sent him.  In other words, prophecy and fulfilled prophecy are to serve saving faith among God’s household according to God’s saving purposes, while at the same time they will act as a public, divine judgment of condemnation on those who would resist this preaching of repentance and faith by a hardening of their hearts.

Nevertheless, while the scribes could inform Herod of the birthplace of the Messiah (Matthew 2:4-6) from their knowledge of this Old Testament prophecy, a religious delegation, however, had to be sent to John the Baptist in order to discover his biblical identity, if any, since from their knowledge of the Old Testament they did not know it, though they could and should have known it (John 1:19-27).  Thus those scribes who came across the prophecies of John the Baptist in their work of transcribing Isaiah 40:3-5, and of Malachi 3:1 and 4:5, did not recognize them as prophesies either because they were unsure of them, or else because they failed to notice the prophetic nature and meaning of these passages.

Even the disciples of our Lord did not identify John the Baptist from the Old Testament’s testimony of him (Matthew 17:10-13).  It is a question, therefore, just how many Jews ever did conclude scripturally and correctly that John the Baptist was prophesied by Isaiah and by Malachi.  Just the same, the Lord still prophesied of John the Baptist for the spiritual benefit of the people, though the common result would appear to be: “Who has believed our report?” (Isaiah 53:1) and “Hearing you will hear and will not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed” (Isaiah 6:9-10).

 

Another case, in which Scripture prophesied of a man, is the case of Martin Luther

 

Johann Bugenhagen’s declaration from the pulpit at Luther’s funeral, that the deceased was the prophesied angel of Revelation 14:6-7, had implications.  That is to say, by making such a profession, Bugenhagen knowingly and publicly taught it as a biblical doctrine, expecting his audience to acknowledge it as such and to believe it as an article of faith. In other words, the biblical and confessional practice of a genuinely Lutheran minister will be to teach and to preach only the Word of God from the pulpit, never his private opinions, but to declare to his congregation simply, “Thus says the Lord God” (Isaiah 7:7), and to insist that his hearers accept it as a teaching of God, that is, as a biblical doctrine, an article of faith which the hearers could and should believe.  “Angel” means “messenger.”  It could mean either a human one (Revelation 2:1) or a spirit (Revelation 8:5).

Later, this doctrine was contained in a Bugenhagen-influenced liturgy, for one area of Bugenhagen’s endeavors had been in the field of liturgics.  What is more, one of the countries where he labored for the Reformation, where his influence was felt mightily, was in his homeland of Pomerania.  Thus, twenty-two years after Luther’s death, in the year 1568 (Bugenhagen had died in 1558), the Pomeranians put out an Order of Worship which included a festival of thanksgiving for the Reformation to be held on 10 November, the date of Luther’s birth, because, as they explained, “on that day, God, in these last times, gave the church his servant, Dr. Martin Luther, the true angel who flew in the midst of heaven with the everlasting Gospel” (Henry Eyster Jacobs, “Reformation, Celebrations of,” The Lutheran Cyclopedia, editors Henry E. Jacobs and John Hass [New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1899], page 405A). The Epistle and Gospel lessons appointed were Revelation 14:6-7 and Luke 12:35-48.

Thus, as a consequence, not only Bugenhagen’s public teaching on Revelation 14:6-7, but also the Pomeranian Order of Worship’s use of Revelation 14:6-7 as an Epistle lesson for a Reformation festival in church has influenced to this day the American Lutheran synods in their selection of an Epistle reading for their respective hymnals.  For instance, the hymnal of 1941 for the Lutheran Synodical Conference gave Revelation 14:6-7 as its sole, Epistle reading for a Reformation service.  Today, the respective, synodical hymnals of the LCMS, of the WELS, and of the ELS still will give Revelation 14:6-7 as one of two or three choices for their congregations to use.  The ELCA hymnal offers only Romans 3:19-28.  These texts have been chosen not only for the congregation’s spiritual benefit of hearing a teaching from the Lord, but they are intended also to be sermon texts on which the minister could and should preach the Lord’s teaching for this occasion.

To my knowledge this declaration from the pulpit by Bugenhagen, repeated later by the Pomeranians in their published Order of Worship, never was challenged.  This is significant. After Luther’s death the Lutherans did not remain silent about new, subjective, false doctrines among themselves.  Indeed, public polemics frequently broke out between the conscientious, genuine Lutherans, on the one hand, and Philip Melanchthon, and other members of the Wittenberg faculty, of which Bugenhagen also was a professor, on the other.

To be sure, ever since Bugenhagen preached this teaching from the pulpit, Lutheran commentators have said that Revelation 14:6-7 refers to Luther.  For example, Abraham Calov (1612-1686) “took the first angel to be Luther, the second Chemnitz, and since he, Calov, took a leading part as a witness of the Gospel against the Pope, he was . . . the third” (George Stoeckhardt, Lectures on Revelation, translated by H. W. Degner [Lake Mills, Iowa:  Graphic Publishing Co., Inc., 1964], page 57).  Likewise, C. F. W. Walter, F. Kuegele, C. M. Zorn, W. H. T. Dau, and P. E. Kretzmann, whose published writings were read throughout the old Missouri Synod, confessed that Luther was taught by Revelation 14:6-7.

For instance, Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther taught from the pulpit in 1867 that Luther was the angel of Revelation 14:6-7 in a sermon that later was published in a book of sermons (C. F. W. Walther, Old Standard Gospels, translated from Walther’s Evangeliumpostille by Donald E. Heck [Fort Wayne:  Concordia Theological Seminary Press, 1984], page 382).  Likewise, Frederick Kuegele, in a preached and published sermon on Revelation 14:6-7, confessed that “this vision of John was fulfilled in Luther” (F. Kuegele, Country Sermons, Volume III [Crimora, Virginia:  Augusta Publishing Company, 1908], page 321).

C. M.  Zorn, in a published book, publicly taught that Revelation 14:6-7 “is the Reformation achieved through Martin Luther” (Carl Manthey-Zorn, Questions on Christian Topics, translated by J. A. Rimbach [Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1918], page 299).  Similarly, William Dallmann noted “How the prophecy concerning the Reformer, the Angel of the Everlasting Gospel, was fulfilled is well known to all Lutherans from the yearly Reformation Festival sermons” (William Dallmann, Why Do I Believe The Bible Is God’s Word? [Saint Louis:  Concordia, 1946], page 35).

Moreover, William Herman Theodore Dau, in his mimeographed text intended for the classroom of his English dogmatics class at the Saint Louis seminary (W. H. T. Dau, Doctrinal Theology Volume II [no place:  mimeographed, 191-], page 174) teaches that ”No single individual either before or after his time has so thoroughly understood and so completely unmasked the papacy as Luther, who, according to all the evidence in the case, was undoubtedly the chosen instrument of God for the spiritual overthrow of antichrist, and the angel whom John in the Apocalypse saw flying through the midst of heaven, with the everlasting gospel.”  (Yet compare Dau’s contemporaneous remark made in 1909 in an address in a worship service which was later published as a booklet and as an article, “Lutheranism in America:  Its Glory and its Mission,” in the Missouri Synod’s Theological Quarterly, Volume XIV, No. 2 [April, 1910] page 105,  in which he merely stated, “The angel whom John beheld flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, has been understood by the Lutheran Church as a type of Luther.”)

Furthermore, P. E. Kretzmann remarked in his widely-sold Commentary, “This passage has been understood by Lutheran commentators, and undoubtedly correctly, to apply to Dr. Martin Luther and the Reformation” (Paul Edward Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible, New Testament, Volume II [Saint Louis:  Concordia, 1922], page 631B).

Later Franz Pieper twice in the Missouri Synod’s theological journal taught that Luther was prophesied in Revelation 14:6-7, the second time quoting Walther with approval to this effect; in which citation it also was taught that Luther was prophesied additionally in 2nd Thessalonians 2.  (Luther declared that 2nd Thessalonians 2:3, 8 “reveal,” prophesied of him.)  Consult F. Pieper, “Eroeffnungsrede zum neuen Studienjahr 1930-1931,” Concordia Theological Monthly, Volume I, Number 11 (Saint Louis:  Concordia, 1930), page 801; and F. Pieper, “Das Fruchtbare Lesen der Schriften Luthers,” Concordia Theological Monthly, Volume I, Number 2 (Saint Louis:   Concordia, 1930), page 81!  For an English translation of these German citations see Matthew C. Harrison, At Home in the House of My Fathers (Saint Louis:  Concordia, 2011), pages 333f. and 687!

To my knowledge these declarations never were challenged publicly in print.

Thus as the American Lutherans in the old Missouri Synod in the 1800’s and the 1900’s preached and published that the Bible taught that the pope is the Antichrist, so they also preached and published that the Bible taught of Luther in Revelation 14:6-7.

Furthermore, as C. F. W. Walther, F. Kuegele, and others preached a sermon on Martin Luther and pointed to his divine prophecy; as P. E. Kretzmann commented that the passage in Revelation 14 applied to Martin Luther, so also to be consistent they could and should have preached a sermon on John the Baptist pointing to his divine prophecy, and remarked in a commentary that he fulfilled a divine prophecy – which they did.  For instance, see F. Kuegele, Country Sermons, Volume IV (Crimora, Virginia:  Augusta Publishing Company, 1908), pages 36 & 43!  Likewise, consult P. E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible, New Testament, Volume I (Saint Louis:  Concordia, 1921), pages 63A, 95A, and 409A & B!

Why then, has the person of the Antichrist been considered a doctrine to be taught in books on doctrine, to be taught in Lutheran seminary classrooms, and to be included in two Lutheran creeds:  the Smalcald Articles and the Brief Statement of 1932, while the persons of John the Baptist and Martin Luther have not been?

In other words, why, on the one hand,  has the doctrine that Luther is the angel of Revelation 14:6-7 been taught as a biblical doctrine either by published Lutheran commentaries on the book of Revelation, or by published Lutheran sermons on Revelation 14:6-7, yet, on the other hand, it never has been incorporated into any Lutheran book of doctrine down to this day, nor commonly taught in seminary classrooms, nor has it been made a  part of  any creed after Luther’s death, such as The Formula of Concord of 1580, or the Brief Statement of 1932?

In my readings I never have run across a discussion of this matter.  However, the answer to this question, obviously, could be only one of two things.  That is to say, either it would have been a negligent inconsistency on the part of the above-mentioned, Lutheran authors, or else they purposely made a distinction in this case, and subsequently, treated the two subjects differently.  They did the latter.  That is, they must have believed that there was a difference in the way the doctrine of the Antichrist should be treated, and the way the doctrines of John the Baptist and of Luther should be treated.

So what would be the answer to this question?

The answer would have to be this:  That the influence of the Antichrist is still present, alive, and active.  His diabolical mission still is ongoing, and is a dangerous, present threat to be reckoned with, not only due to the current successor in office, but to all those successors until Judgment Day.  This is why the Lutherans must have treated it the way they have.  They considered it to be an ongoing, active doctrine, not an inactive one, so to speak.

On the other hand, the missions of the persons John the Baptist and Martin Luther, which God had given them to do at a previous time in the past to a specific generation, have been completed.  Their missions are over; their time has passed and belongs to the past.

With this in mind, therefore, a Christian might be inclined to conclude:  Back in their day, it indeed would have been spiritually beneficial to have taught and to have confessed in a creed, in a classroom, and in a textbook of doctrine, the divine mission of each of these two, Heaven-sent messengers, in order to impress upon the spiritually asleep generation at that time to take to heart the divine messages of these two, God-prophesied, God-sent messengers. However, since those periods now have passed, and the actors, events, plot, and speech are gone, it no longer would be that spiritually necessary, urgent, or sufficiently beneficial to treat of John and of Luther today as it would have been in their day.

This had been the conclusion of these Lutheran authors.  They assumed that the situation for Luther would be the same as for John the Baptist; that is to say, that the biblical doctrine of Luther now also was inactive.

Nevertheless, this conclusion was not correct; for this conclusion which these men reached is one where none was called for, and where none was to be found, for Scripture has provided us with none in this regard.  On the other hand, there always have been present other, compelling, biblical matters to be factored into a correct, biblical conclusion regarding this case; matters which Scripture has provided for us all along.

To be sure, the above-mentioned, Lutheran authors recognize correctly and biblically the divine mission of Martin Luther because of the gigantic, obviously divine event which God caused by his use of Luther:  the Reformation.  Nevertheless, one thing which these authors have chosen to do ever since Bugenhagen’s first profession of Luther’s divine mission in his funeral address, is to agree with the conclusions of their teachers before them, all the way back to Bugenhagen.  However, if these teachers would have erred, then the subsequent students also will have erred.  This is just what has happened.  While Bugenhagen, indeed, performed a great service for the church by directing it to Revelation 14 for a prophecy of Luther, he was off by one verse and by one messenger.  That is to say, Luther was prophesied in verse eight, not in verses six to seven.

Why could and should it be taught that Luther would be described clearly by Revelation 14:8: “Another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication”?

This prophecy describes the subject (Luther), the object (papacy), the purpose (to topple), the effect (signal defeat), and an unmistakable, identifiable mark (the Babylonian Captivity metaphor) of Luther’s Reformation.

The term Babylon refers to the papacy at Rome (Revelation 17:3-5, 9, 18), a New Testament power similar to that of the city/state, world power Babylon of old that had captured the church of God and had enslaved it for years.  Indeed, the papacy had made millions over the centuries become unfaithful to the gospel by getting them drunk with its wine, that is, by deceiving, tempting, and spiritually seducing them with clever false doctrines, and by a pretense of godliness, with the result that God’s wrath was kindled against them for their unbelief and blasphemy.  As punishment for leading so many baptized members captive into a damnable state, the Almighty struck the papacy a mighty blow.

As a result, this new version of Babylon fell mightily, that is to say, its power and hold over millions of church members through its clever, godless hoaxes were broken when it was exposed as a fraud by the Lutheran Reformation.  This tremendous turning point in church history, this remarkable, earth-moving reform was accomplished by Martin Luther, who, through his writing On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church in 1520, and by other writings, got millions to see through regenerated eyes the faith-killing fraud of the Roman Catholic system, and the true gospel path to heaven.  Luther recognized that the papacy was the Babylon of Revelation 17, and publicly intended to refer to it in his Babylonian Captivity tract, drawing the inference which was divinely called for in Revelation 17.  Indeed, Luther’s choice of this metaphor was not simply justified by the circumstances, it was demanded by them.

“It is also well to observe that Luther is fitly called an angel according to the original signification of this word.  Angel in the original means messenger, one who is sent and who does not come of his own accord.  In this original sense of the word Luther was indeed an angel; for God made him the reformer of the church when Luther himself had never thought of undertaking any such thing” (Frederick Gottlob Kuegele).

Yet would not the description of the first messenger in Revelation 14:6: “Having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth” fit Luther?  “We must not forget Luther’s peculiar mission, which was, as rightly declared by Elector John Frederick, the Magnanimous, the overthrow of popery…. ‘Luther’s avowed purpose is to show up popery so plainly that everybody may clearly recognize its abomination, and learn to beware of it’” (Frederick William Herzberger).  Thus according to the biblical teaching of Revelation 14:8, this was Luther’s main mission.  The spreading of the gospel to the dwellers on the earth was an effect of, a result of the Reformation.  Indeed, whenever there would be a reformation, a golden age of gospel-belief will follow.

“During the summer of 1520 he [Luther] delivered to the printer a sheaf of tracts…. The most radical of them all in the eyes of contemporaries was the one dealing with the sacraments, entitled The Babylonian Captivity …. This assault on Catholic preaching was more devastating than anything that had preceded” (Roland Bainton).

“The theme that is presented by the Prelude Luther calls The Babylonian Captivity of the Church.  The reference is clear from the contents of the document:  just as the Jews were carried away from Jerusalem into captivity under the tyranny of the Babylonian Empire, so in Europe the Christians have been carried away from the Scriptures and made subject to the tyranny of the papacy.  This tyranny has been exercised by the misuse of the sacraments” (Frederick C. Ahrens/Abdel Ross Wentz).

“By this most emphatic writing the heart of Rome’s doctrine was cut out” (William Dallmann).

This is the title page of Luther’s tract (in Latin) On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, published in Wittenberg in 1520.  The coast of arms of Wittenberg is represented at the top center, the brass snake of Moses at the bottom.

 

Then who was prophesied in Revelation 14:6-7?  It was the apostle Paul.  The description there of him matches the evidence from Romans 15:15-17 and 19; Acts 14:15; 17:24, 31.  The mission of Paul was to spread the gospel by his missionary journeys, and by his New Testament epistles to the known world around the Mediterranean (Romans 15:19; 16:26; Acts 9:15).

Why was the apostle prophesied, though by the time that Revelation was written, Paul already had been dead a few decades?  It was for the same reason in the vision of nations in Daniel 2 and 7 that Babylon was prophesied, though it already existed:  it was to afford a complete picture of the matter at hand.  With a reference to Paul in Revelation, we are provided not only with a complete view of New Testament history, and given a fixture for the chronological framework in chapters 13 and 14, but with a portrayal of Paul in the books of Acts and his epistles, we have a better description of what the second (Luther) and third messengers would be like, for Luther was uniquely similar to Paul, obviously by divine design.  For more information on this, see my book:  The Charismatic Movement, etc., specifically chapters two and four, and the Appendix to chapter four, at my website:  The Rivertown Press.  At the top of the Homepage click on Books, and then scroll down.

Just the same, how many Lutherans today in America even believe this prophecy about Luther?  Indeed, how many have never heard of it because their clergy and their teachers are disinclined to teach it?  How many clergy preach on Revelation 14 as a text for Reformation Day?  As it was noted above, in the current ELCA hymnal, Revelation 14 is not even listed as an Epistle reading for Reformation Day, but intentionally has been avoided by that hymnal committee out of disbelief. To be sure, how many congregations decline to hold a midweek Reformation service, but instead will offer simply a counter-Halloween program involving treats and costumes?  Since Lutherans have neglected Luther and the Reformation so much, God’s characteristic response will be to take away the gospel from them, and leave behind a famine of his Word.

From the 1840’s to 1950 our country enjoyed a golden age of Christianity.  During this time the gospel was preached and published, believed and spread like never before.  Yet since that time things have changed drastically.  As there have been rises and falls in kingdoms and countries throughout history, so in this golden age there is now also a fall; and what a fall it is!  Ideology is now being preached and taught in churches formerly dedicated to Christ’s name that is nothing short of paganism.  Today the vast majority of Protestant and Lutheran congregations are spiritually bankrupt.  Oh yes, some have a sense of spirituality about them, but not the one which Scripture requires.  As a result, we are witnessing the advent of another “falling away” from the gospel.

For example, no longer is repentance being preached in Christ’s name (Luke 24:47).  It is avoided intentionally and studiously.  Rather a new Antinomian preaching is in style.  However, this is not a simple case of: “We have just discovered Antinomianism!  Why not preach it!”   Rather, it is a cowardly recourse to bend to peer pressure, to be “men pleasers” (Ephesians 6:6), in order to appease the sinful flesh of church members.  For instance, a Scottish professor once visited 28 Lutheran churches in America around 1990, none of which in the sermons mentioned the word “sin.”  Around 1991 a Lutheran pastor in Minnesota was warned by his congregation that if he would continue to preach about sin, he would be deposed.

Who were the old Antinomians?  Luther replies: “My friends the Antinomians preach exceedingly well… concerning the mercy of Christ, forgiveness of sin, and other contents of the article of redemption….  Many speak only of forgiveness of sin and say little or nothing regarding repentance notwithstanding the fact that without repentance there is no remission of sins, nor can remission of sins be understood without repentance.  If remission of sins without repentance is preached, the people imagine that they have already forgiveness of sins, and thereby they are made secure and unconcerned…We have admonished them [our pastors] therefore, to exhort the people diligently and frequently unto repentance, contrition, and sorrow over their sin and fear of Judgment of God.  We have warned them not to omit from their teaching the important and necessary element of repentance, for both John and Christ rebuke the Pharisees more sharply for their saintly hypocrisy than ordinary sinners.  In like manner, pastors are to reprove the common people for their gross sins, but make their exhortations to repentance much sterner wherever they discover spurious sanctity” (C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, translator W. H. T. Dau [Saint Louis:  Concordia, 1929], pages 121-124).

Indeed, realize that the common practice of any minister to exclude from his sermons the subjects of sin, repentance, and damnation, will not be a valid option.  Rather, he will be guilty of a willful, public violation of the Second Commandment!

In summary, then, for centuries there is no written record of any reader of the New Testament who looked forward to a divinely-sent and biblically-promised deliverer from Babylon, the Antichrist.  Luther was recognized as such only after his mission became obviously divine.  Thus for centuries, gospel-believers, oppressed by the Antichrist, deprived themselves of a divinely-pledged hope of deliverance, for either they did not notice the biblical prophecies, or they were unsure of them.  To be sure, most laymen had no personal access to a Bible.  Still the clergy could and should have seen and been assured that Revelation 14:6-7 referred to the apostle Paul (Romans 15:15-17, 19; Acts 14:15; 17:24, 31); then from 2nd Thessalonians 2:3, 8 deduced that Paul’s “man of sin,” “son of perdition,” and “the lawless one” is the same as John’s “Antichrist” (1st John 2:18: 4:3), that great tyrant in the church who would replace the gospel with soul-damning doctrines; then from 2nd Thessalonians 2:3b, 8a; Revelation 13:3a; 14:8, concluded confidently that Heaven would raise up a reformer, like John the Baptist, who would tear off the mask of the Antichrist, and “reveal” him for the damnable fraud that he is, and would draw a substantial following away from that body of benighted slaves in spiritual bondage to the Antichrist, by giving this group regenerated eyes by which it could recognize the true spiritual state of affairs, and with such an exodus weaken the power of the Antichrist so much, that it would be a mortal wound (Revelation  13:3a).  Yet from a scan of recorded church history, they did not.  “God was here, and we knew Him not.”

The important question today will be:  Would the believers of today, and in the future, repeat the same neglect of biblical prophecy: “God is here, yet we knew Him not”?  Realize that if the clergy would follow their teachers, and either not notice, be unsure, or dismiss it, then the layman himself could and should look at Revelation 13:3b-17 and 14:9-11, and conclude with divine certainty that in the future the papacy will climb back to the zenith of its past power (Revelation 13:3b-4, 6-7, 16-17); and to help him get there, a new teaching office, that will last until Judgment Day (Revelation 19:20; 20:10), will be introduced which Scripture names the “False Prophet” (Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10, and “another beast,” 13:11), the second beast (the first being the Antichrist), which will look innocent as “a lamb” (13:11), just as all “false prophets” commonly are “ravenous wolves” that “come to you in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15)!  To deceive people into rejoining the pope’s church, Scripture foretells that the various office holders of the False Prophet’s position, just as we have different men who successively hold the political position of mayor, for example, will make “fire come down from heaven in the sight of men” (Revelation 13:13).  “Fire from heaven”:  of what familiar event would that remind you?  of Pentecost.  Yet since this would be a false prophet doing this, it will be a fraudulent Pentecost, a deceptive Pentecost, in which people are converted, but to a false scheme of salvation.  Would there exist any popular religious association which would fit this biblical description?  “Fire from heaven” is a familiar concept used by the charismatic movement to describe their fraudulent “Baptism of the Holy Spirit.”  All these future acts and events will come as a pledged punishment on many nations because of their peoples’ “falling away” from the gospel promises of pardon.  Subsequently, to reform and to free the Christian church in the future from this gospel-eclipsing deception, once again the Lord will raise up a reformer according to his promise and prophecy of protection (Revelation 14:9-11), like Luther, to deal it a devastating blow.  See chapter 4 of my book, The Charismatic Movement, etc. at the internet site, “The Rivertown Press.”

In regards to these prophecies in Revelation, it could be said of them as it was noted above regarding the prophecies of John the Baptist, namely, that it is a question, therefore, just how many Jews ever did conclude scripturally and correctly that John the Baptist was prophesied by Isaiah and by Malachi.  Just the same, the Lord still prophesied of John the Baptist for the spiritual benefit of the people, though the common result would appear to be: “Who has believed our report?” (Isaiah 53:1)

Hence, what would be the reason for this failure to recognize these prophecies of Revelation before or even after they would be fulfilled?

The answer will be:  peer pressure.

In other words, with rare exceptions, students commonly will reflect the views of their teachers.  Moreover, this pattern will continue, like an unbroken chain, generation after generation.  Thus, for instance, if some teaching would be brought to their attention, which their instructors did not teach, or which would contradict what their professors promoted, it will be rejected automatically, for the simple reason that it was not what the students had been taught.

False doctrine, however, is different.  That is, experience demonstrates that if a new false belief would be brought to a student’s attention, or even to a professor’s attention, it commonly will receive an enthusiastic reception and embracement, without any examination of the merits.

 

Divine Prophecies of Luther Outside of the Bible:  the Elector’s Dream

 

In addition to this biblical prophecy of Luther, God also had produced other divine prophecies of Luther before the beginning of the Reformation.  These were given to men in a divine way, such as through dreams and visions or trances.  We see from instances in the Bible where God communicated in these ways with the rulers Joseph (Genesis 37:5-10); Pharaoh (Genesis 41:1-7), “God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do” (Genesis 41:25); Joshua (Judges 2:1-6); Saul (1st Samuel 28:17-19); David (2nd Samuel 21:1; 24:10-13); Solomon (1st Kings 3:5); Ahab and Jehoshaphat (2nd Chronicles 18); Jeroboam (Amos 7:10-11); Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:28; chapter 4); Belshazzar (Daniel 5); Hezekiah (2nd Kings 19:6-7); Josiah and Necho (2nd Chronicles 35:20-24); the king of Nineveh by way of Jonah’s prophecy (Jonah 3:6-9); Cyrus (2nd Chronicles 36:22); Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27:19); and Cornelius (Acts 10:3-7).  Thus it is Heaven’s providential will at times to provide rulers with divinely-supplied knowledge for the spiritual or the bodily welfare of men, or of their pending divine punishment, including the rulers themselves.

Such a communication was received by Luther’s political ruler, the elector of Saxony, who, on the evening after Luther posted his 95 Theses, was given an informative dream/prophecy, detailing with impressive symbolism the clear, serious spiritual work in which Luther would be engaged.  Subsequently, this account became widely known, and a number of woodcuts and pictures were produced illustrating this trustworthy dream.   Such a depiction could be seen in the Martin Luther movie of 1953 at the 51:41 mark. Indeed, if you would search the internet by typing in the English or the German heading: “The Elector of Saxony Friedrich the Wise’s dream at Schweinitz the 31 October, 1517” (“Des KhurFürsten [Kurfürsten] zu Sachsen Friedrichs, des Weisen Traum zu Schweinitz den 31 October 1517”), you could view them.  This dream/prophecy obviously was divine.  No man could have invented this account.  It is devoid of any anti-biblical themes or fleshly desires which a false prophet would craft.  The various symbolic items and events that were presented, that promoted biblical law and gospel, matched and summarized well Luther and his reformation. Below is a period German woodcut of the Elector’s dream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the left, the German words above the door identify the structure as the “Castle church at Wittenberg.” The monk with the pen has written on the door: “the 31 October, year 1517 regarding indulgences.” The Latin words in the book which he is holding say: “We are justified by grace” (Iustificamur gratis). To the immediate right of this at the top under the main heading is a scene in which observers are watching a fire with billowing smoke, in the middle of which is a person tied to a pole. The caption above it reads: “Huss and Jerome (of Prague) burned at Constance, the 30 May, 1416.” Under which is the Latin, “O Sancta Simplicitas,” that is, “O holy simplicity,” words which the burning Huss uttered after an old woman threw some brushwood on his fire. The number 13 is seen under this. Indeed, up to 16 numbers were put in by the artist. Originally these numbers would have been printed under this woodcut, with a description of that personage or scene depicted. I have not been able to locate this list. At the top center the holy Trinity is depicted: Jesus Christ with his cross, the Father, and below them the Holy Spirit as a dove, pouring out his rays of divine understanding to Martin Luther on the left, and to the dreaming Elector laying in bed on the far right. In the center of the picture is the city of Rome, symbolized by a lion above it, which has the monk’s pen go in one of his ears and out the other, subsequently knocking the pope’s crown off his head (that is, taking away his power). The pope is indicated by the number 7, his three-tiered crown (tiara) by the number 8, and the various Roman Catholic hierarchy by the numbers 9, 10, and 11. Below the city of Rome is a goose which watches the monk. In his dream the Elector is told by the monk that he got his pen prior from a Bohemian goose. “Huss” in Bohemian means “goose.” Note also at the bottom left, to the right of the monk’s feet, a man lies prostrate on the ground. This depicts the wretched condition of the spiritually downtrodden at that time, who would look to Luther’s writings for spiritual help.

On the night of all Saints Day, November 1, the day after Luther posted his 95 Theses against papal indulgences, the Elector Friedrich the Wise of Saxony had the following dream in Schweinitz, which he wrote down the next morning and, in the presence of the chancellor, communicated it to his brother, Duke John of Saxony. “As I way lying upon my bed in the evening, somewhat faint and tired, while I was praying, I soon fell asleep and slept soundly and rested comfortably for about the space of two and a half hours; after which I awoke considerably refreshed. I lay upon my bed and had all manner of thoughts, and among other things, I reflected how I might fast to the honor of all the beloved saints, as well as myself and my courtiers. I also prayed for the poor souls in purgatory, and concluded in my mind to come to their aid and assistance in their flames. I also prayed to God for grace that he might lead me and my counsellors, and my country into all truth and save us, and that He would control by His omnipotent power the evil designs of those who would make our government troublesome. Being filled with such thoughts soon after midnight, I fell asleep again, and soon commenced dreaming. I dreamed that God sent a monk, with a fine honest countenance to me; this monk was the Apostle Paul’s natural son, and had for his attendants, by God’s command, all the beloved saints, who were to bear witness to the monk, that there was no deception in him, but that certainly he was sent from God; that God commanded me to allow this monk to write something upon the chapel of my castle at Wittenberg; that if I would do so, I should never be sorry for it. I told the monk through my chancellor, that as God had commanded me to let him write, and as he had such powerful evidence, he might write all that he was commanded to write. Immediately the monk began to write and he made his letters so large that I could distinguish them here in Schweinitz. He used a pen so long that the other end of it reached to Rome, and penetrated into the ear of a lion, which lay there, so forcibly that it came out at the other ear, and then extended still further, until it came in contact with the triple crown of his holiness, the Pope, and gave it such a powerful shock that it began to shake, and to fall from the head of his holiness. Your highness and myself stood not far from his holiness at the time; and as his crown was falling, I stretched forth my hand to assist him in keeping it in its place. At this I awoke, holding up my arm, a good deal frightened and angry at the monk because he did not guide his pen more carefully; but upon a little reflection, I found it was a dream. But I was still very sleepy, and soon my eyes were shut again, and I fell into a sound sleep, and before I was aware of it, the same dream appeared to me again, the second time; for I was again engaged with the monk. I saw how he continued to write; and with the stump of his pen he kept on piercing the Pope through the lion. At this the lion roared most dreadfully, and the whole city of Rome, and all the States of the Holy Empire came running to the place to see what this was. The Pope and the States requested that the monk might be restrained, and that I should be informed of the violence he was doing to his holiness, because this monk was in my country. Here I awoke the second time from my dream and marveled that I had dreamed it again.  [Confer: “The dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass” Genesis 41:32.]

“I did not, however, suffer this thing to trouble my mind, but prayed that God would preserve his holiness, the Pope, from all evil; and thus I fell asleep again the third time. The monk appeared to me again, and I dreamed that the chief States of the Empire, among whom were also I and your highness, proceeded to Rome and endeavored hard to break the monk’s pen, and to lead the Pope out of its way; but the more we exerted ourselves to break the pen, the more inflexible it became, the more it rattled and jarred as though it were iron; it rattled and jarred so much that it hurt my ears, and penetrated my heart. Finally I became vexed and tired of it; we gave up, and went away, one after another, and hid ourselves, fearing the monk might be able to do more than eat bread, that he might perhaps do us some harm. Notwithstanding, I caused to be inquired of the monk, how he came in possession of that wonderful pen and what was the reason that it was so tough and solid. He answered, that it was taken from an old Bohemian Goose, (Huss) a hundred years ago, and that an old schoolmaster of his had honored him by presenting it to him, requesting him that, because it was a good pen, he should keep it, and use it in remembrance of him, that he himself also had tempered it; that the reason why it was so strong, was because no man could take away the spirit from it, nor drain the soul out of it, as was the case with other pens. At this he himself was greatly astonished.

“Soon after this a great cry arose, that out of this great pen of the monk, numberless other writing pens had grown in Wittenberg, and it was amusing to see how learned men strove and contended about it; that part of them thought that, in the course of time, many of these pens would become as inflexible and strong as the one in the monk’s hand; and that something remarkable would certainly follow this monk and his pen.

“I now concluded in my dream, to have a personal conversation with the monk as soon as possible. I awoke from my dream and found that it was morning. Wondering at my dream, I reflected upon it, and the fact that it was repeated three times in succession, in one night, made a deep impression on my mind, and I immediately wrote down the principal parts of it. I am convinced that this dream is not wholly without signification, as it was repeated so often” (Rev. Hermann Fick, Life and Deeds of Dr. Martin Luther, translator Rev. Prof. M. Loy [Columbus, O.: J. A. Schulze, 1878], pages 80-84).  Even with the metaphors in it, this dream was straight forward, as far as prophecies go, in its description of the Reformation event just begun; to be sure, it soon became obvious to the Elector and to those who subsequently heard it.

 

John Hilten’s Prophecy of Luther

 

God also produced other divine prophecies of Luther. For instance, one of these is recorded in the Apology [Defense] of the Augsburg Confession, written by Philip Melanchthon. It is the prophecy by one John Hilten, a monk, who was imprisoned in 1500 for writing against gross abuses in monastic life.  This is a slightly different example of how not to handle a divine prophecy; another case of “God was here, but we chose not to recognize the fact.”  Melanchthon presents this prophecy thusly: “Another one, he said, will come in A. D. 1516, who will destroy you, neither will you be able to resist him.” That is to say, another monk will rise to power and prominence in 1516, and break the monks’ worldly power.  Nevertheless, Melanchthon counters: “Although the outcome will teach how much weight should be given to this declaration” (Philip Melanchthon, “The Apology of the Augsburg Confession,” Triglot Concordia, editors W. H. T. Dau and F. Bente [Saint Louis:  Concordia, 1921], paragraphs 1-3, page 419f.).  In other words, God gave Hilten a prophecy, and then moved him to prophesy, stating that through the labors of a future, reforming monk, the worldly power of the monks would be disbanded.  Melanchthon chose this prophecy from a number of existing ones (confer Rev. Hermann Fick, Life and Deeds of Dr. Martin Luther, translated by M. Loy [Columbus, Ohio:  J. A. Schulze, 1878], pages 5-8, 20f., 80-84) to make the point that Luther was divinely sent to break the monk’s power as much as the papal power.  However, Melanchthon then cancels out his own evidence, undermines his own case by stating, in effect, “We must wait for the final proof from the outcome for confirmation before we could put our trust in this prophecy to be divine.”  This is not a scriptural “walk by faith,” but a fleshly “walk by sight” (2nd Corinthians 5:7), like the state motto of Missouri: “Show me!”  that is, “I will be skeptical until I could see it.”  Yet the Lord gives his sure, divinely-pledged prophecies so that believers will hope in and not doubt them all along, not to wait and to see if the outcome would confirm them.  In fact, think of it! What would be the sense in giving a prophecy at all if God would want men not to believe it until after that divine event had occurred, such as the prophecy of Christ’s ascension (Psalm 68:18)?

While faithful, genuine Lutherans will affirm that the Apology of the Augsburg Confession is biblical in its teachings, they will not be required to subscribe to all its historical, scientific, or purely external remarks, for instance.  With this in mind, I do not subscribe to Melanchthon’s remark: “Although the outcome will teach how much weight should be given to this declaration.”  Since he made the decision to use Hilten’s prophecy for convincing purposes, the only consistent deduction could and should be: “God prepared this divine prophecy to warn the ungodly monks to repent, for he would soon shatter their power.  He graciously gave it to godly men to comfort, convince, and cheer them with hope that he certainly would remove their spiritual oppressors soon. Moreover, these things do not happen by themselves.  A man must do them – a reformer.  Therefore, this could and should be believed.  There would be no need to wait for physical confirmation before men could put their trust in it, for it is a divine prophecy.  As such it has the divine power to assure you of what it promises.”

Again, this would be how to handle a divine prophecy: “God was here, and we immediately recognized it, because we were alert and watchful.”  Indeed, think about it!  Whenever the Lord has informed a ruler, such as Pharaoh (Genesis 41:1-7), or the king of Nineveh (Jonah 3:6-9), about the future fate of his country, whether good or bad, what would have happened if they were to have taken a “wait to confirm” stance as Melanchthon urged?

 

The Prophecy given to C. F. W. Walther

 

Consider another prophecy; one also given outside of the Bible; one to which people probably never have given much thought! The American Lutheran professor and writer C. F. W. Walther, nearing his death, remarked: “Tomorrow, I am going home.”  Indeed, he passed away the next day.  What had been revealed to him, he stated correctly in his own words.  Now who would cast doubts on his prophecy?  Knowing Walther’s Christian integrity, who would argue that Walther merely had a premonition, an inkling, a subjective feeling, or wishful thinking; or that he who dealt with divine certainty on a regular basis in the classroom and in the pulpit, could not recognize it if it had been given him in a private, divine revelation?  Yet Walther announced such a prophecy without reservation, knowing full well the implications of what he said, because he was certain that the prophecy given him was divine.

 

The Prophecy of the Three Curses to come upon the New Testament Church

 

There is another prophecy in Revelation 8:13 that pledges that three curses will arise after the Apostolic Age.  The English versions translate the term as “woes.”  While it is specifically prophesied that the third curse will be around until Judgment Day (Revelation 20:10), evidently the other two will have the same endurance, for they have not ceased to exist, but will wax and wane like an eclipse, that is, they will flare up whenever the Christian church would become worldly and would “fall away” (2nd Thessalonians 2:3) from repentance and from genuine gospel faith.  However, wherever there would be a golden age of Christianity, we see that the Almighty will cause one or more of these three, spiritual plagues to subside in harm.

In Revelation 9:1 a fifth angel announces with a trumpet blast the colorful scene filled with activity which, according to the Bible’s intended portrayal, will describe the first curse satisfactorily.  Moreover, to get us to understand this unfamiliar entity that will be appearing for the first time, the Holy Spirit will picture it with images of which we already are familiar. In brief, Scripture will portray something unfamiliar to us, with images that are familiar.  Indeed, the various depictions of these comparisons will give us an accurate portrayal of the subject that Scripture has in mind.  As a result, when this curse would appear in time, the average believer could and should recognize it clearly, and do so with divine certainty by looking back at Scripture’s own divinely-convincing description of it.

Again, this first curse, commencing with the trumpet blast of the fifth angel, is described in Revelation 9:1-11 (12).  In his brief comments on the book of Revelation, Luther says that this describes the preachers of the Arian heresy, which is the tempting false creed that asserts the lie that Jesus Christ is just a man.  To this day, in American and Western European seminaries, there are radical professors who teach Arianism.  They, in turn, are indoctrinating future clergy who will teach faith-destroying Arianism to their laypeople who have “itching ears” (2nd Timothy 4:3) for a flesh-pleasing creed, and thus carry out Heaven’s plan for punishment on those who would be repulsed by the divine Word’s teaching of repentance and grace.  Sent by God under various names throughout the New Testament era, Arianism will continue to be a punishment until Judgment Day on Christian nations which have “fallen away” (2nd Thessalonians 2:3) into unbelief.

Revelation 9:12 advises us that this was the first curse.  The remaining two will follow.  In verses 13-19 the sixth angel also gives a trumpet blast to announce the description of the second great curse with which Heaven will punish those in his church whenever they would become worldly and unregenerate; those who have a name that they are alive, but are dead (Revelation 3:1).  According to Luther, this teaches or prophesies of the Islamic hordes, “the oriental antichrist.”  To be sure, whenever the Greek church, or the western European (Roman) church left true repentance and gospel faith, the Almighty sent Islamic armies to punish.  For example, “in the first six centuries after Jesus, His Church spread over North Africa with remarkable rapidity.  Forty thousand congregations once flourished there; millions were brought to the saving knowledge of their Redeemer; many Christian schools and charitable institutions were established; mighty religious leaders arose to proclaim the power and permanence of the faith.  No fewer than 270 bishops once met in Carthage.  In North Africa, it seemed, the Kingdom had a secure stronghold.  Yet, as often, prosperity made the churches lazy, worldly, disobedient to the divine Word.  Then suddenly came the Mohammedan conquest with its uninterrupted victories.  The Crescent supplanted the Cross; the Koran took the place of the Bible; the mosque minarets rose triumphantly over the Christian churches.  In our generation, throughout certain North African areas, where faith once flourished, no followers of the Savior survive, no divine Deliverer is worshiped, no hymns are sung to our Lord, no prayers raised in His name.  The Holy Spirit help over-blessed America learn the all-vital lesson that Heaven’s grace will not perpetually remain with people who despise it!” (Walter A. Maier, Go Quickly and Tell [Saint Louis:  Concordia, 1950], page 251f.).

Later, after Asia Minor, Greece, Spain, and the Balkans fell away from believing the gospel of Jesus Christ into mere formalism and worldliness, they, too, were punished by the invasion of an Islamic army.  Still later, at the time of Martin Luther, an Islamic army was threatening to overrun Europe. Sent by God, Islam will continue to be a punishment until Judgment Day on those Christian nations which have “fallen away” into unbelief.

Below are two woodcuts by the Hans Lufft workshop from Luther’s Wittenberg Bible of 1534:  the top one shows the scene in Revelation 9:1-12:  the preachers of the Arian heresy; the bottom one pictures the scene in verses 13-19:  the Islamic hordes.

Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum

 

Would you recall the Lord’s curse which he made upon Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum in Matthew 11:20-24?  This also was a prophecy.  Have you ever heard whether or not it was fulfilled?  It was.  When?  At the time of Christ these three flourishing cities with a population of a million people had no time for Jesus nor for his gospel faith, like the current response in America and in western Europe.  The majority of their citizens likewise were too busy getting on with their lives to give any serious thought to repentance and gospel faith.  As a result, God cursed these cities.  This meant that not only would the citizens be punished on Judgment Day, but also already in this life the inhabitants and their property would be destroyed.  How was it done?  Some six hundred years later, the Son of God sent the Muslims to level these cities.

Thus the rise of Islam and its punitive role in the history of the Christian church until the end of time should come as no surprise. It could and should be expected.  That is to say, in reaction to the falls from gospel faith which the Christian nations would take from time to time in the New Testament times, after periods of spiritual golden ages, God prophesied in Revelation 9:14-19 about his curse called Islam, which he specifically would raise up in New Testament times, which he would send as a punishment upon those church members who had fallen away from the true gospel faith.  By telling us about this, the Almighty is putting us on notice.  To be sure, as long as it would remain faithful, the Almighty never would send a curse upon his church.  Only after it would backslide treacherously into unfaithfulness will the Almighty carry out his threat: “The nation and kingdom that will not serve” God “shall perish” (Isaiah 60:12).  In order to describe the fierce intent and the results of Islam in its punitive role, Scripture used picturesque language in Revelation to describe it.

Revelation 10:7 then mentions the coming seventh angel, which we are to conclude, would sound a trumpet blast to announce the third curse, after which we could expect a description of it with comparisons, that is, with metaphors.  However, Revelation now chooses to depict for us other spiritual happenings in the interval.

Subsequently, Revelation 11:14 announces: “The second woe is past.  Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.”  Indeed, in the next verse we are told that “the seventh angel sounded,” but not to introduce the third curse, but some spiritual events in heaven, and some severe tribulations on earth.  In fact, be advised that the “seventh angel that poured out his vial” in 16:17 is a different seventh angel than the earlier one in 11:15. This latter one is from a group of “seven angels having the seven last plagues” (15:11).  In chapter 12 the general severe tribulation of the church (the woman with the child) leads into a specific severe tribulation of the church in chapter 13:1-10, 18, which, by context, is the third curse.  This third curse is due to the hellish manipulations of the first beast which is described in 13:1-10, 18 as having seven heads.  This curse turns out to be the Antichrist (1st John 2:18), that is, Paul’s “man of sin” (2nd Thessalonians 2:3) which is the papacy at Rome, the city on seven hills (Revelation 17:9).

Therefore, when the representatives of the Lutheran congregations met at Smalcald in 1537, they confessed in a creed that the pope “is the very Antichrist.” By doing so they implied that this third curse of three, as the language of Revelation has expressed it (Revelation 8:13; 9:12; 11:14), that has been sent by God to punish the worldly and unfaithful Christian church, was an article of faith, a biblical teaching.  Indeed, as the Brief Statement of 1932 further confessed it, it is a doctrine “being clearly defined in Scripture” (paragraph 44).

Nevertheless, have you ever heard of this before?  Have you ever been taught it?  Has your pastor ever preached in a Reformation Day sermon that for this reason God had to raise up Martin Luther, and that there was a need to drive the money-changers out of God’s temple yet again, because the papacy is the Antichrist?

In the late 1940’s, when the LCMS’ President’s Committee of Ten was meeting regarding the false teachings publicly proclaimed in 1945 by the forty-four signers of the Statement, while discussing the scriptural doctrine that “the pope is the very Antichrist” (Luther, Smalcald Articles), one of the “doctrines being clearly defined in Scripture,” according to the LCMS’ own creed, The Brief Statement of 1932 (¶44), and not an “open question” as the creed of the ALC confessed it, President Behnken remarked, “I believe that the pope is the Antichrist.  But must I insist that our laypeople believe it?”  A member of the committee, Harold Romoser, replied, “I remember 1st Peter 4:11: ‘If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God’.”

Luther’s reformative influence and his exposure of the papacy as the Antichrist, rapidly are declining today. Why? because extremely few people believe them anymore.  Thus, though the facts themselves have not changed, people’s regenerated understanding and acceptance of them have been lost.  Consequently, the papacy no longer stands revealed in the sense of 2nd Thessalonians 2:3, 6, 8.  Lately, it has fast become “unrevealed.”  In fact, the Antichrist almost has become concealed as it was before the Reformation.  To be sure, the mighty job which Luther did in weakening the papacy centuries ago has continued down to this day in America.  Hence the current feeling is: “What threat would the papacy pose?”  As a result, there is a temptation today not to take Scripture’s warnings seriously, either of the Antichrist or of his future revival, but to consider the evil of the papacy to be a thing of the past.

Secondly, this is the age of public relations; that is, the Christian church as a whole has followed the course of the world in being afraid to speak the truth lest it come into disfavor.  Thus pastors should ask themselves whether or not they would be breaking the Eighth Commandment in withholding the truth about the biblical doctrine of the Antichrist from their congregations.  Perhaps Lutherans of late have not spoken openly and frankly about the papacy because they have been afraid of being called “hateful” or “unloving.”  Logicians would call it the fear of public opinion, one of the obstacles to clear thinking.  The Bible calls it being a “men pleaser” (Ephesians 6:6; see Jude 16).  Would Lutheran pastors and laymen be guilty of this?  This is a question which they would need to ask themselves this minute.

For instance, because of peer pressure, a layman, even with biblical truth on his side, will be reluctant to challange his pastor, since minsters usually would be more knowledgeable biblically, and would have more experience in handling biblical questions and objections.

Because of peer pressure, a seminary student will be apprehensive to take a different confessional stance in class than what his synod has, because all his professors would be united against him, including his pastor, and any of his relatives that might be in the ministry.

Because of peer pressure, a pastor will be afraid to speak out about a different belief which he would hold, because in the periodic meeting with the other pastors in his conference, all the other pastors would side against him, including, later on, the synodical officials of his district.

Years ago, a pre-ministerial student expressed the desire to be in a situation, such as Luther was at Worms in 1521, where he, too, could have the opportunity to declare to all fearlessly: “Here I stand!!”  This book has provided the resources for anyone to do just this.

In fact, ask your pastor sometime what would these three prophecies of the three curses describe.  Commonly, pastors will admit: “I do not know.  I have not studied them.”  Inquire of a professor.  He will answer:  “Some theologians would say it will mean this; others that.”  Ask him pointedly what he would believe, and he will reply: “I am not certain.”  Nevertheless, think of it!  Would the Lord have wanted such a critical warning to his New Testament Church, as these three huge curses which would be around until Judgment Day, which he deliberately had penned for our alertness, to be so vague and unintelligible, that it would be undecipherable to us?  Just the same, he has promised to send us teachers (Ephesians 4:11) to help us to understand, as Luther was sent.  To be sure, before 1517, deep spiritual darkness so blinded the minds of masses that God’s very plan of salvation, the simple gospel pledge, which could be framed in words of one syllable, seemed undecipherable; upon which Heaven had to raise up a reformer, like John the Baptist, to dispel the eclipse.

Assuredly, these three prophesied curses in Revelation have been demonstrated to be true by the historical events which have transpired.  Luther was correct about these three.  Just the same, realize that these prophecies have been given not just to Christian teachers to figure out!  The typical, regenerate believer of average intelligence, could and should come to the same divine conclusion which Luther and others have (1st John 2:20).  Indeed, Scripture has the divine power to make its prophecies sufficiently clear for us to understand, and for us to be convinced of their concise descriptions with divine certainty.

Gideon’s question, which is pertinent, especially on account of the grievous tribulations in our own day: “If the Lord would be with us, why then has all this happened to us?” (Judges 6:13), should be put to pastors in their adult, biblical studies classes, and to professors, for this concerns the “signs of the times,” which the Almighty scolded the religious authorities in his day for not knowing (Matthew 16:2-3; Luke 19:42).  Yet pastors and professors, who should have done their homework, who should have known these pertinent prophecies, neglect to consider them, dismissing them as undecipherable, and, consequently, leave their laypeople in the dark as to what our informative Lord has promised and prophesied he would do for our awareness, protection, and fortification in our own age.  Therefore, once again, an apt summary of this sad state of affairs is: “God was here, but we knew it not.”  This is why Holy Writ has decreed: “The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God” (1st Peter 4:17).

 

The State of Israel will end

 

In addition, there is a prophecy in Saint Luke that commonly has gone undiscussed.  Just the same, it is there.  In fact, it is relevant today.  It is Luke 21:24b: “Jerusalem will be trodden down by the gentiles until the times of the gentiles will be fulfilled.”  What this would mean will be this:  As God chose the Hebrews to rule Jerusalem until the time of the appearance of Christ, so as part of his judgment, the Jews will no longer rule Jerusalem until Judgment Day, gentile nations will, since, as a whole, the Jews have rejected Christ with his salvation, and the Almighty, subsequently, has rejected them.

The English word “trod,” when used by the Old and New Testament in reference to agents or nations doing the action, has the sense of “trample” with malice.  In other words, our Lord did not use the neutral term “rule,” “possess,” or “occupy,” for example, but “trample.”  That is, the gentiles would rule the place, not with fairness and justice, but with oppression, not necessarily with harshness toward their own inhabitants, or toward the residents from other nations, but especially toward the Jews.  Thus as the Romans demolished Jerusalem in 70 A. D., so thereafter there would be another kind of trampling, a political and legal trampling of any Jewish resident, not ruling out physical, bodily harm.

Moreover, this oppression would last until Judgment Day: “until the times of the gentiles will be fulfilled.”  Romans 11:25 uses a similar expression (“until the fulness of the gentiles has come in”) which means “until the full number of gentiles has been converted into the church before Judgment Day.” Indeed, it would not make sense for this prophecy to mean that the gentiles only would rule temporarily, for a few thousand years, for instance, and then the Jews would return to rule for the remainder.

To be sure, P. E. Kretzmann explains this prophecy of the gentiles’ rule in Palestine as meaning “until the end of time.  The Zionist movement of our days is not taken seriously even by the Jews themselves” (P. E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible, New Testament volume I [Saint Louis:  Concordia, 1921], page 381).  This is how he and others understood this prophecy in 1921.

Yet the Zionists ultimately did receive a legal homeland in Palestine in 1948, and have governed there since.  The gentiles, for example, the Romans, the Turks, and the British, no longer rule there.  With this in mind, then, how could and should this prophecy be understood? For instance, ask a clergyman or a theologian about this prophecy.  What would be his response?

Because of the fact that there is now a Zionist state in Palestine, a churchman would be tempted to confess that he would not know for sure what this prophecy of Christ would mean, both in regard to the “trampling down,” and to the length of time this would involve.  In doing so, he would make a solvable prophecy of the Bible, unsolvable, and a certain prophecy, uncertain.

What would be your response? How could and should you understand this prophecy today?  It could and should be this:  that the current Zionist state of Israel in Palestine is only temporary.  It will not endure until the end of time.  Its brief existence is an exception to the rule, like when the Bible prophesied that the scepter would not depart from Judah until Christ would appear (Genesis 49:10), though it did depart for a time when the Jewish people were taken into exile for seventy years, and Palestine, for all practical purposes, was under Babylonian and Persian rule during this period.

Yet how many clergy and theologians would have the courage to risk their reputations, by stating publicly: “According to Christ’s prophecy, the state of Israel will not last.  It will end”?

The purpose of this prophecy, then, is to warn men until the end of time how severe the Almighty will punish those who would reject his commands and promises by ignoring, thinking little of, doubting, dismissing or despising them as the Jews did, yet how he magnanimously wills that the gentiles should fill his spiritual house before the final day.

Since many of the people rejected him as the pardon-bringing Messiah, the Lord Jesus prophesied the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and then used his power to accomplish it.

In the future, there may be an attempt to build a third Temple on this site in Jerusalem.  Yet it never will be completed, for God will prevent it. For example, the Roman emperor, Julian the Apostate, defiantly eager to discredit Christ’s prophecy, that the temple in Jerusalem would be reduced to ruin and never rebuilt, spent great sums of money to restore the building, to put this prophecy to shame, and to defy specifically the God of the Bible; but fire and an earthquake frustrated his efforts, and the temple never was built.  In other words, the Almighty sent a miracle to prevent it.

The God then is the same God now. He will never permit a third temple to be built.  Moreover, he will use his power even today to punish or to bless, in accordance as to how a nation would react to his pledge of pardon.  Yet he is overwhelmingly ignored today by politically obsessed men who think only men could rule, not God; that men’s power will determine events, not God; that only men could punish, not God.

 

What would constitute a Divine Prophecy?

 

First of all, the Almighty knows what he wants to do.  However, because of his wisdom, kindness, and justice, he will alert men to certain, future, earthly events which he will bring about, for their awareness, protection, and fortification.  As the Son of God points out: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” (Genesis 18:17.)  Thus in the past his intent was to raise up prophets in the Old and New Testaments (Acts 21:10-11, for example), so that on occasion he might give them divine knowledge of future events, and have it reported widely, or he has given dreams to rulers, or daytime visions or trances to men (Acts 10:10-16) for the same purpose.  Yet nowhere has God announced that this intent of his should stop after the Apostolic Age.  On the other hand, while he also has not promised that any prophesying of future events will be a common feature of the church, still he has pledged to send prophets (Ephesians 4:11) “as he will” (1st Corinthians 12:11).  Thus, for instance, as Heaven-sent miracles are not a common feature today in the church either, though from missionary history, where the threat of physical harm from the heathen would be the most likely, the Lord has provided protective miracles “as he will,” so he may for the spiritual protection and fortification of a Christian nation or locale, send a divinely-assured announcement of a coming event.  In other words, we should not presumptuously dismiss the practice which the Lord has displayed all along, and conclude that it abruptly should cease with the Apostolic Age, and not endure until Judgment Day.

A divine prophecy is an announcement, or a divine revelation by God to men of a future event, which event would involve the actions and reactions of men.  This event the Lord has planned to occur, and will cause it to happen by his divine power despite any effort by men or devils to thwart it.  Such kinds of prophecies, visions, and dreams belong under the category of the Lord’s protective promises, or as the dogmaticians would list it:  the divine providence, preservation, and government of this world.  In some cases, these prophecies were given to announce an event which would protect the existence of the kingdom of God by reforming it, for example.  In other cases, prophecies were sent for the purpose of building up the church, to strengthen it with numbers, for instance, the account concerning Ananias (Acts 9:10-16), and Cornelius (Acts 10:3-8).

This future event is unknown to man.  In fact, there would be no way that he could calculate or deduce it from any common knowledge.  Even a wild guess by him only would be filled with uncertainty.  The “signs of the times” (Matthew 16:2-3) is a prophecy in that it foretells with divine certainty a future event that the Lord promises will occur.  Just the same, it is a matter of “cause and effect” which God binds with his pledge, which matter, to be sure, men could deduce, namely, if a nation would fall away from gospel belief, it will be punished; if a land would retain gospel belief, Heaven will smile upon it.

To be sure, there is a distinction between divine prophecies and deductions from known physical and economic laws (rational calculations), forecasts, prognostications, predictions (guesses), and least of all, wishful thinking.  For example, astronomers with mathematical formulae and recorded history could foretell eclipses accurately.  Yet this would not be divine prophecy.  The Weather Bureau will forecast (predict) atmospheric conditions with less certainty and success than the astronomers.  Still this would not be divine prophecy.  Physicians will give a prognosis of an ailment, noting a distinction between possible and probable causes and outcomes.  But again, this would not be divine prophecy.

In addition, divine prophecy will be a clear announcement by God, so crafted and phrased that a common believer of ordinary intelligence could and should be able to conclude from the divine description what would be the true meaning.  Divine prophecy has not been designed to be difficult, that is, to be understood only by highly intelligent, clever people.  As with any message from God, so prophecy could be understood even by children.  “From a child you have known the holy Scriptures” (2nd Timothy 3:15).  The apostle presumes justifiably that not merely fathers, but young men and children could understand his epistle (1st John 2:12-14).  In fact, “You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things” (1st John 2:20); you “have the mind of Christ” (1st Corinthians 2:16), the apostles assure the typical layman.  To be sure, in his communications to man, why would the Lord ever choose deliberately indefinite language?  Nevertheless, an unbelieving mind by nature would reject any truth from Heaven.  A gospel-regenerated mind will receive God’s truth openly, and will be moved to believe it.

Whenever Heaven has wanted to inform men of future events, how has it been done in the past?  One way in which the Lord in his providence has chosen to do this will be to speak directly to a man, who is to be his earthly messenger, and is to spread to other people this divine announcement of an event.  Thus God spoke, for example, to Noah (Genesis 6:13; 7:1); to Abraham (Genesis 17:1, 10, & 16); to Jonah (Jonah 3:1-4); to Ahijah (1st Kings 11:29-38); and to Agabus (Acts 21:10-11).

In addition, Scripture reports that “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom” (Ezra 1:1), which would release the seventy-years’ captives, and rebuild the temple.

Moreover, God may send his angels to do the speaking in an announcement; for instance, to Zacharias (Luke 1:11-20); to Mary (Luke 1:26-38); to the shepherds at Bethlehem (Luke 2:9-15); to the women on Easter (Matthew 28:5-7).

What is more, Heaven may make a divine announcement of a future event through a divinely-induced “trance,” for example, to Peter (Acts 10:10-16), or a “vision,” and “a night vision” to Daniel (Daniel 10:7; 2:19); or a “dream” to Joseph (Matthew 2:22).  The Bible relates that the wise men were “divinely warned in a dream” (Matthew 2:12) in keeping with the Almighty’s protection promises to alert and to advise them of physical dangers which otherwise would be unknowable to them.

Furthermore, God also may send an angel to do the speaking in a divinely-induced dream, such as to Joseph (Matthew 1:20-21; 2:13), or in a daytime “vision” as the one to Cornelius (Acts 10:3-7).

In other cases, the Lord may send a dream in which there would be no speaker, but simply a visual scene of an event which would unfold in animated action, utilizing symbolism and metaphors, such as to Pharaoh (Genesis 41:1-7); to his butler (Genesis 40:9-11); or to his baker (Genesis 40:16-17).  In regard to these cases of Pharaoh, his butler, and the baker (Genesis 40:9-19; 41:1-7), in which Heaven made use of divinely-induced dreams to prophesy to men, the Lord gave each a dream which accurately and impressively would portray a future event in order to pique their interest, yet, on account of the selected metaphors, purposely was constructed to require an  interpretation, which intentionally was left out, so that the dreamers tirelessly would seek a solution from a (God-provided) interpreter (Genesis 40:7; 41:8).  Once Joseph explained the comparisons which God chose, the prophecy contained in these dreams became clear.  God chose this round-about method of prophecy in order to get Joseph to be the one selected who would “save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).  Just the same, the Lord may use symbolism which is quite clear to the ones hearing the prophecy; for instance, to Peter (Acts 10:10-16); to Joseph’s brethren (Genesis 37:6-8) and parents (Genesis 37:9-10); to those gathered about Agabus (Acts 21:10-11).  In addition, God may keep his ongoing pledge to send teachers (Ephesians 4:11), specifically, in this case, historical theologians, to explain these matters clearly.

Heaven used a dream method also with Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:27-45), and “a night vision” with Daniel (Daniel 2:19) to get the king to acknowledge the true God, and Daniel as his trusted messenger.  A “trance” during the daytime, which consisted of a visual scene of unclean animals, and included the voice of the Lord, was given to Peter (Acts 10:10-16).  Moreover, “this was done three times” (Acts 10:16) for the purpose of emphasis, just as “the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass” (Genesis 41:32).

Realize, therefore, that the Lord may choose any of these methods in the post-Apostolic Age for a prophecy of a future event!

Likewise, remember the reason why the Lord would give a prophecy:  It would be for your benefit!  Therefore, it would be the Lord’s will that you should notice, seriously consider, investigate, and believe any prophecy which he, with a serious intent, has provided; and to reject any farcical one with the same diligence.  It would not be Heaven’s will for you to doubt the prophecy or to dismiss the evidence due to a predisposed (biased) mind.  Those who would hear a divine prophecy will have an obligation to receive it, to believe it, and to act on it.  The Lord has given prophecies so that they would be believed before the event was fulfilled, so that you could be alerted or warned, strengthened and assured during threatening times prior to the event, and during the event.  If he had wanted you to wait and see until after the event would be over and done with, there would be no point for the Lord to provide you with a prophecy.

 

By what process would Scripture want us to be assured that a prophecy would be divine?

 

Holy Writ is silent on how to be certain of a divine prophecy given outside of the Bible, such as the Hilten prophecy of Luther.  So how could and should the average person judge whether such a prophecy outside of the Bible would be divine or not? We could and should proceed as we normally would to reach a decision about a serious matter:  We will use our intellect to examine the facts, and then come to a conclusion, to a belief beyond a reasonable doubt.

First of all, we would inquire:  What would be some of the particulars about the person, or the subject, who would be receiving the divine prophecy, dream, or vision?  That is, how could and should we be confident that he would be relating to us a genuine prophecy?

Primarily, look at the integrity of the person!  In other words, in relation to the prophecy, would his intent be in good faith, or in bad?  For example, what reason would he have to lie and to deceive?  What would he gain by it?  What would be his reason for making up such a story?  Confer the infamous background of Joseph Smith and his Book of Mormon, or Mohammed and his Koran!  On the other hand, consider John Hilten, the monk, who prophesied of Luther, as mentioned earlier.  The Lord chose him, not a farmer or a mayor, to prophesy.  While God did not disclose his reasons for choosing him, Hilten was a monk and hence knew whereof he spoke.  The very monks which imprisoned him thus would be the first to hear his prophecy of the loss of their privilege and fortune through the working of the Almighty in a reformation.  In addition, Hilten spoke in a pious manner.  His tone was not vindictive.  Moreover, being a pious man, he would neither lie nor be presumptuous about knowing the future, or to make such a threat (promise) of retribution which he had no personal authority to make, and therefore, which would be unfounded, unless divine authority truly had revealed it to him, and had bound him to make it public knowledge.

Hence these are the facts to consider when establishing the case for a divine prophecy, different than one made by a divine penman in the Bible:  the integrity of the person making it; his lack of a malicious intent and motive, since there would be no fleshly gain for him; that nothing in it would be anti-scriptural, or amoral, but simply in keeping with God’s protective pledges regarding reformation, punishment, and blessing.  It should be kept in mind that the person in question had never requested to receive a prophecy.  He would be chosen by God.  When he would receive a divine announcement, it would be a surprise to him.  The contents of it, namely, the subject, the description of the event, also could not be anticipated.  Upon receiving a prophecy, the Lord will move the man to announce it publicly, quoting the Lord’s words exactly, or giving a faithful rendering of what he saw or heard in his own words.

While the persons to whom God gave his prophecies were convinced of the authentic divinity of the revealed matter, their family, their fellow citizens, for instance, did not have this internal testimony.  Therefore, secondly, they would have to find some other evidence in order to come to the same certainty that it was divine.  While the truthful character of the person to whom the prophecy originally was dispensed is an important factor, to be sure, in the gaining of the public’s trust and the disassembling of doubt, the prophecy itself will be the determining testimony as to whether the prophecy would be divine or not.  This means that the contents of the prophecy, for example, any words spoken by the Lord, or any revealed scene, will be the evidence by which the public could determine the genuineness with confidence beyond a reasonable doubt, like the evidence presented to a jury for its judgment.  That is, the purpose of the presentation of truthful evidence will be to convince the minds of a jury that it is, indeed, the truth, and that this conviction of belief could and should be exercised with confidence and certainty.  Likewise, if internal and external evidence would make the case that a prophecy would be fraudulent or man-made, this conclusion also will become obvious by the facts, and could and should induce in a person of normal intelligence a sure belief to that effect.  This is how these matters work.  Take note of this!  Indeed, this is why our judicial system relies on the tool of evidence and the agency of a jury to arrive at the correct judgment of a weighty matter.  Hence, for instance, when the gospel-believing members of Abraham’s family and his purchased slaves were told of the divine revelation to Abraham of the sacrament of circumcision, they willingly submitted to it as divine.  After the unbelieving citizens of Nineveh were told the prophecy of Jonah, they were convinced of it as divine, and, consequently, repented (Genesis 17:10-12, 23; Jonah 3:5).

Certainly, one feature of divine prophecy is its truthfulness.  Coming from God’s mouth it will describe a coming event accurately and dependably, bringing out the true crux of the matter at hand.  Hence by inserting them in his holy Word, the Lord himself testifies that these prophecies are truthful.  But what about a prophecy outside his Bible, not written by an inspired penman?  The divinity of a prophecy not contained in the Bible could be established by the words themselves.  A divine prophecy will have an authority to it that will assure and convince the hearer that it is indeed God-sent, divine truth, and not of human origin.  God has endowed the words of his prophecies with the design, tendency, and effect to produce in the reader’s mind a conviction that his prophecies are, indeed, truthful. A prophecy has as one of its purposes, the goal of producing a conviction, that is, a belief or assurance in the reader’s mind that what the prophecy has proposed will be true, because the facts contained in the prophecy which support this conclusion would be true.  Once again, the matter taken up by a divine prophecy is established as truthful by the divine words themselves.  In addition, the words of the prophecy themselves could and should convince the reader of their truthfulness.  Consequently, the reader could and should believe them.  Just the same, if a person still would doubt, it would not be the fault of the divine prophecy due to a lack of truthfulness.  Rather, it would be attributable to an insufficient trust in already sufficient evidence.

The prophecies discussed in first part of this book all have the traits of being divine.  Hence there would be no excuse not to believe any of these prophecies before it had been fulfilled.  Why have they not been believed?  Either Christians have not noticed them, or they may have noticed, but were unsure of them.

In this regard, pastors today are not preaching divine certainty.  For them it is an unexplored topic.  For example, not too long ago at a funeral, a Lutheran minister ably avoided the mention of repentance in an Antinomian sermon, in which he remarked, “I believe that….”  Yet I am not interested in what a preacher would believe.  In a sermon I would expect to hear what Scripture commands or pledges me; for only on those matters could and should I ever be divinely certain.

 

A Prophecy contains a Promise

 

  A word should be said here about the nature of divine prophecy, namely, that it contains a promise.  That is to say, in a prophecy God not only tells you in advance about what he is going to do, but he also pledges it.  Consequently, in that he is giving you a promise, you must respond accordingly; that is, you must take it to heart, accept it as truth, trust in it, and not ever treat it as a novelty!  In fact, if the prophecy would guarantee to you salvation, protection, assistance, or deliverance, you also must treat it as such, and not neglect to do so!  You must derive comfort from it, and teach and exhort others to derive comfort from it also!

For this purpose, then, the scriptural prophecies in Revelation, for example, are intended to serve the elect: not only to caution and to inform them; not only to prepare and to alert them, but especially to assure them of the Lord’s high help and deliverance; to guarantee to them that their strong Shield and Defender will not leave them helpless.  It is this aspect of the prophecies in Revelation and 2nd Thessalonians 2 that must be brought out for the comfort of our congregations.  Indeed, this is primarily why these prophecies have been written.  What good will they be, then, if you would fail to use these prophecies ahead of time as they were intended?  Remember the Lord’s rebuke to the Emmaus disciples and to doubting Thomas (Luke 24:25; John 20:27, 29) regarding their skepticism of the Easter resurrection prophecy/pledge, and the rebuke of the angel to doubting Zacharias (Luke 1:20)!

This would apply also to prophecies divinely-given outside of the Bible.  After the Apostolic Age, church history rarely reports of cases of divine prophecies.  When they would appear in the future, according to the pattern, we should expect them to concern the signs of the times (Matthew 16:2-3), and to be directed to a ruler, as the Bible records.  We see this from the instances in the Bible where God communicated with the rulers Joseph (Genesis 37:5-10); Pharaoh (Genesis 41:1-7) “God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do” (Genesis 41:25); Joshua (Judges 2:1-6); Saul (1st Samuel 28:17-19); David (2nd Samuel 21:1; 24:10-13); Solomon (1st Kings 3:5); Ahab and Jehoshaphat (2nd Chronicles 18); Jeroboam (Amos 7:10-11); Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:28; chapter 4); Belshazzar (Daniel 5); Hezekiah (2nd Kings 19:6-7); Josiah and Necho (2nd Chronicles 35:20-24); the king of Nineveh by way of Jonah’s prophecy (Jonah 3:6-9); Cyrus (2nd Chronicles 36:22); Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27:19); and Cornelius (Acts 10:3-7).  Thus it is Heaven’s providential will at times to provide rulers with divinely-supplied pledges for the spiritual or the bodily welfare of men, including the rulers themselves, or for their punishment (Daniel 4:27; chapter 5).

In addition, these prophecies/promises may involve the protection of individuals, such as the ones given to Joseph (Matthew 2:13, 22), to the wise men (Matthew 2:12), to Agabus (Acts 21:10-11), or to Abimelech (Genesis 20:3).  Just the same, many of the Lord’s protection pledges could be kept simply by sending his angels to make the necessary arrangements without having to warn an individual at all through a special prophecy.  For instance, angels were sent to Jacob (Genesis 32:1-2), to Elisha (2nd Kings 6:17), to Hezekiah and to Jerusalem (2nd Chronicles 32:21-22), to Peter and John (Acts 5:19), and again to Peter (Acts 12:7-10).    Likewise, C. F. W. Walther was saved after he was refused passage on the ship on which he had been booked.  He had to take a different ship.  Subsequently, the first ship never reached port (J. A. Friedrich, “Dr. C. F. W. Walther,” Ebenezer, editor W. H. T. Dau [Saint Louis:  Concordia, 1922], page 26). The Lord may send prophecies to individuals regarding that person’s future, such as the one to C. F. W. Walther: “Tomorrow I am going home!” or in regard to the future, spiritual safety of a congregation via an alert and warning (Acts 20:29-31; 2nd Peter 2:1).  Furthermore, like the divine prophecies of Luther that were sent to certain men, so that his appearance was foretold publicly and for the record, such as to Dante Alighieri, St. Mechtildis, John Hus, Jerome of Prague, the German Emperor Sigismund, Savonarola, and John Fleck (confer Rev. Hermann Fick, Life and Deeds of Dr. Martin Luther [Columbus, O.:  J. A. Schulze, 1878], pages 5-7), so before the arrival in the future of the human Third Messenger (Revelation 14:9-11), who will be another Paul and Luther, and will inaugurate another reformation, there should be then, in keeping with the Lord’s method with Luther, similar divine prophecies given to various men with which they would announce publicly this new reformer’s advent.  See my book, The Charismatic Movement, etc., chapter four.

 

False Prophecies

 

Naturally, the false prophecies that have been pitched at the Christian church have been forwarded by false teachers.  These plain frauds will appear predictably after some notorious political event has occurred, or whenever some political leader would have become despised, concerning which men will claim that this all was prophesied previously in the Bible, and, subsequently, will trot out some symbolism from Ezekiel, Daniel, or Revelation to support their claim.  For example, after the Fascist coup in Italy in 1922, one gentleman claimed that the Mussolini government was the frogs prophesied in Revelation 16:13.  However, whichever passage they would choose, it will be indefinite, or broad in its meaning, and will be far from stating a case at all , much less clearly and with divine certainty.  Furthermore, to capture an audience, they typically will draft pat chronological calculations, which would appeal to the orderliness of the human mind, though the Almighty does not order his acts by the human calendar.  Hence by far this template is the most common occurrence of false prophecy today; namely, excited minds are delirious with the obsession that Scripture spends its precious little space on forecasting contemporary American politics.

In addition, whenever these dire political events would transpire, those who desire to project themselves unto the public as sages, will announce that Nostradamus (died 1556) had prophesied this.  Yet the collection of his prophecies “is a treasury of unmeaning nonsense; the vaticinations are words, words, words, of doubtful manufacture and more dubious meaning, which scarcely even rattle as they fall” (George F. Holmes, “Nostradamus,” Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, editors John McClintock and James Strong [Ann Arbor:  Baker Book House Company, 1981], page 198).

Moreover, false prophecies are to be anticipated from the leaders and the members of the Pentecostal denominations, and from the charismatic groups within the mainline denominations which they intend to subvert, since, as a part of their creed, they believe that prophecies, visions, and dreams are to be expected from those who have undergone the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  For instance, once a Pentecostal woman was overheard relating a religious matter to another.  Quickly her husband interjected that God had sent him a dream the previous night, and then related a brief account of it.  Yet it was mundane.  That is, there were no biblical commands or promises mentioned. There was neither a clear metaphor from which a biblical deduction could be made, nor a pertinent case or application that could be made from his story.  It was merely a report of some random activity typical to a common dream, recounted to gain attention.

A false dream, vision, or trance which would make up a prophecy purported to be sent divinely, will be not merely untrue, but intentionally manufactured by a person of bad character in bad faith to be not true for deceptive purposes, in order to derive some personal gain.  A narrative could be judged “false” after it would be crafted deceitfully with the knowledge that it would be untrue.  Thus a statement will be “false” if it would be untrue by the person making it.  It will be a fictitious or fraudulent claim; a fraudulent representation; a mere pretense set up in bad faith and without a foundation in truth, calculated to deceive ordinary persons.  A false prophecy will be a story that is in appearance only, but not in reality what it purports to be, hence counterfeit; a subterfuge, which naturally will produce mischief (Matthew 7:16-18), and will have merely the appearance of truth.  It is that semblance or presumption of legitimate divinity designed to sustain a story line, having the appearance of a divine account, but without the substance.

A false prophecy will be a statement or an assertion known to be untrue and intended to deceive, yet purporting to be a divine prophecy.  It will not be founded in truth, but will exist only in assertion (sophistry).  It will be a willful assertion as to a matter of fact, known to the speaker to be false, namely, an untruth deliberately told for the purpose of deceiving. It will be a transgression of the second and eighth commandments.  (Confer Henry C. Black, Black’s Law Dictionary, 5th Edition [Saint Paul:  West Publishing, 1979], pages 540f., 240f.)

 

How could and should a Christian be able to distinguish between a Heaven-sent Prophecy, and a man-made One?

 

Again, as it was done with the sound method to recognize genuine prophecies, examine the integrity of the announcer of the prophecy, and then the contents of his prophecy.  Namely, would the man announcing it be moral, or immoral and amoral?  From what you would know of him, would his intent be in good faith or in bad faith?  Would he be trustworthy biblically, or would his creed be overrun with false doctrine?   Obviously, then, the prophecies of a charismatic, a Roman Catholic, or an unbeliever should be dismissed, along with those books whose titles end with “… in light of prophecy.”

So how could the average Christian discern between a charismatic prophecy, for instance, and a divine prophecy outside the Bible?  First of all, a layman will need to be genuinely converted, in order to have the regenerate eyes and mind to be capable of distinguishing competently, for a charismatic will relay an account that would promote or support charismatic teaching, or his own reputation, not biblical teaching or practice.  For example, his statements will never condemn the false doctrine of the charismatic creed, which a truly God-sent dream would do.  His story will promote and support fleshly ideas of religiousness, such as the Pharisees had, for instance, to do or to say things so as to be seen by the public to be an exceptionally religious person, instead of shunning the limelight, and praise of the people.

Nevertheless, was not a genuine prophecy of Luther given to a Roman Catholic monk, John Hilten, and to a Roman Catholic Elector of Saxony?  Yes, however, both prophecies divinely criticized Roman Catholic practice clearly, which a fraudulent prophecy would not do.

In addition, realize that false prophets commonly will predict good fortune to the country in which they would reside.  They would predict peace in circumstances where the Almighty would punish, as they did in Jeremiah’s day (Jeremiah 23:16-17); or would pander to the sinful flesh and predict a blessing where God would reform with severe law preaching.  For instance, during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 A. D., Jewish teachers inside the city argued that God ultimately would defeat the Romans by a miracle.  Therefore, they should hold out, and not surrender. However, the Son of God prophesied forty years before that Jerusalem would be destroyed by its enemies, not delivered.  Yet Jerusalem ignored his prophecy.  Hence false prophets will find acceptance of their predictions among the gullible and superstitious.

Be advised, also, that when our loving Lord gives us the soul-safety command to beware of false prophets and their teachings (Matthew 7:15-23, the Epistle for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity), he is inferring that a Christian of normal intelligence could and should be able to distinguish between true and false prophecy; that it would be possible to know and to be assured with divine confidence, which prophecy would be true, and which would be false.

For example, consider the apparition at Fatima.  If it were Lutheran children seeing this vision, and being spoken to by a being which would claim to be the Virgin Mary, they immediately would have concluded that this must be a fraud.  For instance, there would be no presence or mark of divinity to this scene, despite its supernatural occurrence.  Also they would know that Mary was a sinner in need of a Savior, not immaculate, that is, not without sin, and possessed no supernatural powers to appear on earth after her death; that urging them to pray the Rosary daily, and to advocate for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (namely, to be converted to Roman Catholicism from Greek Orthodoxy) in order to worship her, is idolatry, and a breaking of the first commandment; that a devil could transform himself into a sweet-smiling angel of light in order to deceive, take on the appearance and voice of a woman, and display feminine behavior.  This is why the devil did not appear to Lutheran children.  Roman Catholic children, however, have been raised on Mariolatry.  Indeed, people who would believe false prophecies tend to be naive and superstitious.

 

What could and should make a person divinely certain that a prophecy, dream, or vision outside of the Bible, about which he hears, would be genuinely a Heaven-sent one?

 

It will be God’s protective promise in that prophecy, for his divine pledge will induce the mind to recognize that it is divine, to understand competently what its words say, and to believe them confidently.   In fact, the protective pledge in a God-given dream, vision, or prophecy will be no less divine, genuine, truthful, certain, convincing, and worthy of trust, than the biblical ones given to Nineveh (Jonah 3:6-9), to Pilate’s wife (Matthew 27:19), or to Agabus (Acts 21:10-11).  Be certain of this!

Be advised that in the Bible, besides God’s protective promises, there are also gospel promises!  He uses these gospel pledges to induce saving-faith in their hearts, converting them at the same moment.  The protective promises are not designed for this function. The Bible clearly teaches that only the gospel pledges turn unbelievers into saved gospel-believers.

Indeed, the Lutheran dogmaticians have noted, reported, and taught that the gospel and the two sacraments exude three effective powers: the divine power 1) to induce the stubbornly sinful mind to understand clearly what the gospel words say; 2) to hand over on the spot to those hearing the gospel the very thing which is announced and promised to them (for example, freedom from guilt, John 8:32; forgiveness, Mark 2:5; peace, Luke 24:36); and 3) to induce the hearts of those who hear these pledged gifts to accept them and to embrace them by a divinely-worked act of faith.

On the other hand, the protective pledges of God in his Bible concern themselves with his provision of food and clothing (Matthew 6:25-32) and the protection and service of the angels (Psalm 91:11-12) which promote the well being of the family and of the nation (Genesis 24:7; Matthew 18:10; Daniel 10:13).  These promises also pledge national blessing to those who would repent and believe the gospel: “If my people which would be called by my name, would humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2nd Chronicles 7:14).

In this preceding pledge, and in the following, it could be inferred competently that the Lord promises to preserve his church, among other ways, by a reformation: “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

Nevertheless, the Lord threatens (pledges) not simply to withdraw his blessing, but actively to punish those who would push aside his gospel salvation: “The nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined” (Isaiah 60:12).  Indeed, properly speaking, this would not be a protective promise, but one of punishment.  Just the same, in Matthew 16:2-3, the two, the national blessing and the punishment, are connected by association.  Hence they could be termed: “the divine pledges regarding a nation’s fate.”  The two, scriptural signs of the times (Matthew 16:1-3) are these:  The one will indicate a nation’s future peace (Luke 19:42), if that nation would be repenting and believing the gospel.  The other will indicate a nation’s future punishment by war (Luke 19:44), if that nation would not be repenting and not believing the gospel.

How could a person be induced to believe a divine dream, vision, or prophecy outside of the Bible?  First of all, he would need to be or to become a Christian, for a non-Christian would consider the commands and the promises of the Holy Spirit to be “foolishness” (1st Corinthians 2:14).  To the contrary, gospel-believers have “the mind of Christ” (1st Corinthians 2:16) and “have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things” (1st John 2:20).  Consequently, the Holy Spirit will induce our minds to believe any divine, protective pledge, in or outside of the Bible.  On the other hand, non-gospel-believers have not been gifted with this regenerate capability.  For example, Pharaoh (Genesis 41:1-7), his butler (Genesis 40:9-11), and his baker (Genesis 40:16-17) were convinced that there was an important significance to their various dreams; that these portended some serious, future event, but as heathen, they were not spiritually competent to conclude that these were divinely-sent by the true “God of heaven” (Daniel 2:36).

In fact, in the New Testament Gospels, when the Lord most often talks about faith, as, for instance, “Great is your faith” (Matthew 15:28; 8:10, only twice!). or the lack of it: “How is it you have no faith?” (Mark 4:40), or why worry “about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink… what you will put on… O you of little faith” (Matthew 6:25, 30), he is talking about trust in his protective promises, and often he must scold: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31.)

Thus whether it would be a divine protective promise of a reformation given to John Hilten outside of the Bible, or a prior protective pledge in the Bible (Psalm 91:11-12) for the disciples on the stormy Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:24-26), the Lord intentionally gave these for the express purpose that they should be trusted.  However, what has been the common response?  It has been one of doubt.  In the case of Thomas, it was a “wait and see,” or “I will believe it when I would see it” skepticism (John 20:25).  In conclusion, then, we are faced, once again, with the repetitive, historical lament: “Who has believed our report?” (Isaiah 53:1.)  “God was here with his helpful promises, yet we knew it not.”

 

The Signs of the Times

 

The following, ongoing, biblical prophecy has been reserved for a special presentation at this place as a helpful prelude to what follows below it.

Again, there are further cases of divine prophecy where, after they had been fulfilled, some admitted: “The Lord was here, and even prophesied that he was here, still we knew him not,” while others in their willful blindness never knew that any divine dream or prophecy ever had been fulfilled.

For instance, another biblical prophecy, this one an ongoing and never ending one, which also is widely unnoticed, unconsidered, and even despite the weighty evidence, ignored, is the “signs of the times” (Matthew 16:1-3; Luke 12:54-56; namely, of being blessed, Luke 19:42; or of being cursed, Luke 19:44; 21:22-24).  The two, scriptural signs of the times (Matthew 16:1-3) are these:  The one will indicate a nation’s future peace (Luke 19:42), if that nation would be repenting and believing the gospel.  The other will indicate a nation’s future punishment by war (Luke 19:44), if that nation would no longer be repenting and believing the gospel.

Both of these will be continuous events until the end of time.  That is, all nations will either be in one state or in the other.  In other words, stretching back into the Old Testament, in any given country, at any given period, it will be evident whether a citizenry will be known for their repentance, like Nineveh once was (Jonah 3; Matthew 12:41), or not.  Furthermore, the Almighty expects every country to be in or to return to a state of repentance and belief.  This is why the Pharisees and the Sadducees (Matthew 16:1-3) along with the common citizens (Luke 19:41-44; 12:54-56) were scolded by the Son of God not only for their lack of recognition of this obvious state of unbelief commonly existing in their nation, but for their refusal to do anything about it.

What about America today?  Specifically, what about the laymen and their clergy? Have they taken our Lord’s scoldings seriously, and made a deduction from the obvious evidence whether our country is believing or unbelieving?  Unfortunately, this thought commonly has never crossed their minds.  Thus when American laymen would “see a cloud rising out of the west,” they could predict that “a shower is coming; and so it will be” (Luke 12:54).  Moreover, if they would “see the south wind blow,” they could deduce that “there will be hot weather; and there will be” (Luke 12:55).  “You could discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it that you could not discern this time?” (Luke 12:56.)

Likewise, the clergy today are just as negligent as the Pharisees and Sadducees in recognizing unbelief; for “when it would be evening you will say: ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening’…. You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you could not discern the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:2-3).

Indeed, remember that the Pharisees and Sadducees were unregenerate! Therefore, they did not have minds enlightened by the Holy Spirit.  Thus they did not understand Scripture rightly.  Still Christ did not excuse them for failing to recognize the punitive policy of the Almighty regarding national unbelief, since they were literate in biblical history, commands, and promises, unlike the Ninevites (Book of Jonah). Indeed, the Trinity today will not excuse us for being ignorant, doubtful, or distracted.

Just the same, why should it concern a church-going layman or clergyman that his nation would be made up mostly of unbelievers?  Because a sizeable portion of these unbelieving citizens has come from the pool of believers, who over time fell away from attending church.  Indeed, currently clergy and laymen not only are doing nothing to correct this spiritual backsliding in their congregations, but negligently are contributing to it.

Furthermore, have you ever heard of the rise and fall of the Roman empire?  There, also have been rises and falls of gospel golden ages in the church. In addition, every decline from a golden age of gospel-belief, whether it would be in the book of Judges, in the times of Elijah or Jeremiah, or in the “falling away” (2nd Thessalonians 2:3) which facilitated the rise of the papacy, would involve worldliness allowed into the church.  Likewise, it would involve the quiet but intentional omission of subjects repulsive to the sinful nature, such as sin and repentance, replaced by flesh-pleasing topics, for instance: that God loves you no matter how much you may sin.  To be sure, think!  When was the last time your pulpit rang out with the frank warning that if anyone would need to repent of his sins, you will be the one; and you ought do it here and now?  Or to have a sermon on Romans 8:13, the Epistle for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity warning, “If you would live after the flesh, you will die?” that “God draws this conclusion:  If you do not let every sin die in you, then you must die; God says to you:  You are a man marked for death! For through the love of sin you reject grace.  Your false trust in grace makes you completely incapable of any true grace; as you remain in sin so you also remain in death” (C. F. W. Walther, Standard Epistles, translator Donald E. Heck [Fort Wayne, Indiana:  Concordia Theological Seminary Press, 1986], page 332).

Realize that today is an age of public relations!  Unfortunately, the church has adopted this same worldly thinking, in order to attract and to retain members and their money by avoiding biblical sermons that demand repentance and its observable results.  Though God “commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30), the priority of congregations today is to make people feel welcome socially, not how to escape divine anger on Judgment Day. Hence churches today commonly have changed in spirit from what they were decades ago.  They no longer are biblically faithful; but socially-minded.  They are more intent on gaining the approval of the community than Heaven’s favor.  They have an outward appearance of religiousness, but not the inward kind of heart which the Bible demands.  The spiritual deterioration of the churches today is similar in kind to those congregations which were censured by God in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.  Yet the clergy and the church bureaucrats today will never admit that their congregations are or could become as bad as these.  If ever asked, they will point to their confessions, and reply: “This is what we believe.”  However, in practice, they will preach what would please the flesh, and avoid what would displease it.

For example, in some Lutheran sermon books from the early 1900’s occasional mention is made of an excommunication.  While these were not regular, neither were they unknown.  Ask any elder in a congregation when was the last time an excommunication happened in that body.  He will not be able to remember.  Search the minutes of that church’s past business meetings, and you would have to go back many decades to find the last excommunication. What would be the answer for this?  Logically, either the entire membership of that congregation has become so pure over the last decades, compared to earlier generations, that there has been no need for an excommunication, or else the church has become willfully lax in regards to the unrepentant actions of its members.  Moreover, this would not be an indifferent matter.  “As to the proper treatment of false members of the Church, Christ has laid down a plain and strict rule how to deal with them, whenever they become manifest.  This rule no visible organization of Christians has a right to disregard or set aside” (W. H. T. Dau).

Consider also the conformity to this world!  “This is a subject of the most vital importance in the present age:  nonconformity to the world.  It is through the carelessness, drowsiness, and lukewarmness of professing Christians that worldliness, instead of being cast out of the church, is entrenched in it and fostered by it.  It was always done gradually, and generally came from the Christian.  The wicked usually did not go up to him, but the Christian stooped down to them.  In this way world and church became mixed; and the leaven started, works on until the whole lump is leavened, until iniquity abounds almost as much among church people as among the wicked.  It is the result of intimacy with the world” (F. W. Adams, “Sermon from the Epistle Lesson for New Year’s Day,” Evangelical Lutheran Homiletic Magazine, Volume V, Number 1 [January, 1907], page 11f.).

To be sure, it has become popular in the Lutheran pulpit to conform to this world in regards to introducing humorous remarks at the beginning of sermons.  This tactic is borrowed from the secular speakers who have used it “to break the ice” with their audience, that is, to get their listeners to feel relaxed, and to be relieved of any apprehension.  However, this oratorical device never was used by the Lutherans in the past.  Indeed, such practice only will bring the pastor’s remarks down to the level of a secular talk, and not of a peerless “Thus says the Lord” proclamation.  The sermon must remain an urgent message from God to a dying race.  Levity only would trivialize and contradict this, for worldly tactics, techniques, and fads never have built up the church spiritually.

 

Moreover, when was the last time you heard of a sermon on the signs of the times?  that our nation once was commonly Christian, but no longer is; that in the last century there had been a golden age of Christianity, but since 1950, like the rise and fall of the Roman empire, the churches have had a “falling away” (2nd Thessalonians 2:3) from gospel belief, a “backsliding” (Jeremiah 3;12), a “forsaking” (Jeremiah 2:13), a “rejection of the counsel of God for themselves” (Luke 7:30), and a “being offended” (Matthew 13:21, 57) by the gospel.  As a result of this indicator, of this historical “sign,” God will respond to America as he responded to the Jews when he made his “signs of the times” remarks to them:  He will send an annihilating war.  Less than forty years after he gave his “signs of the times” threats, Jerusalem and the surrounding cities were destroyed in 70 A. D.  In fact, this is why the ancient church chose Luke 19:41-48 as the Gospel reading for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity, which speaks not only of God’s gracious visitation to Israel, which is described as “the things which make for your peace” (verse 42), during which the Lord sent prophets, apostles, and his Son (Matthew 23:37; 21:35-41) with the wonderful offer of heaven, but also of the Almighty’s visitation of punishment (verses 43-44), for the Lord never promised that he endlessly would offer his pardon to those who continuously would reject it, for this Sunday usually falls in August, the month in which Jerusalem was destroyed.  Thus this signs of the times text in Luke originally was written for our warning, and the ancient church especially selected it for our attention:  that if we would react coldly to God’s offered pardon, as the Hebrews did, we, too, will be visited with punishment just as they were.

Yet have you heard of any sermon warning about the upcoming, punitive war on America?  Of course not.  While clergy today will agree that the “unbelieving” sign of the time indicated that Jerusalem would be destroyed, and also, further back in time, that Nineveh would be destroyed (Jonah 3:2, 4), they will refuse to believe and preach that this prophecy of the Almighty likewise could apply to America.  They will not commit to this divinely-commanded conclusion.  If pressed, the clergy at most would take a “wait and see” position.  This is why the apostle warned that God’s earthly chastisements will “begin at the house of God” (1st Peter 4:17) because of all people, the church could and should have known better, and acted on this better  knowledge, instead of being doubtful and noncommittal (see Ezekiel 22:30-31).  However, if the typical clergy of today would be asked, “What prophesied events still would need to occur in the future?” they will reply, “The next prophesied event will be Judgment Day.”

What could and should you do?  Do not wait for the pulpits or the church hierarchy to tell you what to do!  They see no war coming.  They walk by sight, not by faith.  That is, willfully they will refuse to see the current sign of the time.  If they would have noticed it, they already would have warned about it publicly, and called for a church day of humiliation and repentance.  Indeed, the exceeding danger about this sort of sign of the time, which is the same kind about which the Almighty has warned (Matthew 16:2-3), is that you must act now to double your efforts to repent, to believe, to pray for deliverance, and to prepare.  If you would wait until you could see it (“Show me!”), it will be too late.

Martin Luther knew about the “signs of the times.”  After he observed his land’s sorry response to the resurrected gospel, he concluded biblically in 1530 in “A Treatise on keeping Children in School,” as, indeed, any average German would be expected to deduce responsibly, that a divine war of punishment would be sent.  In 1618 the terrible Thirty Years’ War began.  Up to 70 per cent of the German population perished.  It took one hundred years for that land to recover.

The Signs of the Times and Nineveh

 

What was the Lord’s purpose in sending the city of Nineveh a prophecy?  The same as it was for Pharaoh:  mercifully “to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).  The divine prophecy which Heaven directed solely at Nineveh would fall under the category of the “signs of the times” (Matthew 16:2-3), specifically, the punishment sign, of which Nineveh was not aware.  This is why our country today should take stock of the fatal, spiritual condition of our people, and produce repentance and gospel belief “to save many alive,” and to avoid the opposite.

Instead of sending a dream or vision to the ruler of this city, God commissioned the prophet Jonah to proclaim throughout the city the divine threat, which is a promise, that Nineveh would be destroyed in forty days (Jonah 3:4).  Think of it!  At that time the citizens could not turn to any book of Jonah in the Old Testament Scriptures to verify, like the Bereans could (Acts 17:11), whether or not Jonah’s words were divinely inspired, and therefore, be divinely assured by that, since the book was not yet written.  It would be the same as if in our time, a man would proclaim a threat of destruction to a city in our land.  How many hearers would take a “wait and see” attitude?  On the contrary, how many others would take the threat seriously, listen attentively to the substance, and consider the truthful integrity of the speaker?

“The word of the Lord came to Jonah… saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you’” (Jonah 3:1-2) for the purpose of inducing belief in the minds of the citizens, and fruits or results of this belief: change of heart, repentance, and change of life (Matthew 12:41).  Jonah made known to them a fact.  He declared the existence of God’s ultimatum.  There was no further evidence presented by Jonah to the citizens to induce their belief other than the plain words of threat from the Almighty.  In the Lord’s providence, his words were sufficient to make clear the truths of the matter in order to produce conviction in the minds of the people.  Therefore, there was no need for a further confirmation of the fact through other evidence to induce belief.  Heaven’s own unmistakable words were the confirmation.  Indeed, they were conclusive.  Upon hearing this threat of the Almighty, the people correctly deduced that it was the truth, as they could and should have done, as Heaven divinely required of them to do, and were convinced that they should repent.  Hence the divine teaching given to Jonah to preach had divine power to effect genuine remorse.  To be sure, this is what could and should occur every time the punishment sign of the time would be evident:  nation-wide repentance.  In fact, any gospel-believing citizen, at any time in history, could and should recognize with divine assurance (Matthew 16:3; Luke 19:42, 44) which of the two signs is then currently operative.  Similarly, Heaven expects the American Christian today to be alert to and to take seriously the current punitive sign of the time, as he would on a church day assigned for humiliation and repentance, and be divinely assured of it.

Likewise, in the case of our country, every citizen, including every layman and clergyman, could and should recognize and be sure with divine certainty that the situation today in our land is that the Almighty will punish this country with a divine devastating war.  See it!  Begin thinking in these terms!

See also the Appendix for a further presentation of the “signs of the times”

Thus be advised that the crux of the current situation in America is theological, not political!  Realize that it is not that “Plutocrats have taken control of America while most slept”! Rather, it is as Abraham Lincoln confessed, “We have forgotten God.”

“They forgot God their Savior” (Psalm 106:21).  “These things you have done, and I kept silent…. Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver” (Psalm 50:21, 22).

As a result, God has responded, as he repeatedly has threatened to do in his Bible.  God has sent lesser punishments, such as an oppressive government along with bad weather, droughts, floods, and diseases.  Until American citizens would repent of their sins and would treasure the gospel of salvation which God has pledged to them, stop their sordid backsliding, and return to live as a Christian nation once again as in their former golden age of Christianity, when God did bless them, these punishments will continue, will grow, and will get worse.  Though thousands of bumper stickers may cry out, “God bless America!” how could he when hundreds of millions of Americans reject with a vengeance what is required of them to bring down Heaven’s blessing, namely, to repent and to believe his gospel salvation?

America has turned its back on the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ which God has promised to all sinners everywhere.  Thus, the political and economic problems of this country are merely symptoms, in a sense, of a worse problem.  If you would take an aspirin for these symptoms, it will not address nor clear up the main problem.  These symptoms would only return.  The main problem is unbelief.  America must return to God through repentance and faith.  These are God’s timeless criteria.  Nothing less will do.

In October, 1946, a little over a year after the end of World War II, on a coast-to-coast radio broadcast, the speaker posed this sensational question: “Must we fight World War III?”  This radio preacher answered, “Yes, if America would continue in unbelief”; “no, if we would show repentance and faith” (Walter A. Maier, The Airwaves Proclaim Christ [Saint Louis:  Concordia, 1948], page 3f.)

Look all around you!  Listen to what is said!  America has forgotten its God.  Even such a humiliating punishment as 9/11/2001 did not provoke a nationwide repentance and return to God.  This is why you could and should be certain that a great war is coming upon this country.  It is certain, because God certainly keeps his threats.  Since America has not responded by repenting and believing after lesser afflictions have been sent it in the forms of tyrannical government, economic desperation, ideological, deceptive religious, and social oppressions, the almighty God, ruler and disposer of nations and men, will come to an end of his patience, and finally, according to his biblical practice and threats, will drop war on this land like one huge rock.

Must our country fight World War III here?

The answer will be “Yes.”

 

To be annihilated or not?

 

So would the Almighty annihilate America, as he did so many other nations in the Old Testament who rejected him, or nearly annihilate our country, as he did gospel-rejecting Judah in the Babylonian Captivity, and other lands since then as he has threatened to do?

Could we ever know?

For example, have we had in our own land a ruler such as the Elector Friedrich of Saxony, who had been given a divine dream or trance of some future, critical, divinely-sent event of which Heaven wanted him and us to be informed; the information of which the ruler normally could not know; to prepare our nation spiritually for repentance?

The Bible, of course, is silent on America by name.  Just the same, because of his great grace, and for the purposes of your preparedness and high comfort, the Lord of heaven has left an assurance by which the American citizen could and should be certain that this country will not go out of existence, but will survive.

What would this assurance be?

The Lord graciously gave to George Washington at Valley Forge an account of the future of this country.  Unfortunately, this has been still another case of “God was here with a divine prophecy, yet we knew it not.”  Namely, the clergy have not been aware commonly of this prophecy despite the internet.  If some have, they have not taught it publicly to the spiritual repentance and edification of those souls entrusted to their spiritual care.  In this account Washington is told of a great war that would come upon this country; a war in which the Republic would be pitted against all other nations; a war in which this land would not be annihilated, but, ultimately, would by God’s rescue, survive, and be victorious.  This account will be given below.

This vision showed George Washington that not only would there be a great war, but that two other wars would precede it.  In other words, there would be three, great crises that would come upon America, all of which would be in the form of a punitive war, on which the survival of the Union itself would hang in the balance.  These wars would be the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the coming great war.  To be sure, during these first two wars there were precarious times in which our Union was in danger of going out of existence as we know it.  Likewise, our land will face the same danger in the coming, third, great war.  Just the same, in this latter war, as in the first two, God will see to it that, again, out of his great mercy, the Union will survive.

Would the following vision/prophecy be truly Heaven-sent?  Examine the evidence!  Look at the facts!  Notice in the testimony of Washington that the angel’s commentary is straight-forward, plain to understand, and satisfactory.  The angel’s speech and demeanor are characteristic of pious, biblical morality.   There are no fleshly ambitions present as there would be in a man-made vision.  Likewise, in his recounting, both Washington and we easily could recognize the geography involved, and the lands concerned.  The events of war are briefly, yet aptly and unmistakably described.  Above all, the very fact alone that the first two of the critical wars ably depicted as the Revolutionary and the Civil Wars, already have occurred as the vision prophesied, is convincing evidence that could and should induce belief in any average citizen’s mind, Christian or non-Christian; that this vision is Heaven-sent, hence it is true, and a fact.  Moreover, this conviction of belief could and should exist with confidence and certainty.

 

 

George Washington’s Vision at Valley Forge

“I do not know whether it is owing to the anxiety of my mind, or what, but this afternoon as I was sitting at this table engaged in preparing a dispatch, something seemed to disturb me.  Looking up, I beheld standing opposite me a singularly beautiful female.  So astonished was I, for I had given strict orders not to be disturbed, that it was some moments before I found language to inquire into the cause of her presence.  A second, a third, and even a fourth time did I repeat my question, but received no answer from my mysterious visitor except a slight raising of her eyes.  By this time I felt strange sensations spreading through me.  I would have risen but the riveted gaze of the being before me rendered volition impossible.  I assayed once more to address her, but my tongue had become useless.  Even thought itself had become paralyzed.  A new influence, mysterious, potent, irresistible, took possession of me.  All I could do was to gaze steadily vacantly at my unknown visitant.  Gradually the surrounding atmosphere seemed as though becoming filled [sic] with sensations, and luminous.  Everything about me seemed to rarify, the mysterious visitor herself becoming more airy and yet more distinct to my sight than before.  I now began to feel as one dying, or rather to experience the sensations which I have sometimes imagined accompany dissolution.  I did not think, I did not reason, I did not move; all were alike impossible.  I was only conscious of gazing fixedly, vacantly at my companion.

“Presently I heard a voice saying, ‘Son of the Republic, look and learn’, while at the same time my visitor extended her arm eastwardly.  I now beheld a heavy white vapor at some distance rising fold upon fold.  This gradually dissipated, and I looked upon a strange scene.  Before me lay spread out in one vast plain all the countries of the world – Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.  I saw rolling and tossing between Europe and America the billows of the Atlantic, and between Asia and America lay the Pacific.  ‘Son of the Republic’, said the same mysterious voice as before, ‘look and learn’.  At that moment I beheld a dark, shadowy being, like an angel, standing, or rather floating in mid-air, between Europe and America.  Dipping water out of the ocean in the hollow of each hand, he sprinkled some upon America with his right hand, while with his left hand he cast some on Europe.  Immediately a cloud raised from these countries, and joined in mid-ocean.  For awhile it remained stationary, and then moved slowly westward, until it enveloped America in its murky folds.  Sharp flashes of lightning gleamed through it at intervals, and I heard the smothered groans and cries of the American people.  A second time the angel dipped water from the ocean, and sprinkled it out as before.  The dark cloud was then drawn back to the ocean, in whose heaving billows it sank from view.  A third time I heard the mysterious voice saying, ‘Son of the Republic, look and learn’.  I cast my eyes upon America and beheld villages and towns and cities springing up one after another until the whole land from the Atlantic to the Pacific was doted with them.  Again, I heard the mysterious voice say, ‘Son of the Republic, the end of the century cometh, look and learn’.

“At this the dark shadowy angel turned his face southward, and from Africa I saw an ill-omened spectre approach our land.  It flitted slowly over every town and city of the latter.  The inhabitants presently set themselves in battle array against each other.  As I continued looking I saw a bright angel, on whose brow rested a crown of light, on which was traced the word ‘Union’, bearing the American flag which he placed between the divided nation, and said, ‘Remember ye are brethren’.  Instantly, the inhabitants, casting away their weapons became friends once more, and united around the National Standard.

“And again I heard the mysterious voice saying, ‘Son of the Republic, look and learn’.  At this the dark, shadowy angel placed a trumpet to his mouth, and blew three distinct blasts; and taking water from the ocean, he sprinkled it upon Europe, Asia, and Africa.  Then my eyes beheld a fearful scene:  from each of these countries arose thick, black clouds that were soon joined into one.  And throughout this mass there gleamed a dark red light by which I saw hordes of armed men, who, moving with the cloud, marched by land and sailed by sea to America, which country was enveloped in the volume of cloud.  And I dimly saw these vast armies devastate the whole country and burn the villages, towns, and cities that I beheld springing up.  As my ears listened to the thundering of the cannon, clashing of swords, and the shouts and cries of millions in mortal combat, I heard again the mysterious voice saying, ‘Son of the Republic, look and learn’.  When the voice had ceased, the dark shadowy angel placed his trumpet once more to his mouth, and blew a long and fearful blast.

“Instantly a light as of a thousand suns shone down from above me, and pierced and broke into fragments the dark cloud which enveloped America.  At the same moment the angel upon whose head still shone the word ‘Union’, and who bore our national flag in one hand and a sword in the other, descended from the heavens attended by legions of white spirits.  These immediately joined the inhabitants of America who I perceived were wellnigh overcome, but who immediately taking courage again, closed up their broken ranks and renewed the battle.  Again, amid the fearful noise of the conflict, I heard the mysterious voice saying, ‘Son of the Republic, look and learn’.  As the voice ceased, the shadowy angel for the last time dipped water from the ocean and sprinkled it upon America.  Instantly the dark cloud rolled back, together with the armies it had brought, leaving the inhabitants of the land victorious.

“Then once more I beheld the villages, town and cities springing up where I had seen them before, while the bright angel, planting the azure standard he had brought in the midst of them, cried with a loud voice:  ‘While the stars remain, and the heavens send down dew upon the earth, so long shall the Union last’.  And taking from his brow the crown on which blazoned the word ‘Union’, he placed it upon the Standard while the people, kneeling down, said, ‘Amen’.

“The scene instantly began to fade and dissolve, and I at last saw nothing but the rising, curling vapor I at first beheld.  This also disappearing, I found myself once more gazing upon the mysterious visitor, who in the same voice I had heard before, said, ‘Son of the Republic, what you have seen is thus interpreted:  three great perils will come upon the Republic.  The most fearful is the third passing which the whole world united shall not prevail against her.  Let every child of the Republic learn to live for his God, his land and Union’.  With these words the vision vanished, and I started from my seat and felt that I have seen a vision wherein had been shown to me the birth, progress, and destiny of the United States” (Anthony Sherman, Words of Life:  George Washington’s Vision [1880:  Christian Workers Union, Inc.]; note: originally published by Wesley Bradshaw; copied from a reprint in the National Tribune, Vol. 4, No. 12, December 1880; on microfilm at the Sterling Library, Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut).

Appendix

 

Introduction.  In the case of our country, every citizen, including every Lutheran layman and clergyman, could and should recognize and be certain with divine certainty that the situation today in our land is that the Almighty will punish this country with a devastating war.  See it!  Begin thinking in these terms!

           Summary.  If the people of a land would demonstrate an inner repentance and faith, God will bless them spiritually and materially.  On the other hand, if a people would not display such righteousness, the Almighty will punish them.  These would be the two signs and their times, respectively.

 

Text.  Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him [Jesus] asked that he would show them a sign from Heaven.  He answered and said to them, “When it would be evening you would say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’, and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening’. Hypocrites!  You would  know how to discern the face of the sky, but you could not discern the signs of the times.  A wicked and adulterous people look for a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matthew 16:1-4).

 

Context.  The Pharisees and the Sadducees had approached Jesus in order to tempt him.  In spite of his obvious miracles that demonstrated the glory and power of his divinity, his enemies demanded that he should produce a miracle which would come down from heaven in the sight of men in order to verify for them his credentials; to demonstrate publicly that the Father in heaven would indeed be pleased with him and with his doctrine and work.  In such an important matter as recognizing and confessing the Christ, his opponents demanded to see a divine miracle which would impress their physical senses.  In doing so they rejected Scripture’s insistence that for divine certainty in spiritual matters only the commands and promises in Scripture are to be the basis.  In regards to the fulfillment of these prophecies about the Christ, the Bible wants the observer to look at the historical evidence, then to compare this evidence with what Scripture has to teach on the subject, and then to come to the only conclusion that would have divine certainty to it:  that Jesus is the Christ.  The opponents of Jesus rejected this biblical procedure.  They willfully refused to recognize him as the Christ because of their deliberate predetermined presumption that he could not be the Christ, though there was sufficient evidence, that is, signs or indicators, to the effect that he was.  See Matthew 11:5!

In response to their requirement, the Lord answered that only a wicked and spiritually adulterous people ever would extort a miracle from Heaven, and thereby tempt God, instead of relying on his clear commands and pledges in his Scriptures.  Just the same, there would be a coming miracle, he warned in verse four, that they would have to face and to address, which would be the Easter miracle (Matthew 12:40), which would validate his divine credentials.  Nevertheless, even this sign they would reject later in time, refusing to believe the physical evidence of it (Matthew 27:62-66; 28:11-15).

To be sure, if the Pharisees and Sadducees would have been asked what kind of miracle would satisfy them, upon which they wholeheartedly would acknowledge Jesus’ divine Sonship and teaching, they would not know.

Moreover, after the Pharisees and the scribes (Mark 3:22) did witness a healing miracle, they still slandered it.  Though they admitted that it was supernatural, they refused to acknowledge that it was divine.  Rather, in bad faith they contended that Satan had performed it, not Heaven.

Again, in Matthew 16:1, after the Lord was challenged to prove with a miracle that his Messiahship was divine, he replied with a reference to his coming Easter miracle.  Yet he now digressed, and followed up with a different subject in the middle verses (verses 2-3), namely, with “the signs of the times,” which are either the divine blessing or the punishment of a nation.  The punishment indicator was the one currently in force on account of the pervasive unbelief of the public.

So why did Christ introduce this different matter; for on a later occasion, for example, when he was challenged over his teaching credentials, he asked them if John’s baptisms were by personal choice, or authorized by Heaven (Matthew 21:23-27)?  To save face, his enemies gave the excuse that they were incompetent to judge, though actually they and the average layman were competent to do so.  Thus the Lord here could have chosen this same accountability technique, and then pointed out that, upon their own subsequent admission, they were incompetent to judge any sign from Heaven, therefore they were hypocrites for asking for one.  However, on this occasion he chose a different approach to demonstrate their hypocrisy.  That is, he addressed the subject which they themselves had introduced:  the matter of heavenly signs, to demonstrate to them that they willingly accepted signs in the heavens which portended future atmospheric conditions, all the while willfully refusing to discern and to accept the obvious spiritual sign pervasive among them. This spiritual sign, again, consisted of the unrepentant, gospel-rejecting creed and practice of the general public, and of the Pharisees and Sadducees themselves, who, being biblically literate, had a better knowledge of God’s punishment for such heinous activity.

Hence here is the point:  the Pharisees and Sadducees were competent to observe and to trust which of the two signs in the physical heavens, which portended of either good or bad atmospheric conditions, currently was operative.  However, they demonstrated a willful blindness and a stubborn refusal to discern the current, self-evident spiritual sign which was confirmed by the open, scandalous exhibition of unbelief by the general public:  God’s pending punishment.  Thus if they would refuse to recognize, this conspicuous spiritual indicator, which blatantly was on full display, it would be hypocritical for them to request a spiritual sign from Heaven, since they similarly would reject it.

Definition.  The editors of the various Greek-English lexicons do not elaborate on the meaning of the Greek word which is used in Matthew 16, but simply use the English word “sign” to define it.  In turn, the English dictionaries give many definitions for the use of the English word “sign,” however.  One even lists fourteen.  Which definition did the Lord mean?  Considering his references to the weather, in which the sky would give reliable evidence of what kind of weather there would be, the same definition, therefore, would have to hold true for the Lord’s more critical moral comparison.  Thus the meaning of “sign” as used in Matthew 16 could and should be this one which Noah Webster supplies:  “Any appearance or event which indicates the approach of something else” (Noah Webster’s First Edition of an American Dictionary of the English Language, Facsimile of the 1828 edition [San Francisco:  Foundation for  American Christian Education, 1999], no page).

The Lord also uses the plural form “times,” referring to two different times.  From the context, the term “time” would refer to “at this time,” “currently,” or “from this time onward.”  Hence “the signs of the times” is an expression used by the Son of God to refer to two events.  First of all, as the red sunset (Matthew 16:2) will bring good times, so the pious indicators described in 2nd Chronicles 7:14 or in Jonah 3:4-10 will bring God’s blessing of peace.  On the other hand, as the red sunrise will bring stormy times (Matthew 16:3), so any national rejection of Christ, either of his indicators (Matthew 11:5), or of his gospel, will bring down the penalty of a God-sent annihilating war (Exodus 15:3; Judges 5:8; Psalm 9:17; Isaiah 60:12; Luke 19:41-44). The term “time” would refer to “at this time,” “currently,” or “from this time onward.”

That is to say, the “sign” of growing gospel belief among the citizens of a country, alternately called “the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28), a Reformation, or a golden age in the church, is an indicator that at that “time” God will bless that people, not only spiritually, but materially as well – especially with peace.  On the other hand, under the opposite conditions, when it is plain and evident that a rejection of gospel preaching by the citizens of a land is taking place, described alternately as a “falling away” (2nd Thessalonians 2:3), a “backsliding” (Jeremiah 3:12), a “forsaking” (Jeremiah 2:13), a “rejection of the counsel of God for themselves” (Luke 7:30), or as “being offended” (Matthew 13:21, 57), this is a “sign” that God will punish this country from that “time” onward with an annihilating war.

The threat of this divine penalty is a frequent subject brought up not only throughout the Old Testament, especially in the Prophets, but in the New Testament as well, such as in Luke 19:41-44, the Gospel reading appointed for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity, and in such parables as Matthew 21:33-41 and Matthew 22:1-14, the Gospel for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity.

Biblical summary.  These two cases dealing with the two different responses of God toward men are summarized in the following passages.  “If my people who are called by my name would humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2nd Chronicles 7:14).  “If you would seek him, he will be found by you; but if you would forsake him, he will forsake you” (2nd Chronicles 15:2).  “The nation and kingdom which would not serve you shall perish, and those nations shall be utterly ruined” (Isaiah 60:12).  “All nations that would forget God will be turned into hell” (Psalm 9:17).

This latter sign is the one to which the Almighty refers in the text after he condemns his enemies for their failure to recognize its forecast of the awful punishment of national disaster which would follow as a consequence. The actual punishment of total war upon that whole nation would occur less than forty years later in 70 A.D.

Application.  This is what you could and should remember whenever you would hear the biblical phrase “the signs of the times.”  As this expression could and should be applied to America, it would mean that a forecast of total war upon the whole nation could and should be plain to see.  The sign, or evidence of this, would consist of the ongoing unbelieving testimonies from our citizens’ own mouths, and from reports of their unbelieving behavior.  As the second sign of the time could and should have been recognized by his nation in Jesus’ day, especially by the religiously-educated clergy and laity, so the second sign of the time – a devastation by war – could and should be recognized, confessed, and preached at least by the American Christian clergy and laity today who claim to have a biblical knowledge of God’s will.  Yet they have been just as blind to the second sign of the time as the Pharisees and the Sadducees were in their day.  Their response today has been silence, for they are withholding judgment on the matter until after war would break out. In other words, “Show me God’s war first, then I will believe it!”  What an indictment of American Christendom!  Is it any wonder that “the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God” (1st Peter 4:17) which could and should have known better?

To be sure, this nation is neither maintaining nor returning to the first sign of the time, that is, a golden age of repentance and gospel belief with God’s accompanying blessing of peace.  On the contrary, America has fallen away from its golden age of Christianity. The people of our land are now in the process of shaking off the shackles, as they would consider them (Psalm 107:14), of every last biblical command and promise.

Divine assurance.  The divine assurance which could and should be derived from the signs of the times is to be gotten from God’s threats and promises.  See again 2nd Chronicles 7:14, Isaiah 60:12, and Psalm 9:17!  Just the same, since the Bible states that “the anger of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men… (Romans 1:18) who, knowing the righteous judgment of God that those who practice such things are worthy of death” (Romans 1:32), and that all men have a conscience and the law of God written in their hearts (Romans 2:14-15), everyone is included under this responsibility to recognize and to be assured that in the current state of “ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,” in America, God will punish.

Therefore, in the case of our country, every citizen could and should recognize and be certain that the situation today in our land is that of the second sign of the time.  As a result, they could and should be sure with divine certainty that the Almighty will punish this country with a devastating war.

See it!  Begin to think in these terms now!

What could and should you do?  Do not wait for the pulpits or the church hierarchy to tell you what to do!  They see no war coming.  They walk by sight, not by faith.  That is, willfully they refuse to see the current sign of the time.  Indeed, the exceeding danger about this sort of sign of the time, which is the same kind about which the Almighty has warned (Matthew 16:1-3), is that you must act now to double your efforts to repent, to believe, to pray for deliverance, and to prepare.  If you would wait until you could see it (“Show me!”), it will be too late.

Act on your own!  Resolve to make the intent to do so with God’s help!  Homeschool, and then also homechurch if it would be necessary!  This is a time when your family’s lives and eternal souls are in serious jeopardy.  You have a duty to God to protect them.  Do so!

Found in North America the wolverine has this distinctive feature:  upon meeting another creature, it will attack.  It will not retreat.  It will not waver.  It always will attack.

The only way that the American people could and should survive extinction and stand victorious over their foes is never to retreat, never to waver, but always to march under the courage-giving, strength-sending gospel banner of Christ’s resurrection, treading underfoot (Titus 1:9-11) the power of their three great oppressors in the New Testament era:  The Arian, the Islamic, and the papal oppressors, by preaching far and wide the gospel report.  These three great curses, which the Almighty has announced before hand in Revelation 9:1-12 (Arian), 9:13-19 (Islamic), and 11:14 and 13:1-2 (papal), are what he will use to punish those who consider themselves to be a part of the church of Christ, but who, to the contrary, have become either prideful, worldly, or who have fallen away (2nd Thessalonians 2:3).

Fight the good fight of faith!  Put on the whole armor of God, and having done all:  you will stand!