Table of Contents

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23.  The Truth about the Rapture and the Great Tribulation

24.  Turn (9)

25.  A New Shift

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The Truth about the Rapture and the Great Tribulation

By Lanny Swaim

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I think the understanding most Christians have of so called end-times is greatly hindering the advancement of the Gospel of the Kingdom, the success of Christian businesses and the advancement of godly, conservative politics.  If you think believers are suddenly going to escape tribulation while a satanic ruler takes over and rules the world, you are not going to use your faith to overcome as you should.

 

As I have come to a better understanding of prophetic scripture in concert with the historic and prophetic significance of The Feasts of God (Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles), which is confirmed by the chord of types and shadows that run throughout the Bible; the Spirit of God has borne witness to me that there is not going to be a so called rapture or a future seven year Great Tribulation, a person called The Anti-Christ or an evil one world government. 

 

Those who teach the rapture and Great Tribulation theory also, I have come to believe, have an understanding of the so called second coming of Christ, which is in error.  What is referred to as the second coming of Christ is currently beginning to take place in a people, as He is fully formed in them (see Galatians 4:19 AMP).

 

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering [assembling] together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God shewing himself that he is God.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4

 

It has been assumed and taught that the Thessalonians thought the rapture had occurred and they had missed it.  If that were true, Paul would have missed it too.  The Thessalonians did not equate the Day of Christ or the Day of the Lord with a catching away of believers or a rapture.  Paul had not taught them any such doctrine. Rather, he taught them that the coming of the Lord was the same as the Revelation of Jesus Christ, when He would come to be glorified in His saints in that day (the Day of the Lord).  It was the same thing he taught the Colossians, which he called the mystery of Christ in them, the hope of glory (see Colossians 1:27).

 

John had not yet received what has become the Book of Revelation but the Jewish and Gentile believers had the understanding that Jesus would be revealed fully in a people during the prophesied and coming Day of the Lord.

 

Paul was a Jew.  He understood the historic and prophetic significance of The Feasts of God.  Messianic Rabbi Joseph Good, in his book, Rosh HaShanah and the Messianic Kingdom To Come, says the gospels and the epistles were written in the language of the festivals (feasts) (Forward; page i).

 

Without an understanding and working knowledge of the prophetic significance of the feasts, it is impossible to have an accurate understanding of the New Testament. 

 

Much that has been taught from the New Testament is at best partial truth and some of it is completely wrong.  The rapture/Great Tribulation doctrine falls in the completely wrong category.

 

What a great deception.  If the devil can keep believers looking for an escape from tribulation rather than becoming the overcomers we must become, he can continue to deceive the nations.  The company of overcomers who will reign with Christ during the so called Millennial Reign will not be a group of escape artists who hid out while the devil wreaked havoc on planet Earth.

 

Rather, it will be a group of overcomers who overcame great tribulation by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony (see Revelation 12:11), not considering their lives to be anything and the Kingdom of God to be everything.

 

Most who teach the rapture doctrine also teach there must be a great falling away before the rapture occurs, based on 2 Thessalonians 2:3.  This falling away is not a future event but occurred in the fourth century when the Roman Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in the Roman Empire and then, a few years later, Emperor Theodosius, who submitted much of his authority to the Catholic Pope, made it a law that every Roman citizen had to be a Christian; marrying church and state – an act of spiritual adultery divorcing the Church from her bridegroom and husband, Jesus.

 

The man of sin or son of perdition (destruction) (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3) is thought to be an individual known as The Anti-Christ.  In John’s epistles he taught about anti-Christs: 

 

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1 John 2:18

 

Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?  He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1 John 2:22

 

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

1 John 4:3

 

For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.  This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

2 John 7

 

The man of sin or son of perdition is not referring to a future world leader.  These titles could be referring to Constantine but does it not fit the job description of the Catholic Pope? While the Pope doesn’t deny that Jesus has come in the flesh, he has been granted a position equal to if not above the authority of God as revealed in scripture; replacing Jesus as the head of the Church.  He sits in the temple of God (the Church) acting as if he is God.  His word and decrees are considered to be infallible and his judgments cannot be questioned or challenged.  Under his authority is a hierarchy of authority that is totally unscriptural in their various functions and positions.

 

History also records that the first century Christians secretly referred to Nero as the son of perdition.  So this person is definitely past and not future.

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After the invention of the printing press and the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church became concerned about the possibility of their subjects discovering the truth and realizing the anti-Christ spirit of the papacy.  Francisco Ribera (1537-1591), a Jesuit doctor of theology, decided to put a futurist spin on historical prophetic scripture in order to take the focus off the anti-Christ spirit of the Catholic Church.

   

As a result of events that occurred in the sixteenth century, primarily the propagation of Ribera’s false doctrine concerning so called end-time events, we have been taught there will be a seven year Great Tribulation when The Anti-Christ will rule the world and that it will be a time of great judgment against the world.  Nowhere in the New Testament is the word tribulation used in reference to judging the world.  The New Testament scriptures that use the word tribulation are Romans 5:3, 8:35, 37; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 7:4; Ephesians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 3:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:4, 6; Revelation 1:9, 2:9-10, 20-22, 7:14.

 

There are no other scriptures in the New Testament where the word tribulation appears.  Two scriptures speak of great tribulation that came on the Jews in AD 70, when the Jewish nation and temple were for the most part destroyed.  In one scripture tribulation is pronounced on persecutors of the saints. In one scripture Jesus speaks of tribulation concerning believers that commit spiritual fornication.  All the rest of the above scriptures speak of the tribulation endured by God’s chosen elect.

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Everywhere tribulation is mentioned in the Book of Revelation refers to the refining of believers.  It is not used in relation to judgment on the world or on unrighteous people, except for the one reference to persecutors of the saints, and in many cases that too has been instigated by the religious community rather than by the world.

 

The definition of tribulation is grievous trouble; a severe trial or suffering; affliction; and it has to do with pressing, squeezing or threshing.

Pressing or squeezing is the process that makes wine out of grapes or olive oil out of olives, and threshing is the process that separates kernels of wheat from the chaff.

 

Tribulation is the process that reveals the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23) in believers, which is the character of God.  It will ultimately reveal the sons (mature believers) of God to the world (see Romans 8:19).

 

The fabrication (by Ribera) of a future seven year Great Tribulation requires a false interpretation of scripture that is based on Daniel and the Book of Revelation.

 

Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.  And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?

 

And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times and an half [1260 days based on a year being 360 days on the Jewish calendar]; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.  Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. 

 

And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days [1290 days].  Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days [1335 days].  But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

Daniel 12:5-13

 

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days [1260days].

Revelation 12:6

 

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time [1260 days], from the face of the serpent.

Revelation 12:13-14

 

And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months [1260 days based on 30 day months].

Revelation 13:5

 

Peter tells us that a day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day (see 2 Peter 3:8) but in Jewish tradition sometimes a day equals a year.  Counting a day as a year reveals the historic and prophetic timeline of the Daniel and Revelation scriptures.

 

A thorough study of history indicates that the fulfillment of Daniel 12:5-13 is not necessarily a one-time event, but rather a progression of events leading up to a final event.  I believe the question asked by the man dressed in linen who stood upon the waters confirms this.  How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?  The fact that wonders is plural, indicates more than one event. 

 

In 167 BC the Greek ruler Antiochus IV set up an alter to Zeus over the altar of burnt offering in the temple and sacrificed a pig on it.  At that time he also slaughtered many Jews and sold others into slavery.  And he issued decrees forbidding circumcision and requiring Jews to sacrifice to pagan gods and eat pork.

 

These acts certainly qualify as an abomination of desolation, prophesied by Daniel, but seem to be only a partial fulfillment of Daniels’s entire prophecy.

 

In the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, Jesus gives a prophecy (speaking of Daniel’s abomination of desolation as being future around two hundred years after the events of 167 BC that seems to still be future today, but then in Matthew 24:34 He says that all He said would come to pass before the generation He was speaking to had passed.  So it appears that the Matthew 24 prophecy came to pass in AD 70, when the Romans for the most part destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, bringing heathen images and practices into the temple courts.

 

Perhaps Jesus prophecy was also only a partial fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy.

 

History records that Justinian, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (AD 527-565) codified Roman law.  In AD 534 he recognized the Roman bishop as the head of all the churches and granted him full authority as such.

 

However, the Gothic king Theodahad was reigning in Italy.  His predecessor, Theodoric the Great had established religious freedom under his rule.

General Belisarius, under the command of Justinian, conquered the city of Rome in AD 538 and ended Gothic rule.  Vigilius became the new Catholic Pope, replacing the pro-Gothic Pope Silverius, who was exiled.

 

Justinian’s decree in AD 534 of establishing the Pope as head of all churches actually took effect in AD 538, giving the Pope the authority to dictate truth and punish heretics.

 

It ended in 1798 when Napoleon’s General Berthier invaded Rome. Rome was declared a republic; the Pope was imprisoned and a new Pope installed under Napoleon's authority, which ended papal primacy. The primacy law lasted exactly 1260 years.  The imprisoned Pope soon died, which is the deadly head wound of Revelation 13:3.

 

The abomination that caused desolation (see Daniel 11:31, 12:11, Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14) was the papal primacy that had replaced Jesus as the head of the Church (Jesus represented by the daily sacrifice).

 

And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice (a type and shadow of Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice), and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

Daniel 11:31

 

Revelation 12:6, 13-14 speaks of a woman (the true Church) who fled into the wilderness to a place prepared by God, where the true Church was preserved even though she was persecuted for 1260 days/years.
 

Revelation 13:5-6 speaks of a beast that makes war with the saints and overcomes them for 42 months (1260 days/years).

 

Foxes Book of Martyrs recognizes numerous remnants of true believers during this 1260 year period that were tortured and killed by the Catholic Church.  In the archives of the Catholic Church is documentation that at least twenty-five million people were killed by the Catholic Church, being accused of heresy.

 

Daniel 12:11 speaks of 1290 days.  So why the discrepancy?

 

In AD 503 an ecclesiastical council was held in Rome.  This council issued a decree declaring the Pope to be judge as God’s vicar and that the Pope himself could be judged by no one.

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Clovis, the first king to unite the Franks under one ruler, converted to Catholicism.  He led numerous campaigns to subdue kingdoms hostile to the papacy and was instrumental in establishing the Pope as the head of the Roman priesthood, usurping the priestly work of Christ and establishing another system of mediation in its place.  Clovis’ efforts came to a climax during the period of AD 503 to AD 508.  From AD 508 until 1798 when Napoleon did away with papal primacy is 1290 years.

 

So we can say the beginning of papal primacy took place in AD 508 but became law in AD 538.  Hence, the two periods of 1290 years and 1260 years when papal primacy, which is the abomination of desolation was in existence.

 

A confirmation of this can be found in the numerical value of the Hebrew word ThRPIM, which means idols or the house of God.  That value is 1290.  Amazing!

 

A third period in addition to the 1290 days/years and the 1260 days/years is mentioned in Daniel 12:12: 1335 days/years.  The 1335 day/year period began at the same time the 1290 day/year period began and ended in 1843.  William Miller, a Baptist preacher who experienced numerous changes in his doctrinal beliefs during his lifetime, predicted that Jesus would return in 1844, based on the 1335 days/years number.  He changed the actual date of his prediction more than once and then admitted he had been wrong but still believed the event was at hand.  There are still those who sympathize with his beliefs today even though much time has passed proving his prophecies to be incorrect.

 

Realizing the events prophesied in Daniel have only been understood after the fact, I think it is safe to reason they can only be understood after the fact.  Miller’s speculation about the 1335 days/years was just that; speculation.  It was an intellectual exercise that proved to be wrong.  Those who are looking for a future seven year Great Tribulation are also partaking in an intellectual exercise that is no more than speculation; not realizing the events they are speculating about have already come to pass.

 

The Amplified Bible makes it a little clearer than the KJV that the so called Great Tribulation took place during the period from 508 until 1798 (1290 days/years).

 

And from the time that the continual burnt offering [a type and shadow of Jesus, the continual and eternal sacrifice] is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days.  Blessed, happy, fortunate, spiritually prosperous, and to be envied is he who waits expectantly and earnestly [who endures without wavering beyond the period of tribulation [the 1290 days] and comes to the 1,335 days!

Daniel 12:11-12 AMP

 

Even though William Miller was wrong in his speculation, 1335 years from 508 still puts us at 1843, which was a very significant year for the Jewish people.

 

1843 was a time of great persecution of Jews in Russia while in Germany the Jewish population was seeking political freedom from the German government; considered to be Christian and anti-Semitic.

 

In 1843 Bruno Baver, a German philosopher, published his book, The Jewish Question.  Baver proposed the Jews give up their Jewish consciousness in order to be accepted by and into German society, which although considered to be Christian, he thought should be totally secular.  Baver was against all religion.

 

That same year Karl Marx wrote a response to Baver’s book entitled, On the Jewish Question.  The German version was published the next year in Paris.  Marx’s writing went beyond his belief that all religion was evil to include capitalism.  He saw Jews and Christians as being capitalists and therefore a hindrance to his communistic views.

 

Jews first came to what would become the United States in 1654.  By 1825 there were about 4500 Jews in the US.  In 1843 B’nai B’rith International was founded primarily to help Jews migrate to the US.  Today the organization is in 50 countries with a focus on unifying Jews wherever they are.

 

Between 1880 and 1924 two million Jews came to the US.  From 1924 until 1945 limitations on immigration made it harder for Jews to enter the US. 

 

The rise of Nazi Germany in 1933 began a series of events that resulted in the death of six million Jews.  As a result of the Holocaust, Jews became determined to return to Palestine and establish for themselves a homeland; never again to find themselves at the mercy of a monster such as Hitler.

 

The Holocaust also prompted the US to relax restrictions on immigration and allow Jews to migrate in large numbers to the US once again.  At the time of this writing, it is estimated that there are 13.3 million Jews worldwide with 6.5 million living in the US.

 

In 1948 Israel was granted the right to exist as a nation and in 1967 took possession of the entire city of Jerusalem for the first time since the Roman occupation.  1843 seems to be a line of demarcation on the timeline of history concerning the Jewish people that eventually resulted in the re-establishment of the nation of Israel.

 

While the 1260 and 1290 year periods have much to do with the Catholic Church and its persecution of the true Church, the 1335 year period seems to shift focus to the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.  Many if not all of the prophetic scriptures concerning Israel also have an application for the Church (spiritual Israel).  Perhaps in many cases the Church is the greater application of prophetic scripture with natural Israel being the parallel.  I think the different prophetic time periods here confirm that reality.

 

While 1843 seems to have great significance for the Jews it also has significance for the Church.  Daniel 8:13-14 gives us insight into this truth:

 

Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? 

 

And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

 

So what is the significance of the 2300 days?  It has to do with Daniel’s 70 weeks (see Daniel 9:24-27), which began with the decree issued by Atraxerses to rebuild Jerusalem in 457 BC.  2300 days/years from 457 BC is 1843!

 

The cleansing of the sanctuary has to do with the rebuilding of the first century apostolic Church that had been non-existent during the anti-Christ papal primacy.

 

It wasn’t long after 1843 that significant strides toward the restoration of the Church occurred with the Welsh Revivals of 1859 and 1904 and then the Azusa Street Revival of 1906.  In the mid-twentieth century the Charismatic Movement continued to move the church forward as have other revival movements, some well-known and some not so well-known.

 

Today the worldwide house church movement is accelerating the restoration of the first century Church and rapidly moving us toward the completion of the Church as we transition from the Church Age into the Kingdom Age, with the dawning of a new day (see 2 Peter 3:8), which is the seventh millennium since creation.

 

God is not only precise concerning the types and shadows, the prophetic time periods and the Theomatics (mathematics and number significance) of the Bible; there are layers of each and different applications of each that is confirmation with scripture proving scripture.  That’s why we sometimes fall into error or partial truth when we take one scripture reference or even several scripture references out of context and run with them.  We must study to show ourselves approved (see 2 Timothy 2:15).  And I should add that it takes more than an intellectual study.  While our intellect is definitely involved, truth must be revealed by the Holy Spirit.

 

It is also extremely interesting to me that God not only uses the Hebrew calendars, but has made provision for the Gregorian calendar, the two being intertwined as prophetic scripture is playing out on the timeline of history.   

 

Nowhere does the Bible actually speak of a seven year Great Tribulation.  The assumption of a seven year tribulation (which began with Ribera in the sixteenth century) comes from Daniel’s seventy weeks. 

 

Daniel 9:24 speaks of 70 weeks of years by applying the Jewish formula of a day equaling a year, which the Amplified Bible makes clear.  70 weeks of years equals 490 years.  In Daniel 9:25 we learn that Jesus would come after 7 weeks of years plus 62 weeks of years (69 weeks of years).  Daniel received this information during the Babylonian captivity.  Atraxerses’ decree to rebuild Jerusalem was issued in 457 BC (see Ezra 7:12-13).  Using the Jewish year of 360 days, 7 weeks of years plus 62 weeks of years equals 483 years, which was fulfilled in AD 27 when Jesus was baptized by John and began his ministry.  This began the seventieth week of years.

 

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Daniel 9:27 

 

The midst of the week in this scripture is referring to 3½ years.  From the time of Jesus’ baptism until his crucifixion was exactly 3½ years.  At that time the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom, signifying that the Old Testament sacrifices no longer had any significance; Jesus being the final and ultimate sacrifice.

 

Another 3½ years brings us to the end of Daniel’s 70th week.  In AD 34 Stephen was stoned to death and a great persecution began.  Many of the Jewish Christians were scattered throughout the Roman Empire and the Gospel was taken to the Gentiles.

 

The persecution that began in AD 34 ended Daniel’s 70 weeks of years that ran consecutively rather than with an interruption the futurist use to explain the so called Great Tribulation, which they think has not yet happened.  That persecution signified the change of focus from the Jews to the nations (Gentiles) for the spreading of the Gospel, which ultimately led to the death of the apostolic Church in the fourth century and the rise of the anti-Christ Roman Catholic Church; bringing about persecution that made the AD 34 persecution pale in comparison.  

 

The future and destiny of Israel is found in Romans 11:26.  All Israel shall be saved.  God has not forsaken Israel nor has he replaced Israel with the Church.  Rather, Israel and the Church will be one in Christ (see Ephesians, chapter 2).

 

The future and destiny of the true Church, the Body of Christ is glorious, becoming without spot, wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish (see Ephesians 5:27), having been perfected (see Ephesians 4:11-16).

 

The future of the world is Acts 3:21 and Revelation 11:15; the restitution of all things when the kingdoms (nations) of this world will become the kingdoms (Kingdom) of our Lord Jesus and his anointed ones.

 

We must loose this doom and gloom, escape mentality so prevalent in the Church today and focus on overcoming.  The future of Israel, the Church and the world depend on it.  And overcome we will because ultimately the future of Israel, the Church and the world has been settled from the foundation of the world. 

 

Everything is going exactly according to plan as will be the case for ages to come; world without end.  Amen (see Ephesians 3:21).

 

Having said all that, let’s look at one more confirmation of the meaning of the 1290 and 1335 days/years:

 

Utilizing one of the dividing principles in Theomatics we have:

1290 –> 1 + 2 + 9 + 0 = 12
1335 –> 1 + 3 + 3 + 5 = 12

 

So, for the numbers 1290 and 1335 the results after being divided and then added together are the same, being 12.  Twelve in scripture represents government.  The historic and prophetic events recorded in Daniel and Revelation have brought us to the present time.  History is about to witness the fulfillment of Isaiah 9:6-7:

 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.  (emphasis added)

 

The only one world government I am looking for is the fulfillment of Revelation 11:15, when the nations of the world come into submission to the King of kings and Lord of lords.  While there will be and already is much resistance to this reality, that resistance is already defeated; their demise sealed at the cross of Christ and His resurrection, and accelerating in this seventh day (millennium) of/since creation, which is the third day (millennium) of the Church.

 

The great tribulation many of us have been experiencing is but the judgment that begins at the house of God (see 1 Peter 4:17), working in us the perfecting maturation, enabling us to be prepared and positioned to advance the Kingdom of God, literally bringing it in Earth as in Heaven to a greater degree than ever before, and ultimately, completely.

 

Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day [millennium of the Church] I shall be perfected.

Jesus in Luke 13:32

 

When Jesus was resurrected and walked out of the tomb on the third day after the crucifixion, His body still had the scars of the crucifixion in it, not yet being perfected.  His body (the Body of Christ) will be perfected in this third day (millennium) of the Church, ultimately bringing about the restitution of all things (see Acts 3:21).

 

Ekklesia is the Greek word translated as Church.  Ekklesia means called out ones and a governing or legislative body.

 

As the Lord’s Ekklesia, our function is to not only change the world, but to take over the world, not by force of coercion, but rather by changing the hearts and minds of people, ultimately bringing about a convergence of Heaven and Earth.

 

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as in Heaven (see Matthew 6:10 & Luke 11:2).

 

Surely we were born for such a time as this!

 

All glory to God! 

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Turn (9)

By Lanny Swaim

 

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (emphasis added)

 

But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity: but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.  So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

Ezekiel 33:6-7

 

The vision I have been given for networks of house churches connected into apostolic hubs, will sustain the greatest of all spiritual awakenings, which has already begun.

 

I was given this vision through a series of events, much revelation of scripture, the dreams and visions of numerous people, and two night visions of my own in which Jesus appeared to me.

 

I know the United States of America has been raised up by God to spread the Gospel of the Kingdom throughout the earth, and I am convinced that God is not nearly finished with our nation yet, because our purpose is not yet complete.

 

The USA’s finest hour is upon us, and will unfold hand in hand with the greatest of all spiritual awakenings.

 

The things I have pointed out in this series of teachings entitled “Turn,” are areas where I believe the Ekklesia needs improvement.  You may not agree with all I have said, but we are still in this together, and we should continually seek the mind of God as we are led into all truth.

 

I am very much aware there is a remnant of the Body of Christ today who are seeing the Kingdom much clearer than most, which greatly encourages me.

 

God has always started with a remnant, and all it takes is a remnant seeking truth and obeying God to lead the way for others and bring about change.

 

This remnant has been severely tested and tried as God has been preparing and positioning them for greatness in His Kingdom, as was the case with Joseph and so many others in the Bible.

 

We of this remnant are the chosen few, forerunners of the many who are called (see Matthew 20:16).

 

At times the path we are walking has seemed lonely, with few by our side, but as more are seeing the Kingdom and God is connecting us together, that is changing.

 

We are becoming a mighty army, going forth to do battle, overcoming evil and the evil one, bringing about a convergence of Heaven and Earth.

 

We are those Isaiah spoke of, and we are in a moment in history that he also spoke of.

 

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Isaiah 40:3-5

 

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.  And the Gentiles [nations] shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Isaiah 60:1-3

 

Like Ezekiel, we are the watchmen blowing the trumpet, sounding the alarm, warning and preparing the Ekklesia for that which lies just ahead – the greatest spiritual awakening the world has ever known, when the nations will come to the light and the brightness of our rising, literally changing the world; no less than a total convergence of Heaven and Earth.

 

Surely we were born for such a time as this!

 

All glory to God.

 

Amen.

​

A New Shift

By Lanny Swaim

 

Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Hebrews 10:7 quoting Psalm 40:7-8

 

Like numerous others in eastern North Carolina, for several years I have been aware of a prophetic word given by Derek Prince in Jacksonville, NC on April 6, 1975:

 

I have found favor with you here in eastern North Carolina.  I will personally visit you.  There will be a revival greater than that of the great Wales Revival at the turn of the century [20th Century].  There will be kings and leaders who will come from north and south and east and west to study the eastern North Carolina phenomenon.

 

As a keeper of this prophecy, I asked the Lord one day, “What is the phenomenon?”

 

Very quickly He answered me saying, “It is my glorious Church, built according to My blueprint, and functioning according to My plan.”

 

The revival Prince prophesied will not only be greater than the Welsh Revival of 1904, it will never end, unlike the Welsh Revival and others of the past.  It will be the beginning of the completion/perfection of the Church, which will literally change the world.

 

Recently I was given a book by some friends in Pennsylvania, entitled The Seed of a Nation, by Darrell and Lorrie Fields.  I had gotten about half way through the book the first time I read it when I heard the Lord say, “The revival Prince prophesied for eastern North Carolina cannot happen until it begins in Pennsylvania, because Pennsylvania is the seed of the nation.

 

William Penn’s vision was to establish a political model of the Kingdom of God on Earth as in Heaven, and he called Pennsylvania a holy experiment, believing that God would make it the seed of a nation.

 

History confirms that Pennsylvania did become the seed of our nation.  During the American Revolution, York was the temporary capital of the Continental Congress, with the Articles of Confederation being drafted and adopted there.

 

In November of 2018, in cooperation with the York Aglow Chapter, I held a meeting in York to pray for revival in Pennsylvania and throughout the United States.

 

In that meeting I led a time of praise and worship, and we experienced the manifested presence of the Lord among us.  I then brought a message after which we broke up into small groups to pray and share as the Spirit led.  Then we came back together and one person from each group shared with the entire group what had taken place in their group.

 

I left that meeting refreshed by the presence of the Lord, and by the time of fellowship and ministering to one another.  But I had no overwhelming inward witness that we had impacted the area, the state of Pennsylvania or the nation for revival.

 

The following morning I attended the regular Aglow meeting held in the same room.  Teresa Greco was scheduled to lead worship at that meeting.  I had not met Teresa prior to that meeting.

 

The following is Teresa’s account of what happened that morning as she entered the building and during a time of prayer before the meeting began:

 

As I entered the gathering room before the Aglow meeting, I sensed that something powerful had taken place in that room. There was a sweet, but strong presence and anointing lingering. I went to a classroom to pray with some others prior to the Aglow meeting, and as we started to pray, that sense greatly intensified. As one person started praying, I saw a very large white lion rise up and leap from the meadow on the north side of the building. It was wearing a white fur robe with thick spotted fur edges, a golden crown and was holding a golden scepter with a red stone on the tip. As it leapt, it gave an extremely loud roar that permeated the atmosphere, sending shock waves across the sky. After it had crossed the roof of the building, it kept on flying across the city of York and disappeared. His roar broke something loose in the heavenlies and cracked through a layer covering the atmosphere over the city. It was very powerful, and real. It took me a while to come back into the physical realm after seeing it.

 

Needless to say, Teresa’s experience and what she saw that morning confirmed to me that we had accomplished our mission the night before.

 

When I returned to Pennsylvania in May, everywhere I ministered I brought a message about a great awakening coming to the United States and the world; an awakening which must begin in Pennsylvania before it can spread to the rest of the United States.

 

And I held another meeting in corporation with the York Aglow Chapter, much like the first one in November of 2018.

 

During that trip I spent a few days staying with John and Teresa Greco and attended a home meeting in their house.  Another friend, whom I had met on an earlier trip to Pennsylvania, attended that meeting.  He mentioned a meeting he had planned to have at his house in June, but then asked John and Teresa if he could instead have it at their house, to which they consented.

 

He then told me of a lady that was coming from Altoona, Pennsylvania to that meeting, and he said to me that he felt I should meet her.  So about three weeks later I made another trip to Pennsylvania.

 

We met in John and Teresa Greco’s home on Saturday afternoon, June 22, 2019.  There were ten of us present in the room that day, including the lady from Altoona.

 

I have never been in a meeting quite like that one.  It lasted for about six hours, which seemed like a few minutes.  The Holy Spirit was continually, powerfully present in that meeting, with no ebb and flow but a progression toward a crescendo, which I don’t think we entered into the fulness of.  Not that we fell short of the goal of that meeting, but rather that we set something in motion that will continue until it encompasses the entire Earth. 

 

As the meeting got underway, the lady from Altoona spoke prophetically that we were sitting under the Council of Heaven (they were right above us), and that they were writing everything taking place in that meeting while at the same time, everything taking place in that meeting was already written and the Council of Heaven was reading it as it was taking place, in a sense actually orchestrating the meeting, even to the extent that the conversation of the meeting was more than our words, it was their words, which were written in the volume of the book.

 

At one point I said that I felt like we were in such a holy place and in such a holy event that we shouldn’t even be speaking but just sit there in silence, being a part of the moment in the most awesome manifested presence of God I have ever experienced.

 

And yet, what was spoken that day was necessary and prophetic, being written and having been written in the volume of the book.

 

During the meeting it was prophesied that prophecy is no longer going to be so much about someone standing up and saying, “Thus saith the Lord,” as we will actually become prophecy.  Our very lives will prophesy of that which is happening and that which is coming.  We will be made examples of the Word of God, of the purposes of God, of the love of God, to the extent that volumes will be spoken without a word being spoken.

 

To document everything that was said in that meeting would require the writing of a book, which is not my intent with this report.  Rather, my mission is to document the overall purpose and accomplishment of that meeting.

 

During the meeting it was prophesied to me that I am blessed to be doing what I am doing (concerning ministry).  I needed to hear that.  Often I have seen what I do as more of a burden than a blessing.

 

While praying into that prophecy after the meeting, I was led to Psalm 65:4.

 

Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.

 

Most of those attending that meeting realize that we were chosen to be in that meeting and to be a part of the purpose of God for that meeting.

 

The Lord quickened to me during the meeting that what we were doing was comparable to what our founding fathers did during the Continental Congress that was held in York during the American Revolution, when the Articles of Confederation were drafted and adopted.

 

What our founding fathers did effected future history forever, not only establishing a nation but literally changing the world for future generations.  They were operating in the natural realm but were backed by the spiritual realm. 

 

What we did on Saturday, June 22nd, 2019 also has impacted future history forever, which will lead to the reestablishment of our nation as a Constitutional Republic and leader of the free world, literally changing the world for future generations.  The difference is that we were operating in the spiritual realm and by doing so, changing the physical realm.

 

That meeting was a one of a kind meeting, with a very specific purpose, and the mission was accomplished.

 

While it was a one of a kind meeting, it was the beginning of additional meetings that will continue the purpose of that meeting, just as there were other meetings and documents that established the United States of America.

 

I suspect that each meeting will be different from the first but a continuation of the first.  But what was born that Saturday afternoon was more than meetings.  It was the birth of a movement that will entail the greatest awakening the United States and the world has ever known, which will include a new reformation of the Church, and ultimately the restitution of all things.

 

During and since that meeting I have felt enlarged on the inside, an experience comparable to and perhaps even greater than when I was first born again and baptized with the Spirit.

 

While much will be done and accomplished as the result of that meeting plays out, the ultimate goal of that meeting is not about doing, but rather about being.  The playing out of the mission is about who we are becoming, individually and corporately as the Body of Christ, which will ultimately and literally change the world.

 

So, the revival that Prince prophesied for eastern North Carolina in Jacksonville, NC on April 6, 1975 has begun in Pennsylvania, and can now find fulfillment in North Carolina and throughout the United States, impacting the entire world.

 

Interestingly, the same day of Prince’s prophecy in eastern North Carolina the same word was given in the Tidewater area of Virginia by someone else, only the Tidewater word said the revival would take place in the Tidewater area. 

 

This is an indication that this revival, which will also be the third Great Awakening in the United States, will happen in many different places throughout the country.

 

Surely we were born for such a time as this.

​

2024

The Year of the Open Door

 

There are currently numerous prophecies about the year 2024 being the year of the open door.  So the question becomes, “What exactly does that mean?”

 

Let’s take a look at what an open door actually is, and at what it means for the present time.

 

In the Book of Revelation John saw an open door in Heaven and was immediately in the Spirit.  But this was the second in the Spirit experience he had as he was receiving revelation that day on the Island of Patmos.

 

So a reasonable question to ask would be, “What is the difference between John’s first in the Spirit experience and his second in the Spirit experience?”

 

We are told about his first in the Spirit experience in Revelation 1:10:

 

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet…

 

As a side note, the Lord’s day is a wrong translation. I suspect the translators didn’t know what to make of the actual translation and misinterpreted it. 

 

The literal translation is the Emperor’s day.  A thorough study of the Book of Revelation reveals that it was written prior to AD 70 while Nero was the Roman Emperor.  It was believed that Roman Emperors became gods after they died but Nero had decided he was already a god before he died.

 

According to historical accounts, Nero declared one day each year to be the Emperor’s Day, and on that day everyone was to bow down in reverence to him.  John refused to do that and as a result was sentenced to die in Rome by being thrown into a vat of boiling oil, which didn’t hurt him.  So he was exiled to Patmos, which was also considered to be a death sentence since there was no food supply on Patmos.  However, John miraculously survived Patmos and was later released to live out the rest of his life in Ephesus.

 

So, it was on the same day of the year that John had refused to bow down to the Roman Emperor Nero that he received The Revelation of Jesus Christ.  It’s like God was saying to Nero, “Let me show you who the real God is.”

 

We are also told that in both of John’s in the Spirit experiences he heard a voice like a trumpet talking with him.  This is significant.  Trumpets were used in ancient Israel when an important announcement was to be made (a call to celebrate the feasts/a call to war/etc.).

 

The Feast of Tabernacles is a three part feast, which begins with the Feast of Trumpets.  The Feast of Trumpets is announcing (prophesying) the coming Feast of Tabernacles.  So we can reason that the trumpet voice in both of John’s in the Spirit experiences was speaking prophetically to him.

 

Now let’s look at John’s second in the Spirit experience:

 

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.  And immediately I was in the Spirit…

Revelation 4:1-2

 

John’s first in the Spirit experience was a view of seven churches in Asia from the Earth realm, which I call the second heaven view.  The second heaven is the atmosphere around the Earth.  From this viewpoint Jesus was dealing with situations in the churches, some good but mostly bad.  And the bad situations came with a warning concerning what would happen if they didn’t repent.

 

But John’s second in the Spirit experience began with an invitation to enter the third Heaven realm and see a different view.  Actually, an eternal view.

 

In Revelation 4:1, after this is translated from the Greek words,meta tauta.  Meta means in the midst of.  Tauta means these things.

 

These things refers to John’s second heaven experience.  So he was about to be shown his second heaven experience from the viewpoint of the third Heaven, which is the eternal viewpoint where the end can be seen from the beginning.

 

Door in Revelation 4:1 is translated from the Greek word thura and literally means a portal.  The word portal is often used to speak of an entrance into another realm.

 

So a better translation of Revelation 4:1 would be:

 

In the midst of these things I looked and behold, a portal was opened in Heaven.

 

A window allows us to look into another realm. A portal invites us to enter another realm.

 

John, who had just been shown the second heaven viewpoint was now being invited into the third Heaven to see from the third Heaven viewpoint.

 

The third Heaven viewpoint overrides or to put it in modern day computer language, overwrites the second heaven viewpoint.

 

So, prophetically speaking, in 2024 we are being invited to enter and see from the eternal third Heaven viewpoint, which will change the way we read scripture and see the Kingdom.  And this will introduce us to a much more intimate relationship with the Lord.

 

Surely we were born for such a time as this.