10/01/2004 - The Book of Revelation - Part 24 The New Vine



The Book of Revelation

Part 24

The New Vine

Date: 10/01/2004

Issue No. 193

In Revelation 16 we are told of seven angels who are given seven bowls of wine to pour upon various places in the earth. Tabernacles, or Booths, was a seven-day festival in which the high priest was to offer 70 bullocks over a period of seven days, along with a drink offering of wine each day. But the priests also poured out a pitcher of water along with the wine during this feast. The water was poured into a pipe on the right side of the brazen altar, and the wine was poured into a pipe on the left side.

And so, as a sign of what we believe God has been doing since the year 2000, I have been led by the Spirit to pour out water and wine in a similar manner each year on the seventh day of Tabernacles. This is simply an act of faith on my part, done in the presence of many witnesses. I do not claim to cause anything by these acts. I merely bear witness in the earth to what I believe God is doing in the heavens. If God is not really doing these things in heaven, then my earthly “witness” is just a waste of wine.

1. The First Bowl: 2000-2001 A.D.

The first bowl of wine-judgment was directed against the economic system of Mystery Babylon. It was to be poured out upon the “earth,” which is a reference to the beast that comes from the earth in Rev. 13. That beast is described as an economic beast. We wrote of this in Part 12 and 17 of our current study. Rev. 16:1, 2 says,

1 And I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth. 2 And the first angel went and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.

The angel doing this work is the Redemption Angel. The idea of redemption has to do with economics—that is, redemption from debt (sin) and from the debt-money economic system that has subjected the world to bondage particularly since 1913-14 (the Federal Reserve Act). Recall that this was 2,520 years after the original Babylon became an empire in 607 B.C.

Babylon then conquered Jerusalem in 604 B.C., and 2,520 years later comes to 1917, when two historic events happened: General Allenby took Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire to prepare the way for the Israeli state; and Lenin—with the financial help from New York Jewish banker, Jacob Schiff—took over Russia and began the era of communism and socialism.

Russia then began to be set free precisely 70 years later in 1987 when President Gorbachev announced a new course for the nation in a speech before the Supreme Soviet. This 70-year period marked the end of an “iron yoke” era (i.e., the iron curtain) of the world’s captivity, and the Soviet Union began to disintegrate.

Nonetheless, these new world rulers kept us under the “wooden yoke,” as described in Jer. 28:13. That is, we were allowed to remain in our own land, as long as we submitted to its authority. And so, Mystery Babylon refused to let the world go free after its 70-year captivity, even as the original Babylon refused in Jer. 50:33, 34,

33 Thus says the Lord of hosts, The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well; and all who took them captive have held them fast, they have refused to let them go. 34 Their Redeemer is strong, the Lord of hosts is His name; He will vigorously plead their case, so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

This refusal to allow the people of the earth their Jubilee is the reason why the seven bowls of wine and judgment are necessary. These are divine acts of the “Redeemer.” It is not meant to destroy the earth, but to bring judgment upon the oppressors of the earth, so that the people might be set free to enjoy their “rest” in the millennial Sabbath that lies ahead.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average in the stock market peaked at 11, 722.98 on January 14, 2000. Even those numbers seem significant, because 11 indicates dissolution and disintegration; 7-22 on the Hebrew calendar is the date of the last great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, and 98 years is a period of two Jubilees.

The economy in America essentially stopped growing in the year 2000, but it was only after the first bowl was poured out (Oct. 21, 2000) that the markets began to crash. By March 22, 2001 it was down 20% from its high to 9,389. I had advised people at Tabernacles of 2000 that if they owned shares of stock, they should consider getting rid of it. Some did, and some regretted that they did not.

The effects of this bowl of judgment seemed to climax on September 11, 2001, just before the second bowl of wine was to be poured out upon the “sea.” The destruction of the Twin Towers on 9-11-01 was a huge blow to our economic system and was also a symbol of the divine judgment against the Tower of Babel.

For those who want more details of the significance of this event, see my web site: gods-kingdom-ministries.net. Under “Articles and Poetry,” see the article entitled: “The Beginning of Judgment—Sept. 11, 2001.”

So the year from October 2000 to October 2001 proved to be very significant from an economic standpoint. There is no doubt that the world noticed the effects of the Angel’s bowl of wine. The resulting “malignant sore” exposed the internal toxic condition of the whole body. While no one likes to have sores, and they can be quite painful, nonetheless, they are part of the solution to the spiritual disease pervading the earth.

But this was only the beginning of Babylon’s judgment and the earth’s redemption. The economic system did not completely collapse. There were yet six bowls to be poured out in Rev. 16 before the full collapse of Babylon is portrayed in Rev. 17-19.

2. The Second Bowl: 2001-2002 A.D.

The second bowl of wine-judgment was directed against the religious system of Mystery Babylon. It was to be poured out upon the “sea,” which is a reference to the beast that comes from the sea in Rev. 13. That beast is described as a religious Roman beast. We wrote of this in Part 10 of our current study. Rev. 16:3 says,

3 And the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died.

It is perhaps not coincidental that the Roman Catholic Church calls itself “the Holy See.” Scripture often uses Hebrew puns in a prophetic way. Thus, the “See” is also the “Sea.” On the day that I bore witness to the second angel, pouring out the second bowls on Oct. 9, 2001 into Lake Huron, I told the people to watch the Roman Catholic Church in the next year. Judgment would begin to be poured out upon that religious system, and upon all other religious systems as well.

The second bowl of wine-judgment was poured out for the purpose of setting Catholic people free—not to destroy the captives of the religious system, but to open their eyes to the system of tyranny and abuse that they support. And so, shortly after the second bowl of wine was poured out, the American courts forced the Boston Archdiocese to open its records to investigators in regard to the case of Father John J. Geoghan, who was being accused of child molestation. Geoghan was convicted in January 2002 and sentenced to 9-10 years in prison. The Church settled about 100 other cases brought about by his other victims.

This case opened the floodgates, and the corruption in the Church was exposed to the world. Newsweek (May 6, 2002) wrote on page 23,

“The abuse of children and teenagers and a clerical culture of cover-up had brought them to Rome, and clearly they thought they knew the cause of the trouble. ‘This is an ongoing struggle,’ said Bishop Wilton Gregory, his eyes flashing with conviction. ‘It is most importantly a struggle to make sure that the Catholic priesthood is not dominated by homosexual men’.”

On page 26 it wrote:

“The best guess is that between 35 and 50 percent of Roman Catholic priests are homosexual. ‘Hypocrisy is almost too weak a word for what the hierarchy is doing,’ says Mark D. Jordan, a professor of religion at Emory University and a gay Catholic. ‘If there were no homosexuals in the priesthood, we would soon cease to have a functioning church’…

‘There is more than a little irony at work here, for the church has an ancient history with homosexuals and with homosexual clergy. John Boswell, the late historian, observed that the church and its religious orders long offered gay men and women a haven from married life. According to Donald B. Cozzens’ ‘The Changing Face of the Priesthood,’ misconduct has always been with us, too. A second-century Gospel commentary says: ‘Thou shalt not seduce young boys.’ In the middle of the 16th century, Pope Julius III plucked a 15-year-old boy off the streets and made him a cardinal and head of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.”

On page 29 Newsweek wrote again,

“A. W. Sipe, a psychotherapist and former Catholic priest who conducted a 25-year study of celibacy, sexuality and the clergy, estimates that at any given time 50 percent of priests—no matter what their orientation—are sexually active in some way.”

My files are bulging with news clippings about the hundreds of priests, bishops, and archbishops that have been caught molesting boys, girls, and nuns. This sort of thing has been going on for many centuries, but it is significant that the corruption was finally exposed widely after the second bowl of wine was poured into the sea.

Catholic people are in bondage to a religious system that God is now calling into accountability. They are in bondage because they have been taught that one must be a member of that organization to be part of the “Church.” They have been taught that the Church is an organization on earth, rather than a one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ. They need to study the Scriptures and see that the Catholic Church fulfills the pattern of King Saul, who had a legitimate calling, but not a never-ending dynasty.

Saul was crowned king on the day of “wheat harvest” (Pentecost) in 1 Sam. 12:17. It was the day the priest offered God the first fruits of the wheat harvest, so that the people could then begin the harvest. The people were given an earthly ruler because they had rejected Jesus Christ as King. God said to Samuel in 1 Sam. 8:7,

7 And the Lord said to Samuel, Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.

Samuel reminded the people of their mistake at the actual coronation of King Saul in 1 Sam. 12:12-15,

12 . . . you said to me, “No, but a king shall reign over us,” although the Lord your God was your king. 13 Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the Lord has set a king over you. 14 If you will fear the Lord and serve Him and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the Lord, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. 15 And if you will not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the command of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

This is the Old Testament prophetic story explaining why God set up the religious system in the Pentecostal Age. The problem is that the people wanted a man to rule them, rather than Jesus Christ personally. So God gave the people religious kings—i.e., popes.

If those popes had truly listened to the voice of God and had ruled under His authority, instead of usurping Christ’s authority to rule as they pleased, then God would have blessed them all. In fact, He would even have established the throne of the popes for ever, for this is what Samuel said to Saul in 1 Sam. 13:13, 14,

13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

The popes usurped Christ’s authority, thinking that “apostolic succession from Peter” meant that they were privileged to rule God’s people in the manner of earthly kings with immunity from divine judgment. They did not understand God had rejected Saul for his rebellion and had raised up David, “a man after His own heart.” David represents the overcomers as a group. These are the ones that rule under Christ and by His laws, not as rebels who overthrow the laws of God in favor of their own traditions.

And so the angel who poured out the second bowl of wine was the Cleansing Angel. The Word that is in that angel is Cleansing, and his first job was to cleanse the Church (Christian people, not the organization itself), so that they would follow Jesus rather than men.

The Cleansing Angel began his work at the Feast of Tabernacles of 2001 to expose the heart of Saul to all who would have eyes to see and ears to hear. It may be that some of them will yet leave Saul’s court and join David’s company of overcomers. This call comes not only to all Roman Catholics, but to all Christians who are part of an organization that calls itself “The True Church.” Any such earthly organization identifies itself with King Saul.

3. The Third Bowl: 2002-2003 A.D.

The third bowl of wine-judgment was directed against political Zionism and the Israeli state itself. It was to be poured out upon the “rivers” and “fountains of water,” and the interpretation of this is made plain in verse 6, as we will show. Rev. 16:4-6 says,

4 And the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous art Thou, who art and who wast, O Holy One, because Thou didst judge these things; 6 for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink. They deserve it.”

This particular judgment, which turns water into blood, reminds us of the first plague upon Egypt in the days of Moses (Exodus 7:20, 21). This plague upon Egypt was the first of ten designed to set Israel free from the bondage of Egypt. The command to Pharaoh is found in Ex. 4:22, 23,

22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, Israel is My son, My first-born.” 23 So I said to you, “Let My son go, that he may serve Me; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your first-born.”

And so in our day “The Appearing of Sons Angel” has come to pour out the third bowl of wine upon the usurping “sons” who stand in the way of the release and the manifestation of the Sons of God.

I have given many details of this is in my book, The Struggle for the Birthright, where I showed that the Zionist state took the name “Israel” to usurp the birthright from the true Sons of God. As I showed specifically in my book, Who is an Israelite?, one cannot separate Sonship from the name Israel. Joseph’s sons were given the name Israel in Gen. 48:16, because Joseph had inherited the birthright and was a fruitful bough (Heb. ben, “son”) in Gen. 49:22.

The Israeli state is a counterfeit Israel, whose citizens are not of Joseph either physically or spiritually. Those people usurped Jesus’ throne (Matt. 21:38) in His first appearance, and now have usurped His birthright in 1948.

Even so, all this was prophesied. They were given one Jubilee cycle of a full 50 years in which to set the earth free, thus fulfilling the calling of the birthright which they had usurped. Their time ended on Nov. 29, 1997, precisely 50 years after the United Nations resolution in 1947.

Because they refused to fulfill the requirements of the birthright, God is now holding them accountable. Rev. 16:6 identifies the object of divine judgment, saying, “for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets.” Jesus said to the Pharisees and lawyers in Luke 11:47-50,

47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. 48 Consequently, you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said, I will send to them prophets and apostles and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, 50 in order that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation [genea, “race, offspring”].

In the past few centuries, certain Jewish families sought to conquer the “little horn” phase of the Roman Empire through the power of usury, money, and banking. The most prominent of these were the Rothschilds, whose house was founded in the mid-1700’s by Amschel Moses Bauer of the house of the Red Shield (Roth-Schild).

They and other wealthy Jewish banking families finally did succeed in wresting world domination from Rome in 1914-17, first through the banking system in 1914, and secondly with the Balfour Agreement in 1917. With that power, they were able to influence and force Britain to allow the Zionists to establish the Israeli state in 1948.

But with this new authority came a new responsibility. Instead of using their new-found power over the economic systems of the world to set men free, they used it instead to put men into the bondage of Mystery Babylon. This was an abuse of power, for the authority of Israel’s birthright was then used to put Europe and America into a position of paying tribute to them, rather than to set men free. The false sons put creation into bondage, while the true Sons of God set creation free (Rom. 8:21).

And so, the water is again turned to blood, that they might be given blood to drink (Rev. 16:6; Lev. 17:11; Ez. 35:6), no longer in “Egypt,” but now in “Babylon.” When Rev. 18:24 describes the fall of “Babylon,” it says this:

24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.

It is a fearful thing to conquer Babylon and claim to be “chosen.” The generation ruling Babylon in the last days will be held accountable for the sins of all its predecessors. It has been this way with every nation that God has judged.

After the third vial, Ariel Sharon began to build the longest security wall since the Great Wall of China to protect them from divine judgment. In doing this, he proved that “Israel” is not “the land of unwalled villages” described in Ezekiel 38:11, nor is it the House of Israel. Once again, the angel has done his work to enlighten all Zionists—Christian and Jewish—that they might repent and thereby avoid divine judgment. Those who live in the Israeli state ought to leave. Those who support it from afar ought to stop, lest they partake of its judgment-wine.