Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.You will recognize them by their fruits (Matthew 7/15-16)
Report of Independent Investigation into
Sexual Misconduct of Ravi Zacharias - February 9, 2021 Lynsey M. Barron, Esq.
William P. Eiselstein, Esq. Miller & Martin PLLC Microsoft Word - 19676965_3
The above report contains the various unsavoury details of Zacharias sexual misconduct over a number of years with some gaps that the investigators were unable to piece together.
“We believe not only the women who made their allegations public but also additional women who had not previously made public allegations against Ravi but whose identities and stories were uncovered during the investigation. Tragically, witnesses described encounters including sexting, unwanted touching, spiritual abuse, and rape.”
The report demonstrates how very difficult it is to hold supposed "Christian" leaders to account when they practice nepotism and hold unassailable positions of power within their organizations. Zacharias described his critics as “nasty people” and “lunatics” who were
engaging in "satanic-type slander and falsehood.” Those who expressed doubts within the RZIM camp were ignored, marginalized and accused of disloyalty. There is little one can do against evil autocratic leaders, apart from pray of course. Where peoples jobs are concerned, they are far more likely to accept the status quo rather than take a course of action that will leave them disadvantaged or unemployed.For Jesus' disciples, "taking up their cross" meant rejection, persecution, and ultimately death. (Luke 14:28). Apart from his disgusting sexual deviations, there were several red flags concerning the legitimacy of this man over the years. It seems to me that RZIM employees were already doctrinally compromised long before these revelations came to light.
Zacharias was an Anglican Indian-born Canadian-American apologist and a supposed defender of evangelical Protestantism. He held celebrity status within certain circles and was highly respected. He spoke at Christian events and conferences and apparently travelled to his engagements in a chauffer driven limousine. He also ran a weekly radio apologetics broadcast “Let My People Think”. {1} Zacharias was extremely wealthy having a net worth in 2021 of $8 million. {2} In reality Zacharias was a pitiful individual whose profession of faith was an utter sham.
In 2009 Zacharias signed the Manhattan Declaration which is an ecumenical document. (2 Corinthians 6:14). {3}
Zacharias was a speaker at Together 2016, an ecumenical event held at the National Mall in Washington DC. (4)
Zacharias had a regular spot on TBN and endorsed known heretics Joyce Meyer, Rick Warren and Brian Houston/Hillsong.
In 2004 Zacharias and Richard Mouw addressed a large congregation of Evangelicals and Mormons at the Salt Lake City Mormon Tabernacle in Utah for an "Evening of Friendship". {4} Zacharias avoided preaching the gospel at this event and stated:
“And so, what brings us together? As has already been said, yes we have our theological differences, but I think it’s commendable that we find a common cause in trying to create a good moral soil in this culture and in this time.”
Mormon Tabernacle Utah 2004
Zacharias addressed the Mormon Temple at Utah for a second time in 2014 in partnership with Standing Together and called for evangelicals and Mormons to stand together to save America from "lost morality." {5} Unity between bible believing Christians and Mormons with their "false gospel" and "false christ" is unacceptable. (2 Corinthians 11:4). For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2).
In 2017 Zacharias publicly apologized for making false claims about his credentials at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. {6}
Warren Throckmorton: "In a 2012 speech before the C.S. Lewis Institute, Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias referred to himself as a “professor at Oxford” after saying he had studied at Cambridge. Watch (the complete speech is here. The clip is at 52:41)." {7}
For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (Titus 1:7-9 cf. 1 Timothy 1:8-10).
Paula White (City Destiny Church) and various other false NAR teachers have taken a lot of criticism over their failed Trump prophesies.. and rightly so!
Paula White denies being a prosperity preacher, a heretic or a cult leader, rather she defines herself as a "Charismatic Pentecostal" which is nothing to boast about and summarizes all of the above!
White is outraged and laments that it was "the church" that called her out rather than the atheists. If she read her bible she would know that it is the church, I mean the real church, that has the responsibility for calling out false teachers!
Paula White: "If your name’s not God, your opinion doesn’t matter and your acceptance is not needed. If your name is not God, Jehovah, Yahweh, El Shaddai, Jesus Christ then your opinion doesn’t matter and your acceptance is not needed.”
ON THE CONTRARY PAULA WHITE!
Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. (Matthew 7:15).
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Acts 17:11).
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. (Romans 16:17).
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1).
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:16).
There are many more examples in the scriptures emphasizing the necessity of testing prophesies, rightly dividing the word of truth and calling out those who deviate from it. (2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Corinthians 14:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:21). We need not rely on "opinion" in cases of false prophesy, the scriptures are explicit! (Ezekiel 13:1-22). It most certainlyisthe responsibility of "the church" to discern false teaching.. what does the world know about it? These false prophets/teachers bring the gospel into disrepute and should be silenced.. although it appears that Paula White will not be quiet any time soon! (2 Peter 2:2; Titus 1:11).
Paula White's lament begins at around the 1:55 mark.
Posted in support of Julie Stern Roys exposure of John MacArthur. This information needs to be carefully examined by anyone following this Calvinist false teacher who calls out others for financially/spiritually abusing the body of Christ.
We pass over many other individual maretyrdoms to insert that of John Calas, which took place as recently as 1761, and is an indubitable proof of the bigotry of popery, and shows that neither experience nor improvement can root out the inveterate prejudices of the Roman Catholics, or render them less cruel or inexorable to Protestants.
John Calas was a merchant of the city of Toulouse, where he had been settled, and lived in good repute, and had married an English woman of French extraction. Calas and his wife were Protestants, and had five sons, whom they educated in the same religion; but Lewis, one of the sons, became a Roman Catholic, having been converted by a maidservant, who had lived in the family about thirty years. The father, however, did not express any resentment or ill-will upon the occasion, but kept the maid in the family and settled an annuity upon the son. In October, 1761, the family consisted of John Calas and his wife, one woman servant, Mark Antony Calas, the eldest son, and Peter Calas, the second son. Mark Antony was bred to the law, but could not be admitted to practice, on account of his being a Protestant; hence he grew melancholy, read all the books he could procure relative to suicide, and seemed determined to destroy himself. To this may be added that he led a dissipated life, was greatly addicted to gaming, and did all which could constitute the character of a libertine; on which account his father frequently reprehended him and sometimes in terms of severity, which considerably added to the gloom that seemed to oppress him. On the thirteenth of October, 1761, Mr. Gober la Vaisse, a young gentleman about 19 years of age, the son of La Vaisse, a celebrated advocate of Toulouse, about five o'clock in the evening, was met by John Calas, the father, and the eldest son Mark Antony, who was his friend. Calas, the father, invited him to supper, and the family and their guest sat down in a room up one pair of stairs; the whole company, consisting of Calas the father, and his wife, Antony and Peter Calas, the sons, and La Vaisse the guest, no other person being in the house, except the maidservant who has been already mentioned. It was now about seven o'clock. The supper was not long; but before it was over, Antony left the table, and went into the kitchen, which was on the same floor, as he was accustomed to do. The maid asked him if he was cold? He answered, "Quite the contrary, I burn"; and then left her. In the meantime his friend and family left the room they had supped in, and went into a bed- chamber; the father and La Vaisse sat down together on a sofa; the younger son Peter in an elbow chair; and the mother in another chair; and, without making any inquiry after Antony, continued in conversation together until between nine and ten o'clock, when La Vaisse took his leave, and Peter, who had fallen asleep, was awakened to attend him with a light. On the ground floor of Calas's house was a shop and a warehouse, the latter of which was divided from the shop by a pair of folding doors. When Peter Calas and La Vaisse came downstairs into the shop, they were extremely shocked to see Antony hanging in his shirt, from a bar which he had laid across the top of the two folding doors, having half opened them for that purpose. On discovery of this horrid spectacle, they shrieked out, which brought down Calas the father, the mother being seized with such terror as kept her trembling in the passage above. When the maid discovered what had happened, she continued below, either because she feared to carry an account of it to her mistress, or because she busied herself in doing some good office to her master, who was embracing the body of his son, and bathing it in his tears. The mother, therefore, being thus left alone, went down and mixed in the scene that has been already described, with such emotions as it must naturally produce. In the meantime Peter had been sent for La Moire, a surgeon in the neighborhood. La Moire was not at home, but his apprentice, Mr. Grosle, came instantly. Upon examination, he found the body quite dead; and by this time a papistical crowd of people were gathered about the house, and, having by some means heard that Antony Calas was suddenly dead, and that the surgeon who had examined the body, declared that he had been strangled, they took it into their heads he had been murdered; and as the family was Protestant, they presently supposed that the young man was about to change his religion, and had been put to death for that reason. The poor father, overwhelmed with grief for the loss of his child, was advised by his friends to send for the officers of justice to prevent his being torn to pieces by the Catholic multitude, who supposed he had murdered his son. This was accordingly done and David, the chief magistrate, or capitol, took the father, Peter the son, the mother, La Vaisse, and the maid, all into custody, and set a guard over them. He sent for M. de la Tour, a physician, and MM. la Marque and Perronet, surgeons, who examined the body for marks of violence, but found none except the mark of the ligature on the neck; they found also the hair of the deceased done up in the usual manner, perfectly smooth, and without the least disorder: his clothes were also regularly folded up, and laid upon the counter, nor was his shirt either torn or unbuttoned. Notwithstanding these innocent appearances, the capitol thought proper to agree with the opinion of the mob, and took it into his head that old Calas had sent for La Vaisse, telling him that he had a son to be hanged; that La Vaisse had come to perform the office of executioner; and that he had received assistance from the father and brother. As no proof of the supposed fact could be procured, the capitol had recourse to a monitory, or general information, in which the crime was taken for granted, and persons were required to give such testimony against it as they were able. This recites that La Vaisse was commissioned by the Protestants to be their executioner in ordinary, when any of their children were to be hanged for changing their religion: it recites also, that, when the Protestants thus hang their children, they compel them to kneel, and one of the interrogatories was, whether any person had seen Antony Calas kneel before his father when he strangled him: it recites likewise, that Antony died a Roman Catholic, and requires evidence of his catholicism. But before this monitory was published, the mob had got a notion that Antony Calas was the next day to have entered into the fraternity of the White Penitents. The capitol therefore caused his body to be buried in the middle of St. Stephen's Church. A few days after the interment of the deceased, the White Penitents performed a solemn service for him in their chapel; the church was hung with white, and a tomb was raised in the middle of it, on the top of which was placed a human skeleton, holding in one hand a paper, on which was written "Abjuration of heresy," and in the other a palm, the emblem of martyrdom. The next day the Franciscans performed a service of the same kind for him. The capitol continued the persecution with unrelenting severity, and, without the least proof coming in, thought fit to condemn the unhappy father, mother, brother, friend, and servant, to the torture, and put them all into irons on the eighteenth of November. From these dreadful proceedings the sufferers appealed to the parliament, which immediately took cognizance of the affair, and annulled the sentence of the capitol as irregular, but they continued the prosecution, and, upon the hangman deposing it was impossible Antony should hang himself as was pretended, the majority of the parliament were of the opinion, that the prisoners were guilty, and therefore ordered them to be tried by the criminal court of Toulouse. One voted him innocent, but after long debates the majority was for the torture and wheel, and probably condemned the father by way of experiment, whether he was guilty or not, hoping he would, in the agony, confess the crime, and accuse the other prisoners, whose fate, therefore, they suspended. Poor Calas, however, an old man of sixty-eight, was condemned to this dreadful punishment alone. He suffered the torture with great constancy, and was led to execution in a frame of mind which excited the admiration of all that saw him, and particularly of the two Dominicans (Father Bourges and Father Coldagues) who attended him in his last moments, and declared that they thought him not only innocent of the crime laid to his charge, but also an exemplary instance of true Christian patience, fortitude, and charity. When he saw the executioner prepared to give him the last stroke, he made a fresh declaration to Father Bourges, but while the words were still in his mouth, the capitol, the author of this catastrophe, who came upon the scaffold merely to gratify his desire of being a witness of his punishment and death, ran up to him, and bawled out, "Wretch, there are fagots which are to reduce your body to ashes! speak the truth." M. Calas made no reply, but turned his head a little aside; and that moment the executioner did his office. The popular outcry against this family was so violent in Languedoc, that every body expected to see the children of Calas broke upon the wheel, and the mother burnt alive. Young Donat Calas was advised to fly into Switzerland: he went, and found a gentleman who, at first, could only pity and relieve him, without daring to judge of the rigor exercised against the father, mother, and brothers. Soon after, one of the brothers, who was only banished, likewise threw himself into the arms of the same person, who, for more than a month, took every possible precaution to be assured of the innocence of the family. Once convinced, he thought himself, obliged, in conscience, to employ his friends, his purse, his pen, and his credit, to repair the fatal mistake of the seven judges of Toulouse, and to have the proceedings revised by the king's council. This revision lasted three years, and it is well known what honor Messrs. de Grosne and Bacquancourt acquired by investigating this memorable cause. Fifty masters of the Court of Requests unanimously declared the whole family of Calas innocent, and recommended them to the benevolent justice of his majesty. The Duke de Choiseul, who never let slip an opportunity of signalizing the greatness of his character, not only assisted this unfortunate family with money, but obtained for them a gratuity of 36,000 livres from the king. On the ninth of March, 1765, the arret was signed which justified the family of Calas, and changed their fate. The ninth of March, 1762, was the very day on which the innocent and virtuous father of that family had been executed. All Paris ran in crowds to see them come out of prison, and clapped their hands for joy, while the tears streamed from their eyes. This dreadful example of bigotry employed the pen of Voltaire in deprecation of the horrors of superstition; and though an infidel himself, his essay on toleration does honor to his pen, and has been a blessed means of abating the rigor of persecution in most European states. Gospel purity will equally shun superstition and cruelty, as the mildness of Christ's tenets teaches only to comfort in this world, and to procure salvation in the next. To persecute for being of a different opinion is as absurd as to persecute for having a different countenance: if we honor God, keep sacred the pure doctrines of Christ, put a full confidence in the promises contained in the Holy Scriptures, and obey the political laws of the state in which we reside, we have an undoubted right to protection instead of persecution, and to serve heaven as our consciences, regulated by the Gospel rules, may direct.
The false prophets of today have much in common with the prophets of Baal.. they declare and decree, they double down, they moan, they cry aloud, they rant and rave, they blow shofars, they even roar, but there is still no answer! This is a salutary lesson for anyone who professes to follow Jesus Christ.
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention. 1 Kings 18:25-29).
The ecumenical Jericho Marches replayed Joshua 6:1-27 in a failed attempt to twist God's arm into reversing the US election result.
Novus Ordo Watch: The Jericho Marches are also a unified celebration of authentic and diverse Judeo-Christian forms [of] worship including praying, chanting, preaching, singing, rosary recitations, Eucharistic processions, and blowing shofars." {1}
Charisma News: People of faith marched before gathering at 11 a.m. on the National Mall for the "Let the Church ROAR" Prayer Rally where they heard from guest speakers such as Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, Pastor Jonathan Cahn, Kevin Jessip, author Eric Metaxas, CEO of MyPillow Mike Lindell and many more. {2}
The scriptures warn repeatedly about false prophets:
You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:4-5).
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end? (Jeremiah 5:31)
And the LORD said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. (Jeremiah 14:14).
Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:16).
They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the LORD,’ when the LORD has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the LORD,’ although I have not spoken? Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. (Ezekiel 13:6-9).
Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; (Acts 20:29).
Modern day Christianity is awash withself proclaimed false prophets. These are are predominantly, though not exclusively, charismatic/Pentecostal, they are ecumenical, and they are part of the New Apostolic Reformation. They deny the prophetic scriptures and peddle the false doctrine of Dominionism through their infamous Seven Mountain Mandate. These false prophets claim to know better than the Jesus Christ Himself and the real prophets and apostles who predicted the diametric opposite of everything they assert! (Matthew 24:4-12). The first thing Jesus warned about in the Olivet Discourse:See that no one leads you astray.. (Matthew 24:4). Jesus continued to expand on spiritual deception and prophesied war, famines and earthquakes, pestilence, apostasy and tribulation.
The test of a true/false prophet:
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 13: 1-3).
But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.” You may ask in your heart, “How can we recognize a message that the LORD has not spoken?” When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1).
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. (Romans 16:17).
Below are the usual suspects, although the list is not exhaustive. These are the presumptuous false prophets that believers should mark and avoid.
Paula White held daily meetings declaring Trumps victory. In November White declared that God had dispatched angels from Africa and South America to help Trump achieve victory.
Kris Vallotton (Bethel Redding cult) apologized on Instagram: "I want to sincerely apologise for missing the prophecy about Donald Trump. It doesn't make me a false prophet. I prophesied he would become president four days after he declared his candidacy [in 2015]. And I prophesied Trump would not be impeached [and removed from office]. I'm very sorry to everyone who put their trust in me, there was a major, major mistake,” If a "prophet" predicts something wrongly then he is a false prophet!
Sid Roth claimed to interview many trusted "prophets" He stated that without blinking an eye Donald Trump will have two terms.. "President Trump is going to win."
Pat Robertson: “I want to say without question, Trump is going to win the election.”
Jeremiah Johnson:“While we wait until January to determine our next US President, observe the stunning blindness and hypocrisy in the body of Christ… Christians who voted for the shedding of innocent blood, the Equality Act, and anti-Israel legislation (ALL things God HATES) are now picking up stones to persecute prophets who supposedly missed it,”
Lance Wallnau decreed that God would “overturn” the election because Trump’s “assignment” from God had not yet been completed.
Kenneth Copeland: “The media said Joe Biden is President …” Copeland's congregation mimicked his imbecilic laughter. {3}
Mark Taylor: "It is going to be victory after victory after victory.. We will absolutely have an eight year presidency... I am sure about that."
Kat Kerr: “The rocks are about to move and Trump will be President no matter what you hear.. It will start with a phone call and I can tell you, you will be shocked to see how much exposure comes from that, but Trump will win, He will be President of the United States, he will sit in that office for 4 more years and God will have His way in this country.”
Dutch Sheets: "We're going to enforce the victory of Calvary and we're going to decree prophetically what God's been saying."
Jane Hamon: "Saints, this isn't over! Show up for battle, position yourself, fast, pray, prophesy and decree, and then see how God brings the victory."
Love and truth go hand in hand. (1 John 3:18). Vallotton, the Bethel cult and other NAR false prophets do not have love because they do not teach truth. As far as I am aware, no one is calling for Vallotton or any of these false prophets to be "punished".. that would be God's prerogative! (Deuteronomy 32:35). However, it is necessary to warn against these impostors because they are a blight on the true church, they undermine the faith of many, they bring false hope, and they bring the gospel into disrepute. (2 Peter 2:2; Titus 1:11; Proverbs 13:12).
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. (Ephesians 5:1).
The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace. (Proverbs 13:5).
To accept false prophets is a sin against the Lord and effectively puts believers in extreme peril. The scriptures are clear that false prophets should be utterly rejected and avoided.. do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, (2 John 1:10). A tree is known by its fruit.. (Matthew 7:22-23). These false prophets have proved that they are charlatans and are not worthy to hold the office. For their own sake and the sake of those they have deceived they should repent and step down from their positions. If they choose to continue to justify themselves they will ultimately reap the consequences of their actions.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8).
Andy Woods (Sugar Land Bible Church) teaches the pre-trib version of the 144,000 Jews in Revelation 7:1-8. Woods gives a false view of the 144,000 in a number of key respects.
Revelation 7:1-8:
1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind would blow on land or sea or on any tree. 2And I saw another angel ascending from the east, with the seal of the living God. And he called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3“Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel:5From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, 6from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, 7from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, 8from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
The book of Revelation is literal
A literal translation of 144,000 Jewish men is a reasonable interpretation considering that the scriptures go into explicit detail regarding both their number and their ethnicity. Even when the scriptures comprehensively spell things out, there are those who deviate into their own presuppositions and opinions. I will not devote space here to various allegorical interpretations and the Jehovah Witness views on the 144,000. Hopefully it is a given that these are false interpretations.
The book of Revelation has a chronological structure
A chronological interpretation of the seals, trumpets and bowls is the prevailing view of both the prewrath and the pre-trib camps. There are perplexing exegetical difficulties associated with what is known as the recapitulation theory i.e. the seals trumpets and bowls are different pictures of the same events. In order to successfully refute the pre-trib rapture theory, one must be able to articulate a coherent alternative! Those who teach recapitulation seem either unable or unwilling to recognize the difficulties associated with this view. A plain reading of the text indicates a clear chronological sequence of events i.e. the sixth seal follows the seventh seal, the seventh seal unleashes the trumpet judgements, and the seventh trumpet unleashes the bowl judgments.
Woods defines the entire 70th week of Daniel as the tribulation in contradiction to the eschatological material supplied by Jesus Christ in the Olivet Discourse. (Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13 and Luke 21). Woods makes no distinction between the beginning of birth pains (Matthew 24:8; Revelation 6:1-8), and the undiluted cup of His wrath. (Revelation 14:10). He also fails to recognize the great tribulation as the specific wrath of the Antichrist against the church. Failure to acknowledge these distinctions throws the whole book of Revelation out of sync. (Revelation 22:18-19). The scriptures indicate successive seal judgements leading up tothe day of the Lord. i.e. the day of his wrath. The catastrophic events that take place during first half of the 70th week i.e. the beginning of birth pains are devastating and we should not depreciate their severity or assume that wrath is absent. (Revelation 6:8 cf. Psalm 7:11). These events are instigated by the breaking of the first seal and the arrival of the Antichrist followed by three further seals/horsemen. When the sixth seal is broken an unprecedented escalation occurs immediately preceding the undiluted wrath of God. Specifically, the great day of their wrath becomes imminent following the sixth seal and comes into play during the seventh seal trumpet/bowl judgements from Revelation 8 onwards. (Revelation 6:17). Isaiah describes the cosmic events immediately preceding the undiluted wrath of God as the terror of the Lord. (Isaiah 2:10 cf. Revelation 6:15-17).
Revelation 6:17 ~ The aorist indicative verb ēlthen ..the great day of their wrath has come (ηλθεν/ēlthen).
In a later video, Woods quotes Robert L Thomas' skewed interpretation of ηλθεν (ēlthen): "The verb ēlethen ("has come") is aorist indicative, referring to a previous arrival of wrath, not something that is about to take place." {1}
The aorist indicative verb ηλθεν (ēlthen) should not be isolated from its context and translated as a simple past verb in English. Revelation 6:17 indicates that the great day of their wrath has arrived i.e. it is imminent. The King James Version more accurately captures the context of ηλθεν (ēlthen):
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Virtually the same phrase occurs in Revelation 11:18 following the seventh trumpet preceding the bowl judgements in Revelation 16:21.
And the nations were angry, and thy wrathis come (ηλθεν), and the time of the dead, that they should be judged.. KJV (Revelation 11:18 cf. Revelation 16:21).
Various commentaries agree on the interpretation of ηλθεν (ēlthen)in this particular context. {2}
Matthew Poole: And thy wrath is come; now it is time for thee to show thyself angry, and thou hast begun to do it.
Pulpit Commentary: And thy wrath is come; thy wrath came. This verse points conclusively to the judgment day, the events of which, however, as before remarked (see on ver. 15), are merely indicated, not fully described. This is the last final infliction upon the wicked, the seventh of the trumpet plagues. And the time of the dead, that they should be judged; to be judged.
The proclamations of the three angels in Revelation 14:6-13 precedes the harvest of the earth, the great winepress of the wrath of God. (Revelation 14:14-20). This verse is yet another confirmation of the imminent aspect of ηλθεν/ēlthen.
And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come (ηλθεν), and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (Revelation 14:7).
The 144,000 Jews
Although he follows a chronological framework vis-Ă -vis the seals, trumpets and bowls, Woods condenses the seals and trumpets into the first 3.5 years of the 70th week of Daniel. The presumed absence of the church during the entire 70th week due to the alleged pre-trib rapture necessitates the 144,000 to be evangelists. Woods therefore locates the 144,000 Jews either before, or at the beginning of the seventieth week. According to Woods, the 144,000 Jews are the instruments God uses to implement what he describes as "the greatest spiritual awakening the earth has ever seen" i.e. the "great multitude" described in Revelation 7:9-17.
Problems with the above view
# The 144,000 are never described as "evangelists" in the the book of Revelation.
# The "great multitude" of Revelation 7:9-17 appear suddenly in heaven before the throne and before the Lamb.. "These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; (Revelation 7:14). The "great multitude" of Revelation 7:9-17 are those who have been caught up in the rapture prior to the seventh seal trumpet judgements.. For God has not destined us for wrath.. (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
# There is no indication of a "great awakening" in the book of Revelation. On the contrary:
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. (Revelation 9:20-21).
People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds. (Revelation 16:10-11).
# The great tribulation does not begin until the mid point of the 70th week at the abomination of desolation event. (Matthew 24:21; Daniel 9:27). The tribulation is interrupted/cut short by the sixth seal cosmic disturbances. (Matthew 24:22; Revelation 6:12-17).
# At the mid point of the week the the abomination of desolation event occurs when the Antichrist takes his seat in the temple of God. (Matthew 24:15). Jesus warns his disciples i.e. the church about being delivered up to tribulation, the coming apostasy, spiritual deception and increased lawlessness following this event:
9“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:9-14).
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. (Matthew 24:29).
# Woods explains that the chronological framework of the book of Revelation is temporarily halted in chapter 7. This first parenthetical break identifies the 144,000 and indicates a "verb of perception" i.e. "This is what John saw". Woods is accurate as far as he goes. However, his claim that the 144,000 are looking backwardsto the seal judgements is problematic.
If we look forwardto Revelation 8:7-9, especially to the first two trumpets, we findprecisely what is being described in Revelation 7 i.e. the four angels are given power to harm the land and the sea.. and the trees. The angels hold back the winds in order to facilitate the sealing of the 144,000. (Revelation 7:1). The sealing of the 144,000 is therefore anticipatory. The next stage of apocalyptic events will not proceed until the 144,000 are sealed. Consequently, they are safeguarded in advance from the divine wrath shortly to be administered by the angels.
..the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.” (Revelation 7:2-3).
Then the first angel sounded his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, along with a third of the trees and all the green grass. Then the second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. (Revelation 8 7-9)
The sealing of the 144,000 following the great tribulation suggests that divine wrath is about to fall upon the ungodly. The typological examples in Ezekiel 9:4 and the Passover (Exodus 12:12), indicate that the sealing of the 144,000 is very likely a protective measure against God's wrath, nothing more.
The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, beforethe great and awesome day of the LORD comes.(Joel 2:31 cf. Revelation 6:16-17 Acts 2:20).
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. (Matthew 24:29).
Woods: "God does not leave the earth without a witness."
This statement is true, but it does not apply to the 144,000 Jews. The true church will continue to exist during during the beginning of birth pains and through the great tribulation, although latterly, believers be decimated to a large extent and mass apostasy will occur. (Matthew 24:9-14). During the second half of the 70th week, the two witnesses will prophesy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth: They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. (Revelation 11:3-14).
Revelation 14
#The 144,000 Jewish men are located on heavenly Mount Zion with the Lamb. (Revelation 14:1-5).
#Three angels make separate proclamations following the rise of the Antichrist and the false prophet.
The first angel preaches the eternal gospel to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation. (Revelation 14:6-7).
The second angel announces prophetically: Babylon is fallen, is fallen,(Revelation 14:8; Revelation 18:1-24).
The third angel issues what appears to be the final warning to mankind:
“If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” (Revelation 14:9-11).
#His judgment has come (ηλθεν). i.e. Judgement is imminent. (Revelation 14:17-20).
The pre-trib rapture is a devious doctrine developed by cult leader John Nelson Darby in the 19th century. (1 Timothy 4:1). It is a doctrine that has to be extrapolated from the scriptures and finds no specific verse to support it. It is extraordinary that someone of Andy Wood's background is apparently unaware of the obvious flaws and the associated dangers attached to this view. I shudder to think how he and other pre-trib teachers will give an answer to God for what can only be described as reckless deviations from the Word of God. (Romans 14:12).
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
The persecutions occasioned by the revocation of the edict of Nantes took place under Louis XIV. This edict was made by Henry the Great of France in 1598, and secured to the Protestants an equal right in every respect, whether civil or religious, with the other subjects of the realm. All those privileges Louis the XIV confirmed to the Protestants by another statute, called the edict of Nismes, and kept them inviolably to the end of his reign.
On the accession of Louis XIV the kingdom was almost ruined by civil wars. At this critical juncture, the Protestants, heedless of our Lord's admonition, "They that take the sword shall perish with the sword," took such an active part in favor of the king, that he was constrained to acknowledge himself indebted to their arms for his establishment on the throne. Instead of cherishing and rewarding that party who had fought for him, he reasoned that the same power which had protected could overturn him, and, listening to the popish machinations, he began to issue out proscriptions and restrictions, indicative of his final determination. Rochelle was presently fettered with an incredible number of denunciations. Montauban and Millau were sacked by soldiers. Popish commissioners were appointed to preside over the affairs of the Protestants, and there was no appeal from their ordinance, except to the king's council. This struck at the root of their civil and religious exercises, and prevented them, being Protestants, from suing a Catholic in any court of law. This was followed by another injunction, to make an inquiry in all parishes into whatever the Protestants had said or done for twenty years past. This filled the prisons with innocent victims, and condemned others to the galleys or banishment. Protestants were expelled from all offices, trades, privileges, and employs; thereby depriving them of the means of getting their bread: and they proceeded to such excess in this brutality, that they would not suffer even the midwives to officiate, but compelled their women to submit themselves in that crisis of nature to their enemies, the brutal Catholics. Their children were taken from them to be educated by the Catholics, and at seven years of age, made to embrace popery. The reformed were prohibited from relieving their own sick or poor, from all private worship, and divine service was to be performed in the presence of a popish priest. To prevent the unfortunate victims from leaving the kingdom, all the passages on the frontiers were strictly guarded; yet, by the good hand of God, about 150,000 escaped their vigilance, and emigrated to different countries to relate the dismal narrative. All that has been related hitherto were only infringements on their established charter, the edict of Nantes. At length the diabolical revocation of that edict passed on the eighteenth of October, 1685, and was registered the twenty-second, contrary to all form of law. Instantly the dragoons were quartered upon the Protestants throughout the realm, and filled all France with the like news, that the king would no longer suffer any Huguenots in his kingdom, and therefore they must resolve to change their religion. Hereupon the intendants in every parish (which were popish governors and spies set over the Protestants) assembled the reformed inhabitants, and told them they must, without delay, turn Catholics, either freely or by force. The Protestants replied, that they 'were ready to sacrifice their lives and estates to the king, but their consciences being God's they could not so dispose of them.' Instantly the troops seized the gates and avenues of the cities, and placing guards in all the passages, entered with sword in hand, crying, "Die, or be Catholics!" In short, they practiced every wickedness and horror they could devise to force them to change their religion. They hanged both men and women by their hair or their feet, and smoked them with hay until they were nearly dead; and if they still refused to sign a recantation, they hung them up again and repeated their barbarities, until, wearied out with torments without death, they forced many to yield to them. Others, they plucked off all the hair of their heads and beards with pincers. Others they threw on great fires, and pulled them out again, repeating it until they extorted a promise to recant. Some they stripped naked, and after offering them the most infamous insults, they stuck them with pins from head to foot, and lanced them with penknives; and sometimes with red-hot pincers they dragged them by the nose until they promised to turn. Sometimes they tied fathers and husbands, while they ravished their wives and daughters before their eyes. Multitudes they imprisoned in the most noisome dungeons, where they practised all sorts of torments in secret. Their wives and children they shut up in monasteries. Such as endeavored to escape by flight were pursued in the woods, and hunted in the fields, and shot at like wild beasts; nor did any condition or quality screen them from the ferocity of these infernal dragoons: even the members of parliament and military officers, though on actual service, were ordered to quit their posts, and repair directly to their houses to suffer the like storm. Such as complained to the king were sent to the Bastile, where they drank the same cup. The bishops and the intendants marched at the head of the dragoons, with a troop of missionaries, monks, and other ecclesiastics to animate the soldiers to an execution so agreeable to their Holy Church, and so glorious to their demon god and their tyrant king. In forming the edict to repeal the edict of Nantes, the council were divided; some would have all the ministers detained and forced into popery as well as the laity; others were for banishing them, because their presence would strengthen the Protestants in perseverance: and if they were forced to turn, they would ever be secret and powerful enemies in the bosom of the Church, by their great knowledge and experience in controversial matters. This reason prevailing, they were sentenced to banishment, and only fifteen days allowed them to depart the kingdom. On the same day that the edict for revoking the Protestants' charter was published, they demolished their churches and banished their ministers, whom they allowed but twenty-four hours to leave Paris. The papists would not suffer them to dispose of their effects, and threw every obstacle in their way to delay their escape until the limited time was expired which subjected them to condemnation for life to the galleys. The guards were doubled at the seaports, and the prisons were filled with the victims, who endured torments and wants at which human nature must shudder. The sufferings of the ministers and others, who were sent to the galleys, seemed to exceed all. Chained to the oar, they were exposed to the open air night and day, at all seasons, and in all weathers; and when through weakness of body they fainted under the oar, instead of a cordial to revive them, or viands to refresh them, they received only the lashes of a scourge, or the blows of a cane or rope's end. For the want of sufficient clothing and necessary cleanliness, they were most grievously tormented with vermin, and cruelly pinched with the cold, which removed by night the executioners who beat and tormented them by day. Instead of a bed, they were allowed sick or well, only a hard board, eighteen inches broad, to sleep on, without any covering but their wretched apparel; which was a shirt of the coarsest canvas, a little jerkin of red serge, slit on each side up to the armholes, with open sleeves that reached not to the elbow; and once in three years they had a coarse frock, and a little cap to cover their heads, which were always kept close shaved as a mark of their infamy. The allowance of provision was as narrow as the sentiments of those who condemned them to such miseries, and their treatment when sick is too shocking to relate; doomed to die upon the boards of a dark hold, covered with vermin, and without the least convenience for the calls of nature. Nor was it among the least of the horrors they endured, that, as ministers of Christ, and honest men, they were chained side by side to felons and the most execrable villains, whose blasphemous tongues were never idle. If they refused to hear Mass, they were sentenced to the bastinado, of which dreadful punishment the following is a description. Preparatory to it, the chains are taken off, and the victims delivered into the hands of the Turks that preside at the oars, who strip them quite naked, and stretching them upon a great gun, they are held so that they cannot stir; during which there reigns an awful silence throughout the galley. The Turk who is appointed the executioner, and who thinks the sacrifice acceptable to his prophet Mahomet, most cruelly beats the wretched victim with a rough cudgel, or knotty rope's end, until the skin is flayed off his bones, and he is near the point of expiring; then they apply a most tormenting mixture of vinegar and salt, and consign him to that most intolerable hospital where thousands under their cruelties have expired.
