Revelation 1:1 "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him to show His servants things which must shortly take place. And He signified it by His angel to His servant John."

Signify = To make known, communicate by signs, speech or action.

The book of Revelation is a prophecy regarding the church and its inheritance, the Kingdom. One of the beatitudes of the prophecy is: "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near." Signs, symbols, pictographs and descriptive language, foreign to the casual Bible reader, communicate its message. It does not describe things as they appear, but as they are. Many of its predicted judgments and plagues occur in the microscopic realm. A great portion of Humanity will not accept the plagues to be the result of their lifestyle, but will seek safe methods by which to practice their perversions. Rev. 9:21 "They did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts." One third of mankind had been destroyed by self-induced plagues, and yet they had not repented.

Globalism will unfold in a perfectly normal manner as a necessary world remedy for the ills and woes of mankind. There will be a time of peace and utopia with a world religion absorbing all religions. Many professing Christians, believing they will be caught away, will become completely disoriented. Their Biblical understanding will be twisted to fit the New World Order. Nonprofit religious organizations will compromise to keep their material holdings. Jesus admonishes His Church in Matt. 24:9, "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My Name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved." (In the face of persecution) "This gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."

The prophecy of Revelation is filled with paradox. For emphasis here are a few. There are many more.

1. Seven golden lamp stands which are not lamp stands.

2. Seven stars which are not stars.

3. A sharp two-edged sword which is not a sword.

4. Balaam who is not Balaam.

5. Balak who is not Balak.

6. A new name which is not new.

7. Jezebel who is not Jezebel.

8. A prophetess who is not a prophetess.

9. A rod of iron which is not a rod of iron.

10. The Morning Star which is not a star.

11. A pillar which is not a pillar.

12. A writing which is not a writing.

13. Wealth that is poverty.

14. Poverty that is wealth.

15. A Lamb who is not a lamb.

16. One hundred forty four thousand who are not 144,000.

17. The Lamb clothed with white robes, which is not a lamb clothed with white robes.

18. A woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, on her head a garland of 12 stars, which is neither woman, garland, sun, moon, nor stars.

19. A man child who is neither a man nor a child.

20. Ark of the Covenant which is not the Ark of the Covenant.

21. Jerusalem which is not Jerusalem.

22. A wilderness of barrenness which is a place of sustenance.

23. Wealth, abundance and affluence which is a wilderness of poverty and death.

24. A dragon who is not a dragon.

25. A serpent who is not a serpent.

26. A beast who is not a beast.

27. An image which is not an icon.

28. An element which is an icon.

29. A number which is not a number.

30. The Great River Euphrates which is not a river.

31. Sojourners upon the earth who dwell in heaven.

32. A battle that is not a flesh and blood war.
    

In the New Testament Armageddon occurs only in Revelation 16:15,16, where Jesus says: "BEHOLD I AM COMING AS A THIEF. BLESSED IS HE WHO WATCHES AND KEEPS HIS GARMENTS LEST HE WALK NAKED AND THEY SEE HIS SHAME. AND THEY GATHERED THEM TOGETHER TO THE PLACE CALLED IN HEBREW, ARMAGEDDON."

Armageddon symbolizes the unprecedented and strangest type of conflict ever to be waged. IT IS THE TEST OF THE GARMENTS. Rev 3:3-5 "...I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with Me in white for they are worthy. "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels."

Rev. 3:10,11 "...I also will keep," to keep means to be a spectator, to guard from loss or injury, "you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth. Behold I come quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take you crown." The most strategic site from which to observe Armageddon is Mount Carmel. From this lofty height you can observe Armageddon in the panorama of the Jezreel Valley (where God sows). From the safety of Carmel you can be an observer of Armageddon in every detail. Armageddon is the symbolic site that represents the entire world and the hour of testing and containment from which there is no escape. Mount Carmel is where the "two opinions" problem is settled. 1 Kings 18:21 "How long will you falter between two opinions?" Carmel is where Elijah repaired the Altar of the Lord that was broken down. On Carmel His floor is purged, tried by fire and cleansed of the priests of Baal. Carmel is the sanctified place where the sound of abundance of rain is heard coming upon a dry and thirsty land. From Carmel (fruitful place) the Prophet Elijah outran the chariots through the valley of Jezreel (where God sows). Rev. 16:15 "Behold I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame." The only way to be kept from Armageddon is to be watchful and keep your garments. The people the Lord has chosen and set apart are neither earth-dwellers nor reckoned among the nations. Those defeated at Armageddon will be those found naked. You still have a little time to make your garment spotlessly white in the Blood of the Lamb, that you not be found naked.

Megiddo = place of crowds or crowded. It is located on the southern rim of the Plain of Esdraelon. Esdraelon is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Jezreel. Jezreel means the Seed of God, or where God sows.

Matt. 13: 37-43 "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels." (messengers). "Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be in the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. THEN THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN IN THE KINGDOM OF THEIR FATHER. HE WHO HAS EARS TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR." Who is the sower of the seed that appears to be grain but is tares? Lucifer! Who are the unclean, frog like, spirits coming out of the mouth of the dragon, beast, and false prophet? They are the emissaries of Lucifer!

Rev. 16: 16 "They gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon." Who are the "they" who do the gathering. The "they" are spirits of demons, performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them. Where do these spirits of demons come from? They come from the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and of the false prophet. There are stages of development in every "tare seed". First it must be sown and appears to be grain. As it matures it manifests its true nature. It is defrocked in its maturity and exposed. These who perform signs, and do the gathering, are like frogs. A frog has two dominate characteristics. First, that of a tadpole which does not function as, nor appear to be, a frog. Just as there is a tare in every darnel seed there is a frog in every tadpole. There are no gray areas at Armageddon. You are either a secure observer with the garment of Salvation or you are naked.

Armageddon, and the scenario it portrays, cannot be considered without reference to Megiddo and Jezreel. Armageddon is not a flesh and blood battle on a postage-stamp-size piece of real estate in Palestine! Armageddon is World-wide, changing your residence will not be a way of escape. No piece of real estate, regardless of how remote, will escape the test of Armageddon. Megiddo means crowded. Armageddon is containment of the entire human race; there is no avoiding it. It will try those who dwell upon the earth. Whether present or absent the body of Christ is not an earth-dwelling people. 

During 1946-47, while in the midst of a civil war, I experienced being caught and contained in a crowd of thousands of people in the face of slaughter. There was no escape. Where the crowd went, I went. I was helplessly restricted; Armageddon (crowded) is containment. In the Patmos vision of John, trumpets are messages and warnings accompanied by selective judgments; bowls are all-inclusive judgment upon the ungodly and those who hold the truth in unrighteousness.

When lightning breaks the sound barrier it thunders; thunder is the voice of lightning. Thunder refers to God, Who is Light, speaking. I hear the rolling thunder announcing the inevitable battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Events related to Armageddon, the Euphrates and the sixth Angel (messenger), characterized by the messenger of the sixth assembly at Philadelphia. In Rev.3:7,10 the sixth Angel visits the Great River Euphrates for the first time. This great River, vital to the fertile crescent (first mentioned in Gen. 2:14) was the greatest of four Rivers whose source was the unnamed River of Life coming out of Eden to water the Garden. This unnamed River was the source of Life to the Garden enclosed in the matrix of Eden. Like the four letters of the nucleotides that determine the great variety of living things, the unnamed River reveals its Characteristics and attributes through four River heads (Rev. 9:14). It was of this nameless River the Psalmist sang, "There is a River that shall make glad the City of God." The Name of this River has been revealed in the Everlasting Covenant. It is Jesus (Jeshua)! John 1:4 "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." This River of life, manifesting itself as the Tree of Life, breaks into four River heads in the Garden to administer and cultivate its abundance to the perfect, undeveloped, Creation. The other three rivers of Eden: the Pishon (flowing), Gihon (stream) and Hiddekel (rapid), are described as to their individual courses. The meaning of the names of the four rivers can form a beautiful statement: "Rapid, flowing, fruitful stream."

In Gen. 2:14, the Great Euphrates is referred to as the fourth River without referring to its course. This calls attention to the meaning of its name and its universal function relative to the unnamed Source River.
Euphrates means fruitfulness, or the "Good and abounding River." It is the most important largest River. In its fruitfulness it fulfills, throughout its course, the purpose of the Unnamed River of Life that flowed out of Eden to water its enclosed Garden and from there cultivate the undeveloped earth. Euphrates, in Rev. 9:14 and 16:12 signifies prosperity and abundance; the Lord's gracious supply for Mankind. The first visit of the sixth Angel with a trumpet to the Euphrates (Rev. 9:14) ensues in a sustained warning judgment upon those who have misconstrued and abused the abundant supply provided by the Living God who causes it to rain upon the just and the unjust. They are absorbed in the works of their hands who worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; they are preoccupied with murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and thefts.

This judgment that destroys one third of Mankind comes from the microscopic realm and is vividly described. These three plagues have "hosts" carriers characterized by horsemen. Rev. 9:19 "Their power is in their mouth and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm." This is an alarming symbolic description of perversion being the agent of plague. 1 Cor. 6:18 "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body." Although warned by the trumpet and the selective judgment that kills one third of Mankind, verse 20 says, "still they did not repent." 

This first visit to Euphrates signifies the destructive forces bound and sustained in prosperity and abundance. When the provision abundantly supplied by the Holy Father is taken for granted and is wasted on debauchery the messengers of judgment are released. These 4 messengers are prepared for the hour, day, month, and year; meaning this foreordained preparation is recorded as an irrevocable decree upon the generation fulfilling the role of the days of Noah, of Sodom and of Gomorrah. I often think of how the Aristocracy of Egypt destroyed its prosperity and perpetuation through a deceptive appetite; their abundant tables were prestigiously marked with expensive powdered lead, which they sprinkled on their food. Had some one warned them they were lacing their feasts with death, they would have laughed you to scorn. When one gets leaded, it's a slow, not always detectable, but sure, process.

The second and last visit of the sixth Angel to the Great River is not with a trumpet of warning and selective judgment. The Messenger now has a Bowl that he pours out and completely dries up the Great River. (Rev. 16:12). All restraint is removed; the Abundant Supply is dried up. The Source (Jesus) has withdrawn the waters of the good and abounding River. The way for the kings of the East is prepared; they will be gathered through deceptive miracles. Rev. 16:13 "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet". Here we see the Satanic trinity, the counterfeit of the Heavenly One Tri-unity. This unholy trinity, described not as it appears but as it is, has its dedicated media-propaganda tool. Where there are tadpoles there has to be frogs. Frogs metamorphose from tadpoles. Regardless of appearance, a frog is always present in every tadpole. By appearance a tadpole has no resemblance to a frog. A better creature cannot be found to signify deception. The counterfeit trinity emerges from its tadpole state to reveal its true identity.

The Holy Father reveals His fullness in Jesus, whose testimony is through His Vicar, the Holy Spirit of prophecy, who always magnifies the Lordship of Jesus. His prophets, His Mouth, the Church, His anointed, His Body, is a prophetic Organism. Ps. 105:13-15 "When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people, He permitted no one to do them wrong. Yes, He removed kings for their sakes, saying, 'DO NOT TOUCH MY ANOINTED ONES, AND DO MY PROPHETS NO HARM.'" The dragon, the father of lies, who reveals his fatherhood in the harlot who is carried by, and is one with, her consort the beast and the false prophet.

There is no better place to have a vineyard than in Jezreel (where God sows). Naboth's lucrative vineyard, his ancestral inheritance with a history of abundance was adjacent to the seat of government. The vineyard was for only one purpose: to produce the fruit of the vine. Ahab (uncle) coveted Naboth's vineyard. When offered money or another vineyard, Naboth refused, saying, "The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you." Ahab (uncle) wanted to change Naboth's vineyard, with its fruit of the vine, into a garden of mixed vegetables. Jezebel, the chaste harlot, the fallible infallible, said to him, "You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise and eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." 1 Kings 21:7. Whatever belonged to Ahab (uncle) would also belong to Jezebel. Uncle didn't realize his lightly taken love affair with Jezebel had cost him his kingship. Jezebel his queen and Secretary of State, now has access to the Great Seal of Uncle's government.

Don Murphy ©January 2000-2023

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