Daily Inspirations

   Good morning. And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. When does this war take place? It appears right after the 1260 days; so is it during or at the end of the tribulation? There is a lot more discussion about this situation that follows. [My Bible says that Michael was an archangel who defeats Satan in heavenly warfare. In Daniel he is the protector of Israel who will deliver her from tribulation in the last days.] If that part is true, it gives us an idea of when it will happen. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him. There is a lot more that follows. Father thank You that You protect us from all the power of the enemy.

   Good morning. And the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron (mentioned more than once in revelation); and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. This sounds like Jesus. So it would seem that this is not a continuation of where we were before, but rather going back to the cross. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for 1260 days. There is no timeframe given between the child being caught up to God and the woman fleeing into the wilderness. So it could even have been 1000 years or more. Again, the 1260 days is 3 1/2 years. So is this half of the “seven years of the tribulation?“ The next part is lengthy, so we will wait till tomorrow. Father just like You prepared a place for the woman, so You also prepare a place of refuge for us in time of need.

   Good morning. As we said last time: Is the following a rehash of things that happened before, or something brand new? After all, last time it seemed like the end was at hand. A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars (could represent the 12 tribes of Israel); and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: a great red dragon (who will be identified shortly)  having seven heads and 10 horns (the beast will also have seven heads and 10 horns), and on his heads were seven diadems (usually reserved for royalty). And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth (again not literal stars). And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. Father keep us safe in Your arms.

   Good morning. After all that has happened, did the nations change their ways? “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth”. Again, we are only halfway through and yet it says it’s time for judgment and reward. So does that mean what will follow shortly is just looking at everything that has happened already in a different way; or is it entirely new? And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. So is that what happened to the ark of the covenant - that it is in heaven and has been for millennia? Or perhaps it was hidden somewhere and at that particular moment appeared in heaven. Tomorrow it w...

   Good morning. So after the two witnesses went up into heaven in the cloud: and in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a 10th of the city fell; 7000 people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. It does not say that they repented though. The second woe is past; the third woe is coming quickly. Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever“. If that sounds familiar, it is part of Handel’s “Messiah” The 24 elders fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. Before this, voices would also say “and who is to come“; but now He has come. This is all setting up the next big event in Revelation. Father thank You for Your loving care for the...

   Good morning. Those from the… Nations will look at their dead bodies for 3 1/2 days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. When this was written, there was no such thing as satellite TV coverage; but when this actually happens, there will be, and all the earth can watch their dead bodies. I’m sure there will be commentary 24/7. And they will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. We may think that is horrible; but there were people who celebrated the death of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Then, surprise! After the 3 1/2 days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and greet fear fell upon those who were watching them. Well, duh! And I heard a loud voice coming from heaven saying to them, “come up here“. Then they went up into heaven in the cloud (things like that seem to happen a lot in the Bible), and their ene...

   Good morning, and Merry Christmas! We are going to digress and look at the first Christmas. This was something that had been foretold centuries before; and yet people still did not understand what was going to happen. They were thinking that the Messiah was going to come as an adult and was going to re-establish the nation of Israel above all other nations. They were not expecting Him to come as a baby, supposedly born to a carpenter and placed in a manger. Many things had to happen at precisely the right time. You had to have the right person to be His mother and the right person to be His supposed father. You had to have a reason for them to be in Bethlehem on the night He was born – the census. It had to be when shepherds would be in the field near Bethlehem watching their flocks. And just at the right time – an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them...

   Good morning. And their dead bodies will be in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. There is debate about which city this is. Of course Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem; so that is where one would think it would be. But it says mystically that it is called Sodom and Egypt, which does not seem to fit Jerusalem. Others say that it is referring to Rome (which would seem to be a bit of a stretch) since the Roman government was the one that actually crucified Jesus. Seemingly going along with the idea that this was Rome is the fact that in chapter 17, it talks about the beast “having seven heads, which are seven mountains on which the woman sits”. Since Rome was built on seven hills, they say that’s what the seven mountains represent. So do these things add up to it being Rome, or was it the fact that at one time there was extreme anti-Catholicism in the rest of the Christian denominations, and they were wa...

  Good morning. Back to the two witnesses: these are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. (These are mentioned in the book of Zechariah. The angel tells him that they are the two anointed ones who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.) And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying (this is reminiscent of Elijah); and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, so often as they desire (sounds like Moses). When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss (not really talked about until two chapters later) will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. Tomorrow, we will see what happens next. Father help the reader to look t...

   Good morning. Then there was given to me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it“. [My Bible says that the measuring rod was a bamboo like cane that often reached a height of 20 feet and was a convenient measuring rod.] Leave out the court which is outside the temple (in the Old Testament it was reserved for the Gentiles) and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread underfoot the holy city for 42 months (3 1/2 years. That time length is mentioned several times in the book of revelation). And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1260 days (3 1/2 years), clothed in sack cloth. Their deeds seem to match those of Moses and Elijah. Remember Jesus telling the disciples that Elijah indeed comes first, and that it was John the Baptist. So is one of these witnesses someone like John the Baptist? Father help the reader to under...

   Good morning. Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land“. So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey“. I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. Can anyone say Rolaids? It doesn’t say what was on the scroll. I don’t know if this is what it means, but some things really seem great at first glance; but later turn out to be a disaster. And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings“. Remember that yesterday it seemed like everything was coming to an end; but this is only halfway through the book of Revelation. So is what is to follow a cont...

   Good morning. After the seven peals of thunder… Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth, and the sea, that there will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God [My Bible says that in apocalyptic thought mysteries were secrets preserved in heaven and revealed to the apocalyptist] is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets. It sounds like the end has come, but there’s a lot more to the book of Revelation. As we said yesterday, perhaps what the seven peals of thunder said would reveal when this would happen. There is a lot of speculation and debate today about when all these things will take place. It is not for us to know. Even the Son did not know; only the Father. If people knew, they might relax their guard and not be diligen...

   Good morning. I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book (scroll) which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them“. Why was John told to not write what they said? It is possible that it would have revealed something about the timing of what the angel was about to say, which we will see tomorrow. Father thank You that You love the reader and his/her family. Continue to go with them and bless them.

   Good morning. How about the 200 million person army? The horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm. The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and ..., which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries [My Bible says this involved the mixing of various ingredients for magical purposes] nor of their immorality nor of their thefts. That’s pretty bad when after all of this, they still did not repent. For some people the more “punishment“ they receive, the more adaman...

   Good morning. The sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “release the four angels who are bound at the great River Euphrates“ [My Bible says that it marked the boundary between Israel and her historic enemies to the east.]. And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year (this was not some haphazard timing. God knew from the beginning exactly when this would happen), were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind. The number of the armies of the Horsemen was 200 million; I heard the number of them. There has been a lot of speculation about from where these Horsemen came. People look at the nations of the world today, and try to figure out which ones would have an army that large. It may or may not have been exact. It could have just expressed an extremely large number like we would say today “a gazillion“. I “googled...

   Good morning. The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. They had breastplates like of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses running to battle. They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is the power to hurt men for five months. These may seem strange, but we’ve already had the four living creatures full of eyes, having six wings. They have over them, the angel of the abyss; his name is Abaddon/Apollyon. The first woe is past; two woes are still coming after these things. Thanks for the warning, huh? By this time people will be singing the old song from the show Heehaw: “gloom despair and agony on me. If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all“. Father help us to keep our eyes off of the darkness aroun...

   Good morning. Out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. (Kind of like Egypt with the grasshoppers). They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, not any green thing, nor any tree (normally these are the things that the locusts would be interested in), but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads (most likely the 144,000 - possibly the only believers left on earth). They were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months [My Bible says it is a limited period of time suggested by the lifecycle of the locust.]; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. Add in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them. I guess the stings were so painful that they got to the point where they wished they were dead. We will see what the locusts looked like tomorrow. Father just like You wi...

   Good morning. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!“ The four that have sounded so far have been bad enough, and now we get a warning of the three that remain. They must be horrendous! Fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star (The seven stars at the beginning of revelation were the seven angels of the seven churches) from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. [My Bible says that the bottomless pit was conceived of as the subterranean abode of demonic hordes.] He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Next time we will see what comes out of the pit. Father thank You that the bottomless pit is not for us, rather a glorious home in heaven.

   Good morning. Then the angel took the censer (The one that had the incense which was mixed with the prayers of the saints) and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. There’s a lot of this going on in revelation. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. The fraction 1/3 shows that it was significant, but not over the entire earth. The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed. Again, a significant ...

   Good morning. Looks like the half hour of silence was the calm before the storm. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God (are these the seven spirits/Spirits we heard about earlier?), and seven trumpets were given to them [My Bible says that in old testament times the trumpet served to announce important events and give signals in time of war. The seven trumpets of revelation announce a series of plagues more severe than the seven seals but not as completely devastating as the bowls that will come]. Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. Father we ask that You add incense to our prayers that go up before You continually.

   Good morning. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat. In today’s world, there are only a few places where that is true of believers, that they experience these things. Most have food and shelter. However, in the times to come, that might not be the case anymore. For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd (the Lamb will be their Shepherd), and will guide them to springs of the water of life (will be mentioned again at the end of Revelation); and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. After this interlude the Lamb is ready to break the seventh seal. When He broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour (not necessarily literally, but long enough to be obvious). Father thank You that whatever hardships ...

   Good morning. … Saying, “salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb”. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God. “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever.“ Then one of the elders said to me, “these who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from“? “My Lord, you know“. In other words, I ain’t got a clue. These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Note: you can’t come out of something unless you were in it. So, are these people who became Christians during the great tribulation, or were they already Christians when the great tribulation came? If the first, it would fit with the rapture. We’ll see more about them next time. Father thank ...

   Good morning. And I heard the number of those who were sealed 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel - 12,000 each but with a slight aberration. First, the tribe of Dan is missing. Remember at the end of the book of Genesis that Jacob took the two sons of Joseph to replace him. Joseph‘s son Manasseh is mentioned, but not Ephraim. So, were these the only believers alive at that time? If so, that could give credence to the rapture. Since they are from the tribes of Israel, they are Jewish believers. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands. In other words, there were a bunch of people in heaven. Next time we will see what they were saying. Father thank You that no matter what happens, You are still in charge.

   Good morning. We have a pause in the breaking of the seals. After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth (North, south, east, west), holding back the four winds of the earth (Matthew 24:31 adds to “ four winds of the earth“ – from one end of the sky to the other. Mark 13 adds - from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven) so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads“. Next time we will find out more about these bond-servants. Father help this to be a turning point in the lives of the readers and their families.

   Good morning. Now He breaks the sixth seal: there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood (reminds you of the book of Joel); and the stars of the sky fell to the earth (of course it wasn’t really stars), as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. As the old song made famous by Jerry Lee Lewis says, “there’s a whole Lotta Shakin’ goin’ on“. Then all the great and small hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?“ All this, and we haven’t even come to the end of Judgement Day! (where is Arnold Schwarzenegger when you need ...

   Good morning. underneath the altar… there was given to each of them a white robe (symbol of blessedness and purity); and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number (the word “number“ is not in the Greek) of their fellow servants and the brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. [My Bible says that Jewish thought held that God rules the world according to a predetermined time schedule, and that the end awaits the death of a certain number of the righteous.] If at this time the church has been “Raptured” as some say, this would mean that there were believers on the earth who had not been “raptured” and were yet to be killed. Would that mean they became believers during the tribulation? Remember we said yesterday that a lot of bad stuff has already happened, and if this is not the tribulation but merely “birth pangs“, then the tribulation was going to be unbelievably bad. Father help us to be patient un...

   Good morning. Now we have the fourth seal and the fourth living creature: an ashen (describes the ashen appearance of the dead) horse and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth (is it geographical or number of people?), to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. If it is number of people, does that mean that a fourth of the people still living were killed, or just affected by these things? When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar (the altar was where the old testament sacrifices were made) the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “how long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth“? This does not sound like they were all the peo...

   Good morning. When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “come“. I looked, and a black (symbolizing famine) horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “a quart of wheat for a denarius, and 3 quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine“. After the war and bloodshed of the first two horses, it would seem reasonable that there would be famine in the world. [My Bible says that 1 quart of wheat would be enough for only one person. 3 quarts of the less nutritious barley would be barely enough for a small family.] A denarius was basically how much a common laborer made in an entire day. In other words, you would work all day and barely make enough to feed your family for that day. Father thank You that no matter what happens in the world whether it’s a war or famine, You will continually take care of us.

   Good morning. Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a loud voice of thunder, “come“. I looked, and behold a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. [My Bible says the imagery of the four horsemen comes from Zechariah. The colors in Revelation correspond to the character of the rider; white symbolizes conquest.] The fact that he is carrying a bow seems to agree with that interpretation. When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “come“. And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. [My Bible says that red symbolizes bloodshed and war]. Father help us to remember that no matter what happens we are safe in Your hands.

   Good morning. Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads and thousands, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing“. And every created thing (we are born not created) which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever”. Can I get an amen? And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen“. And the elders fell down and worshiped. All of this was because the Lamb was found worthy to open the book! Next time we will see what happens when the Lamb starts breaking the seals that sealed up the book. Father we agree with all of these that the Lamb is worthy! Help us to live our lives so that we are worthy of Him.

   Good morning. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints (The book of Revelation is full of metaphors and things that have double meanings). Incense was used a lot in the worship of God. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests (KJV says kings and priests) to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.“ It cost a lot for Jesus to be found worthy to open the book. Father thank You that Jesus was/is worthy to open the book. Help us to also be found worthy as Your children.