370 What is ahead of Messiah's return

What is ahead immediately before Messiah’s return?

The warnings of Yahshua’s prophesy about the events ahead prior to His return as recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 appears more realistic in terms of the time during which we live, today. Our world is currently and has been experiencing the early stages of what Messiah foretold it would be prior to His imminent return. In a world that has been spiritually deceived by Satan and his many agents (false ministers), teaching a counterfeit Messiah and a false gospel in place of His true gospel about the coming kingdom of Elohim, we are presently in a second break between stages of world war. With the first two world wars behind us, there is yet one final world war ahead, and we are warned in Ezekiel 21: 14 & 15 that the armaments to be used in World War III will be double of that used in previous world wars, as follows: “You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and clap your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them, (15) that their hearts may melt, and many fall at all their gates. I have given a glittering sword. Ah! It is made for striking like lightning, it is wrapped up in readiness for slaughter.”

Next to strike are the great famines, disease epidemics and earthquakes, followed by World War III. These conditions will all grow in severity, until millions of people will suffer from its effects. With the deterioration of many inner-cities and the aging infrastructure including power generating utilities, water purification and sewage disposal plants, and a lack of capital to maintain and replace such facilities due to mismanagement, it is easy to visualize how many countries in the western world will come to a standstill and eventually be overtaken by raw sewage running in city streets causing many yet unheard of diseases. Because service levels will continue to drop, people will take the law into their own hands resulting in anarchy, and eventually life will become extremely dangerous in cities and even in small towns – a bit like a recent American movie about a postal service run between such towns in the future[1], where America has gone back to a period akin to the wild west. But, according to Matthew 24: 8, these things will only be the ‘beginning of birth pangs’ or more correctly, the beginning of the tribulation or Jacobs trouble.

The ‘beginning of birth pangs’ is also described in Revelation 6: 1 – 8 by the first four seals, or the horsemen of the apocalypse. Yahshua our Messiah explained the fifth seal of earth-shaking events in Matthew 24: 9, saying: “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name.” Those people who only receive material from ministries like ours are not aware that our computers are attacked regularly because people do not like what we preach. I have received 7 viruses during the past month and receive some on a regular basis. Fortunately we are protected by a very good anti-virus package that is updated to cater for new viruses on a regular basis. But this is only the beginning! Yahshua further explained what will happen as a result of this persecution in Matthew 24: 10 – 13, saying: “And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another (don’t forget this is talking about called-out believers). (11) And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. (This is already happening - there are many who want to distract us from worshiping according to the Hebrew calendar, so that we may not be ready and keeping the Feast of Trumpets when our Master returns one day.) (12) And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. (13) But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.” Many true believers will become so lukewarm and so out of contact with Elohim and fellow believers, that they will turn against their brethren, and will as a result not be counted worthy to escape the coming great tribulation, as Messiah warned in Luke 21: 36, saying: “But keep on the alert at all times (be totally aware of what is happening around you, and make sure that what you are doing conforms to Torah),praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

We see from Revelation 6: 9 – 11 how the great tribulation is depicted as the fifth seal during which time the saints are martyred, in this way: ‘And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of Elohim, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; (10) and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Master, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (11)And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they have been, should be completed also.’ The fifth seal is obviously about the martyrdom of converted, but lukewarm begotten children of Elohim, as is also spoken about in Revelation 12: 17, as follows: ‘And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of Elohim and hold to the testimony of Yahshua.’ There are two martyrdom's pictured here – the first group of martyrs died during the religious persecutions throughout the middle ages, which was only a type of what is about to happen during the end of the age. The future martyrdom will occur at a time to which Yochanan the author of the Book of Revelation was carried forward to in a vision, immediately before Messiah’s return. These martyrs are dead in their graves, having been sacrificed because they kept the commandments of Elohim and their faith in Yahshua. We see from Revelation 11: 3 – 10 and especially verse 7 that the two witnesses will also be killed after they prophesied for twelve hundred and sixty days, in this way: ‘And when they have finished their testimony,the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.’Revelation 17: 4 - 6 tells us that the woman representing the false congregation inspired by Satan will be responsible for this end time persecution, as follows: ‘And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, (5) and upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (6) And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Yahshua. And when I saw her, I wondered greatly.’

The next great event to occur after the great tribulation are the heavenly signs as recorded in Revelation 6: 12 & 13, in this way: ‘And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; (13) and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.’The sixth seal comprises spectacular heavenly signs, with both the sun and the moon becoming dark and the stars falling. This means there will be incredible meteor showers that will make the stars appear to fall from the sky. Continuing in verses 14 – 16, we read: ‘And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. (15) And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks in the mountains; (16) 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.”’All these occurrences are meant to warn the world about Elohim’s wrath about to be unleashed upon rebellious mankind; that ‘the day of YHVH’ with its penalty for sin is about to start, as witnessed in verse 17 of Revelation 6, as follows: ‘For the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?’

We see the reason for this punishment to be unleashed upon mankind given in Isaiah 24: 4 – 6, in this way: ‘The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. (5) The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. (6) Therefore a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants on the earth are burned, and few men are left.’ Elohim will bring distress upon defiant sinful men who hate the truth and love evil. Even so, Elohim’s punishment will be a demonstration of His love for mankind, as testified in Hebrews 12: 4– 7, as follows: ‘You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; (5) and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF YHVH, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; (6) FOR THOSE WHOM YHVH LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” (7)It is for discipline that you endure; Elohim deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?’There are some who believe that the plagues Elohim brought upon ancient Egypt, and will bring upon the whole earth in the near future, represent a great exception to the belief that ‘Elohim is Love’ as Yochanan testified 1 John 4: 8. Such people hold that the time of salvation will soon end. Then, a vengeful Elohim filled with wrath will glut His rage and passion by pouring out unbearable torture upon helpless humanity. However, this idea is pagan, totally untrue of the one and only true Elohim.

The point is that Elohim has been sending His loving message to humanity for almost 6,000 years. To start with He revealed His law of love – for the good of His people – to Adam and Eve, but they soon rejected it. Next Elohim started a new society with Noah and his sons, but again mankind rebelled when they built a city and a tower to reach heaven. Elohim scattered mankind abroad by confusing their language and they stopped building the city. Then Elohim again started another new society by calling Abram to start following His way of life, and to become the father of many nations. Father Abraham through Isaac and Jacob became the father of the ancient nation of Israel, whom YHVH eventually brought out of Egypt to become a model nation of kings and priests to Him. At this point we need to fast tracking the History of Israel to after king Solomon’s time, where the nation of Israel split in two, namely the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Soon after this happened YHVH divorced the house of Israel because of idolatry and scattered the Israelites throughout the nations of the world, but mainly in the west. As promised to Abraham his offspring became a multitude of nations in the latter days. In addition YHVH blessed all the nations to where He dispersed the Israelites.

Throughout the 6,000 years Elohim sent His loving messages to mankind through His prophets, revealing His way of peace and happiness to mankind. These prophets brought messages of peace, love and compassion. But men have rejected their message and killed the prophets. Then Elohim send His Son to come and reconcile Israel back to Him and to the house of Judah who remained loyal to Him and His commandments. But, rebellious mankind also killed Yahshua – not knowing that it was part of Elohim’s plan to reconcile His people back to Him and to be able to remarry His bride when He returns one day to rule the world from Jerusalem. They martyred Yahshua’s apostles whom He sent out into the world proclaiming the good news about the coming kingdom of Elohim. Elohim has in love and mercy given stubborn humanity every chance to repent and return to Him. But they did not and will not change today. Because Elohim cannot remove the right of free moral agency from man, without defeating His purpose for mankind (to reproduce His character in them), however, with the exception of a very few, men have shown that they will not voluntarily respond as long as Elohim’s pleading is limited to words. Therefore Elohim is about to intervene in the affairs of mankind with more than words.

Elohim is going to punish mankind in righteousness, with plagues worse than the ones he unleashed on ancient Egypt. Many will during this coming great tribulation heed and turn from their evil ways to seek Elohim and His ways. The great tribulation will be followed directly by the Day of YHVH described in many prophecies in the Scriptures, which will lead to the return of Messiah Yahshua to usher in the kingdom of Elohim. Immediately after the heavenly signs,just before the seventh seal is opened there will be a brief period when further disruptions are stopped, as recorded in Revelation 7: 1, in this way: ‘After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind should blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.’We are given the reason for this short cessation in hostility in verses 2 & 3, as follows: ‘And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living Elohim, and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, (3) saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the bond-servants of our Elohim on their foreheads.”We see from verse 4 that a relatively small number of human beings will be sealed on their foreheads in this way: ‘And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.’

We understand the seal with which these bond-servants of Elohim are to be sealed with, to be immersed in the Set-apart Name of Yahshua, when they are given the Set-apart Spirit, as explained by Rav Shaul in Ephesians 1: 13, saying: ‘In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation— having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Set-apart Spirit of promise.’ Revelation 14: 1 informs us that the seal is in fact the name of Yahshua and His Father, in this way: ‘And I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.’ However, we see from Revelation 7: 9 that after the 144,000 are sealed, there will be a great number of others who were also sealed, as follows: ‘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.’ Verses 13 & 14 tell us who this multitude is and where they come from, in this way: ‘And one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?” (14) And I said to him, “My master, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” When these people see Elohim intervening through dreadful supernatural signs in heaven and on earth, they will surrender completely to His way, and ask to be cleansed in the blood of the Lamb. These people are some of those to whom the congregation of Elohim proclaimed the good news, but they were not ready, or too busy at the time to start following Elohim’s way. Then similar to the way that YHVH protected the ancient Israelites from the plagues that He unleashed upon Egypt, will He protect those who come to Him in repentance.

After the sealing is complete and the seventh seal is opened, we see from Revelation 8: 1 – 6 that the seven trumpet plagues will be allowed to be unleashed. These trumpets are not as many believed, identical to the seven seals. In fact they constitute the seventh seal, in seven consecutive stages, each stage being another trumpet plague. We see from verses 6 & 7 what happens after the first trumpet is sounded, as follows: ‘And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. (7) And 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.’ When the second angel sounded his trumpet in verses 8& 9, ‘something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood; (9) and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.’ Next, part of the earth’s drinking water is affected adversely as recorded in verses 10 & 11, in this way: ‘And the third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters; (11) and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died from the water, because they were made bitter.’Then when the fourth trumpet is sounded in verse 12,‘a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were smitten, so that a third of them might be darkened and the day might not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.

Elohim continued to show Yochanan that the next event to afflict rebellious mankind will be renewed warfare. The last three trumpets are in fact called woes in Revelation 8: 13, as follows: ‘And I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in mid heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, 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 last three woes are called woes, since they will cause terrible destruction to the earth. This will result in a great loss in human life and natural resources, so much so that only Elohim will be able to repair the damage done to the earth. Similar to the way that Elohim send the armies of Assyria to punish the house of Israel and Babylon to punish the house of Judah, so will He send armies to punish the whole world, because of their evil deeds. Therefore the last three trumpet plagues picture three stages of coming world war. At the last trumpet men will be saved from self-annihilation by Messiah’s coming. The first of the three woes are described in Revelation 9: 1 – 11. Because Yochanan was not familiar with modern weapons of war he described what he saw in terms of insects that cause men to suffer. He was not aware of modern biological, bacteriological and radiological weapons available today and described these as the poison of scorpions. He further describes such weaponry as locusts with power to hurt men, which may possible refer to the sophisticated attack helicopters available today. These symbolic locusts hop,jump and fly like locusts, packed with all sorts of weaponry, including some that will inflict pain, without killing their victims.

We see from Revelation 9: 2 & 3 that this super-army comes from the ‘bottomless pit’ also described in Revelation 17: 8 – 14. This is the same place from where the final resurrection of the so-called holy Roman Empire comes. The final revived Roman Empire is a war-making power with very sophisticated arms. We see from Revelation 9: 11, who the real leader of this religious political power is, as follows: ‘They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon (destruction), and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.’ The evil power guiding the ‘beast’s’ army is none other than Satan himself. When the armies of the beast attack its enemies, those who came through the great tribulation, who turned to Elohim and were sealed by His Set-apart Spirit, will be protected. Those who are being warned of these days by Elohim’s modern day Nazarenes or watchmen as per Ezekiel 33: 7 – 9 will not be protected, unless they repent and turn to Elohim and His ways. At this time an enormous army will have been prepared for war in the east. The second woe will be ready to commence, when the sixth trumpet is ready to be blown.

We see from verses 14 – 16 of Revelation 9 what happens when the sixth angel’s trumpet is sounded, in this way: ‘One saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” (15)And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they might kill a third of mankind. (16) And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.’ Communist Russia and China are mainly located east to the Promised Land, beyond the Euphrates River. That is the only place from where an army of two hundred million soldiers could come from. We see from verse 18 that a third of mankind will be killed by this army from the east, as follows: ‘A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceed out of their mouths.’ But, we see that even after the tremendous carnage and destruction, most of mankind will remain unrepentant as witnessed in verses 20 & 21 of Revelation 9, in this way: ‘And 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 of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; (21) and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.’

We see that even during these plagues Elohim continued to plead with mankind to repent, by sending His two witnesses to plead with them as per Revelation 11: 3 – 6: ‘“And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” (4) These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Master of the earth. (5) And if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and if any would desire to harm them, in this manner he must be killed. (6)These have the power to shut up the sky in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.‘The two witnesses are given supernatural protection as they deliver Elohim’s final warnings to the evil powers of the earth. After completing their mission the two witnesses will be killed and their bodies displayed in the street of the great city which was mystically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Master was crucified (as per verses 7 & 8). We see from verses 11 – 12 that ‘And after the three and a half days the breath of life from Elohim came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were beholding them. (12) And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them.’ At last we see from verse 13 of Revelation 11, that as a result of what happen next some repented, and gave glory to Elohim, as follows: And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the Elohim of heaven.’This is when the second woe comes to an end.

When the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, “there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Master and His Messiah; and He will reign forever and ever.”(verse 15).This is when the third woe begins, which is clearly the time of Messiah’s second coming to take over the kingdoms of the world and to establish Elohim’s kingdom on earth. But we see from verse 18 of Revelation 11, what the reaction of rebellious mankind is at this time, as follows: “And the nations were enraged and Thy wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy bond-servants the prophets and to the saints and to those who fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” The wrath of Elohim is the only thing described at the sounding of the seventh trumpet; however, all the seven trumpets have been plagues pouring out Elohim’s punishment to bring mankind to its senses. The seventh plague actually concludes Elohim’s wrath on mankind. Similar to what the seventh seal is subdivided into the seven trumpets, so is the seventh trumpet divided into the last seven plagues, which essentially constitutes the seventh trumpet or last woe. Therefore the seven last plagues are also part of the seventh seal. The seven last plagues are poured out at Messiah’s return.

These seven last plagues are compared to vials or bowls about to be poured out, as witnessed in Revelation 15: 7, in this way: ‘And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of Elohim, who lives forever and ever.’ We read from Revelation 16: 1 that the seven angels are told to: “Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of Elohim into the earth.’ Revelation 18: 8 testifies that these plagues will be poured out on the earth in one day and are Elohim’s judgments upon modern Babylon. The 24 hour day is the high point of the much longer Day of YHVH which will have started with the seventh seal, which ushers in the seventh sequential trumpet plagues. It will also be during this one day that the leadership of this modern day Babylon will be destroyed. We read from verse 2 of Revelation 16, ‘And the first angel went and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.’ The bowl is poured out on all who are taking part in the world’s false civil-religious system. The second and third of these plagues are described in verses 3 & 4 of Revelation 16, in this way: ‘And the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died. (4) And the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood.’Verses 5 – 7 informs us that these punishments of Elohim upon mankind is righteous, as follows: ‘And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous art Thou, who art and who wast, O Holy One, because Thou didst judge these things; (6) for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” (7) And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O YHVH Elohim, the Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments.”

The fourth bowl was poured out on the sun, so that it scorch men with fire, but we see according to verse 9, ‘And men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of Elohim who has the power over these plagues; and they did not repent, so as to give Him glory,’ We understand from Isaiah 24: 6 that the total effect of these plagues will result in only a comparatively few people remaining at the beginning of Messiah’s rule, in this way: Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.’Not all people will die; if a tenth of a third of mankind remains after all these plagues, there will still be about 200 million people left. They will be the subjects with whom Messiah and His saints will begin their rule upon the earth. The main reason for Elohim having to punish mankind is because of their disobedience to His laws; statutes and disrespect for His everlasting covenant. Yet despite the severity of the fourth plague, many will still not repent.

After the fifth angel empties his bowl, darkness and great pain will afflict those near the throne of the beast as recorded in Revelation 16: 10, but we see from verse 11 that they blasphemed Elohim of heaven because of their sores and pain, and did not repent of their deeds. At the pouring out of the sixth bowl the greatest battle of human history will occur, with the nations of the world joining in to fight against the returning Messiah as recorded in verses 13 – 16 of Revelation 16, as follows: ‘And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; (14) for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of Elohim, the Almighty. (15) (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame.”) (16) And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.’This plague will result in the gathering of the armies of all nations that remain rebellious to Elohim’s ways into a final battle (World War III) according to His plan.

The earth will be shaken violently by the severest earthquake ever when the seventh and final plague is poured out as recorded in verses 17 & 18, in this way: ‘And the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” (18) And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.’ We see from verse 20 that even the Islands of the sea will be moved. We see further from verse 21 of Revelation 16 that Elohim’s final punishment on mankind will be enormous hailstones, as follows: ‘And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed Elohim because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.’A few years ago when we moved to Gauteng for about 8 years I witnessed a hailstorm that destroyed numerous car roofs, windows and even tile roofs of many homes. Costs of repairs at that time were estimated to be millions of Rand, and the hailstones were only the size of golf balls. So can you image the damage and destruction such huge hailstones will cause?

After the last trump and Messiah’s return to intervene in human affairs, He will gather up the descendants of Israel still alive at that time and bring them from their exile back to Jerusalem as witnessed in Isaiah 27: 12 & 13, in this way: ‘And it will come about in that day, that YHVH will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. (13) It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship YHVH in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.’When these people heard the warnings of Elohim’s ministers about the terrible end time tribulation, they did not pay attention to it and were eventually taken captive. We read further about this re-gathering from Isaiah 11: 11 & 12, as follows: ‘Then it will happen on that day that YHVH will again recover the second time with His hand the remnant of His people, who will remain, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hammath, and from the islands (or coastlands) of the sea. (12) And He will lift up a standard for the nations, and will assemble the banished ones of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.’We see from Jeremiah 16: 14 & 15 that this exodus will be similar to the exodus from Egypt in the days of Moses, in this way: “Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares YHVH, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As YHVH lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ (15) but, ‘As YHVH lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.’” Jeremiah was inspired by Elohim to write this prophesy around 600 BCE. Do you realize that this has not happened yet and that the first exodus was only a type of the much greater second exodus.

Notice that these re-gathered Israelites are not changed to immortality when Messiah returns, but are restored to the Promised Land as physical human beings. Elohim will lead His re-gathered people to see themselves as He sees them, and to detest themselves for their past wickedness, and then will grant them repentance from their sins for the first time, as recorded in Ezekiel 20: 43& 44“And there you will remember your ways and all your deeds, with which you have defiled yourselves; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evil things that you have done. (44) Then you will know that I am YHVH when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel,” declares YHVH Elohim.’”All people of the world and especially the Israelites have still to suffer a great deal before they will finally learn that YHVH is Elohim, and before they will return fully to Him. But each one of us whom Elohim has called at this time can receive His divine protection during the coming worldwide tribulation. Yes, we need not fear these troubles if we listen to these Scriptural warnings, repent and remain close to YHVH until the end. Halleluyah!

[1]The Postman is an American post-apocalyptic film directed by and starring Kevin Costner, and based on the 1985 novel of the same name by David Brin.