1. If you want to get all the post resurrection appearances of Jesus in chronological order and to get a true and clear picture of what happened in each case you really need to look at all the gospels. Some gospels give more detail than others. Also, 1 Corinthians 15:5-7 is also helpful, as it actually give us the order of some of them.
2. In the first two appearances to Mary Magdalene and to the other two women, it is difficult to tell who Jesus appeared to first. But here is the way I see that it happened: 1) all three women got to the tomb together and were told by an angel that Jesus had risen and to go and give the news to His disciples (Mark 16:6-7). 2) I think Mary M. out ran the other two women. She gave the message to Peter and John, returned…
Certainly, Jesus Christ must be included in the list of Tribulation personalities; for He is the underlying theme of Revelation. He is the central figure. In my study I have found seven different titles for Jesus Christ: Lamb, Son of man, Jesus, Faithful and True, Word of God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We will highlight these titles as we present Him to you in chronological order as He appears in the Tribulation.
The Lamb is worthy to break the seals (Rev. 5:1-14). Here in John’s vision, God held in His hand a book that was sealed up with seven seals. And the question was asked by an angel, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” And no one was found in heaven or on earth to open the book. And John began to weep. But then one of the elders said to…
In the Old and New Testament period, in the early church, in the church throughout the centuries, and in America and throughout the World people have fasted.
Fasting in the Old Testament.According to Bible records, the practice of fasting among the Jews began with their great leader and deliverer, Moses. He by far has given us the greatest (or most extreme) example. For he fasted without food or water for forty days on two consecutive trips to Mount Sinai—eighty days and nights! It had to be a miracle. For no one in his own strength can fast much over three days without water.
Our next example was King David. I think he fasted often, but there are only three instances recorded in the Bible: (1) He fasted with his men over the death of Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. 1:12); (2) he fasted when he was in grief…
Here a holy birthingAs the mist appearsSpirit is surroundingDrawing in the air Light of the ignitingOne of heaven’s glowSacred colors strokingOf gifting to bestow Life comes to awakenOf calling to ordainThe purpose is presentedIn God’s embrace, remain Come now soul of stirringAcknowledge God is hereTo lift the hearts surrenderThis morning is a prayer
I’ve been reading Death of a Nation, by Dinesh D’Souza. I just finished reading a couple of pages that tells of the gruesome murders and purpose of the Klan. I will try to relay it in my own words.
The Ku Klux Klan got started just after the Civil War in retaliation of the Emancipation Proclamation and in an effort to keep blacks from thinking that they were in any way equal with whites. But Republicans managed to quickly shut it down; unfortunately, after a few years, while WoodrowWilson was President, a buddy of his, Thomas Dixon wrote a book, The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan. It is interesting that today Progressives call Dixon a “right-winger.” However, we know that racism, with the Klan, was “the official doctrine of the Democratic Party.” Anyway, in Dixon’s book, the heroes are the Night Riders of the Ku Klux Klan, who were pictured swooping down into a neighborhood and overthrowing “the bad Republicans and Negros.”
Well, as it happened, the book was a great success (as Democrats were eager to have the blacks destroyed). And so, he decided to make it into a movie called Birth of a Nation (but it was really the death of a nation). And he promised President Wilson that “the film would ‘transform every man in my audience into a good Democrat.’” Well, when the movie was first shown in the White House, Wilson and other Democrats were thrilled. And so, with the President’s backing, the movie opened in theatres everywhere. This was all that was needed to restart the Ku Klux Klan. The movement stretched “from Maine to the Midwest to California.” This second movement was no less murderous than the first, and it lasted longer and was more widespread. It “became the domestic Terrorist arm of the Democrat Party.” And as D’Souza wrote,
The Klan became just what Wilson and his progressive Democrats were searching for, an institutional whip used to beat blacks down and keep them from competing with whites for jobs, socializing with whites or—most important of all—voting Republican.
In the book White Rage, by Carol Anderson, she describes the typical Klan lynching. It was not at all a secret event. In fact, it was designed for white entertainment. Trains would bring in a large audience from all over to see the hanging. Even women and children came to be entertained. And it was written that severed body parts of the victim became souvenirs and decorations to be hung proudly in their homes.
Now here is the purpose for these public murders: they were organized in full agreement with the local Democratic Party in order to send a message to black republican voters. That is, to plant fear in the blacks to votes only for Democrats or not at all.
Conclusion
So here you see the evil foundation of the Democratic Party. You see the beginnings of how they influenced the black vote through fear. And you also see the deep and terrible racism—to be entertained by public murders. You see especially during the 1920s (the zenith of the Klan) how most whites were white supremacists and regarded the Negro as less than human.
I don’t know how Democrats can stay Democrats knowing their history. I think most of them deny what happened. And many of them are now placing the blame on Republicans. But Woodrow Wilson and FDR and Jackson and LBJ were all Democrats and were the chief racists. We know that!
And even though the Klan is no longer in operation, the progressive plantation is. Progressives are still using the poor blacks as well as many illegal immigrants to vote for them and to make them rich. It is disgusting how it works. They in effect are still their slaves, keeping them poor and in line.
The Holy Spirit is not mentioned in the Tribulation, but we know that He will be present, since He is eternally omnipresent. However, according to many scholars, it is believed that His ministry will be different in the Tribulation; and some believe that it will be the same as it was in the Old Testament.
The reason for this change is because at the Rapture the church will leave this earth; hence, the Holy Spirit’s ministry to the church will no longer be necessary, even to those who are believers during the Tribulation on earth, since they will not be the church. They will be believing saints, but not the church.
So what will the ministry of the Holy Spirit look like during the Tribulation? First of all, there are at least two, and possibly more, ministries that will be lacking: of baptism and of indwelling. The Holy Spirit will…
Fasting is one of those things we would rather put out of our mind. Food is just too good these days. And who wants to suffer anyway. But if you are serious about prayer, you really should think about it.
The following is an excerpt from my ebook Basics of Prayer.
In the gospels there are two instances where Jesus taught fasting. The first was in Matthew 6:16-18. Here He taught fasting (along with giving and praying) as a presumed and necessary duty in the Christian life. In this passage, He did not say “if you want to fast,” or “if you feel like fasting,” He said, “when you fast.” Therefore, Jesus taught Christians to fast (along with giving and praying) as a regular discipline and duty.
What Jesus taught, basically, in this passage about fasting was that when we fast, just as with giving…
I spotted this fellow in the Mississippi River not too far from where I live in Minnesota. At first I thought it was a muskrat. But after looking at its head I think it is either a beaver or a groundhog. I think it’s too big to be a muskrat. The nose and eyes I think are closer to a groundhog. I wish I had a better view of his whole body.
Three proclamation angels (Rev. 14:6-9). During the middle of the Tribulation, between the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments, john saw three angels flying through the sky, being quite visible to all.
The first angel (Rev. 14:6). The first angel was preaching the gospel to all the unbelievers on the earth, saying, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come.”
The second angel (Rev. 14:8). The second angel was preaching the fall of Babylon (which is the fall of the world’s evil system—political, economic and religious). This will actually happen during the seventh bowl judgment (Rev. 16:17-21).
The third angel (Rev. 14:9ff). This angel was given a stern warning that, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God…” This wrath of God, which is described here as a torment with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb, refers not to any of the tribulation judgments, but to hell, the lake of fire; for it says that “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.”
Three reaping angels (Rev. 14:15-18). Shortly after John witnessed the proclamation angels, he saw one like a son of man (probably Jesus Christ) sitting on a cloud with a sharp sickle in his hand; and also, three angels, but only one with a sharp sickle.
The first angel (Rev. 14:15). The first angel apparently did not have a sickle, so he cried to the Lord who was sitting on a cloud. He said to Him to put in His sickle and reap. So, the Lord “swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped (that is, the people of the world were judged; in this case I think it means that they were killed in the judgments of the Tribulation—probably during Armageddon).
The second angel (Rev. 14:17). The second angel came out of the temple, just as the first one did; and he, just like the Lord, had a sharp sickle.
The third angel (Rev. 14:18). This angel had power over fire (which may mean that he was an angel that ministered at the altar in the temple, burning incense with prayers). Just like the first angel, he did not have a sickle, so he called on the second angel to reap judgment on the earth just as Christ did—the Lord provided them the example of how to judge. Well, when the second angel swung his sickle in judgment the slaughter is so horrendous that “blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses bridles for a distance of two hundred miles.” (This language is exaggerated, nonetheless, we must believe that the slaughter during this time, probably at Armageddon, will be horrific.)
Seven angels with seven bowls of wrath (Rev. 15:1-16:17). Just after the three reaping angels were introduced, John saw in his vision seven angels who would bring seven plagues on the earth (which may occur in conjunction with the reaping). These seven plagues were to be the last, because after them the wrath of God (in the Tribulation) would be finished.
Well, as it happened, the temple door in heaven was thrown open, and John saw the seven angels come out, majestically clothed in white linen with golden sashes around their chest; and they were given bowls full of the wrath of God. “Then [John] heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.’”
The first angel (Rev. 16:2) poured out his bowl on the earth, and repugnant, malignant sores appeared on all those who had the mark of the beast (all who were not believers).
The second angel (Rev. 16:3) poured out his bowl into the sea, and the sea turned to blood; and every living thing in the sea died.
The third angel (Rev. 16:4) poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fresh springs; and they turned to blood. And this third angel praised God for this judgment, because for so long the wicked people of the earth have poured out the blood of the saints, and now God has rightly in His revenge given them blood to drink.
The fourth angel (Rev. 16:8) poured out his bowl upon the sun, and the people of the earth were scorch with the heat of the sun; and they blasphemed God and did not repent.
The fifth angel (Rev. 16:10) poured out his bowl on the throne and kingdom of the beast so that his kingdom became dark. And they gnawed their tongues and blasphemed God because of their pains and their sores. Apparently, they were more mindful of their pain in the dark.
The sixth angel (Rev. 16:12) poured out his bowl on the Euphrates River, and its water dried up so that the way would be prepared for the kings of the east. Then John saw something else, which helps to explain why the Euphrates needed to be dried up. He saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. They were the spirits of demons that went out to the kings of the world (including the kings of the east) and enticed them to gather together for war at a place called Har-Magedon.
The seventh angel (Rev. 16:17) poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice (probably the voice of God) spoke out from the temple saying, “It is done,” meaning that this bowl is the last of the judgments. Here are the six plagues in this bowl.
A great earthquake—the greatest ever on earth.
All the cities of the world are destroyed.
The city of Babylon, the capitol city of Antichrist’s empire is especially ruined.
Every island fled away—or disappear under the water.
The mountains are not found. They probably will be split apart and crumble.
The sky will produce huge hailstones weighing one hundred pounds each. And because of this plague and the damage and death it will cause, the people will blaspheme God.
I think the reference to “one of the seven angels” in chapter 17:1, and also two other angels in chapter eighteen, links the fall of Babylon in chapter 17-18 to the seventh bowl judgment; hence all of chapter 17 and 18 should fall under the seventh bowl.
Two angels involved in Babylon’s fall (Rev. 18). The fall of Babylon is briefly mentioned in Revelation 16:19, but the details of that fall are in chapter 18, highlighted by two angels.
Another angel (Rev. 18:1). This great angel will cause the earth to be illuminated with his glory. Apparently, he will be so bright that his own light will light up the earth—amazing! This angel comes to deliver the happy message: that Babylon has fallen.
A strong angel (v.21) gives a message to the world that Babylon will no longer be a threat to the righteous. This strong angel, to illustrate this message, took a great stone and threw it into the sea saying, “So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.”
There are other angels mentioned in the rest of Revelation, but the ones I have mentioned (above) are the only ones pertaining to the Tribulation. Also notice how many angels there will be in the Tribulation. It is very rare to see angels now in this church age, but in the Tribulation period it will be more common to see them, much like in the Old Testament.
Three proclamation angels (Rev. 14:6-9). During the middle of the Tribulation, between the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments, john saw three angels flying through the sky, being quite visible to all.
The first angel (Rev. 14:6). The first angel was preaching the gospel to all the unbelievers on the earth, saying, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come.”
The second angel (Rev. 14:8). The second angel was preaching the fall of Babylon (which is the fall of the world’s evil system—political, economic and religious). This will actually happen during the seventh bowl judgment (Rev. 16:17-21).
The third angel (Rev. 14:9ff). This angel was given a stern warning that, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also…
Stephen Nielsen 