Tag Archives: fear

The Sixth Seal — Revelation 6:12-17

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Studying Bible Prophecy

When the Lamb broke the sixth seal, John looked and saw (and may have experienced) a great earthquake. There have been many earthquakes recorded in the bible, and many more in this present day. But this one and also the one at the very end of the Tribulation (Rev. 16:18) will be the greatest in world history. In fact, they will be more than earthquakes. MacArthur writes, “All the earth’s faults will begin to fracture simultaneously, resulting in a cataclysmic, global earthquake.”[1]

Another author, Hal Lindsey, in his commentary of Revelation, There’s A New World Coming, says of this passage that this quake will be “the granddaddy of them all.”[2]

And he believes, because of the description here (verses 12-14), that the quake will be set off by a nuclear explosion. Lindsey comments particularly on verse fourteen:

Do you know what happens in a nuclear explosion? The…

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The Nature of the Tribulation: A Time of Fear and Terror

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In the following passages the words fear, terror, dread, and tremble in bold indicate to us how those on the earth greatly feared the Tribulation—mainly because they knew it came directly from the great wrath of God.

Isaiah 2:19

And men will go into caves of the rocks,

And into holes of the ground

Before the terror of the Lord,

And before the splendor of His majesty,

When He arises to make the earth tremble.

Isaiah 13:6-9

Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!

It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

7 Therefore all hands will fall limp,

And every man’s heart will melt.

8 And they will be terrified,

Pains and anguish will take hold of them;

They will writhe like a woman in labor,

They will look at one another in astonishment,

Their faces aflame.

9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming,

Cruel, with fury and burning anger,

To make the land a desolation;

And He will exterminate its sinners from it.

Jeremiah 30:4-7

Now these are the words which the Lord spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah, 5 “For thus says the Lord,

‘I have heard a sound of terror,

Of dread, and there is no peace.

6 ‘Ask now, and see,

If a male can give birth.

Why do I see every man

With his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth?

And why have all faces turned pale?

7 ‘Alas! for that day is great,

There is none like it;

And it is the time of Jacob’s distress,

But he will be saved from it.

Zephaniah 1:18

Neither their silver nor their gold

Will be able to deliver them

On the day of the Lord’s wrath;

And all the earth will be devoured

In the fire of His jealousy,

For He will make a complete end,

Indeed a terrifying one,

Of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Luke 21:25-26

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Revelation 6:15-17

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 of 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; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”

The Hypocrisy of the Mask

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It is interesting watching people. Some rarely wear a mask, even when they are in crowds. Others wear a mask all the time: when they walk around outside, with a partner or by themselves; when they are driving alone in their car; and I suppose, even when they are alone in their house.

Most people who always wear a mask say that they are following science and that science is reliable. But I have heard time and time again that the science says that masks are not 100%. Some are even saying that they are less than 20% reliable. And most of the scientists say that the mask does not protect you; it protects others around you from the virus. So, if that is true, those people who are diligent at always wearing their masks, must be doing it for a totally unselfish reason. Now do you really think they are doing it for others? I doubt it.

So, I think, bases on the science, we can be somewhat certain that masks are not that reliable—specially to protect ourselves. But let’s just say that they are 100% reliable. If everyone is not wearing them all the time, those that don’t wear them all the time will corrupt the entire system? The best example of this hypocrisy is what happens in restaurants. The law says that everyone is required to wear a mask to enter the restaurant. But once you sit down to eat you can take it off—so you can eat. And everyone does. Oh, and if you get up from your seat to go to the restroom you must put your mask back on. And if you don’t you can bet that someone will scold you—the manager, or just anyone! It is as if there is something sacred and safe about the restaurant booth or table. It’s a free zone.

We also see the same thing with speakers. It’s okay for them to remove their mask so we can hear them clearly.

So, I think we have established that masks don’t work that well; and we have also established that if everyone is not wearing it all the time, like when they are eating in a restaurant, that substantially increases our risk of getting the virus. So why even bother to wear a mask? Here are three reason why people wear a mask:

1. Some people honestly trust that wearing a mask will keep them from getting the covid virus and keep them from dying. And their trust is based on what the news media and what their governor is telling them.

2. Whether people believe that masks are effect or not, they are compelled out of fear to follow orders. This fear is a fear of being fined or jailed, or both; or it is also a fear of being thought of as a noncompliant person, or an odd one, or a person who is bringing more of the virus to us.

3. Many are wearing it because they think that it is just the right thing to do. So, in many cases they are just blindly following orders with the hope that it will do some good. I suppose I fall into this category.

Concluding remarks:

I think what we are talking about has a prophetical ring to it. That is, in the future the Antichrist will use pandemics to keep us, by fear, under control. Have you noticed how many times the media gives us the covid 19 death statistics? Why? It is to keep us in fear! So that we will be more compliant to what they (the government) want us to do.

But we need not fear. For one thing, the death rate really isn’t that high compared to other diseases. Also, for a Christian, we need not fear death—because death is just our being transferred into another state, a better life; the resurrection life.

My Earliest Memories

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As I ponder the task before me of telling my life story, I have decided that the best place to start is to recount my earliest memories. I suppose most of us can’t recall too much before the age of three or four. I think my earliest memories were when I was about four or five. Here are five vivid early memories—and I will do my best to explain why I think I have those memories.

Walking to school. I was five years old and in kindergarten. I don’t remember too much about the routine of walking or even how far I had to walk. What I remember most clearly is meeting and walking with a little black girl. And it was a pleasant memory. I suppose the memory has stayed fixed in my mind because she was black and different than me, and because I enjoyed her company. At that age I suppose we have no prejudice. We see the differences but we don’t care.  I think that was true for me. Later on in life, unfortunately, I came to be afraid of the differences—as most people do. That was true especially at that time in history—in the 1950’s. I thank God that over the years I have grown to be less fearful of people. I just wish we could all get along and accept each other.

Trying to be the class clown. This memory isn’t as vivid. In fact, my mom told me what happened and then I seemed to recall it. In my kindergarten class I would stand on the tables and would basically do crazy things in an attempt to get attention: like make faces, crazy noises and dance around—anything that I could get a laugh out of. But the most significant part of it was when my mother very seriously and firmly told me that I had to stop doing it. That I was disrupting the class. And, according to my mother’s recollection—and I seem to slightly remember it—after that talk I was like a different person. I sometimes wonder what happened there. If she wouldn’t have said anything, would I be a more outgoing person. Or maybe what she said to me changed me in a positive way, like kept me from being a life-long rebel. I don’t know.

A scary lady. I don’t remember what the lady across the street looked like. All I remember is that she was constantly yelling at us kids and telling us to stay on our own side of the street. We actually thought she was a witch. Her house was black with a picket fence around it, and with a gate that no one dared enter. I remember that at Halloween we would dare each other to go up to her house. We were surprised that she was actually friendly and gave us treats. But we were very suspicious. Maybe the candy was injected with poison.

Why have I held on to that memory? Maybe Satan is using it to enforce any fears he wants to instill in me; fears of dark and wicked things, fears of angry people, fears of the unknown. But I keep taking my fears to God and He continues to give me victory over them.

Saturday morning TV. Let’s see, the memory had to be in the year 1956. I think we had just gotten the television. The screen was very small and black and white. I remember that especially on Saturday morning the three of us kids, and maybe a couple neighbor kids, would set around the TV and watch cartoons. But the most vivid memory was when my dad got very angry and yanked the TV cord out of the electrical socket and even out of the back of the TV. I can’t remember what he said to us, only that he was very angry that we were watching TV. I think he said that it was a waste of time and that we should be doing something more constructive.

That whole memory was centered only on my dad’s out of control anger. That’s the way he was, and we never knew when it would flare up. More fears from the devil. I think he was using my dad’s problems to make me fearful. At times I still have fearful memories and dreams of my dad. Right now I’m thinking that maybe it was like David’s strained relationship with Saul. Saul had a mental problem, as did my dad. And like David, I seek the Lord constantly in prayer.

When my uncle came to visit. If my calculations are right, I was about four years old and my uncle Lyle was about 25. I don’t remember many details about his visits, except just seeing him, and seeing his shinny gold watch. I also remember feeling so good about being around him. He was so cool. That’s the only word I can think of to describe him. He was nothing like my dad. He never got angry. I always have thought of him as being cool and rich and smart. He lived on the farm with our grandpa and grandma, and with our younger uncle Mike. Mike was cool too. Both of them had their own horses. But it was Lyle who had the brains and who kept the tractors and machinery running. Lyle could do anything. We all knew that about uncle Lyle.