Sabbath 28/11/38/120

Dear Friends,

We have often had queries about the Wars of the Fifth and the Sixth Trumpets and the three woes.  The Seven Angels sound the Seven Trumpets and this sequence has been explained in the paper The Seven Trumpets (No. 141), These Seven Trumpets should also be studied in relation to the Warning of the Last Days (No. 044) and the texts in Revelation chapter 10 and then the Measuring of the Temple (No. 137) and the Two Witnesses that are discussed in the work of Revelation chapter 11 which is outlined in the paper The Witnesses (Including the Two Witnesses)( No. 135) and then on through the texts of Revelation chapters 12, 13 and 14 which are explained in the papers WWIII Part I The Empire of the Beast (No. 299A) and then The Messages of Revelation 14 (No. 270) and the final chapters from 15 to 19 in the paper WWIII Part II: The Whore and the Beast (No. 299B)). The Final Chapters of Revelation are contained in the papers Heaven, Hell or the First Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143A) and The Second Resurrection and the Great White Throne Judgment (No. 143B); and The City of God (No. 180).

Our decision is simply to determine whether or not we wish to be in the First Resurrection of the Dead at the Return of the Messiah. If we do then we had better get our act together and get on with keeping the Commandments of God and the Faith and Testimony of Jesus Christ in order to qualify for the First Resurrection as do the other saints of the Church over the 2000 years. If you are not a baptised member of the Church of God then you are not eligible.  And there are only five eras out of seven that qualify over all.   

In the Last Days it is very tricky because there are three functioning churches out there and two of them are eras that are dead and spewed out of the Mouth of God.  These are the Sardis and the Laodicean eras.  The Sardis is more easily detected and that is because its demarcation church is named the Living Church of God (Rev. 3:1) and that occurred in 1997.  The larger church is the Laodicean and that church is also Sabbath-keeping but its understanding of the Nature of God is corrupt and its calendar and festivals are also corrupt.  The only church that is viable and goes into the First Resurrection is the Church of the Philadelphians which keeps the correct doctrines of the early church and the Temple Calendar and has not denied the name of the Christ (see the paper The Pillars of Philadelphia (No. 283)).  The history of the eras is contained in the paper Role of the Fourth-Commandment of the Historical Sabbath-keeping Churches of God (No. 170).

No Trinitarian Sunday worshipping church or Muslim or any other religious system enters the Kingdom of God at the First Resurrection at the Return of the Messiah. None of these people have the Mark of God on their foreheads or hands, in their thoughts, works and deeds.  Those who have not are able to be punished and tormented in the Wars of the Fifth and Sixth Trumpets.

One of the more difficult aspects of these prophecies concerning these churches is that contained in Jeremiah 4:15-16 and then carried on to Revelation chapter 9.  Jeremiah was given the understanding of the disaster that was the Last Days and detailed it in Jeremiah 4.  Also God specified through Jeremiah in chapter 4 that this voice was to come from the tribe of Joseph (cf. Rev. 7) and which was the combination of Dan and Ephraim in the Last Days. Israel is in a state of deep sin as we see from the condemnation of the beginning of chapter 4.  They do not keep the calendar of the Lord as it was from the Temple. Even the Churches of God do not keep it in two whole eras and instead keep the false calendar of Judaism put out by Hillel in 358 CE, 328 years after the death of Christ and they never keep a Holy Day on the correct days except by accident due to the traditions and the ministry have dragged the Churches of God down with them.

Jer.4[1] "If you return, O Israel, says the LORD, to me you should return. If you remove your abominations from my presence, and do not waver, [2] and if you swear, `As the LORD lives,' in truth, in justice, and in uprightness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory." [3] For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: "Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. [4] Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your doings."

And it is Judah and Jerusalem that are at the centre of the sin of the last days in Israel. However it is also corrupted by the Whore of Rome, these Sunday and Sun worshippers, and its doctrines as we see from further down in the chapter. In the final period evil is brought from the North as it was in the fall of both Israel under the Assyrians and Judah under the Babylonians and then the Romans in 70 CE at the end of the Seventy weeks of years in accordance with the first phase of the Sign of Jonah (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 013)). When Jeremiah wrote it was at the destruction of Judah and Israel had gone into captivity over a century previously in 721 BCE.  In the Last Days they fail for lack of leadership in the administration and among the priests and prophets throughout all of Israel except for one source which God declares through Jeremiah.

[5] Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, "Blow the trumpet through the land; cry aloud and say, `Assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities!' [6] Raise a standard toward Zion, flee for safety, stay not, for I bring evil from the north, and great destruction. [7] A lion has gone up from his thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone forth from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant. [8] For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned back from us." [9] "In that day, says the LORD, courage shall fail both king and princes; the priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded."
The land of Israel was restored in accordance with prophecy from 1916 as we see in the occupation of the Holy Land by Israel under Dan/Ephraim and Jerusalem was retaken by order of God as we see in The Twelve Prophets (No.021) and at Commentary on Habakkuk (No. 21H) and in accordance with the time frame of Haggai (see Commentary on Haggai (No. 21J)) .  The time frame was in accordance with the Temple Calendar and not according to Hillel (see also The Oracles of God (No. 184)).

owever, the land was corrupted by those who say they are Jews but are not and they were put through the Holocaust for their sins in accordance with the 1260 days of the Nazi exterminations and even by the Brits from 1946-1948. In 1948 they fought the war of Independence. In each case the Arabs were brought against them in sin and they were destroyed in accordance with prophecy.  Yet Judah still did not repent and Israel was a Trinitarian Sunday worshipping whore.  The time frame of these wars of the Last Days is covered in the papers  Fall of Egypt Part II: The Wars of the End (No. 036_2) and the Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272).

The nation is then raised to question the Lord because he has given the prophecies and brought them to fruition but they have not repented even though he had done what he prophesied to do and they have failed in their mysticism and Kabbalah and traditions and their false calendar and brought themselves to ruin and occupation by the fallen host and the King of the North in its final phases as prophesied in Daniel chapter 11.  They keep the false calendar of the Babylonians and Kabbalists instead of God’s Calendar (No. 156). That is why their seasons are out and they rarely if ever keep a Holy Day or Feast at the correct time.  (see the paper The Calendar and the Moon: Postponements of Festivals? (No. 195); Distortion of God’s calendar in Judah (No. 195B) and Hillel, Babylonian Intercalations and the Temple Calendar (No. 195c)).

[10] Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD, surely thou hast utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, `It shall be well with you'; whereas the sword has reached their very life."  [11] At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, [12] a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them."  [13] Behold, he comes up like clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles -- woe to us, for we are ruined! [14] O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness,
that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?

Then the identity of the Last Prophets of the Church of God and the location of the Church of God of the Last Days is revealed.  Dan has not been in Palestine since 721 BCE and earlier and nor has Ephraim. Ephraim was taken north of the Araxes in 721 BCE.

[15] For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims evil from Mount E'phraim. [16] Warn the nations that he is coming; announce to Jerusalem, "Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah.

Who is this He that is coming? It is the Messiah. Now this word translated “besiegers” in the RSV is actually rendered as watchers in the KJV.  Yet this word watchers in verse 16 is not the same as that used for the Loyal Host elsewhere as in Dan. 4: 13, 17, 23 where they saw and heard the decree of the watchers and as a spirit of the Heavenly Host (SHD 5894  as an ‘iyr or guardian or angel from the Chaldean root 5782 nawtsar which can be used in a good sense as a guardian or also a bad sense as a besieger or concealer to hide things).   This word was SHD 5341 and was a different spirit and translated Besiegers as a violent aggressor because they were shouting against the cities of Judah and laying waste to the cities of Judah.  We see from Revelation chapter 9 that these are the Fallen Host under the Destroyer Satan and the Four Angels (or Morning Stars) bound at the Euphrates to kill a third of mankind as we see below.  God simply allows Satan to do what he was planning and to use the sons of Shem against Judah and the tribes allied to them that say they are Jews but are not (Rev. 3:9). None of these people have the Mark of God on their foreheads.

[17] Like keepers of a field are they against her round about, because she has rebelled against me, says the LORD. [18] Your ways and your doings have brought this upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter;
it has reached your very heart." [19] My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent; for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. [20] Disaster follows hard on disaster, the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my curtains in a moment. [21] How long must I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? [22] "For my people are foolish, they know me not; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but how to do good they know not."

The result is that the Middle East is made waste and void or Tohu and Bohu. And the heavens are as they were to become in Joel (see Commentary on Joel (No. 21B).

[23] I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. [24] I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. [25] I looked, and lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the air had fled. [26] I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger.

The Adventist false prophetess Ellen G White misused vv 25-26 to justify the false doctrines of the Pre Advent Judgement (No. 176) and of the Rapture (No. 095).

However, God said He would not make a full end. 

 [27] For thus says the LORD, "The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
[28] For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be black; for I have spoken, I have purposed;
I have not relented nor will I turn back." [29] At the noise of horseman and archer every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks; all the cities are forsaken, and no man dwells in them.

In the Last Days the city is part of the false religion of the Beast and they are partners with the whore that we see forming now under the harlot of Rome and its false prophet.

[30] And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in scarlet, that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life. [31] For I heard a cry as of a woman in travail, anguish as of one bringing forth her first child, the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands,
"Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers."

When the Church of the Philadelphians warns the nations of the coming of the Messiah, and the Beast occupies the Holy Land and exterminates many and returns to Gaza and Jerusalem and occupies them; we will see the Witnesses Enoch and Elijah stand on the Temple Mount. Then for 1260 days the world will be punished by the Witnesses and Judah will be brought to repentance or many killed. It is this last phase of the wars in Syria and Iraq and in North Africa and Iran and Afghanistan and Pakistan and the nations of the Steppes before the Witnesses that we see the wars of the Fifth and Sixth Trumpets.
 
The Fifth Angel releases the Locusts from the pit that have the power to hurt men as though they were struck by scorpions. These people are those that have not the seal of God and they are struck for five months and seek to die but cannot. Their leader is Abbaddon (Heb. Destruction) or Appollyon (Gr. Destroyer) of the bottomless pit. cf Heb. of Job 26:6; 28:22; 31:12; Ps 88:11; Prov. 15:11; 27:20; cp also Isa. 16:4; Jer. 4:7; 6:26; Dan. 8:24,25; 9:26; 11:44).  This is the leader of the Fallen Host.

The power to hurt men lay in the tails of the beings as in scorpions. The time frame is five months and the punishment appears to be of a bio chemical type which constitutes the first woe. This is what we refer to as the war of the Fifth Trumpet. These biochemical armaments seem to be described as tanks and mobile artillery, as their muzzle breaks appear in trail (i.e. their tails). Mustard gas and other biochemical agents are a problem and cause long suffering. However these beings are in league with and part of the Demonic Host and Christ warned us that it would be as it was in the days of Noah.  These people are preparing cyborgs as we see in Joel and also hybrids as we saw in Genesis 6:4.  To accomplish this they convince the nations that Aliens are visiting them and they transfer technology also.  This is the war of the Fifth Trumpet as the First Woe. The demons use this last phase as a good cop/bad cop exercise to confuse the nations as to the intent of the demons which is to exterminate mankind.  Those of the First Resurrection are to take over from them for the Millennium and the Second Resurrection Judgement or Krisis.

The next two woes as we saw previously described where the War of the Sixth Trumpet which is caused by the four angels kept at the Euphrates until the Day and the Hour and the Month and the Year to kill a third of mankind. The time is thus specific and can only be on the scale of a thermonuclear war. The fire and the smoke and the brimstone were the means that the third of mankind were killed.

The rest of mankind did not repent as we see in Revelation 9:21, and when the Seventh Angel had sounded,  the Mysteries of God, as He had revealed to his servants the prophets, would be finished.

The Angel had declared the mysteries of God but these final sequences occur under the last prophet and the church of Dan/Ephraim or Joseph of Revelation 7 and Jeremiah 4:15-16 (cf. Rev. 11:1-2). These are the final sequence of the Seven Thunders and then the Witnesses arrive forward in time (cf. 11:3 ff).

This sequence begins the last hour or 42 months of the beast in Jerusalem. The work of the Church of God is finished in regard to the prophecies and its people are simply concerned with supporting Enoch and Elijah for the baptism of Judah and the final elect of the Church of the Philadelphians.

When the Witnesses arrive we are faced with the known time of the arrival of the Messiah. The only clue we have as to the coming of the Messiah is this key of the time frame of the Witnesses.

From the day the Witnesses set foot in Jerusalem it will be 1260 days until they are killed and they lie in the streets for 3.5 days unburied and on the morning of the 1264th day Messiah arrives and stands on the Mount of Olives and it splits in two and the First Resurrection of the Dead commences. See also the Seven Trumpets (No. 141).  Pray for the repentance of the Churches of God and of Israel and Judah.

Wade Cox
Coordinator General