The Complete 8-Book Guardians Adventure Saga
Page 106
Later, after Walker left, when I was alone, I wrote, “I go back to Zechariah and the vision he had of a man among the myrtle trees. He said, ‘On the twenty-fourth day of the. . . month of Shabbat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah. . .During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.’ When the prophet asked what they were for, the angel answered, ‘I will show you what they are.’”
I laid my pen down on the desk. I sat back, thinking, praying, wondering. What did it all mean? That was a real vivid vision. I popped a CD in the player and recorded my verbal thoughts. I strongly believed the conversation offered some kind of connection with the horses in Revelation. I asked God to help me as I recorded my voice.
I said, “Zechariah said that the man standing among the myrtle trees said the riders were sent by the Lord to go throughout the earth. They reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, ‘We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.’ That was at the end of seventy years of discipline for the Jews. They had found peace.
“The text says that the angel of the Lord talked to the Lord. It must have been the Heavenly Father speaking to the Son. It is interesting that the prophet heard the following prayer, ‘Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?’ Obviously, the conversation was for the prophet to hear. He said, ‘So the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.’”
“The angel spoke to the prophet and told him to proclaim this word from the Lord, ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Was that my angel? I wondered.
I took in air and continued speaking into the recorder, “I learned that God will use one nation to punish another, but they can’t carry them away and torture them like those from Babylon did the Jews. That upsets God. This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’
“God still has the last word.” I said into the recorder, “When we read in the Word of God the relationship God wanted with Israel, we realize that the God of creation chose those people to be his own. The people needed to be disciplined if they were to become strong in the Lord. But God made it clear that he wanted to choose how that was supposed to happen. He used other nations to discipline Israel, but the nations went too far. We must remember that God will protect his naturally born children, the Jews, as much as he will protect his adopted children, us. Those who would take on God as his enemies are foolish, at the very least.”
I turned off the recorder and closed my eyes. Suddenly, through my eyelids I saw a huge evil eye staring at me, trying to penetrate my soul. It was an evil spirit trying to frighten me. “Go away in the name of Jesus,” I said. “You will not stop my mission. I have angels from heaven guarding me.”
While I watched, the demonic spirit went to the corner of the room and disappeared through the wall.
“Thank you, Jesus,” I said. I then leaned back in my chair and prayed, “God you have a plan to purify the earth. It begins in the fourth chapter of Revelation. Right now, dear God, I am attempting to see what you want to tell the world through me. You want me to tell them about you sending the horses from heaven. I must explain how it all fits together. The people must know it is a word from you when we all hear the horses come to earth.”
Galloping, galloping, galloping.
Chapter Twenty-six
It was common for prophets of old to say, “The word of the Lord” when prophecy came to them.
People accepted the words spoken by the prophet as being the Word of God. The Lord told his prophet to have the people who had arrived from Babylon donate silver and gold for the high priest. These were the jewels the exiles had brought back from Babylon. They were to use the jewels to make a crown for Joshua, the high priest. God wanted them to set it on his head the same day they finished it.
This Scripture obviously was a type of Jesus, who is our high priest. I wrote down all of my thoughts, hoping that out of them, I would find the answer needed for my next blog.
I wrote, “God used Old Testament stories to be a picture of Christ. The Lord told the prophet Zechariah exactly what to say, ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony.’”
That was powerful enough. I couldn’t help but notice the beauty of Christ in that Scripture.
I listened to my words that I had spoken out loud, and edited them. Once I had them placed in my article, I continued my research.
I wrote, “I must tell you this: The high priest Joshua is an important type of Christ. The crown was to be given to Joshua, the son of Zephaniah, as a memorial to the temple of the Lord. This was foundational for end times’ events, when Jesus is the branch that will build the spiritual temple of the church. He will be clothed in majesty and rule from his throne. He is both king and priest on his throne forever. Jesus is building his temple now using living stones. It is a ‘building not made with hands. Jesus is the cornerstone and the individual members of the church are the living stones.’
“A future prophecy was given. ‘Those who are far away will come and help build the temple of the Lord, and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the Lord your God.” This I had found in Zechariah 1:10-15, and I needed to get it out to the people.
I believed this had not been fulfilled yet, because Zechariah was among those building the second temple. Although, here he had to be speaking about a third temple. His temple was in the future, and was to be built in the distant future. On the other hand, the one called ‘The Branch’ is building his spiritual temple now out of living stones. So there is a spiritual temple and a physical temple. The physical temple has to be for the Jews. The spiritual temple is the church.
Leaning back in my chair, I read over my piece and thought carefully about what to write next. I wrote, “Comparing scripture with scripture, the one called ‘The Branch’ is Jesus Christ. I believe the temple built by the Lord will be the New Jerusalem. The temple built by Israel will be in the near future. The Millennial temple is described in Ezekiel.”
Suddenly, I was absolutely exhausted. I stopped writing and went outside. The wind swept through the patio. As it continued, it whispered. I listened carefully It was saying, “Elisha.” I heard the name over and over again: “Elisha.”
I picked up my Bible and opened to a story in II Kings 6:17 that told about Elisha the prophet. I wrote, “The Lord kept Elisha informed through visions. The Prophet told the king of Israel that an enemy king from Aram was going to attack Israel. The Lord had revealed it to Elisha, and Elisha told the king of Israel. This made the heathen king angry. When the king of Aram learned that Elisha was the one telling the king his secrets, he pursued Elisha to Doth-an. He sent his army there to arrest Elisha.
“This was a scary situation, and the servant of Elisha was frightened. Obviously, Elisha could see into the spirit world and he saw an angel army ready to fight on the side of Israel. Since his servant was so frightened, Elisha asked the Lord to open his spiritual eyes.” The Bible said, ‘Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire.’”
I wondered how this story fit into the future. I thought about the dappled pale green horse, which I thought would first go to Africa. It would be the death h
orse. Recently, 2,500 children died in Africa. They did not have enough water. They perished of thirst. It caused so much pain and suffering when they tried to drink the contaminated water. It was truly a picture of the dappled horse. They had other problems caused by the Muslims, who practiced ethnic cleansing…murders. The book, Race and Culture, carried an article about African slaves. The renowned missionary, David Livingstone, had estimated that for every slave who reached a plantation, five others were killed in the initial raid or died of illness and privation on the forced march.
Those who were left behind were the very young, the weak, the sick and the old. These soon died since the main providers had been killed or enslaved. So, for 25 million slaves delivered to the market, we had an estimated death of about 120 million people. Islam had run a wholesale slave trade in Africa.
Strangely, my spiritual eyes were opened as well. I saw the army that Elisha had seen. I saw heaven’s horses pulling chariots of fire. I heard a shophar blowing in the distance. I saw visions of nations going down. Many saints were preparing for the king of kings to rule in the millennium. There were humans who did not care and ignored the warning. That was so sad.
I wrote, “My eyes have beheld a vision from heaven. Horses, I’ve seen blazing horses. These were obviously horses from heaven pulling chariots of fire. I mention this because it appears that there are many kinds of horses in the spirit realm. Obviously, some were horses of fire. Earlier, when Elisha saw Elijah go to heaven in a whirlwind, he saw a chariot and horses of fire.”
I had never had a problem believing that God could do anything. That included picking up Elijah with chariots of fire. The story that was not resolved in my head was how and why Northern Israel went into captivity at the time they did. Perhaps I will learn about it when I returned to reading Isaiah. Now I must write another piece to send to the newspaper.
I wrote, “Non-Christians do not take these Scriptures seriously, and think things on earth will continue as they are for centuries to come. When Peter wrote his book, he said people believed such lies in his day. But comparing prophecy with today’s news events, it is a phenomenon closing in on us. Something big is about to happen.
“The spirit world is quite real. It is even more real than this visual world we are in, because it is eternal. This world is temporal. The world as we know it will some day pass away.
“In Revelation 5, we are told that when the Lamb opened the scroll, it caused great commotion. The saints and angels sang praises to the Lord. We know that the Lamb is Jesus, because John the Baptist introduced Jesus Christ to Israel as ‘The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.’”
When the end comes, the Lord will split open the seals, the horses will come out from their holding place, and the tribulation will begin. Yet I wonder. I’ve seen the United States take first place as the leader of all nations, promoting democracy and a peaceful lifestyle. I’ve seen the cruelty of nations that kill their poor. I’ve seen major storms destroy entire villages and towns. Could these be signs that the white, red, and black horses are already here? What about the pale green horse? The color for Islam is green. They believe in death. Are we already in the tribulation?
Perhaps it is time for people to close their eyes and listen. They may hear the hooves of the horses coming on the earth scene now.
Galloping, galloping, galloping.
Chapter Twenty-seven
When the doorbell rang the next morning, I was shocked to see a package with my name on it. Amanda almost beat me to the door. She was so excited. “Open it. Just open it.”
“But I don’t know what it is.” I looked at Amanda and laughed. She was beaming. “It is from you, isn’t it?”
She just laughed as I ripped the box open. It was a voice-to-print microphone and software called Dragon. I thanked her and hugged her.
“Now, get to work,” she said. “You have so much more to share.”
“Show me how to use it. I don’t know how to use something like this.”
In a few minutes, she had it ready and showed me how to turn it on. Using my new voice-to-print device, I recorded: “I believe Zechariah has some clues for resolving Revelation mysteries. Giving dates seemed to be very important to the prophet, Zechariah. He saw horses on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shabbat, in the second year of Darius. The word of the Lord came to Zechariah during the night. He saw red, brown and white horses.”
What about me? I had been seeing them in my head for several days now.
Amanda said, “Zechariah was told by the man standing among the myrtle trees that those were horses sent throughout the earth.”
That made sense. They worked for God. They were the border patrol on earth, assigned by heaven. My guess was that the riders were angels who guarded hearts of weak ones from evil demons. So, that had probably been their job throughout the centuries.
I continued to record as the software typed what I said: “The riders reported that they found the whole world at rest and in peace. The man among the trees was an angel. He made a statement. He said that he wondered how long mercy would be withheld from Jerusalem and other towns of Judah. Zechariah said the Lord spoke kind and comforting words about Jerusalem and Zion. He was angry with the nations that were secure who had punished Israel. He said that they went too far when they punished Judah by torturing them. Obviously, that was not a good thing to do to God’s favored people!
I read into the recorder, “The Lord told the prophet that he will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and his house will be rebuilt. The Lord Almighty said, ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”
I looked up and smiled at Amanda, and then continued, “I believe this verse will be fulfilled in the near future. For certain, it will be complete during the thousand-year reign of Christ. The Amplified New Testament emphasized important words in the text, and I want to share them with you. It says that when the fifth seal was opened, it revealed the souls of those whose lives had been sacrificed for adhering to the Word of God and for the testimony they had borne that Jesus is the Savior.”
I paused to listen to my recording so far.
“That’s good,” said Amanda before I began to record again.
I recorded: “They cried in a loud voice to be avenged for their blood that had been spilled. God heard their cry. Then they were each given a long and flowing and festive white robe and told to rest and wait patiently a little while longer, until the number should be complete of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed, as they themselves had been.”
I turned off the device and heated a pot of coffee and also tea for Amanda. I served Amanda and Walker and we sat down to rest. “What are you up to, Walker?” I said. “What are you doing when you are not here?”
“You may not believe this,” he said. “But your assignment is my assignment. Satan has blocked avenues of communication. People are blinded to future truth. We are both getting the word out.”
I found that interesting, as I returned to my recorder. When I turned it back on, I read from the Bible, “When the sixth seal was opened, there was a great earthquake; and the sun grew black as sackcloth, the full disc of the moon became like blood.”
I looked it up. “This may be happening now. We are in the middle of four blood moons. We have had an eclipse of the sun recently. Should I write that?”
“Not yet,” my angel whispered. Amanda agreed.
I continued reading into the mike, “And the stars of the sky dropped to the earth like a fig tree shedding its unripe fruit out of season when shaken by a strong wind. And the sky rolled up like a scroll and vanished, and every mountain and island was dislodged from its place.”
Amanda sighed. “Why do Americans avoid this knowledge? I don’t understand.”
I did not understand either, but I read on:
“Everyone, whether slave or free will hide themselves in the caves and among the ro
cks of the mountains, and they will call out to the mountains and the rocks, saying, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the throne and from the deep-seated indignation and wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of His wrath, vengeance, retribution, and indignation has come, and who is able to stand before it?’”
I paused and shook my head.
“You must tell it all,” said the angel.
“I need a breather,” I said. “Want to take a walk with me?”
Walker said he’d go, but Amanda wanted to stay inside.
Walker asked, “Are you learning anything?”
I thought for a moment and then responded, “Yes, regarding the horse in Revelation 19, this will be a different situation. The first four horses introduce the tribulation. Jesus coming with his saints is at the end when Jesus will win the war over evil. Lightning will zigzag through the sky announcing the coming king. It seems that the Apostle John was on earth when he saw heaven standing open, and Jesus ride forth. He described it magnificently.”
“What impressed you most?” asked the angel.
“The Apostle John said, ‘I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter.”
“You memorized that?”
“Yes, I did, and I think it is the most important thing anyone should know,” I said. “The Bible says, ‘He treads the wine-press of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.’”