How He Became King: After his father Amaziah was murdered
When He Began Reigning: 16 years old
Reign Length: 52 years
Ruled Over: Judah
Type of King: Good
Prophet: Zechariah, Isaiah, Hosea, Amos
Death: Died a leper due to his disobedience
Burial: Buried in Jerusalem, but not in the tomb of the kings

Azariah became king after conspirators murdered his father. He began reigning when he was 16 years old, and he reigned over Judah for 52 years. At the beginning of his reign he did that which was right:

2 Kings 15:1: “In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.
2 Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;”

The Bible says that as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper:

2 Chronicles 26:5: “And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.”

The Lord gave him a series of military victories against the Philistines and the Arabians, and other nations began sending him gifts:

2 Chronicles 26:6: “And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.
7 And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims.
8 And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.”

The king strengthened both Jerusalem and the country:

2 Chronicles 26:9: “Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.
10 Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry.”

Azariah also built a mighty army:

2 Chronicles 26:11: “Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king’s captains.
12 The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred.
13 And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.
14 And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.
15 And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.”

However, the king became proud, and that pride led to his downfall. One day Azariah went into the Temple and decided to burn incense – even though that job was for the priests alone. When the priests tried to stop him, the king became angry with them. That is when God intervened:

2 Chronicles 26:16: “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, that were valiant men:
18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God.
19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar.”

Because of his sin God smote Azariah with leprosy, and he remained a leper until he died. In his pride he exalted himself and defied God’s commands, and in return God greatly humiliated him. When he died he was buried in Jerusalem, but because he was a leper he was not buried in the tomb of the kings:

2 Chronicles 26:23: “So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.”

Jotham his son then reigned in his stead.

Revelation 19:11: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Here, at last, is what we have been waiting for all along: the Second Coming! As you can see, Christ returns on a white horse with the armies of Heaven. (This is totally different from the Rapture, where Christ comes back alone to bring the Church to Heaven.) In Christ’s first coming He came to bring salvation and forgiveness; in Christ’s second coming He comes to fight. There will be a terrible battle, and Christ will win it single-handedly:

Revelation 19:17: “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.”

A great many people are going to die – the carnage will be terrible. Jesus has returned to fight the nations that came against Jerusalem and sacked it. Those armies are now looking for the Jews that the Lord has been keeping safe in the area around Petra. The Lord has returned to slaughter the antichrist’s army (along with the antichrist himself) and defeat the menace that is threatening His people.

Revelation 19:19: “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.”

At this point the antichrist decides it would be a great idea to gather his armies and directly fight Jesus Christ Himself – the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The antichrist, along with his armies, wants nothing less than to kill Jesus. The fact that they would even try to do something that stupid is staggering, but that just shows the utter depths of their depravity. They hate Jesus so much that they are going to try to kill Him.

However, it is a hopeless fight (as anyone with half a brain could have figured out). The antichrist, along with all of his kings and armies and power, is completely defeated. Jesus utterly crushes all of them, and there are no survivors. All those who tried to kill Jesus are killed:

Revelation 19:20: “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

When Jesus returns He will bring with Him the armies of Heaven, but He will not use them. Jesus will do all of the fighting on His own, by Himself. He will take the beast and the false prophet and cast them alive into the Lake of Fire. Since Jesus kills them first, that must mean that after He kills them He will raise them from the dead so that He can cast them into the Lake alive. The rest of the antichrist’s armies are also slain by Jesus, and their dead carcasses are used to feed the birds. It is not even a contest – Jesus wins.

Revelation 19:7: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”

As we can see, the Marriage of the Lamb takes place in Heaven towards the end of the Tribulation. This, of course, means that the Bride must be in Heaven when this happens! You cannot have a wedding if the Bride is missing.

This is very strong evidence for the Rapture. After all, it is simply not possible for the marriage to happen without the bride! The bride has got to be there. In order for this Marriage to take place, the entire Bride must be in Heaven. Since the Marriage takes place in Heaven during the Tribulation, that can only mean that the Church is in Heaven while the Tribulation is taking place – and that must mean that Someone came and took the Church to Heaven.

Revelation 19:8: “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”

This theme is repeated throughout Revelation, and it bears mentioning: whenever we see “fine linen” or “white garments” or other such things used symbolically in Scripture, it is symbolic for righteousness. That is an important theme to keep in mind.

How He Became King: After his father Joash was murdered
When He Began Reigning: 25 years old
Reign Length: 29 years
Ruled Over: Judah
Type of King: Started good, but went bad
Prophet: Simply called “a prophet”
Death: Murdered by conspirators
Burial: Buried in Jerusalem

After Joash was murdered by his servants, Amaziah became king. He executed the servants who murdered his father:

2 Kings 14:5: “And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he slew his servants which had slain the king his father.”

Amaziah began reigning when he was 25 years old and he reigned over Judah for 29 years. At first he did that which was right:

2 Kings 14:2: “He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did.”

When Amaziah was faced with war, his first instinct was to hire an army to fight for him. However, when an unnamed man of God came and rebuked him for it, Amaziah obeyed the Lord. The result was a military victory:

2 Chronicles 25:6: “He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver.
7 But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the Lord is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim.
8 But if thou wilt go, do it; be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down.
9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.
10 Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger.
11 And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand.”

Sadly, this was the beginning of his downfall. When Amaziah returned home from those victories he brought back the Edomites’ false gods and worshiped them:

2 Chronicles 25:14: “Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.”

The Lord sent a prophet to rebuke him, but the king refused to listen to him and threatened to kill the prophet:

2 Chronicles 25:15: “Wherefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand?
16 And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king’s counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.”

After this Amaziah decided to attack Israel. Joash (the king of Israel) warned him that he was being very foolish, but Amaziah refused to listen:

2 Chronicles 25:19: “Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the Edomites; and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?
20 But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.”

The result was an utter catastrophe. Not only did Amaziah lose the battle, but Israel broke down the walls of Jerusalem and looted the Temple:

2 Chronicles 25:23: “And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.
24 And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obededom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.”

Some time after this a conspiracy rose up against the king, and he was murdered:

2 Kings 14:19: “Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.”

After the king was murdered, his body was brought back to Jerusalem and buried:

2 Kings 14:20: “And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.”

Azariah his son (also known as Uzziah) then ruled in his stead.

Revelation 18:8: “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.”

Babylon’s time of judgment has finally come, and the Lord God has judged her. In a single hour the city was destroyed and burned with fire:

Revelation 18:10: “Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.”

Revelation 18:18: “And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!”

One thing we need to keep in mind is that Babylon is more than just a city – it is also a religious system. Since I’ve already covered this topic elsewhere I won’t repeat it here. The Babylonian system was established by Nimrod shortly after the Flood; he founded it as an act of defiance and rebellion against God. Think of this world as being divided between two city-states: Jerusalem, the city of God, and Babylon, the city that is anti-God. These two cities have been locked in a struggle for millennia. Babylon has waxed and waned, but the organized rebellion against God that it started has never really been defeated. However, at this point in history God will judge it and bring it to an end. Its days of oppressing and persecuting the saints will be over once and for all:

Revelation 18:20: “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.”

Revelation 18:24: “And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”

Incidentally, this is one of the reasons why I believe that the Tribulation is still some distance off. In our day Babylon exists, but it is just a tourist destination. It is going to take a significant amount of time for Babylon to become the greatest city in the world – the city that rules over the nations. There is no doubt that it will happen, but it’s not going to happen overnight.

It is true that the Rapture can happen at any moment, but the Tribulation is quite different – a lot of pieces have to be in position before it can begin. The city of Babylon is one of those pieces, and it has a long way to go before it’s ready to assume its role.

Revelation 18:1: “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.”

Some cults claim that there are 7 archangels. The Bible only mentions one: Michael. Michael is said to be “the” archangel, as if there is only one. It never speaks of the existence of multiple archangels.

This angel, however, doesn’t appear to be Michael. In fact, this angel isn’t given a name at all. The Bible says that he has great power and that his glory lit the Earth, but it doesn’t give us his name or rank. The reason it doesn’t tell us anything about him is probably because what really matters is not the angel’s identity, but the angel’s message:

Revelation 18:2: “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”

Here we see that Babylon has finally been judged. Babylon – the great city that persecuted the saints and that caused so much harm over so many years – has at last been destroyed. For reasons I’ve explained elsewhere I believe that this is talking about actual city of Babylon itself. In our time Babylon has been rebuilt; it once more stands in the land of Iraq. Today it is just a tourist attraction, but one day it will rule over the world (just as it did in the past). However, its reign will not last forever; God will judge the city, and it will be destroyed.

One of the interesting things about this verse is that its ruins will become “the habitation of devils”. In other words, the ruins are going to be haunted! Evil spirits will live there.

How He Became King: After Jehoiada overthrew Joash’s grandmother
When He Began Reigning: 7 years old
Reign Length: 40 years
Ruled Over: Judah
Type of King: Started good, but went bad
Prophet: Joel
Death: Murdered by his own servants
Burial: Buried in Jerusalem

In the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada the priest staged a coup and had Athaliah overthrown and executed. Joash was then anointed as king over Judah:

2 Kings 11:12: “And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king.”

When Joash was crowned king at the tender age of 7, Jehoiada made a covenant with the people that they should serve the Lord. They destroyed the house of Baal and executed Baal’s priests:

2 Kings 11:17: “And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord’s people; between the king also and the people.
18 And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord.”

Joash served the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. He told the Levites to repair the Temple, and rebuked them when they failed to do so:

2 Chronicles 24:5: “And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.
6 And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the Lord, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?
7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord did they bestow upon Baalim.”

The king commanded that they make a chest to receive the offerings. When the people brought money into the chest, the money was used to repair the Temple. The repairs were finally completed, and the Temple furnishings were brought in and dedicated:

2 Chronicles 24:12: “And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the Lord.
13 So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.
14 And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the Lord, even vessels to minister, and to offer withal, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.”

Jehoiada the priest lived to be 130 years old, and then he died. After his death Joash stopped serving the Lord. He abandoned the Temple and began serving idols. When God sent Jehoiada’s son Zechariah to rebuke the king for forsaking the Lord, the king had him stoned:

2 Chronicles 24:21: “And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord.
22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The Lord look upon it, and require it.”

Later, when Hazael king of Syria attacked him, Joash looted the Temple and bribed him to leave:

2 Kings 12:18: “And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and in the king’s house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.”

After he did this his own servants rose up against him and murdered him. Joash was then buried in Jerusalem:

2 Kings 12:20: “And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla.
21 For Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.”

His son Amaziah then reigned in his stead.

Revelation 17:14: “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”

This is the ultimate fate of the beast: he and his minions will launch an attack against Jesus Himself, and they will fail. Jesus will return to battle them in person, and He will slay all of them. The Lamb shall overcome them. It will not even be a contest.

None of these things are happening by accident. The beast may think that he is in control, but the reality is that all of this was God’s doing. Even the antichrist is simply carrying out the plan that God fashioned long ago:

Revelation 17:17: “For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.”

God is the one who is shaping history – He sets up kingdoms and tears them down. God is using these 10 kings in order to fulfill His own will.

Over the past few weeks I’ve talked about angels, demons, ghosts, and even extraterrestrials. There is one last group of beings that I’d like to discuss, and that is mankind. Now, it might seem strange to place mankind in the same category as supernatural creatures, but the truth is that there is more to us than we think. At times we take for granted the amazing things that God has done for us. The truth is that we are not ordinary at all. The Bible tells us that we were made in the image of God:

Genesis 1:26: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

Now, I heard one pastor claim that when God said “let us make man in our image”, what He meant was that He wanted to make creatures that physically resembled him. This pastor claimed that the reason we have two legs, two arms, and a head is because God had two legs, two arms, and a head. However, that is not what that passage means. The Bible tells us that God is a spirit (John 4:24). Since God is a spirit, He does not have a physical body (Luke 24:39). This means that God does not have legs, or arms, or a head. When Jesus Christ became the God-Man (fully God and yet fully Man as well) Jesus did get a physical body, but that miracle happened thousands of years after God created the world. When the events of Genesis 1 took place Jesus was still a spirit – just like the rest of the Trinity.

To understand what this verse really means, it’s helpful to look at it from a slightly different perspective. In the New Testament we are told that one of the things God is doing in our lives is conforming us to the image of Christ:

Romans 8:29: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

When this verse says that God is conforming us to the image of His Son, it does not mean that God is trying to make us look like Jesus. It doesn’t mean that He is changing our hair color and our height, and it doesn’t mean that He wants all women to grow beards. What it does mean is that God is changing us to behave the way that Jesus behaved. God is working on our character. He wants us to have the same desires and priorities that Jesus has. He wants us to love others with the same love that Jesus demonstrated. In other words, God wants us to have the same moral characteristics as Jesus.

That is what Genesis 1 is driving at. When God said that we were made in His image, it means that we were created with the same sort of moral characteristics that God has. God gave us the ability to have a relationship with God, to think and reason, to love one another, and to show kindness and respect. Our character was a reflection of God’s character.

In fact, we could even tell the difference between right and wrong. There are some people who claim that mankind knew nothing about right and wrong until they ate of the Tree of Knowledge, but stop and think about it. Do you remember what Eve told the serpent when the serpent tempted her?

Genesis 3:2: “And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”

Eve knew that eating from that tree was wrong. She may not have had a complete knowledge of good and evil, but she knew that eating from other trees was right and eating from that tree was wrong. She had a moral compass.

Now, we all know what happened when Eve listened to the devil and ate of that tree. Mankind fell into sin that day, and the wages of sin was death. The human race now had a very serious problem: we had sinned against God. That one sin brought into the world death, and suffering, and pain, and disease, and crime, and all the terrible things that goes on in the world today. All of the suffering that has ever happened can be traced back to that one sin.

When that happened God could have left us in our wretched state. After all, He warned mankind to avoid that tree and He told us what would happen if we didn’t. God did not owe us anything; in fact, God was the one who was wronged. He could have simply allowed us all to die in our sins and go to Hell, where we would be tormented forever. We would have deserved it.

But that is not what God did. Instead He did something amazing: He gave His life to save the lives of His enemies. The fact that God would die for us is truly unbelievable, but that is exactly what happened:

Romans 5:6: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Jesus Christ came to Earth, became a man, and lived a perfect life. Since He was perfect He had no sins of His own to die for. Therefore He was able to take upon Himself the punishment that we deserved. Since He paid for our sins with His own blood, God could forgive us. In fact, when we are saved God gives us the righteousness of Christ. In God’s eyes it is as if we had never sinned. We can stand before God utterly blameless.

The fact that God would do this for us is truly astonishing. Some people try to claim that Jesus died for us “because we were worth it”, but that is very far from the truth. The lives of all of mankind put together is worth less than the life of God Himself. It is folly to claim that men are more valuable than God. God is of infinite worth; when He died for us, He was giving His life for creatures that were utterly wretched and broken. The reason God died for us is not because we deserved it, but because He loved us:

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Take that verse to heart! It does not say “God realized that the world was worth more than the life of His Son, so that’s why He acted.” Instead it says that God loved us and decided to save us – in spite of our condition, in spite of the fact that we were His enemies, and in spite of the fact we could never deserve what He was doing for us. The cross is not a picture of our worth; instead it is a staggering picture of God’s love.

But the cross is not the end of God’s love; there is more. God has given us great and precious promises about the future, and I’d like to spend some time talking about them. We have a great deal to look forward to – and there are some things in our future that you may not realize.
 

The Rapture

At some point in the future the Lord will return for His Church. There are some people who claim to know when this will happen, but the truth is that the day and hour are kept secret. What we do know is that it is going to happen. When that day finally comes we are going to undergo a radical transformation:

I Corinthians 15:51: “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

When the trumpet sounds, two things will happen: the departed saints of the Church will be raised back to life again, and the saints who are still alive will be transformed. We will be changed from a moral to an immortal and will go from being corruptible to being incorruptible. In that moment death will be defeated and will no longer have any hold over us.

Have you thought about what that means? When that day comes you will never get sick again. You will never face death. All of the pains, illnesses, and weaknesses that beset us will be gone. Our sin nature will also be gone: we will be utterly perfect, incapable of sin. We will be physically and spiritually perfect. There will be nothing lacking.

In fact, it even goes further than that. The apostle Paul said that in this age God has given people to be pastors and teachers, but those positions would not last forever. They are just temporary positions that are being filled until we become perfect:

Ephesians 4:11: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:”

The day will come when we will no longer need pastors and teachers to teach us because we will all be perfect people, living in perfect unity, and armed with a perfect knowledge of God. Now, this doesn’t mean that we will know everything there is to know; the only person who will ever have infinite knowledge is God. What it does mean is that when it comes to spiritual matters, the day will come when we will no longer need anyone to teach us because we will actually know it all. Now that is something exciting to think about!

So here is a question for you: what is going to happen to us after the Rapture has happened? People have spent a lot of time excitedly talking about the day when the Lord will come and get us, but what is going to happen to us after Jesus has come and taken us to Heaven? Well, let’s take a look and see.
 

The Judgment Seat of Christ

The Bible says that one day we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ:

Romans 14:10: “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”

As it turns out, there are actually two different judgments. Those who die without Christ will be judged at the Great White Throne judgment. That judgment takes place at the end of this Universe, after the Millennial Kingdom is over, and is discussed in Revelation 20:11-15. However, the only people who will be judged then are the dead (Revelation 20:12), and since we were raised to life at the Rapture we won’t be among the dead at that time. That is why we won’t be judged at that judgment.

Instead we will be judged in Heaven, after the Rapture but before the Tribulation begins. Paul talks about this judgment in the book of 1 Corinthians:

I Corinthians 3:12: “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

At this judgment Jesus will review our lives and will reward us accordingly. Those who lived well will be given a reward; those who lived poorly will be given nothing. Since I have already talked about the subject of rewards elsewhere I will not repeat it all here. The point is this: the way that we live our lives and the things that we do with our time really matters to God. God is not indifferent to the way that we are living. There are certain things we can do that will earn us Heavenly rewards, and there are other things we can do that will cost us those rewards. But this is when those rewards are handed out.

So how do we know that this judgment happens after the Rapture but before the Tribulation? The reason we can pinpoint the time is because of this passage:

Revelation 4:4: “And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.”

For reasons well beyond the scope of this paper, the 24 elders mentioned here represent the Church as a whole. (Here is the short version: in the Bible, the number 24 is symbolic of completion; 24 of something represents the entire body. Since elders are the leaders of the Church, 24 elders represents the Church as a whole.) Notice that these 24 elders all have crowns of gold. The reason that’s significant is because one of the rewards that Christ promised to those who are faithful are crowns. Here we can see that when the Tribulation is about to begin, the Church is present in Heaven and has been given her crowns. Since the crowns are only given out at the judgment, that must mean that the judgment has already happened when this passage takes place. Therefore, the judgment happens after the Rapture but before the Tribulation.

In other words, after Jesus raptures us and takes us to Heaven, we will stand before Him and He will judge our lives. That is when He will reward us for the ways we have served Him.
 

The Marriage of the Lamb

While the Tribulation is taking place, the Church will be in Heaven watching the events unfold. However, toward the end of the Tribulation a very important event will occur. This event is known as the Marriage of the Lamb:

Revelation 19:6: “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”

The Marriage of the Lamb is a fascinating subject, and unfortunately I don’t have the time to cover it in detail (although I have discussed it elsewhere). The point I wish to make is that right now the Church is the Bride of Christ and is looking forward to the marriage. That marriage will take place in Heaven at the end of the Tribulation, just before Jesus returns to Earth to defeat the Antichrist and rescue the Jews from destruction.

What this means is that after the Rapture, our lives will be judged. After that judgment occurs we will watch from Heaven as God orchestrates the events of the Tribulation. When the Tribulation is about to end, the great Marriage will take place in Heaven. Jesus will then return to Earth with the armies of Heaven (which is us, by the way – see Jude 1:14-15 and Revelation 19:11-14) and He will kill the Antichrist and destroy his demonic kingdom. Although Jesus will bring us with Him when He returns to Earth to do battle, we will not do any fighting. Instead Jesus will defeat them all single-handedly (Revelation 19:21, 2 Thessalonians 2:8).

After the great battle is over, we – the resurrected, immortal saints of God – will be with Jesus on Earth. Christ will then establish His Millennial Kingdom, which will bring us into another exciting phase of life:
 

The Millennium

The Millennium is going to be an exciting time. After Jesus destroys the kingdom of the Antichrist, He will establish a kingdom of His own. We will then reign with Christ over the entire world:

Revelation 20:6: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”

The Old Testament has a great deal to say about life in the Millennium – far more than I have the time to discuss here. All I can really do is hit some of the highlights.

When Jesus returns to Earth He will gather everyone who is still alive at the time and will judge them. This is known as the Sheep and the Goat judgment:

Matthew 25:31: “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.”

Now, you and I will not be at that judgment. Remember, the Church was already judged in Heaven; we will not be judged a second time. This judgment is for all those who survived the Tribulation. At this time God will separate the righteous from the wicked. The righteous will go on to live in the Millennial Kingdom (Matthew 25:34), but all of the wicked will be put to death (Matthew 25:41). This means that when the Millennium begins, every single person in the world will be a Christian. Those Christians will fall into two categories: the saints who survived the horrors of the Tribulation, and us – the resurrected, immortal, and perfect Wife of Christ. (We will no longer be the Bride of Christ because the Marriage will have already taken place.)

All throughout the Millennial Kingdom we will be on Earth reigning with Christ. The saints who survived the Tribulation will go on to have families and children, and they will repopulate the world. It will be a time of incredible peace. Even the animals will be at peace with one another:

Isaiah 65:22: “They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.”

I want to emphasize the fact that if you are a Christian then this is in your future. During the Millennium your work will be richly blessed. In fact, you will be so blessed that God will answer your prayers before you even start praying! It will be a time of staggering peace.

Now, if you ask most people if we will be getting married during the Millennium they would say no. The Tribulation saints – those who survived the reign of the Antichrist – will be married and have children, but the Church isn’t going to be doing that. The reason people say that is because of what Christ once told the Sadducees:

Matthew 22:30: “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.”

That seems pretty definitive. However, here’s something to think about: which resurrection was Jesus talking about? You see, the Bible actually means three different resurrections. There is the resurrection of the Church at the Rapture, the resurrection of the Tribulation martyrs when the Millennial Kingdom begins, and the resurrection of the wicked (along with those who died during the Millennium) at the Great White Throne judgment. Of those three judgments, the only one that God had revealed at the time the Sadducees asked that question was the last one.

You see, the doctrine of the Rapture was actually a great secret. Paul was the first person to mention it, and when he first talked about it in 1 Corinthians 15:51 he said that he was showing people “a mystery”. That means that he was revealing something that God had kept secret: he was unveiling an entirely new truth. The Sadducees were not asking about the Rapture because they didn’t know anything about it. The only Resurrection they had heard about was the one mentioned in Daniel 12:2:

Daniel 12:2: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

There is only one resurrection that includes both the righteous and the wicked, and that is the very last one that occurs just before the Great White Throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). In that resurrection, people will not marry or be given in marriage.

But what about the other two? Well, the Bible does say this:

Matthew 19:28: “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”

Here Jesus is addressing what He will do when His Millennial Kingdom begins. At that time He will take those who suffered for Him and will repay them the things they had lost. Those who sacrificed houses for the sake of Christ will be repaid a hundred times over. In other words, they will not only get back what they lost, but they will be given more besides.

One of the things mentioned in that verse is a wife. Now, I do not believe that God is going to repay us with 100 wives. After all, although the word “houses” is plural, the word “wife” is singular – referring to just one. But I do find it very interesting that the passage which talks about Millennial rewards actually mentions wives.

Yes, I realize this is not definitive. But look at it this way: the only verse that prohibits marriage after the Resurrection is talking about the final resurrection before the final judgment. It is not talking about the Rapture. In fact, there are no verses anywhere in the Bible that prohibit us from getting married during the Millennial Kingdom. I realize that doesn’t mean we will, but it’s still something to think about.
 

The Eternal State

After the Millennial Kingdom is over and after the final judgment has occurred, we will enter into a time period that theologians refer to as the “eternal state”. At that time our current Universe will be gone, and in its place God will create a new Heaven and a new Earth. This will be a perfect place. There will be no sin, no suffering, no death, no pain, and no crying, for all the former things have passed away:

Revelation 21:1: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

At this time we will not live in Heaven; instead Heaven will move to Earth – specifically, to the new Earth that God will create. God will live with men and men will live with God. There will no longer be a devil, for he will be tormented in the Lake of Fire and will never trouble us again. There will not be any wickedness anywhere and there will no longer be any sin. Instead a perfect mankind will live in a perfect world with a perfect God. There will no longer be any death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain, for all those things will have passed away.

That is what the future has in store for us, and that is what we will be doing after the Rapture. It’s really something to think about, isn’t it?

Revelation 17:8: “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”

This should not be overlooked! Did you catch what that said? “whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world“.

When were our names written in the book of life? When God laid the foundations of the world, long before we were born.

Who will be saved? All those whose names are written in the book!

Our ultimate fate was decided long before we ever existed. God reached out to save us and record our names before mankind even walked the Earth. Our future is not in doubt and cannot be taken from us.

How She Became Queen: By murdering the royal family
When She Began Reigning: Uncertain
Reign Length: 7 years
Ruled Over: Judah
Type of Queen: Evil
Prophet: Uncertain
Death: Jehoiada the priest had her executed for treason
Burial: Unknown

Athaliah was the daughter of Israel’s wicked king Omri:

2 Kings 8:26: “Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.”

When Ahaziah her son died, Athaliah murdered the royal family and seized power. However, Jehosheba (Ahaziah’s sister) hid one of the king’s sons in the Temple for six years:

2 Kings 11:1: “And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.
3 And he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land.”

In the seventh year Jehoiada the priest overthrew Athaliah and had her executed for treason:

2 Kings 11:13: “And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the Lord.
14 And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason.
15 But Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host, and said unto them, Have her forth without the ranges: and him that followeth her kill with the sword. For the priest had said, Let her not be slain in the house of the Lord.
16 And they laid hands on her; and she went by the way by the which the horses came into the king’s house: and there was she slain.”

After she was executed, Joash the son of Ahaziah ruled in her stead.

Revelation 17:3: “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”

This verse seems hard to understand, but later in the chapter the angel explains what all of this means:

Revelation 17:9: “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.”

So there you have it. That is how you deal with symbolism: you just look for the verse in the Bible that explains what it means. What you must never, ever do is assign your own meaning to it. The Bible must explain itself; you cannot impose your own explanation upon it from the outside.

The beast represents a king – specifically, the eighth king in a line of kings. The seven heads are seven kings. (To be more precise, the 7 heads are 7 mountains, and the 7 mountains are 7 kings. The woman sits on the mountains; therefore, the woman has authority over these kings. That is why she is said to ride the beast – she has power over it.) The ten horns represents ten kings that do not yet have power, but when the beast gains power they will as well – although later they will come to hate her:

Revelation 17:16: “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.”

So what does all of this mean? One theory I have heard is that the beast with 7 heads represents world governments at seven moments in history. In John’s day five of these have passed: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece (and Daniel talked about many of these). One still existed – Rome – and there is one more that is yet to come. This future one-world government will be divided into 10 divisions, which will obtain their authority and power from the antichrist.

What about all the world kingdoms that existed between Rome and now? Well, some have argued that the various kingdoms of this world are just an extension of the Roman Empire. It has changed form over the past 2000 years, but it never really disappeared. However, all that will change when the antichrist comes on the scene. He will destroy the old world system and establish a new one – the last one that will exist before Jesus returns and establishes His kingdom.

Who is the woman that rides the beast – this false religion that uses this system for her own ends?

Revelation 17:18: “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”

No one really knows. The Reformers of the Middle Ages believed that this referred to the Roman Catholic Church, and that Rome was the “great city”. That might be the case, but this passage could also be referring to something completely different. Some people believe that this is a reference to Islam, while others claim that it is a future religion that joins all false religions together into one. It’s hard to say.

The key takeaways in this complex chapter are:

• There will be a total of seven world governments. Five of them had passed by John’s day, and one of them (Rome) still existed. There is just one more world government left, an it will be established by the antichrist. When it arrives it must “continue a short space”.
• This one-world government will have 10 jurisdictions, and each jurisdictions will be ruled by a different person. These leaders will get their power from the antichrist and will serve under him.
• While all of this is going on, a world religious system will be in effect and will take advantage of this source of power. The kings of the world will come to hate this system and will eventually destroy it.

One interesting thing is that the beast is depicted as having seven horns. This means that the 7 world kingdoms that have existed throughout history have actually been different versions of the same thing – it has been the same beast each time, just in a different form. Likewise, the woman that rides the beast has been around for a very long time. This is one reason why the woman may not be Catholicism, since this heresy and paganism predates the Catholic church. This is something older – a spirit of heresy that has persisted through thousands of years. It has not been judged yet, but its end is coming.

In modern times there are many people who question the apostleship of Paul. They claim that he wasn’t really an apostle, or that God didn’t really speak through him, or that Paul was wrong on many issues. Paul’s credibility is under a great deal of attack – but what many people do not know is that this is nothing new. Even in Paul’s day many people questioned his credentials and rejected his message.

What I’d like to do is take some time to examine this issue. Was Paul really an apostle? What are his credentials? Is there any way we can tell if God was actually speaking through him? Let’s take a look and see what we can find out.

First of all, Paul did indeed claim to be an apostle. In fact, he went so far as to say that his apostleship came from Jesus Christ Himself:

Galatians 1:1: “Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)”

Of course, anyone can claim to be an apostle; just claiming something doesn’t make it true. Is there any way we can tell if God really was with Paul? Did God validate Paul’s ministry?

Well, let’s take a look. First of all, Paul cast out demons:

Acts 16:16: “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.”

It is impossible to cast out demons without the power of God. If God was not with Paul then he could never have done this. As if that were not enough, Paul also had the power to lay his hands on people and give them a special manifestation of the Holy Ghost:

Acts 19:6: “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”

That’s pretty impressive! After Paul laid hands on these people, they were able to speak in tongues and even prophesy. Paul could never have done that if God was not with him.

Paul also healed the sick:

Acts 19:11: “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”

As you can see, Paul’s gift of healing was so profound that people actually took handkerchiefs from Paul and brought them to those who were sick, and that was enough to heal them. God certainly did “wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul”!

But that’s not all. Not only did Paul cast out demons and heal the sick, but he also raised the dead:

Acts 20:9: “And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.
10 And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.
11 When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.
12 And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.”

So as you can see, God used Paul to cast out demons, give gifts of the Holy Spirit, heal the sick, and raise the dead. None of those things would have been possible if God had not been with Paul. In fact, those are very rare gifts. There are very few people who have ever raised the dead, and being able to heal someone by giving them your handkerchief is pretty much unheard-of. God was with Paul in truly extraordinary ways.

But there is more. The way that God initially called Paul to serve Him is also unique:

Acts 9:3: “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.”

Jesus personally called Paul to serve Him in a truly remarkable encounter. Paul was hand-picked by Jesus in the presence of witnesses. In other words, God called Paul to serve Him – and Paul did exactly that, even though the personal cost was very high. Paul did not get rich from serving God; instead he suffered tremendously:

2 Corinthians 11:24: “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.”

As you can see, God was with Paul in truly extraordinary ways. God validated Paul’s ministry by the tremendous power He displayed through Paul. Stop and think for a minute – what are the credentials of those who attack and belittle Paul? How many demons have they cast out? How many sick people have they miraculously healed? How many people have they raised from the dead? Can they lay claim to even a tenth of Paul’s miracles?

It is simply ludicrous to claim that God was not with Paul. There is simply no way Paul could have done all the things he did if God was not with him. The real problem is that people don’t like the things that Paul said, so they try to get around Paul’s writings by saying that he wasn’t really an apostle. In doing this they aren’t attacking Paul; in reality they are attacking the God Who spoke through Paul. The entire Bible – both Old and New Testaments – are the words of God, not the words of men; those who attack them are attacking God, and God does not take that lightly. The Bible itself says that the writings of Paul carry the same weight as the rest of Scripture:

2 Peter 3:15: “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”

Notice how Paul’s writings are included in the same category as “the other scriptures”! Also notice how Paul is referred to as their beloved brother. Many people today do not see Paul as beloved; instead they hate and despise him, and reject his words. Since Paul tells people things that they don’t want to hear, they refuse to hear it.

Paul spent a lot of time in the New Testament defending his apostleship. The reason he did that was because so many people were rejecting what he had to say. In all this time nothing has changed: people didn’t like what Paul had to say back then, and they don’t like it now.

People who attack the writings of Paul are attacking the integrity of the Word of God. If Paul can’t be trusted then why can any other passage in the Bible be trusted? If God didn’t really speak through Paul (a man who raised the dead), then why should we believe God spoke through anyone else? Either the Bible is the Word of God or it isn’t; you can’t have it both ways.

Tell me, those of you who criticize Paul: what gives you the right to question what he had to say? Why do you think that you know better than he did? Paul had direct revelation from Jesus Christ Himself, which is something that you do not have. On what grounds do you attack him? The only grounds I have ever heard is the petulant “I don’t like what he said, so he must be wrong”. The implication is clear: “Everything that I believe is 100% right, and since Paul disagrees with me he must be wrong.” That is utter madness.

It’s also very telling that people who attack Paul do so very inconsistently. For example, take this famous passage:

Ephesians 5:22: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”

When women read these verses they do two things: they first say that Paul was completely wrong and that women do not have to obey their husbands, and they then turn right around and say that husbands are required to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. That is complete insanity. You cannot argue that verse 24 is wrong but verse 25 is right; they are either both right or both wrong. Only an utter fool would say that wives are not required to obey verse 24 but husbands are required to obey verse 25. If you really believe that Paul is wrong about marriage then you should not insist that husbands have to love their wives. You can’t have it both ways! Don’t insult my intelligence by claiming that wives don’t have to obey the Bible but their husbands do.

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he explained what the real issue is:

1 Corinthians 14:37: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.”

That is the heart of the matter. Paul didn’t write of his own prerogative; the things that he wrote are nothing less than commandments of the Lord – and God proved that by the mighty works He accomplished through Paul. Those who reject Paul’s writings are rejecting God’s commandments. That rejection carries a high price:

Colossians 3:25: “But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”

Just remember: there is no respect of persons with God. Your excuses are not going to work on Judgment Day. When that day comes only one thing will matter: did you accept and believe the Word of God, or did you reject it?

Revelation 17:1: “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:”

This chapter is not an easy one to parse. I have seen a great deal of debate on who the woman is, what Babylon represents, and what is going on.

Let’s clear one thing up first. When we are told that the “great whore” sits on “many waters”, those waters are symbolic. We find this out in verse 15 of this very same chapter:

Revelation 17:15: “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”

So when the angel refers to “many waters”, what the angel is actually referring to is the scope of the woman’s influence. She has affected “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues”. We see this same idea echoed in verse 2:

Revelation 17:2: “With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

The fornication that is talked about here is spiritual fornication; in other words, the woman represents a false religion. This false religion has affected the entire world, and has reached the highest seats of power (the “kings of the earth”).

How He Became King: After the death of his father Jehoram
When He Began Reigning: 22 years old
Reign Length: 1 year
Ruled Over: Judah
Type of King: Evil
Prophet: Uncertain
Death: Killed by Jehu
Burial: Buried in Jerusalem

Ahaziah became king after his father Jehoram died. He began reigning over Judah when he was 22 years old and he only reigned for a single year. He was a wicked ruler. His mother was the daughter of Israel’s wicked king Omri:

2 Kings 8:26: “Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.
27 And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab.”

When Ahab’s son Joram (the king of Israel) attacked the Syrians, Ahaziah joined forces with him. During the battle Joram was injured:

2 Kings 8:28: “And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against Hazael king of Syria in Ramothgilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.
29 And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.”

When Joram was wounded, Ahaziah went down to see him. While he was visiting him Jehu began murdering Joram and his family. Since Ahaziah sided with Joram and tried to defend him, Jehu killed Ahaziah as well. The king was then carried back to Jerusalem and buried:

2 Kings 9:27: “But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.
28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.”

After his death, his mother Athaliah seized the throne.