ONE REAL CATHOLIC

George Offerman

Last night’s debate was unique and remarkable for many differing reasons, but the one that stood out for me was the huge distinctions between the two candidates when asked how their faith had personally formed them and how it affects their political decisions.  The moderator pointed out that this debate was a historical first, given both candidates are ‘Catholic’ and it would seem that Catholicism would have some influence on who they are as men, and how they go about making the political decisions that they do.  Outside of each candidate verbalizing they are Catholic; there couldn’t be more of a contrast than what was witnessed by their words.

Paul Ryan had the distinction of going first to this question, and the Congressman answered the question like one would if he believed in God as supreme being and accepted the fact that those who proclaim to being Catholic have certain tenets that are non negotiable and sacred.  Mr. Ryan’s position was very solid and articulate, and he was able to verbalize the Church’s teachings and positions on issues like abortion as one who claims to be Catholic ought to do.  Mr. Ryan was abundantly clear that if one truly believes life starts at conception, and that life is a divine right, that no one has the authority to take this from another.

Joe Biden also reiterated he was a ‘lifelong practicing Catholic’ and too, believes in the fact that life starts at conception.  However, where Mr. Biden fell apart and followed the ‘liberal logic’ is his insisting ‘I can’t inflict my beliefs onto others’ and have ‘no right to tell a woman what to do with her body’.  Mr. Biden then goes on to demonstrate how no one really has a ‘right to demagogue’ in matters of faith, and in essence attempted to separate personal beliefs from the duty to govern, or to be qualified to be effective in the political process.  So, for Mr. Biden, he can be Catholic when it comes to Sunday Mornings, and going to Holy Communion, but don’t bother him with anything that resembles faith when in the public venue.

Why this seems so remarkable on the surface is the fact that Mr. Biden and his crony criminal in chief partner have no difficulties at all ‘imposing their values and beliefs’ onto the American people.  What does one call mandatory participation in hell care?  What does one call all of the insane laws and regulations of getting on an airplane?  What about paying taxes?  Or, how about the ‘right’ to make over 1 million dollars per year and being forced to ‘pay a little more’ so the rest who are not as ‘lucky’ get a piece of the action?  Mr. Biden had no problem chastising those high income earners, and seemed to have no restraint in stating they will pay more.

It was also interesting (with the help of the ‘mediator’) how Biden sidestepped Mr. Ryan’s question about the criminal in chief’s administration ‘imposing’ onto the Catholic Church the requirement to provide birth control and other ‘reproductive services’ to its employees, as well as offer these services to their clientele.  Biden didn’t even attempt to answer this question, and immediately went onto a personal attack at how Mr. Ryan is ‘imposing’ his beliefs onto others, and he along with his crony administration is ‘proud’ of this.  So, according to Biden, the only requirement to be Catholic is to just declare it so, and then do whatever is on one’s heart to do.  (Isn’t that an imposition of Biden’s definition onto all believers?)

In Mr. Ryan’s view of Catholicism, one needs to fight for the less fortunate and those such as the unborn, who are unable to fight for themselves.  For Mr. Biden, Catholicism is something you do on Sunday and leave it in the church pew when exiting after receiving Communion.  The Catholicism of Mr. Biden is that of a social status; it’s merely out of habit of going and has little to no substance.  Mr. Ryan appears to take his faith seriously enough that he understands the causality and linkages of violating God’s laws to the very apparent consequences of this action.  It is in this distinction that we saw who the real Catholic was, and it happened to be the one who behaved himself and treated another who was being extremely disrespectful and disruptive when the real Catholic explained his position.

SAVING BIG BIRD?

George Offerman

With everything falling apart and crises everywhere, the criminal in chief decides that Romney’s proposed cuts to PBS is way more important than…  well, everything else going on.  It is interesting that Obama has nothing better to do than focus on the ‘fate’ of big bird, a children’s character that in many ways epitomizes the nature of many of the grown up ‘children’ in this country.  However, what is more pathetic is the fact that while Obama wants to focus on children’s entertainment, he did not think enough about the real lives of those he could have saved at the Libyan embassy last month.  No, Obama is not much good when living in the real world, but has the make believe world down pat.

This crisis, or I should say ongoing crime is finally taking root in the MSM.  It appears there is nowhere to hide for the criminal in chief and his minions who need to be held accountable for this unspeakably outrageous crime and subsequent cover up of gross misconduct.  (BTW the poll numbers for the criminal in chief are still at 47%)  Yeah, if the criminal in chief actually gave a sh-t about people like he does big bird, things might really have ‘changed’ in this country and for the better.  As it is, the criminal in chief will be campaigning to ‘save big bird’ and might as well say ‘to hell with the ambassador’ given that the criminal in chief’s actions shout from the rooftops, and can’t be denied by anyone residing in any type of reality.

In fact, if people have been paying any sort of attention, the criminal in chief’s behavior could not be any more surprising.  With the total black out of this man’s past, there is no way to be sure that he ahs any of the credentials he claims to have and this man has demonstrated very openly over the past 4 + years he is not very intelligent.  Without a teleprompter, he cannot put cohesive thoughts together, and even with a teleprompter, as evidence 2 years ago, ended up reading a speech of a visiting dignitary for over 5 minutes before an embarrassed staff member stopped him.  His biggest apologist George Stephanopoulos said “Obama was joking” despite all of the video showing an intense Obama complete with hand gestures.

This is why the criminal in chief got his goose cooked during the debate.  This man cannot think for himself, cannot remain cool when someone of any intelligence challenges him in real time, but especially when called out on his pathetic record.  Now that we have four years of official record from the man of ‘change’ we can objectively look at the promises made and those kept.  There is no where to hide, and the utter failure of this man’s tenure as president cannot be hidden, except to attack his opponent with trying to eliminate a fictional character on a taxpayer subsidized television network.  It would seem that the next couple of debates will be bloodbaths for the criminal in chief unless he can come up with many red herrings or slip ups from the other guy.

If the goal of the debates is to bring about discussions of real problems and real solutions to the problems, the criminal in chief has no prayers of winning.  This man’s record is horrible and to recount what the promises were, absolutely none of them were kept, except for the total takeover of 1/6^th of the economy by passing his hell care law.  The country is in way worse shape financially, economically, morally, but especially employment wise and freedom wise.   This man cannot talk about his record, because he has struck out on all of his proposed changes that supposedly would have helped out the middle class.  Only the delusional can believe they are better off now than in 2009 when the criminal in chief took over.

At the end of the day, it is not the criminal in chief that will save big bird.  It will be the criminal in chief’s strategy to rile up the few percentage points of independent voters who may have their ‘heart strings’ played by focusing on a fictional character and seeing the ‘chosen one’ come in and ‘save’ big bird.  It will be the image of big bird that will save the criminal in chief, as it epitomizes the reality of the situation:  fiction will save one who is pushing fiction as reality.  Forget all this talk about Wall Street versus Main Street.  To the criminal in chief we all live on Sesame Street and that’s the ‘reality’ he will stick with.

47%

George Offerman

I have to start this post with a disclaimer: I am no admirer of Mitt Romney and do not plan on voting for either of these globalists come November 6^th.  Frankly, the way Ron Paul was manhandled in both the primary and especially at the airport near the Republican convention validated any doubts I may have had about the Republican nominee, and I will not vote for the ‘lesser’ of two evils, which is still evil.  I abhor anyone who wants to destroy this country, whether it is a bullet to the head that Obama would do, or eat the poisoned apple and die slowly that Romney would do.

That is specifically why I paid no attention to this ‘47% scandal’ when it came out, and only heard of it for the first time during an Obama commercial last week.  Both my wife and I heard it at the same time and we both had the same reaction to it: Romney was actually telling the truth about this part of America, and I could not disagree with any of his words.  Frankly, that frightened me as I really believed I wouldn’t ‘believe’ anything said by either candidate.  With that being said, I will demonstrate to you, dear reader, why Romney’s words are true.

The primary allegation with the 47% is that they will vote for Obama no matter what he does, and that this number in essence, is written off as supporting Romney and his positions.  True, or not?   I’ve been watching the poll numbers daily for the past several months, and Obama has not gone below 47%, but has never been higher than 52%.  Many very significant events and incidences have occurred that would have sunk many presidents, but this guy seems to have a consistent resiliency that I have not seen since the Slick Meister was in office.  Why is that?

Evidently, it doesn’t matter that the Libyan ambassador was brutally murdered by a mob on the anniversary of 9-11, in which both the White House and Secretary of State Clinton were warned of, and did nothing about and then subsequently covered up their inactions.  Evidently it doesn’t matter that the DHS under Obama has ordered over 1.4 BILLION HOLLOW POINTED ROUNDS of ammunition for DOMESTIC USE.  Evidently, it doesn’t matter that Obama pushed for, and was given the provision in the NDAA legislation, the ability to detain indefinitely, torture and/or execute an American without cause.  Evidently it does not matter that Obama has run the largest deficits in this country’s history year after year, has the worst employment record, the highest number of unemployed, those on food stamps and those on ‘disability’.  Evidently, it does not matter that we are ready to experience the greatest tax increases in our nation’s history and will gut those who create jobs that PAY THE TAXES.   And evidently, it does not matter that Obama promised to end the two “Bush” wars and close Gitmo on his first day in office and in fact, got us into 4 more skirmishes and expanded prisons and space for ‘enemy combatants.  What can it be then?

Could it be the never ending mantra of the one time ‘community organizer’ telling those ‘less fortunate’ that they ‘deserve a chance’ to be paid for by those ‘that made it’.  Could it be the fact that the sitting president openly stated that ‘no one ever made it on their own, but had help from some government entity’?  Could it be that ‘redistribution of wealth’ is the job of government, and government determines who the winners and losers are?  Could it be that a large segment of the population has been conditioned to believe they are innocent victims of a corrupt corporate world, and through no fault of their own, cannot make it without the help of the government?  Could it be that the goodies keep coming and without four more years of the community organizer, the goodie bag will be taken away and these people would actually have to be responsible for themselves?

Now why is it that a large minority of people can see the wanton destruction of our way of life, massive restrictions on freedom, an increase in wars and increases in taxes and ‘redistribution’ of wealth from producers?  Because they believe they have the right to be taken care of by the government, and they will never criticize or ‘bite the hand that feeds them’.  As long as that ‘gubmint chek’ comes in, it doesn’t matter what happens to the rest of society or world, just as long as “I get mine”, I will vote for the person who gives ME the most.   That’s exactly what Obama has done over the past four years, and the 47% benefitting from this goodie bag giveaway will NEVER vote to stop this.

If anyone takes the time to look at what is going all around him, he will become very aware that there are 47% of the people that are not affected by the larger picture of what is going on in this country, but are totally consumed by what they are getting.  It doesn’t dawn on these people that in order to receive a dollar in ‘benefits’ that a dollar needs to be taken from someone first.  I suspect that even if they did know, they wouldn’t care, and they definitely are not grateful towards those who pay for these individuals to consume and not produce or contribute towards the betterment of society.  No, the majority of these folks buys into Obama’s ‘class warfare’ propaganda, and calls anyone looking at the ‘entitlement’ scheme ‘mean spirited’.  “Wow, Romney actually wants us to be responsible for ourselves?  WHAT A MEAN, COLD HEARTED, CRUEL BASTARD!”

Yep.  It’s all about the goodie bag and what these people can get for nothing.  It’s all about shirking personal responsibility and blaming others for poor decisions made.  Obviously anyone can have a bad run of luck, but the opportunity to better oneself without getting penalized by some overzealous socialist should not be allowed to exist in this country, but it has now become a way of life.   The proof is no further than the severe restrictions of freedom levied on us by Obama, and the lack of protest from these 47% in limiting freedoms on those who produce.

THE FED'S SUICIDE MISSION

George Offerman

I would hate to be B.S. Bernanke.  I would hate to be the one in charge of what will be the most spectacular monetary collapse in the history of the world.  I would hate the mere thought that I would be the most despised person to have ever been born on this rock.  I could not live with myself knowing the policies I implemented stole money from the neediest and those dependent upon fixed incomes and gave it to my greedy bastard masters and banksters who salivate over amounts of money uncountable and unimaginable.  I hate and despise the whole existence and purpose of the Federal Reserve and hold in the highest contempt those who dare, in the name of ‘fairness and equity’ openly steal the wealth of the people for their own private use and abuse.

But let us return to the purpose of this posting, the suicide mission the Fed has embarked on.  It ought to be most apparent to even the deadest of zombies out there, that the Fed has chosen to destroy the dollar in favor of keeping its power and giving the incompetent inbred idiots, known as the money powers, their last vestige in getting their affairs in order before the hungry and homicidal mobs seek them out.    This policy of purchasing dead Treasury Bills at 0% interest rates on an unlimited basis demonstrates there are no other avenues to pursue, and that no one or entities or countries are interested in our toxic toilet paper.  Instead of default, they have opted for hyper inflation and will keep printing the garbage and selling it as ‘securities’ until the streets are littered with its burnt remnants and their buildings are nothing more than empty husks.

There can no longer be any credible claim by the Fed’s or the government that they give a rat’s rear end about you, me or anyone not an elitist, as all paper products will soon go much lower, with some going to zero.  These elitists are willing and able to allow the average American to lose everything they have ever worked for, and have no plan and no intention of making restitution for their crimes.  Make no mistake: the dollar will be printed into oblivion and the official policy was set into motion yesterday.  The only question on anyone’s mind ought to be how much time one has to prepare for this devastating and complete financial collapse of this once great nation.

For those who propose ‘austerity’ measures to ‘save’ the current economic model; there are not enough people working who are paying enough in taxes to even cover the bare minimal of budgetary items.  We have set records for the most unemployed, but eligible workers with 87 million, set the record for the costliest year of social security ($596 billion for the first 11 months of this year) and the largest percentage of people on disability EVER in the nation’s history (slightly under 10 million).  Structurally, it is impossible to tax high enough to pay for this, and the only other ‘tool’ in the economic Keynesian toolbox is borrowing.  The only way this country can ‘borrow’ at this time is the fraudulent and very illegal ‘purchasing’ of treasuries by the Fed’s to keep the party going long enough for the government to get its defenses prepared for the inevitable riots and civil unrest that will soon manifest itself.

Without a new metals based monetary system, this old system will crash upon its own weight.  There is no other outcome possible, no matter how one crunches the numbers or wallpapers over the reality.  This country is hopelessly bankrupt and the only method of keeping the party from turning into a massive hang over event, is to spike the punch with very devalued dollars and convince those not paying any attention that ‘all is ok, and continue watching football and drinking the cheap beer’.  Well, very soon the cable TV and the lights are going to go out, and the taps that serve the cheap beer will dry up.  It is only then, that the masses will ‘get’ what happened, and realize their government and the ‘Federal Reserve’ scammed them out of everything they have and ever will have.  The anger will be unquenchable and God can only have mercy on any bankster who happens to be anywhere in this country.

The Federal Reserve is on a suicide mission.  They are very aware there is no way out of this game they set up nearly 100 years ago.  And B.S. Bernanke is so arrogant, and believes he is such a savior that he is positioning himself for a reappointment as Chairman.  What a fool.  This is a system that is mathematically going to fail, guaranteed.  The only questions those in power have is how they will get out of town in intact skins.  This is going to turn out horribly, and it is not time to place one’s head in the sand or any other orifice and pretend things will magically get better.  The dollar is going to crash, and virtually every financial instrument denominated in dollars is going to crash and burn and all of the blame can be laid at the feet of the Federal Reserve.  Glad I’m not one of those folks on that day, because I enjoy my head being attached to the rest of my body.

THE SEVENTH TRUMPET

George Offerman

“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,”The Kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever” Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of the covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightening, loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail”    Rev 11: 15, 19

The seventh trumpet ushers in a turning point of Revelation and instills finality to man’s choice of whether to worship the beast or Christ.  Of all the trumpets, the seventh trumpet is the most brutal, in that it does not destroy the environment as a judgment, but marks the end to the age of sin on earth.  For the saved, it will be one of the most awesome and privileged states, and for the condemned, it will be the most horrible day of existence any being can live through.

If one takes the time to notice, the story of Revelation has a great deal of interplay between scenes in heaven and on earth.  For the most part, what goes on in heaven is invisible to mankind, but the seventh trumpet temporarily ‘lifts the veil’ between the worlds of the seen and unseen, and for the first time, all alive will see heaven with God and his angels, while simultaneously seeing the Anti Christ in his ‘glory’ and all will come to understand quite readily who is who, and who is really in control.  But the centerpiece of the seventh trumpet is the appearance of the Ark of the Covenant, which will demonstrate once and for all, God’s holiness and constancy, that his word and laws are eternal and unchanging.

It will also be at that time that those who are alive will know for sure which master they will serve for all of eternity.  The lifting of the heavenly veil will also accomplish the lifting of the temporal veil in that the great deceptor cannot make the claim he is who he is, and all of mankind will see for the first (and last) time in human history, the ultimate and simultaneous view of perfect love and perfect hate in one arena.  It will bring about one of the most sobering moments of time in cosmic history and the amount of anguish for the majority who has taken the mark will be indescribable, and there will be no doubt about the outcome of this war from here on out.

Up until this time, Jesus has served the role of Priest, Prophet and King.  It is important to grasp that from the time of Jesus death and resurrection until the seventh trumpet, Jesus has been an intercessory for man and through the ultimate blood sacrifice, able to forgive sins.  With the calling forth of His kingship, Jesus role of Priest and Prophet has come to an end, and His intercession for the forgiveness of sins is now complete.  With all of mankind having chosen their fate, Jesus is now anointed as King of kings, and Lord of lords, and will have total dominion over the heavens and the earth.

Due to the ending of the heavenly intervention by now King Jesus, those who are sealed with the mark of the Living God will experience a transformation not known since the time of Adam and Eve; they will enter a sinless state without experiencing death.  The evil and corrupt nature will be changed and those who have persevered throughout the trumpets and persecution will now have a time of rest.  However, they will still be present upon the earth and will have a front row seat in the final chapter of the cosmic battle between good and evil.

Those condemned will have the utmost contempt for their false god and for themselves.  There cannot be words or events that one can relate to, to even begin to understand the profound and complete loss of eternal life, and the anger directed at Satan will be unfathomable.  Satan’s mask is now off, and the condemned no longer have a choice in their actions.  For their own survival, they must now follow the beast as they will be painfully aware that there will never be salvation for them, and there is no chance they can ever be forgiven for their sins.  The stage is now set for the beginning of the second series of seven events.

The final note on the seventh trumpet should be the severity of the signs sent by God.  As each milestone is reached, the signs in the heavens, as well as the accompanying thunder, lightening and earthquakes increase in magnitudes.  Along with these three, is also heavy hail, which will be very representational of the final plagues soon to come.  With all being able to see into the heavenly realms, these signs will not be misinterpreted at all, and Satan will not be able to ‘spin’ this as he has with his concocted lies and con jobs.  The seventh trumpet leaves no doubt about who is in charge, and who the fraud really is.  And it also leaves no doubt for the living where they will be spending eternity. 

BYE BYE, BABYLON

George Offerman

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me ”Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the vine of whose fornication to dwellers on earth have become drunk,  And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and had seven heads and ten horns.  The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: ‘Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earths’ s abomination.  And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus”.   Rev. 17:1-6

“And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot: they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and giving over their royal power to the beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled.  And the woman that you saw is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the earth”.  Rev 17:15-18.

(For the sake of brevity, I skipped verses 7-14, but they give a clear interpretation of this beast, and leave no doubt about whom it is and what the makeup of this vision entails).

The above verses clarify for John, the distinctions between the two beasts that appear in the visions.  The beast quoted above is very distinct from the beast in chapter 13, in that it is a unified beast that is scarlet in color and none of the heads have a mortal wound.  The seven headed ten horned beast rising from the water is the man made Babylon, lead by the devil, which is represented as the seven headed ten horned beast that ultimately kills the whore who has been riding on its back up until now.  If one notices, the whore is dressed in purple, which in scripture is the representation of religion and religious authority, and the scarlet color is representative of power, as well as the blood of the saints and martyrs.

This whore is responsible for the man made chaos up until this point, and was given its authority by the beast it is now riding.  The beast hates the whore, and the force behind the first Babylon, with its seven heads, represented by seven religious systems and ten horns, represented by civil powers and authority, were the ‘glove’ that fit over the real beast which was the ‘invisible hand’ behind the power.  However, now that the beast has total control over the world, there is no longer a need for the seven religious systems, and the hour of judgment for them has now come.

By now, the majority of those who have God’s seal and most likely all of the 144,000 have been martyred, and for the first time since the beginning of the trumpets, Satan has full control over the earthly kingdoms.  Since the majority of Christians that believe the devil is real, also know the devil has no tolerance for ANYONE getting ANYTHING that he believes is his.  So, as the religious leaders, who up to this time believed this false Christ was on their side, will now find out to their utter despair that they are to be eliminated immediately.  Since Satan now presents himself as king of kings and lord of lords (representing both religious and political systems) he will not tolerate any competition or split loyalties among his followers.  It is only now that these leaders, on the brink of their own destruction, realize they were deceived, and despair overcomes them.

The imagery used in scripture pertaining to the end of this human Babylon is ominous, but in some senses, well earned.  It is also clear that God has put it in their ‘hearts’ to obliterate these people who instigated so much human suffering, and deceived multitudes into eventually taking the mark of the beast.  Now they will be subject to the same humiliating end that they subjected the 144,000 and those sealed by the living God.  The difference in this is there will be NO ONE to come to their aid or assistance; hence their end will be ‘naked and desolate’.  Those that slay these ‘religious leaders’ will do it with great zeal and without mercy.  Those who benefitted from this false group will mourn and weep over lost opportunities.

At this point in the story it would appear that all of mankind has chosen their fate and it is near time for the seventh trumpet that will ultimately ‘seal the deal’.  However, Babylon will continue on in form, but now lead by the 8^th king, the Anti Christ who will seat himself on the throne with great pomp and circumstance and there will be absolutely no human power that will stop him.  The Anti Christ will install his 10 king puppets and they will have their one hour of time ruling what is left of the once great Babylon.  It will be a great time of dread for all alive and great fear will rule the hearts of men on that day. 

MORE THOUGHTS ON THE MARK OF THE BEAST

George Offerman

This topic is too important to cover it so briefly, and it is also the most misunderstood topic of all of Revelation.  There is so much information out in the public sphere about the mark, that one’s head can spin from reading a small amount of it.  However, the mark is so important, that it transcends Christianity, and nearly everyone in the world is aware of it, and are leery of the futile attempts by the money powers to instill some sort of system in which to control the ‘cattle’.

In a way, it is very humorous to give the incompetent, inbred idiots known as the money powers so much credit that they can actually instill a system of markings that would condemn one to eternal death.  The mark is a cosmic event, and as such, requires the presence of a supernatural being, such as the devil, to enforce it.  Too many people are aware of this, and the money powers, being of human origin, could not enforce this if even one percent of the population resisted this.  If we end up getting chipped, most likely it will end up being covertly done, by vaccines, chips embedded in products, clothing, cars, cell phones, etc.

This is not to say that one should take this information and become indifferent about it.  We are to resist this, because it is morally wrong to hand over our free will to other men, and not trust in God.  Those that can justify doing this, will have a much more weakened position when the real mark appears, and the mark represents instant judgment that is irrevocable.  Of course Satan is going to trivialize this, because no one would take it if they knew the true consequences.  Unfortunately, this supernatural being will act ‘lamb like’ until he gets what he wants.  Once he has an army of people with his mark, and knows God will not, and really, cannot intervene any more, Satan will become out of control and kill even those with the mark if and when they no longer serve his needs.

Two famous stories in scripture make the points.  This first is Eve taking the apple after being tempted by the serpent.  Gen 3:1-4:1 covers the story, and for brevity, I will paraphrase.  God instructed Adam and Eve to FREELY eat of all the fruit except from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  The serpent tempted Eve, by glorifying the knowledge of being like a god, being able to determine right from wrong for themselves, and placing doubts about what God actually said.  Eve reflects this in leaving out the word “freely” when discussing what God actually said.  The serpent assured Eve “surely, you will not die” Eve believed him over God.  This first poison is: Doubt about God and his Word.

The second story is Jacob stealing Esau’s birthright by essentially bribing him with Stew. Gen 25:24-34.  Esau basically was so focused on the current situation, that he offered his future to satisfy a basic need in the moment.  Many commentators focus rightfully so on Jacob’s trickery, but not much is said pertaining to Esau’s blatant disregard for what is rightfully his.  A moment of weakness virtually changed not only his destiny, but that of the following generations of Esau’s line.  The eternal, or the permanence was not considered, but current circumstances ruled.  The second poison: present circumstances dictating decisions without considering eternal ramifications.

Both of these stories reflect the state of man during the time of the mark.  Like Eve, there will be seduction of a better life, and doubts will be sown about the word of God presented by the 144,000, and like Esau, many will sell out their ‘birthright’ or place in heaven for a very temporary stay of execution.  In both stories, the consequences were terribly minimized, and this is the devils way of getting one to do things they would not normally do, if they had full information.  During the tribulation though, there will be plenty of witnesses to the truth, and there will be the opportunity to hear and understand the ‘permanence’ of this decision.  God will FREELY grant eternal life for anyone not taking the mark, no matter what their past was and what they have done up to this point.  The devil’s message will be that most of Babylon will need to take his mark because they earned it.  Will people have the faith to walk in this matter?

Again, for prophesy to be accurate, it must fulfill all of the requirements of the prophesy.  The hope is that if nothing else is obtained from these writings that one would challenge those out there who are making claims the mark is either here or on its way outside of the trumpets and all of the other clear requirements written in Revelation.  As I have written before, the topic of the mark is the most discussed and controversial amongst many of the expositors, and my challenge to them is to explain the trumpets and timeframe of Revelation, to see if they can place these events.  To be quite truthful, the conversations normally end heated, and the people challenged have called me names, amongst other things, and basically brushed off or minimized this point.  This is a rather sad commentary, as they are actually advocating sensationalism over purity of the word, and in effect, end up scaring people with ideas that do not come true.

The mark can only occur when the man of lawlessness has been exposed, who is claiming to be God, and calling fire from the heavens at will. At least half of the population has to be killed off, there will be a massive one world religiously lead government, a death decree for refusal of the mark that is immediately enforced, the appearance and active ministry of the 144,000 and 2 witnesses, supernatural events, both good and evil, and literally angels in the heavens warning against taking the mark, or suffering eternal consequences for doing this?  Have we seen ANY of this yet?  How can anyone claim the mark is imminent, with any credibility, when NONE of the conditions of the prophesy are being met?

If you are exposed to people claiming to have ‘inside information’ on the mark, challenge them on this.  Challenge them based on scripture passages, challenge them to explain the trumpets, to reveal the identity of the man of lawlessness, the one world government and all of the other points listed above.  Most importantly, ask them about prophesy, and if God fulfills what he writes in totality, or if bits and pieces of prophesy can be left out. And finally, hold them accountable for their words.  Too many people make claims that God ‘informed’ them of future events, and when the don’t occur, the same people in effect minimize this ‘error’ but continue propagating the idea they are prophets, and many write books for money, and/or run ministries that can collect large amounts of money.  God gave this information FREELY, and free is the way it should remain.