Kings and Rulers

Kings and rulers; how does God deal with them? We're going to look at first the Church, because it says right here in:

Revelation 20:6: "Blessed and Holy is the one…." That's after the resurrection! So then:

• we are not only in the likeness of God
• we are in the Family of God
• we have been born again from the dead by the power of the resurrection

Verse 6: "Blessed and Holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection…" That's the one that we are called to today!

We'll see a little later on that many are called, but few were chosen, and few were chosen because only a few choose to choose God! That's the key.

What our choices are to answer to the call of God is the key whether we become converted or not. We're going to look at how God has dealt with those who have maybe not been converted, some of them converted, and we will look at how that will affect what we're going to see starting on Monday this coming week. (speaking of the Presidential inauguration)

Verse 6: "Blessed and Holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power…. [we will live forever]…But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

Now that's quite a statement, isn't it? That's the whole purpose of what we have in the knowledge and understanding of the Holy Days and what God wants us to do to grow in grace and knowledge to overcome, and so forth.

Now then, let's come to the first part of Revelation and let's see how God deals with those who will be the future kings and the future priests to bring the Kingdom of God to this Earth!

And of course, that's the very first thing that we ask in the prayer in

Matthew 6: "Our Father, Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name; Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven" (vs 9-10).

So, here in Rev. 1, we have some pretty powerful verses. We have some pretty powerful verses and we need to understand that God is all-powerful! Christ is the Head of the Church and the message to the seven Churches we'll review in a little bit here. But here's what He says in:

Rev. 1—John was the longest living apostle of Jesus and was the apostle that Jesus loved. Jesus also—before He ascended to heaven—told Peter three times, 'Feed My sheep.'

Peter asked, 'What's going to happen to John?' Jesus said, 'What is that to you? If I desire that he remain until I come, you feed my sheep.'

Well, John lasted to see the entire end of everything—in vision—written down in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 1:9: "I, John, who am also your brother and joint partaker in the tribulation and in the kingdom and endurance of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord…" (vs 9-10).

Sidebar: Some versions translate that 'Sunday.' That is a blasphemous translation because the Day of the Lord means the day that Christ sets His feet on the Earth and the completion of the resurrection, and everything that has to do with that.

Verse 10: "I was in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord; and I heard a loud voice like a trumpet behind me."

Now v 11 is important! This encompasses everything:

• that God has done
• that God has been doing
• that God will do

Because God inhabits eternity and eternity has no beginning or no ending! So, that's why He related it this way:

Verse 11: "Saying, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, and what you see, write in a book…"

You will see in the book of Revelation, as you read it, that Jesus continually told John to write it! That becomes the very most important thing, because having it written, having it preserved, and every word that Jesus spoke is Spirit and Life!

So this is why, when you read and study the Bible, that you get a lot out of it. It's able to interact with God's Spirit:

• with your mind
• with your thoughts
• with your emotions
• with your love
• with everything that God has given you

Verse 11: "Saying, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, and what you see, write in a book, and send it to the Churches that are in Asia…"

So, he's Alpha and Omega, the mighty and everything like that!

Verse 19—Jesus told John: "Write the things that you saw, and the things that are, and the things that shall take place hereafter."

God wants it all written down, So, we have seven churches that are in Rev. 2 & 3, and we're going to see that everything hinges on these three things:

• believing God, every word of God
• obeying God, His way
• loving God

with all our heart, mind, soul and being!

Those things are for every one of us, all of the time, every day, in everything that we do.

We're going to see something else here. I'm not going to go into detail into each one of the Churches, but Christ is the One Who is the Head of the Church!

That's why all of us who are elders need to constantly look to Christ, and we need to constantly look to the Word of God, and use the Spirit of God and grow in grace and knowledge of God to serve the brethren. As Jesus said, we're not to exalt ourselves above the brethren, but we're to teach the brethren. That's what's important, because we need to learn from the Word of God, and we need to learn the proper way of what the words of God say and mean, and how we can have them written in our heart and in our mind, so that it becomes a very part of us.

Revelation 2:1: "To the angel of the Ephesian church, write… [in every one he says, write] 'These things says He Who holds the seven stars in His right hand, Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.'" Those are the Churches! The stars are the angels!

Here is what God is looking to, v 2: "…I know your works…"

He doesn't say anywhere that He bases everything solely on faith. But if you have true faith, you have true works, as the Apostle James wrote.

Verse 2: "I know your works, and your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot bear those who are evil; and that you did test those who proclaim themselves to be apostles, but are not, and did find them liars."

This is how we are to engage in the Word of God, specially for those of us who are teaching.

Verse 4: "Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love."

Always, always, always, that first love is love of God the Father and Jesus Christ—always! Everything that we do, everything that we look at, everything that is taught. This is why when we are looking at the so-called Christian churches in the world… Which, by the way, we all need to demand that they be honest and speak the Truth!

We don't know how many will, but that's what we need to do, because what happens when we lose our first love, then we slip because He says:

Verse 5: "Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works; for if you do not, I will come to you quickly; and I will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent."

So, repentance is something that we do every day. That's why in the model prayer it says, forgive us our sins as we forgive others who sin against us. Then He shows how they stood against those who were the false teachers, because the false teachers came in right away, right after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, just exactly as He said they would.

Then He comes to the next church, v 8: "And to the angel of the Church of the Smyrneans write:

The reason I'm emphasizing this is because out there in the world of Christianity of the world, they believe that all of this was conveyed by tradition and word of mouth for nearly 200 years! That is an absolutely false statement, complete blatant blasphemous lie!

John wrote these things when he saw them, and they had a great deal of persecution. They were to be thrown into prison, and some of them were to be martyred.

Again, we're going to see that happen. When we look at all seven of these Churches, we see a pattern of seven churches that existed at the time of John. Then we have down through history the types of the Church of God as pictured by the seven churches. At the end-time, it's more than likely that all seven Churches at the end-time will again conform to the seven types of the seven Churches in Rev. 2 & 3.

All of this is important because every one of us who make it to the first resurrection are going to be:

• kings
• priests
• administrators
• rulers

So, all of this becomes important.

What is the first thing that Jesus emphasized here? Love! Now, then he said, 'don't worry about it.'

Verse 10: "…Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death" (vs 10-11).

This is a message to all of the Churches down through time. Here's our message, especially facing into the thing of AI, as Eduardo mentioned. {see message: What Will Happen in the Future by Eduardo Elizondo}

But let's understand something about AI: It's only human and satanic intelligence concentrated into the apparatuses that they run by electricity. There is no love! There is some truth, but all of it is the ways of man and Satan! That's why AI can never do any more than be a functional means of understanding certain things. It cannot give life? It's not life! Take away the electricity and it's done! That's why we need to trust in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit in us.

Verse 12: "And to the angel of the Church in Pergamos, write: 'These things says He Who has the sharp two-edged sword'"—and that's the Word of God! It's a two-edged sword

Hebrews 4:12: "For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of both soul and spirit, and of both the joints and the marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart."

He's reminding them, you better stick with the Word of God, because they didn't. They only did for a time when Antipas was the faithful martyr. But what crept in?

Revelation 2:14: "But I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication."

Now, spiritually, that's what happened. Because when you read:

1-John 5:21: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen." So, idolatry was beginning to come in!

Idolatry amounts to statues, crosses, crucifixes, all of the physical things there, and it also is the idols in the mind!It changes the Passover to what today is called Communion or the Eucharist, or as the Catholics say, the Sacrifice of the Mass.

All of that is satanism, dressed up to look like it's Christian, but it's not.

And also, then they have the things that Jesus hates, the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which then is hierarchical form of church government to oppress the brethren.

Revelation 2:16: "Repent!…." That's the whole thing! That's the message for all the churches here, except two—Smyrna and Philadelphia!

"…For if you do not repent, I will come to you quickly, and will make war against them with the sword of My mouth…. [God is going to correct them] …The one who has an ear, let him hear…" (vs 16-17).

The next Church—which is probably still a great deal in existence today—the Church of Thyatira!

Verse 19: "I know your works, and love, and service, and faith, and your endurance, and your works… [He mentions works twice, so they have a lot of works] …and the last are more than the first. But I have a few things against you, because you allow the woman Jezebel…" (vs 19-20).

Who was Jezebel? Jezebel was the daughter of the high priest of Baal! This then becomes today the Roman Catholic Church and much of Protestantism that we have today. Now, maybe some of Protestantism and the Seventh-Day Adventists get close to and maybe have God's Spirit with them. We don't know, but we look at what the works that they have and they have to repent. So, He says right here:

"…you allow the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants into committing fornication and eating things sacrificed to idols" (v 20). Same thing, carry over from the Church at Pergamos!

Verse 21: "And I gave her time to repent of her fornication, but she did not repent."

Verse 23—notice what he says here because this becomes a very important lesson for us that we need to understand, which is:

You cannot take of the things from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil what you see as good and bring it into the Church as doctrine!

How does that work? Well, the Seventh-Day Adventists have the Lord's Supper, the first Sabbath of every quarter.

• that is not in the Bible
• that's one of the teachings of men
• that cuts them off from God

The Catholics have it that you take Mass how many ever times you want to take it. That is blasphemous and that is to idols in Egypt—satanism!

Verse 22: "Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into Great Tribulation."

Now, v 23 becomes important, because here is what Christ is actively doing with the Churches when He says, "I know your works…." (v 19).

Verse 23: "And I will kill her children with death…"—the second death,  because if you kill them—first death; "with death"—the second death!

"…and all the Churches shall know…" (v 23).

Here's what it is that God is doing with us all the time, every single one of us. That's why prayer and study and prayer and study and living God's way is what God wants!

That we bring every thought, every thought… Let's see what the important thing is. 2-Cor. 10—here is what it is concerning the way that God looks at us and we'll tie that in with Rev. 2.

2-Corinthians 10:3: "For although we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh." Now the war is this:

• against Satan the devil
• against false prophets
• against the law and sin and death within us

So it's a three-front battle! Today that's especially important when we have so many things coming into the world, into our living rooms from the world

• through television
• through music
• through radio

"…we don't war according to the flesh." We war according to the Spirit, and here is how we do that.

Verse 4: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal…"

You can't figure out a means to say, 'Oh, think this, do this, do that, do the other…' apart from the Word of God! You have to have the Spirit of God in you and you have to let the Spirit of God lead you and guide you! You grow in grace and knowledge and you do that through the study of the Word of God!

You never cease learning, because there's so much in the Word of God—because it's spiritually based—that every time you read it you learn!

"…we don't war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal…" (vs 3-4).

• not psychological
• not a rule by man

But by God

• believe God
• obey God
• love God

"…but mighty through God to the overthrowing of strongholds" (v 4).

The hardest thing to convert is the human mind! That's the stronghold! That's what people who refuse to repent will not allow the Spirit of God to convict them what is right and wrong. That's a stronghold!

Verse 5: "Casting down vain imaginations…"

Isn't it true that our minds are always working day and night, day and night, even though we're sleeping. Our body is constantly developing new cells and getting rid of old cells and all of those go out through, as the Bible says, 'the draught.' But we are renewed every day with the Spirit of God through prayer and study!

Verse 5: "Casting down vain imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…"

That's why we have to understand the Word of God, the way God wants it understood, comparing Scripture with Scripture to put it together properly so we understand it!

"…and bringing into captivity…" (v 5).

• grabbing hold of
• controlling
• getting rid of
• putting in what is right
• getting rid of that which is wrong

"…every thought… [because our minds are constantly thinking] …into the obedience of Christ" (v 5).

Was Christ perfect in His obedience? Of course! Absolutely perfect!

So, this is the goal! This is what we see! We will see in Rev. 2 in Thyatira, what God is doing because this is what God wants!

Verse 6: "And having a readiness to avenge all disobedience… [because we're fighting a battle against sin within us] …Whenever your obedience is fulfilled." The fullness of that will come at the resurrection!

Revelation 2:23: "And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am He Who searches the reins and hearts…" That's what God is looking to!

What are the reins? If you look it up in the Old Testament, it says they're kidneys! When you look at the human mind with the two hemispheres of the mind, the right and left hemisphere, they look like kidneys. So this is the mind!

There's a special place in the mind of every human being that God at any time can know exactly what we are thinking, exactly what we are planning, how we view things, etc. This is why you can't come to Church or come to other brethren and be nicey-nicey, and then be totally carnal when you're not around them. That's not bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, every imagination!

"…and I will give to each of you according to your works" (v 23).

• the works of the mind
• the works of the heart

What you do with that, because

• as you think in your heart, so you are
• as you think of what you're going to do, that's what you do

God wants to know and Christ wants to know: Are we continually being converted to yield our hearts to Them in a way that we can do; in a way that they should be?

"…I am He Who searches the reins and hearts; and I will give to each of you according to your works" (v 23).

Verse 24: "But to you I say, and to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine… [the doctrines of the Catholic Church, to be frank about it] …and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak…"

So, a lot of these things that are portrayed as religious things, there's a depth of it behind it which goes straight to Satan the devil!

"…I will not cast upon you any other burden, but hold fast what you have until I come. And to the one who overcomes and keeps My works…" (vs 24-26).

That's why we go back and see what Jesus said, and see what He commanded. Go back and read John 14-17; those define to you the works of Christ that He wants us to do!

"…unto the end, I will give authority over the nations.…" (v 26).

You've got to do it faithfully to the very last breath. I will give authority over the nations. Comes right back where we started to be kings and priests over this world.

Verse 27: "And he shall shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces; as I have also received from My Father; and I will give him the Morning Star…. [eternal life] …The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches" (vs 27-29). Quite a thing! These are all instructions for us!

• we can take the Proverbs
• we can take the Psalms
• we can take the experiences of the kings of Judah and Israel

as models for us to see

• what is right
• what is wrong
• what is good
• what we need to do

We'll look at that here in just a little bit! But the important thing is our relationship with God!

Then we come to the Church at Sardis, which is a Church that keeps the bare minimum! What is the bare minimum that God will accept?

• the Sabbath
• the 14th Passover

Because every one of these other doctrines in these other churches, they miss the thing concerning the Passover the way that it should be. That's why we have the thick book, The Christian Passover.

One high ranking evangelist in Worldwide Church of God who went to be with Church of God International—Ron Dart—I stopped by there to give him a copy and to leave one for Garner Ted Armstrong when we did the first edition of the Passover book.

We were sitting there talking and he asked, 'Why does the Passover have to be written in such a thick book?' Because he didn't believe in the 14th Passover the way that it should be, and neither did GTA, though they kept it. They always thought that the Passover was the same as the Jews on the 15th.

You can't bring in the teachings of men which are contrary to the ways of the Bible and expect to understand the Truth. Now, I don't know what he did with the bo

Revelation 3:1: "And to the angel of the Church in Sardis, write: 'These things says He Who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works…'"

Everyone is the works. because the works show the faith, and the works prove the faith!

"…and that you have a name as if you are alive, but are dead…. [a living corpse] …Be watchful and strengthen Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, which are about to die. For I have not found your works complete before God" (vs 1-2).

Verse 3: "Therefore, remember what you have received and heard, and hold on to this, and repent. Now then, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you shall by no means know what hour I will come upon you."

That's not just His return! That is, Christ can come upon anyone at any time as we saw through the hearts and reigns. What He means that He will come upon them is this: There will be a trial against those practices that they are doing to see will they return to the Truth.

Because that's what we're going to teach when we're kings and priests, we're going to teach the Truth of God.

Verse 4: "You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with Me in white because they are worthy. The one who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments; and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life…" (vs 4-5).

That's quite a statement, isn't it? We need to think about that!

"…but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches" (vs 5-6).

Now then we come to the Philadelphia Church, and everyone wants to claim 'we're Philadelphians.' Well, when you claim that you are, and you're not loving God, and you're not loving the brethren, you're not a Philadelphian!

Just because you name your church that, but you act like those in Pergamos and rule over them with an iron fist, you're not a Philadelphian! A Philadelphian is one who loves the brethren, who loves God.

"…We will see that this mentions the love of God. And to the angel of the Church in Philadelphia, write: 'These things says the Holy One, the One Who is true; the One Who has the key of David, Who opens and no one shuts, and Who shuts and no one opens.'" Completely relying on God for everything!

Verse 8: "I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, and no one has the power to shut it because you have a little strength, and have kept My Word…"

Everything that Jesus said, because we cannot be rulers and kings in the Millennium and in the Kingdom of God unless we first in this life keep the works of Christ, all of them!

"…have kept My Word and have not denied My name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan…" (vs 8-9).

That's what it was back there in the Church at Smyrna. The synagogue of Satan came after them. The synagogue of Satan is going to come after the Christians again today in this age.

"…who proclaim themselves to be Jews…" (v 9).

That is that they are true Christians, and a lot of the Jews fall into that category today. They claim they're the only ones. And the thing that they want to do:

• the Catholics to get them to take the Eucharist
• the Jews to get those to take the 15th Passover

"…and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will cause them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you" (v 9).

Now that is obviously sometime in the future when we're spirit beings and God is going to make this happen.

Verse 10: "Because you have kept the Word of My patience…"

• keeping the Word of God
• protecting the Word of God
• always standing for the Truth
• never giving into anything that comes against the Word of God

That's how God deals with so we can become kings and priests!

"…I also will keep you from the time of temptation, which is about to come upon the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth" (v 10).

How is God going to do that? Well, for a lot of us who are old we'll be in the grave. For those who are alive and are faithful, they'll probably have to give their lives.

Verse 11: "Behold, I am coming quickly; hold fast that which you have so that no one may take away your crown."

So, stay away from crown snatchers, if we could put it that way. Then He says to look at the blessing for this. Here is the pinnacle of the blessing of being faithful in everything that you do.

Doesn't say this of all the other Churches, but only those who truly love God, who truly love the brethren, because that's the prerequisite for being kings and priests to serve God the Father and Jesus Christ in the Millennium.

Verse 12: "The one who overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall not go out anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which will come down out of heaven from My God; and I will write upon him My new name."

That is the ultimate blessing of all the Churches. This is what we all need to strive for in everything that we do every day, every Sabbath, every year at the Feast, and so forth.

Verse 13: "The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches."

You've heard a lot about Laodiceans; they're half converted; some of them are barely converted! Others think they're converted, but they're not!

Verse 20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock…."—because you're lukewarm and rich and increased with goods!

And you say you have need of nothing, but Christ is standing there knocking at the door:

• the door of their mind
• the door of their reins
• the door of their heart

so that they will learn!

"…If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me" (v 20).

That means that there are a lot of Laodiceans who have the Holy Spirit with them, but not in them! That is what becomes the important thing.

Verse 20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." That is being fully converted!

Verse 21: "To the one who overcomes will I give authority to sit with Me in My Throne, even as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father in His Throne. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches" (vs 21-22).

That's how he deals with those who are going to be rulers in the Kingdom of God.

Now let's see something very interesting here in the book of Daniel. Speaking of kings in the world, because here this coming Monday, we're going to have a new President—Donald J. Trump—who was the 45th President. Now he's going to be the 47th President inaugurated into office. He has had quite a few experiences.

Let's understand that in the end-times that this is a very important choice for the whole world, because:

• God is preparing the world for the return of Christ
• God is preparing the Churches so that we can really preach the Gospel the way that we need to

So, here is Daniel after God gave him the vision that the King Nebuchadnezzar wanted explained, because he had this dream of this great vision, had gold, silver, brass and iron, and feet of iron and clay.

He called all of the 'wise' men and all of the soothsayers and said, 'I had a dream, and I want you to tell me the dream and its meaning. They said, 'We can't do that! The king said, 'If you don't do it, you're all going to die.'

So they came to Daniel and told him what it was. Then Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego all prayed about it and then God showed Daniel the meaning of the dream.

Daniel 2:19: "Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. And Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, 'Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His'" (vs 19-20).

Notice the next verse, because God is in charge of everything on this earth. He has his angels. Then there's Satan and the demons. God controls everything. Just like He says, there's an angel to the Churches.

Verse 22: "He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. I thank You, and praise You, O God of my fathers, Who has given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we desired of You, for You have made known to us the king's matter" (vs 22-23).

Then we find this that He raises up kings and he puts down kings.

Verse 21: "And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding."

So, the vision was given to Nebuchadnezzar. He explained it and brought it and told him what the vision meant in a summary. It went from the time of King Nebuchadnezzar to the return of Christ.

Let's see how God dealt with Nebuchadnezzar after he had this knowledge. Then we will look at some things that Donald Trump went through and what he said.

Now, when you read Dan. 4, the first sentence tells us this was written by Nebuchadnezzar because of what he went through. He had another dream and now everything was taken from him for seven years and he didn't know what it meant. Daniel came and told him what the dream was. Here's what Nebuchadnezzar wrote:

Daniel 4:1: "Nebuchadnezzar the king, to all people… [down through time from that time to this] …nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: 'Peace be multiplied to you. It seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. How great are His signs! And how mighty are His wonders! His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation'" (vs 1-3).

Quite an introduction! Then he explained all about what happened and how Daniel came and told him exactly what the dream meant. He gave the interpretation of it that:

You, Nebuchadnezzar, unless you repent of your vanity and all of the things that you do as this mighty king—this head of gold—you're going to be abandoned and sent out to eat grass for seven years like the cattle.

And that's what happened!

Verse 31: "While the word was yet in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven, saying, 'O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom has departed from you. And you shall be driven from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like oxen, and seven times shall pass over you until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wills'" (vs 31-32). So that's what happened for seven years:

• hair grew
• the nails grew
• he was a hideous sight

But after seven years, God raised him up!

Now, let's see what happened after God raised him up. Then we will look at some of the things that happened to Donald Trump and why this is the most important presidency for the world, the nation, and the Churches of God.

Here it is right here. Yes, he says, and he was driven from men:

Verse 33: "The same hour the thing was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he was driven from men, and ate grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the heavens until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me" (vs 33-34).

He learned a lesson! Now, this doesn't mean he was converted. He just learned a lesson of what happened to him.

"…and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him Who lives forever, for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation" (v 34).

Quite a lesson, written by him for all rulers, for all people!

Verse 35: "And all the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing; and He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay His hand, or say to Him, 'What are You doing?'

Quite a thing! We will see something very similar happened to Donald Trump. We're going to look at what's going to happen with him.

You can study the other kings of Israel and Judea and 1st & 2nd Kings and 1st & 2nd Chronicles. But I want to focus on this; let's finish:

Verse 36: "At that time my reason returned to me. And the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. And my advisers and my lords sought me out, and I was established in my kingdom, and surpassing greatness was added to me. Now, I Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are Truth and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase" (vs 36-37).

What happened to Donald Trump? There's a man with great ability, great vanity lifted up as the 45th President.

Then he was defeated by the worst President that there was. You can compare that to Manasseh when you read the book of Kings.

Then he decided to run again. So, then the thing that changed his life was at Butler, Pennsylvania, where the bullet just missed his head. I think that an angel turned his head right at the last minute and a bullet grazed his ear and he came up and the background of it was with the American flag and he brought his fist up and said, 'Fight! Fight! Fight!

So, it is a day in modern history that will be remembered!

Now then, when he came to the Republican National Convention, which was just a few days later, here's what he said, His first words

I stand before you tonight by the grace of Almighty God!

• God raises up kings and puts down kings
• God raises up rulers and puts down rulers

Will Donald Trump continue to remember this and to serve the people? Make a way for the Truth to be preached the way that it should? He also said later:

My faith took on new meaning on July 13th in Butler.

After the second assassination attempt, he was deeply and humbly expressive and said this:

As I look upon my life's journey and events, I now realize that it's been the hand of God leading me to where I am today!

Now then, doesn't that sound awful like the same thing that Nebuchadnezzar said?

So let's look at what's going to happen. That's why we need to pray for Trump, pray for all of those that he has, and he's assembled a good assembly of those. A lot of them are Protestant. Some of them are Catholic. But they are those who want to do what is right. That's about all you can expect from the rulers of this world.

So, this tells us that God deals in our lives for the Millennium to come when we will rule the world. God rules in the world today in all the kingdoms of men so that His will is going to be done and everything leading up to the fulfilling of all of the prophecies in the book of Revelation are going to be fulfilled. along with the other prophecies relating to it according to the will of God!

Donald Trump may have a significant hand in that. That very well may include the encouragement to build the third temple in Jerusalem. Now, I'll cover that at a later date with all the events that have to happen before the return of Christ. What we see is this:

God deals with us to develop our minds, our hearts, our character now so that we can become kings and priests when Christ returns at the first resurrection.

God deals with the leaders and kings of the earth to fulfill His will. And that the nations get assembled in the order that they are prophesied to be in at the end times. This may be the great mission of Donald Trump in addition to providing a way to preach the Gospel to the whole world as never before.

So this helps us to understand what God is doing at the level of different people in different areas and different ways, and in our lives. He knows our works!

Scriptural References:

• Revelation 20:6
• Matthew 6:9-10
• Revelation 1:9-11, 19
• Revelation 2:1-2, 4-5, 10-12
• Hebrews 4:12
• Revelation 2:14
• 1-John 5:21
• Revelation 2:16-17, 19-23
• 15, 17, 19-21, 23
• 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
• Revelation 2:23-29
• Revelation 3:1-13. 20-22
• Daniel 2:19-20, 22-23, 21
• Daniel 4:1-3, 31-37

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• John 14-17
• 1st & 2nd Kings
• 1st & 2nd Chronicles

Also referenced: {truthofGod.org}

Message: What Will Happen in the Future by Eduardo Elizondo

Book: The Christian Passover

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 1/23/25

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