Which Generation will not pass away?
The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, has, it seems, been stymied by this Bible subject, for they have changed their interpretation of it back and forth many times; never seeming to be able to zero in on the exact generation Jesus had in mind, when he said: "This generation will not pass away but will see all things fulfilled." His exact wording was as follows:
33"Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.34 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." {Matthew 24:33,34 NIV}
While I was reading the words of Jesus here, it came to mind, that the generation he was making reference to would see the entire sign of his coming in evidence, and I reasoned since that is true then the Governmental Ruling Authorities on this earth at that time, would have to be the last ones doing battle with him at Armageddon. I remembered that the Governing Body had taught, that the League of Nations was the seventh World Power, that when it went into the abysse of inactivity in the 1940's, it rose again as the Untied Nations; constituting the United Nations as the eighth King of John's Revelation that sprang from the seven, but I had notice John didn't say, that this eighth King sprang from the seventh, as in seventh World Power; he said: it sprang from the seven. As in seven of something. Notice John's words on this:
11"The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction." {Revelation 17:11 NIV}
How could it go off into destruction if it is not? John will explain that:
3"One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast." {Revelation 13:3 NIV}
12"He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed." {Revelation 13:12 NIV}
What do we have up to this point? We have the Beast that goes off into destruction. Who had suffered a fatal wound, but had been healed from that wound. The Whole entire World ends up following this Beast in admiration, because its fatal wound had been healed. This is the one John said would go off into destruction. This is the eighth King that springs from the seven.
Un-be-knowns to all this Beast has been on the scene all along. Is on the scene right at this very moment in time. Daniel will show us just where, he has been lurking. Notice the words of Daniel the Prophet; and keep in mind, both Daniel and John dealt with end time prophecies, as you'll see:
It is not my intention to deal with this entire Prophecy. Our interest is, in, how it applies to us today; covered in verses 7&8.
1 "In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream.2 Daniel said: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 3 Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. 4 "The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. 5 "And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, 'Get up and eat your fill of flesh!' 6 "After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. 7 "After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. 8 "While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully." {Daniel 7:1-8 NIV}
Notice this is the fourth and last Beast of Daniels vision, is strikingly different from all the rest because this Beast has Ten Horns in association with it. Here's the point I don't want you to miss! Notice three of the Ten Horns have been uprooted, leaving only seven remaining. In among the seven is one little Horn with eyes like the eyes of a Man and a big boastful mouth. Here is the eighth King of John's Revelation. The one that springs from the seven. Seven of the Ten Horns after three have been uprooted.
Notice Daniels further description of this terrifying fourth and last beast:
19 "Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and bronze claws—the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. 20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn that looked more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully. 21 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. 23 "He gave me this explanation: 'The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it." {Daniel 7:19-23 NIV}
Here is one other point worth mentioning. This little horn as we see, is waging War against the Saints and defeating them when Jehovah takes his seat in the heavenly courts and passes judgement in favor of his Holy Ones, and the time comes for them to possess the Kingdom, at a time that this little Horn has, as it says, devoured the whole earth trampling it down and crushing it. Daniel gives further description of this little horn , the eighth and final ruling World power to dominate this earth:
23 "In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a stern-faced king, a master of intrigue, will arise. 24 He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people. 25 He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power."{Daniel 8:23-25 NIV}
"Not by his own power," is significant, which John will explain has occured:
12"The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. 14They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers." {Revelation 17:12-14 NIV}
So, they gain their massive military might by joining forces with the Beast, producing the mightiest Millitary machine that's ever braced this earth. That is why it causes astounding devastation, trampling down the whole earth and crushing it, as Daniel predicted. This eighth King will change times and Law, and expresses great hatred for the God of the Bible, his name, his people, his entire heavenly arrangement as Daniel and John both predicted. Notice this, now:
25" He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time. 26 " 'But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever." {Daniel 7:25,26 NIV} Now notice the words of John on this hatred for Jehovah, his name and his people:
5"The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. 6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world." {Revbelation 13:5-8 NIV} Someone once said to me that this scripture is talking about anyone and everyone who has ever worshipped the Beast, but the Beast in question here only has authority to act for forty-two Months, and this particular Beast makes War with the saints, and conquers them. The saints have only been on the scene since the first Century when the New Covenant was established on the precious Blood of the Christ. So, when it says: "All the inhabitants of the earth will worship this Beast, the Beast in question is the fourth and last ruling World Power to dominate this earth. The one that ends up holding sway over all of this earth, forcing all Mankind living to bow in worship to it. Starve to death or to be killed outright for not bowing in worship to it. John will explain that:
16 "He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name." {Revelation 13:16,17 NIV}
These are the changes in times and in Law Daniel foretold. These are very oppressive times; very cruel laws now established over all Mankind. Anyone who refuse to bow in worship at this time will either starve to death or be killed outright:
15 "He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed." {Revelation 13:15 NIV}
Recall now the Image of Gold of Nebuchnezzers Dream foretelling the run of the World Powers from Babylon, of which he was the head of Gold, right down until the feet and toes, represented by the British American World Powers of today. The image that exists now, is a one World Government that will rule and dominate this earth, until the stone not cut out by human hands that smashes the Iron, the Bronze, the clay, the Silver, the Gold to pieces. Any who refuse to bear the marks on their foreheads or on their right hand showing their complete subservience to this One World Government, will not be able to buy or sell; hence will quite likely starve to death for want of the necessities of life; even worse will be killed outright. Notice this account in Daniel:
31 "You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 "This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. 39 "After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. 44 "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This
is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
"The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy." {Daniel 2:31-45 NIV}
We all know what occured in the case of Sha'drach, Meshach, and A-bed'-ne-go who refused to Bow to this immense Image:
6 "Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace." {Daniel 2:6 NIV} We know they were, and had divine protection. {Daniel 3:24-27} Notice how satan is able to manuever the World of Mankind to set up this one World Government, this image to the Beast by deceiving them with their lamb-like appearance; but the scenario changes when they begin to speak and lay down these new changes in times and in law. Their speech now is demonic, like the original serpent the devil and satan.
This Beast coming out of the earth, is a puppett or emissary of this eighth King delivering his messages about these new oppressive changes in times and in Laws, and their demeanor changes when they begin to speak out about them. From Lamb-like to dragon.
11"Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men." {Revelation 13:11-13 NIV} So this Beast will hold the population in fear and in awe, because of its ablity to perform these miraculous signs.
At this point this is mere speculation on my part, but we know this Beast is a Political entity; and we know also they are armed to the teeth with Nuclear weaponry. We know also they are not endowed with any kind of Supernatural Divine Power that they could call down fire from the Heavens; so the only possible way they could could make fire come down from the heavens would be by using their Nuclear power on another Nation, or Nations. Whether that is correct reasoning or not, I'm not prepared to say, nor should I, but it does look like they have established some sort of fighting prowess and ability because of the following words in the Revelation:
4"Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" {Revelation 13:4 NIV}
Then too, there is the report the Prophet Daniel gave us, that would appear to point in that direction as well:
23 "In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a stern-faced king, a master of intrigue, will arise. 24 He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people. 25 He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power." Daniel 8:23-25 NIV}
Do not let this point slip by without your notice! This Stern-faced King is the last one on the scene, who takes his stand against the Prince of Princes, and ends up being destroyed, but not by human power. This is the one of John's Revelation foretold to go off into destruction, doing Battle with the Lamb of God, the one who sprang from the seven of the Ten Horns. The Little Horn that was in among the Ten Horns. It was his generation that was not to pass away, but would see all things fulfilled. {Revelatioon 17:12-14}
What would cause astounding devastation? How could many mighty men be destroyed? A Nuclear blast could, couldn't it? Isn't that a type of fire that could be rained down from the heavens, on another Nation, or Nations?
We need to know which of the Beasts received a Sword-Stroke, and revived from it? We have three possibles. Germany while they fought that War, they WAS. When they lost it, they WAS NOT! When they were admitted to the United Nations Board of the General Assembly, they were revived.The same is true of Japan and Italy. Could any one of them be that Horn among the Ten Horns? We have one other possible. The Nation of Islam at one point in time was in some kind of conflict with the Christian Nations whereby they lost all of their Political power. So, in their case you could say, while they held that power, they WAS. When they lost it, they WAS NOT. Now they too are on the Board of the United Nations General assembly; so they too are revived. Go one better, they even have a Moslem seated as President of the United States, in the form of Barak Obama. Which Nation out of all four would be able to out muscle the other six horns, that remained after three were pulled out by the roots? We're looking for one who is a hater of the God of the Bible. A hater of his name, his people and his entire heavenly arrangement. He would in point of fact be the foretold Anti-Christ due to his intense hatred of Jehovah. Due to the fact that his One World Government will be ruling in the position meant only for the Christ to rule in, will constitute him the abomination of desolation standing or ruling in the Holy Place. {Matthew 24:15}
China might also be one to be considered in that they are a Communist Country, and there are others of a Communist nature.
The only way we'll know for a certainty is when this Eighth King stands up and begins behaving the way he was foretold to behave, will we know with any certainty.
In that this would be the Generation that would not pass away, but would see all things fulfilled; an event will occur in the invisible heavens, while the Christs anointed Brothers are being persecuted and murdered, Michael will stand up, with a War in heaven, being fought, unseen to the human eyes or senses, with satan and his demons being thrown down to this earth, and Woe for the earth and for the sea begins and the harvest season will begin, as he gathers his anointed Brothers to save their lives, and Daniel's time of World Peril begins, leading right up to and into Armageddon. Jeremiah's Prophecy for a great storm to sweep the earth, with Nation against Nation and Kingdom against Kingdom, and Ezekiels Prophecy when the sword of every man comes to be against his own brother, and then the Battle of Armageddon is fought with Jehovah finally intervening to bring the madness to a final violent end. {Revelation 12:7-12} {Daniel 12:1} {Matthew 24:7,22-29-31} {Jeremiah 25:31-37} {Ezekiel 38:21-23} {Matthew 24:7} This will be the Woe,Woe, Woe, for the inhabitants of the earth John foretold in his Revelation account. {Revelation 8:13} {Matthew 13:39} {Revelation 16:13-16} If you take the time to look up all of the scriptures cited you will see I've covered every point made, in this final paragraph.
So, when this Eighth King comes on the scene, if he isn't already on the scene, his is the Generation that would not pass away, that would see everything fulfilled. If anyone can prove my reasoning wrong I suggest you do so, but I rather believe, no one can prove me wrong. It makes sense to believe, that the ones doing battle with the Lamb, would be the last ones on the scene, who go off into destruction at the hands of the Lamb of God. The one who sprang from the seven of the Ten Horns, who John foretold would go off into destruction. The King fierce in countenance of Daniel 8:23-25 who stands up against the Prince of Princes, and is broken without hand. That one little Horn in among the Ten, after three are pulled out by the roots. Reducing their number to Seven, where John told us this Eight King would spring from. {Revelation 17:11}
11"The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction." {Revelation 17:11 NIV} and going to his destruction, he is, whenever he makes his appearance. {Revelation 17:12-14}
Now you know which Generation it was that was not to pass away, but would see all things fulfilled. Someone please tell the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses will you please? I think the Spirit Directed Organization has been trying to find out which Gerneration it was for many years now, without any success, at all. Wannabe