Open letter to the national security officer Ryan Mauro - DTRF / CIN [Updated] Copy to: The US President, Donald J. Trump The White House administration The US ambassador in Bulgaria, Herro Mustafa Dear br. Ryan Mauro, your recently made short documentary 'Finding the Mountain of Moses: The Real Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia' apparently is gaining much popularity, support and promotion by the media. Its core point based on the presented footage is that the biblical Mt. Sinai is located not on the Sinai peninsula in Egypt but rather in northwest Saudi Arabia and matches the criteria for the mountain peak Jabal Maqla within the Jabal al-Lawz mountain range. Furthermore, your Doubting Thomas Research foundation (DTRF) favors and promotes the hypothesis of the Red Sea crossing at Egypt's Nuweiba Beach on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba. But you also leave room for Bob Cornuke's hypothesis (of the BASE Institute) that the Red Sea crossing might have took place at the southern end of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula at the Straits of Tiran. Could the Israelites Reach the Red Sea and Mount Sinai in The Bible's Timeframe? https://doubtingthomasresearch.com/could-the-israelites-reach-the-red-sea-and-mount-sinai-in-the-bibles-timeframe/ Now, with respect to the above claims on your web-site and documentary I feel obliged, being a devout Seventh-Day Adventist Christian and Lord's servant, to take a stand in defence of the Truth for which reason I am writing to you shortly. First of all I would like to congratulate you and your associates for your earnest quest for the Truth on this particular biblical subject. After watching your documentary I am inclined to accept that you are a truthseeker and honest in your claims. For that reason and following the example of Acts 18:26 I was moved by the Holy Ghost to "explain to you the way of God more accurately". So, my dear brother Ryan, I will not be the first person to tell you that you and brother Bob Cornuke have gone very far in a wrong direction but you need to consider the far reaching consequences of the worldwide promotion of what I may call it 'an End Time delusion'. For instance, you state that you have had a meeting with Washington governmental officials to whom you have presented the 'evidence' supporting your claim that Mount Sinai is in Saudi Arabia. Just consider what it means to mislead the US government, the US media and millions of people around the globe! A Big Step Forward To Protect Mount Sinai https://doubtingthomasresearch.com/2019/03/big-step-forward-protect-mount-sinai/ Now, dear brother Ryan, apart from the hard evidence that has been presented by respected scholars and researchers and that completely refutes your claims I would like to turn your attention to the far more important Lord's final WARNING presented in the Three Angels' message of Revelation 14:9-11. And I would like to ask you some simple questions: do you understand this last WARNING directed to our last generation on earth? Can you explain who is the Beast and what is the Mark of the Beast? Do you understand that we are living in the END of the days? Do you understand that very SOON the whole world will be plunged into chaos and turmoil? That terrible unimaginable evil is coming and millions of people shall perish? Do you warn the doomed sinners against receiving the Mark of the Beast or you are satisfied with organizing exciting trips to Saudi Arabia, to the land of Midian and the Split Rock? My dear brother, don't waste your time and strength anymore in void efforts to back up 'an End Time deception' but rather dedicate your time to study closely the present Truth granted to God's special and chosen people - the Seventh-Day Adventists! Because they are the people of the Covenant which "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12)! Remember that embracing one deception you will embrace also other deceptions of the last days and your salvation will be put at risk. I am praying for you and your associates which are obviously sincere people and researchers that you would be illuminated with the heavenly Light for these last days and saved through the grace of our LORD and CREATOR JESUS CHRIST! Amen. Below this message you will find the real God's MOUNTAIN of Salvation (huge and solid Rocks of vital information), you'll rediscover the God's Law given on Mt. Sinai, the eternal validity of the Law and especially of the 4th Commandment about the true Lord's Day of worship, the Sabbath Day. You will discover who is the Beast and what is the Mark of the Beast. So, instead of going to Saudi Arabia on February 12-19, 2020, you'd better embark on the far more important journey of rediscovering the Truth. SUGGESTION: In case that you finally realise that Mt. Sinai is not in Saudi Arabia and that the Red Sea crossing has not took place at Nuweiba Beach on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba nor at the Straits of Tiran, I would be most happy to join you and your associates in finding the exact place of the crossing at the Gulf of Suez and the God's mountain in the Sinai peninsula of Egypt. Be sure this will be the most important expedition in your life! Looking forward to the good news from you! P.S. Give my best regards to frater Bob Cornuke. I watched him on another featured documentary 'The Coming Temple' (made by the Whitestone media) and I am inclined to agree with him that the place where the Dome of the Rock stands in Jerusalem is not the actual place where the Temple of YHWH has been erected. I am also inclined to agree with him on the presented evidence that the current site of the Temple Mount is actually the location of the ancient Roman fort Antonia. I strongly dislike however the eschatological explanations of frater Robert Mandlebaum with respect to the building of the Third Temple, the coming of the Jewish Messiah and the mark of the Beast which only reveal how terribly deluded are the Jewish nation (Sanhedrin) and the most of the Christian world. At the end of the film fr. Mandlebaum states, quote: "Yes, the Temple is a very significant End Time Bible prophecy. It's where the Antichrist finally declares that he is God, tries to bring about the end of the worship of the true God, it's also where he places what is known as the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet and quoted by Jesus in Matthew 24." Regarding the above statement we hear again and again the old Jesuit-futurist theology and deception about the Antichrist who is none else but the Roman pontiff himself who bears the blasphemous names 'Vicarius Christi' and 'Vicarius Filii Dei' as well as many others. (Vicarius Filii Dei = 666) The narrator Christopher Glyn's final words are: "One thing is certain. According to Bible prophecy the Temple will be rebuilt and both Jews and Christians are looking forward to that day." Yes, both Jews and Christians (the majority) are trapped in one of the greatest End Time delusions - the building of a Third Temple, the re-establishment of the animal sacrifice and the coming of the Jewish Messiah. Revelation 13:3 ...And all the world marveled and followed the Beast. 7-Day Adventist pastor Stephen Bohr tells the whole TRUTH about the two Beasts of Revelation 13. ABSOLUTE MUST in order to understand properly the divine prophecy !!! 10 - 3AM: Revelation's Sea Beast - Stephen Bohr https://youtube.com/watch?v=tsmLqqXcYSA 11 - 3AM: Revelation's Land Beast - Stephen Bohr https://youtube.com/watch?v=C0KZUu01QxE 12 - 3AM: The Image of The Beast - Stephen Bohr https://youtube.com/watch?v=qGN97yu4P_w 13 - 3AM: 666: The Number of The Beast - Stephen Bohr https://youtube.com/watch?v=00dmGW2fv1M 14 - 3AM: The Mark of The Beast Part 1 - Stephen Bohr https://youtube.com/watch?v=MfmUTkLFips 15 - 3AM: The Mark of The Beast Part 2 - Stephen Bohr https://youtube.com/watch?v=gtyWGtuhJis P.S. It's quite interesting to note that the release of your documentary 'Finding the Mountain of Moses: The Real Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia' in December 2018 shortly preceded the historic visit of pope Francis to UAE in February 2019. There he signed in Abu Dhabi together with the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayeb, a historic declaration of fraternity calling for peace between nations, religions and races, thus advancing the Roman-Catholic hidden agenda for One World religion and One World government. So, keep in mind that promoting this End Time deception about Mt. Sinai in Saudi Arabia, you are contributing to a great extent to the new false world religious system called Babylon in the book of Revelation whose head is the Roman pontiff. Please, note, that the final LORD's message to His faithful servants (found in Revelation 18:4) is not about unification but SEPARATION from the fallen and corrupt Christian churches and world religions now forming the prophesied union under the leadership of the Antichrist! By the way do you know that the Roman-Catholic church and the Islam serve the same god? And you will ask: br. Chris, how is that? And my answer is: Roman-Catholicism and Islam are the two sides of the same silver coin by which the Son of God JESUS CHRIST was betrayed and crucified. And here is the PROOF: 7-Day Adventist professor Walter Veith has been presenting since a long time his meticulous study on that particular subject. WATCH and LISTEN closely and PRAY to God to give you understanding and determination to accept the Truth! Amen. ONLY FOR TRUTHSEEKERS !!! 278 - The King of the North Embracing the World Religions / Repairing the Breach https://youtube.com/watch?v=QL4oxdylE5Y 279 - The Foundations of Many Generations - Part 1 / Repairing the Breach https://youtube.com/watch?v=F6MeMXgTShk 280 - The Foundations of Many Generations - Part 2 / Repairing the Breach https://youtube.com/watch?v=A7iAebeIFTg The historic declaration named 'Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together' and signed between the Antichrist and the grand imam on 04:02:2019 in Abu Dhabi, proves beyond any doubt that Roman-Catholicism and Islam worship the same god which is NOT however the God of the Bible - the Creator and the Saviour, the Almighty YAHWEH of Host, JESUS CHRIST. https://humanfraternitymeeting.com/en/declaration https://vatican.va/content/francesco/en/travels/2019/outside/documents/papa-francesco_20190204_documento-fratellanza-umana.html R222 <<< Come, Lord Jesus >>> Spartacvs +SG The Legend is Alive! https://illuminati-bg.bg 04:02:2020 ------------------------------------------------------ END Time events 2020 >>> Getting closer to Armageddon! 7-Day Adventist Ministry <<< WIO BG >>> World Illumination for the Nations presents END Time events 2020 ----- APOCALYPTIC TIMES! 2019 - Biblical changes are happening worldwide - terrible calamities! https://youtu.be/_GApiVwGcVY 2020 - January 2020 Signs and Prophetic Events https://youtube.com/watch?v=_ajnLROpNX4 The FIERY APOCALYPSE has begun !!! AUSTRALIA IS BURNING !!! A WHOLE CONTINENT IS BURNING - START of the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 24:1-7 !!! GET PREPARED FOR THE TOTAL APOCALYPSE 2026 (Revelation 16) and JESUS SECOND COMING !!! 7 years to the World Apocalypse and to the Great Jubilee Year of 2027 !!! Find more at https://illuminati-bg.bg WHY THE LORD'S FIERY JUDGEMENTS ARE VISITING AUSTRALIA? The Holy Word of God tells the story of the two ancient cities Sodom and Gomorrah whose inhabitants indulged in the grave sin of homosexuality (Genesis 19) and filling the cup of their iniquity were destroyed by fire and brimstone. So, we've been WARNED! Luke 17 28 And likewise, as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29 but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, YAHWEH rained down fire and brimstone from the heaven and destroyed all of them. 30 According to those things, it will be in the day the Son of Man is revealed. The LGBT Black Illuminati agenda in Australia - only two MPs vote against the ungodly and blasphemous legislation on same-sex marriage https://illuminati-bg.bg/video/LGBT-Abominations https://aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1516/SSMarriage ----- END TIME DELUSIONS! 247 - The Third Temple - prof. Walter Veith https://youtube.com/watch?v=2_81Q4qb_HU Published on Jan 23, 2019 Will the building of the Third Temple usher in the Messiah’s earthly reign? Or could it be one of the great signs Jesus warned would be wrought to deceive, if possible, the very elect? What do hidden codes, mysticism and numerology have to do with the Third Temple? 7-Day Adventist professor Walter Veith explains why plans to build a Third Temple are part of a great counterfeit religious system that is being erected in opposition to God’s plan of salvation and why, now more than ever, we must be serious students of His Word. Another brilliant lecture of the 7-Day Adventist professor Walter Veith on the identity of the Man of Sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3) in the light of the unique Bible prophecies! While almost all of the Christianity today believe that the Antichrist will be revealed after the building of the Third Temple in Jerusalem, the truth is that they are trapped in one of the greatest End Time deceptions of the Evil one. So, who's the Man of Sin, who's the Man behind the mask? MUST WATCH! 205 - The Man Behind The Mask / Total Onslaught - Walter Veith https://youtube.com/watch?v=uKcXTYWh2F0 The New Age theosophical (masonic) agenda of the ascended masters EXPOSED! Will Baron - a former New Age priest tells the whole TRUTH! Conducting this exclusive interview is pastor John Bradshaw from the 7-Day Adventist mission "It Is Written". https://illuminati-bg.bg/video/The-New-Age-Conspiracy The fallen cherubim Lucifer called Devil and Satan doesn't want you to know that he and his demons exist! He is delighted in the wide-spread Roman-Catholic medieval deception about his personality and is the father of the evolutionary theory (the Darwinism) and the atheism. Find out the TRUTH with the former demon worshipper Roger Morneau whom God rescued miraculously leading him to His true Church - the Seventh-Day Adventists! ABSOLUTE MUST !!! A Trip Into The Supernatural (1995) - Roger Morneau (full interview) https://illuminati-bg.bg/audio-video.html ----- REVEALING THE BEAST 666! Who is the Beast of Revelation 13:18 and why his number is 666? Find out the Truth with the 7-Day Adventist pastor Stephen Bohr! MUST WATCH! 13 - 3AM: 666: The Number of The Beast - Stephen Bohr https://youtube.com/watch?v=00dmGW2fv1M The whole playlist of 25 amazing lectures on God's final message to the doomed world: Three Angels Message - Stephen Bohr https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6A480C40F7BA55A4 Award-winning documentary on how the Roman-Catholic antibiblical religious & monastic system produces pedophiles and sodomites! The Vatican cover-up EXPOSED! The Vatican-Jesuit Pedophile Ring EXPOSED -- MEA MAXIMA CULPA https://illuminati-bg.bg/video/Mea-Maxima-Culpa ----- REVEALING THE MARK OF THE BEAST 666! A brilliant lecture of the Seventh-Day Adventist pastor Walter Veith on the Biblical prophecy regarding the change of the eternal law of God and especially the Sabbath commandment by the Antichrist little-horn power of Daniel chapter 7 (the Beast 666 of Revelation 13)! MUST WATCH! 217 - The Crime of the Antichrist / Total Onslaught https://youtube.com/watch?v=Nkhcc-spRgo Another brilliant lecture of the Seventh-Day Adventist pastor John Bradshaw on the eternal validity of the Sabbath commandment and its desecration by the Roman-Catholic church! History's Greatest Religious Cover-Up (Pastor John Bradshaw) https://youtube.com/watch?v=9ov5UljMxro An amazing sermon of the distinguished Seventh-Day Adventist professor Walter Veith which exposes the covert Roman-Catholic ecumenical and SUN-day law agenda! ABSOLUTE MUST! 1016 - I Hear the Rumbling / Total Transformation https://youtube.com/watch?v=OogGHCk9FDA PROOF !!! Stunning fulfillment of the Biblical prophecy: Advancing the SUN-day law agenda - mark of the Beast 666: CONFERENCE on Work-free Sundays and Decent Work http://europeansundayalliance.eu/site/sundayconference2014 Pledge for a work-free Sunday and decent work ! ACTION ! http://europeansundayalliance.eu/site/euelections2014thepledge ISRAEL – High Court rules Tel Aviv stores can open Sabbath https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-high-court-rules-ta-stores-can-open-on-sabbath-1001185429 US Congress gave AUTHORITY to the Papacy during Pope's visit! https://youtu.be/CL5k2_s_wQQ May 14, 2020 - The Unholy father summons to Rome the world leaders to sign a GLOBAL PACT on educating the people around the globe to accept the united World Religion and World Government (Babylon) headed by him! Ultimate mark of the Beast (SUN-day law observance) preparation! Something PROPHETIC Is Happening May 14, 2020 !!! https://youtube.com/watch?v=BmsSrHhi1d0 The Sabbath-SUNday Controversy (=15 files) https://illuminati-bg.bg/whats-new/The-Sabbath-SUNday-Controversy ----- OZONE LAYER COLLAPSE & BIO-TERROR! Ozone Layer Collapse, A Former NASA Contract Engineer Warns Of Planetary Omnicide https://youtube.com/watch?v=3Ry_cACDWyY The Ozone Layer Recovery Lie And Climate Engineering Denial, Both Are Breaking Down https://geoengineeringwatch.org/the-ozone-layer-recovery-lie-and-climate-engineering-denial-both-are-breaking-down/ February 7, 2018 ...To be clear, if the ozone layer completely collapses, all terrestrial life and most aquatic life will perish. How close could such a state be if we remain on the current course? We are perilously close, perhaps only a few years... ...The horrific environmental and climate decimation being created by climate engineering are far beyond catastrophic. Though there are countless forms of anthropogenic damage to the planet and the climate system, global geoengineering operations are mathematically the most destructive of all. If public apathy regarding the climate engineering assault remains, if academia continues to lie about the climate engineering reality, if climate engineering is allowed to continue, our days are numbered. Again, this is not speculation, theory, conjecture, or hypothesis, rather, it is a mathematical fact... 2017 – The Last 10 Years of World History https://illuminati-bg.bg/2014/2017--The-Last-10-Years-of-World-History/ Documents https://geoengineeringwatch.org/documents-library/ Massive US Senate Document On National And Global Weather Modification https://geoengineeringwatch.org/massive-us-senate-document-on-national-and-global-weather-modification/ The Origins of AIDS (2004) - terrific documentary exposing the Black Illuminati medical mafia! https://illuminati-bg.bg/BIO-TERROR/Polio-AIDS Aerosol Crimes (2005) - the USA biological warfare program EXPOSED! https://illuminati-bg.bg/video/Aerosol-Crimes Anthrax War (2009) - the USA-UK biological warfare program EXPOSED https://illuminati-bg.bg/video/Anthrax-War https://illuminati-bg.bg/video/Anthrax-War/Anthrax-War.avi ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Destruction of Jerusalem - chapter 1 (A Prediction about the Destiny of the World) The Great Controversy (1888) <<< Ellen G. White >>> prophet of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church - the only one true Church of YAHWEH God of Hosts & YAHUSHUA the Messiah "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation" (Luke 19:42-44). From the crest of Olivet, Jesus looked upon Jerusalem. Fair and peaceful was the scene spread out before Him. It was the season of the Passover, and from all lands the children of Jacob had gathered there to celebrate the great national festival. In the midst of gardens and vineyards, and green slopes studded with pilgrims' tents, rose the terraced hills, the stately palaces, and massive bulwarks of Israel's capital. (...) In full view were the magnificent buildings of the temple. The rays of the setting sun lighted up the snowy whiteness of its marble walls and gleamed from golden gate and tower and pinnacle. "The perfection of beauty" it stood, the pride of the Jewish nation. What child of Israel could gaze upon the scene without a thrill of joy and admiration! But far other thoughts occupied the mind of Jesus. "When He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it" (Luke 19:41). Amid the universal rejoicing of the triumphal entry, while palm branches waved, while glad hosannas awoke the echoes of the hills, and thousands of voices declared Him king, the world's Redeemer was overwhelmed with a sudden and mysterious sorrow. He, the Son of God, the Promised One of Israel, whose power had conquered death and called its captives from the grave, was in tears, not of ordinary grief, but of intense, irrepressible agony. His tears were not for Himself, though He well knew whither His feet were tending. Before Him lay Gethsemane, the scene of His approaching agony. Before Him lay Gethsemane, the scene of His approaching agony. The sheepgate also was in sight, through which for centuries the victims for sacrifice had been led, and which was to open for Him when He should be "brought as a lamb to the slaughter" (Isaiah 53:7). Not far distant was Calvary, the place of crucifixion. Upon the path which Christ was soon to tread must fall the horror of great darkness as He should make His soul an offering for sin. Yet it was not the contemplation of these scenes that cast the shadow upon Him in this hour of gladness. No foreboding of His own superhuman anguish clouded that unselfish spirit. He wept for the doomed thousands of Jerusalem -- because of the blindness and impenitence of those whom He came to bless and to save. (...) Although Israel had "mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets" (2 Chronicles 36:16), He had still manifested Himself to them, as "the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Exodus 34:6); notwithstanding repeated rejections, His mercy had continued its pleadings. With more than a father's pitying love for the son of his care, God had "sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling place" (2 Chronicles 36:15). When remonstrance, entreaty, and rebuke had failed, He sent to them the best gift of heaven; nay, He poured out all heaven in that one Gift. (...) For three years the Lord of light and glory had gone in and out among His people. He "went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil," binding up the brokenhearted, setting at liberty them that were bound, restoring sight to the blind, causing the lame to walk and the deaf to hear, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, and preaching the gospel to the poor (Acts 10:38; Luke 4:18; Matthew 11:5). To all classes alike was addressed the gracious call: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Though rewarded with evil for good, and hatred for His love (Psalm 109:5), He had steadfastly pursued His mission of mercy. Never were those repelled that sought His grace. A homeless wanderer, reproach and penury His daily lot, He lived to minister to the needs and lighten the woes of men, to plead with them to accept the gift of life. The waves of mercy, beaten back by those stubborn hearts, returned in a stronger tide of pitying, inexpressible love. But Israel had turned from her best Friend and only Helper. The pleadings of His love had been despised, His counsels spurned, His warnings ridiculed. The hour of hope and pardon was fast passing; the cup of God's long-deferred wrath was almost full. The cloud that had been gathering through ages of apostasy and rebellion, now black with woe, was about to burst upon a guilty people; and He who alone could save them from their impending fate had been slighted, abused, rejected, and was soon to be crucified. When Christ should hang upon the cross of Calvary, Israel's day as a nation favored and blessed of God would be ended. The loss of even one soul is a calamity infinitely outweighing the gains and treasures of a world; but as Christ looked upon Jerusalem, the doom of a whole city, a whole nation, was before Him -- that city, that nation, which had once been the chosen of God, His peculiar treasure. Prophets had wept over the apostasy of Israel and the terrible desolations by which their sins were visited. Jeremiah wished that his eyes were a fountain of tears, that he might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of his people, for the Lord's flock that was carried away captive (Jeremiah 9:1; 13:17). What, then, was the grief of Him whose prophetic glance took in, not years, but ages! He beheld the destroying angel with sword uplifted against the city which had so long been Jehovah's dwelling place. From the ridge of Olivet, the very spot afterward occupied by Titus and his army, He looked across the valley upon the sacred courts and porticoes, and with tear-dimmed eyes He saw, in awful perspective, the walls surrounded by alien hosts. He heard the tread of armies marshaling for war. He heard the voice of mothers and children crying for bread in the besieged city. He saw her holy and beautiful house, her palaces and towers, given to the flames, and where once they stood, only a heap of smoldering ruins. (...) Christ saw in Jerusalem a symbol of the world hardened in unbelief and rebellion, and hastening on to meet the retributive judgments of God. The woes of a fallen race, pressing upon His soul, forced from His lips that exceeding bitter cry. He saw the record of sin traced in human misery, tears, and blood; His heart was moved with infinite pity for the afflicted and suffering ones of earth; He yearned to relieve them all. But even His hand might not turn back the tide of human woe; few would seek their only Source of help. He was willing to pour out His soul unto death, to bring salvation within their reach; but few would come to Him that they might have life. The Majesty of heaven in tears! The Son of the infinite God troubled in spirit, bowed down with anguish! The scene filled all heaven with wonder. That scene reveals to us the exceeding sinfulness of sin; it shows how hard a task it is, even for Infinite Power, to save the guilty from the consequences of transgressing the law of God. Jesus, looking down to the last generation, saw the world involved in a deception similar to that which caused the destruction of Jerusalem. The great sin of the Jews was their rejection of Christ; the great sin of the Christian world would be their rejection of the law of God, the foundation of His government in heaven and earth. The precepts of Jehovah would be despised and set at nought. Millions in bondage to sin, slaves of Satan, doomed to suffer the second death, would refuse to listen to the words of truth in their day of visitation. Terrible blindness! Strange infatuation! Two days before the Passover, when Christ had for the last time departed from the temple, after denouncing the hypocrisy of the Jewish rulers, He again went out with His disciples to the Mount of Olives and seated Himself with them upon the grassy slope overlooking the city. Once more He gazed upon its walls, its towers, and its palaces. Once more He beheld the temple in its dazzling splendor, a diadem of beauty crowning the sacred mount. (...) The disciples had been filled with awe and wonder at Christ's prediction of the overthrow of the temple, and they desired to understand more fully the meaning of His words. Wealth, labor, and architectural skill had for more than forty years been freely expended to enhance its splendors. Herod the Great had lavished upon it both Roman wealth and Jewish treasure, and even the emperor of the world had enriched it with his gifts. Massive blocks of white marble, of almost fabulous size, forwarded from Rome for this purpose, formed a part of its structure; and to these the disciples had called the attention of their Master, saying: "See what manner of stones and what buildings are here!" (Mark 13:1). To these words, Jesus made the solemn and startling reply: "Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down" (Matthew 24:2). With the overthrow of Jerusalem the disciples associated the events of Christ's personal coming in temporal glory to take the throne of universal empire, to punish the impenitent Jews, and to break from off the nation the Roman yoke. The Lord had told them that He would come the second time. Hence at the mention of judgments upon Jerusalem, their minds reverted to that coming; and as they were gathered about the Saviour upon the Mount of Olives, they asked: "When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Verse 3). The future was mercifully veiled from the disciples. Had they at that time fully comprehend the two awful facts -- the Redeemer's sufferings and death, and the destruction of their city and temple -- they would have been overwhelmed with horror. Christ presented before them an outline of the prominent events to take place before the close of time. His words were not then fully understood; but their meaning was to be unfolded as His people should need the instruction therein given. The prophecy which He uttered was twofold in its meaning; while foreshadowing the destruction of Jerusalem, it prefigured also the terrors of the last great day. Jesus declared to the listening disciples the judgments that were to fall upon apostate Israel, and especially the retributive vengeance that would come upon them for their rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah. Unmistakable signs would precede the awful climax. The dreaded hour would come suddenly and swiftly. And the Saviour warned His followers: "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains" (Matthew 24:15-16; Luke 21:20-21). When the idolatrous standards of the Romans should be set up in the holy ground, which extended some furlongs outside the city walls, then the followers of Christ were to find safety in flight. When the warning sign should be seen, those who would escape must make no delay. Throughout the land of Judea, as well as in Jerusalem itself, the signal for flight must be immediately obeyed. He who chanced to be upon the housetop must not go down into his house, even to save his most valued treasures. Those who were working in the fields or vineyards must not take time to return for the outer garment laid aside while they should be toiling in the heat of the day. They must not hesitate a moment, lest they be involved in the general destruction. (...) For nearly forty years after the doom of Jerusalem had been pronounced by Christ Himself, the Lord delayed His judgments upon the city and the nation. Wonderful was the long-suffering of God toward the rejectors of His gospel and the murderers of His Son. The parable of the unfruitful tree represented God's dealings with the Jewish nation. The command had gone forth, "Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?" (Luke 13:7) but divine mercy had spared it yet a little longer. There were still many among the Jews who were ignorant of the character and the work of Christ. And the children had not enjoyed the opportunities or received the light which their parents had spurned. Through the preaching of the apostles and their associates, God would cause light to shine upon them; they would be permitted to see how prophecy had been fulfilled, not only in the birth and life of Christ, but in His death and resurrection. The children were not condemned for the sins of the parents; but when, with a knowledge of all the light given to their parents, the children rejected the additional light granted to themselves, they became partakers of the parents' sins, and filled up the measure of their iniquity. The long-suffering of God toward Jerusalem only confirmed the Jews in their stubborn impenitence. In their hatred and cruelty toward the disciples of Jesus they rejected the last offer of mercy. Then God withdrew His protection from them and removed His restraining power from Satan and his angels, and the nation was left to the control of the leader she had chosen. Her children had spurned the grace of Christ, which would have enabled them to subdue their evil impulses, and now these became the conquerors. Satan aroused the fiercest and most debased passions of the soul. Men did not reason; they were beyond reason -- controlled by impulse and blind rage. They became satanic in their cruelty. In the family and in the nation, among the highest and the lowest classes alike, there was suspicion, envy, hatred, strife, rebellion, murder. There was no safety anywhere. Friends and kindred betrayed one another. Parents slew their children, and children their parents. The rulers of the people had no power to rule themselves. Uncontrolled passions made them tyrants. The Jews had accepted false testimony to condemn the innocent Son of God. Now false accusations made their own lives uncertain. By their actions they had long been saying: "Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us" (Isaiah 30:11). Now their desire was granted. The fear of God no longer disturbed them. Satan was at the head of the nation, and the highest civil and religious authorities were under his sway. The leaders of the opposing factions at times united to plunder and torture their wretched victims, and again they fell upon each other's forces and slaughtered without mercy. Even the sanctity of the temple could not restrain their horrible ferocity. The worshipers were stricken down before the altar, and the sanctuary was polluted with the bodies of the slain. Yet in their blind and blasphemous presumption the instigators of this hellish work publicly declared that they had no fear that Jerusalem would be destroyed, for it was God's own city. To establish their power more firmly, they bribed false prophets to proclaim, even while Roman legions were besieging the temple, that the people were to wait for deliverance from God. To the last, multitudes held fast to the belief that the Most High would interpose for the defeat of their adversaries. But Israel had spurned the divine protection, and now she had no defense. Unhappy Jerusalem! rent by internal dissensions, the blood of her children slain by one another's hands crimsoning her streets, while alien armies beat down her fortifications and slew her men of war! All the predictions given by Christ concerning the destruction of Jerusalem were fulfilled to the letter. The Jews experienced the truth of His words of warning: "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Matthew 7:2). Signs and wonders appeared, foreboding disaster and doom. In the midst of the night an unnatural light shone over the temple and the altar. Upon the clouds at sunset were pictured chariots and men of war gathering for battle. The priests ministering by night in the sanctuary were terrified by mysterious sounds; the earth trembled, and a multitude of voices were heard crying: "Let us depart hence." The great eastern gate, which was so heavy that it could hardly be shut by a score of men, and which was secured by immense bars of iron fastened deep in the pavement of solid stone, opened at midnight, without visible agency. -- Milman, The History of the Jews, book 13. For seven years a man continued to go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, declaring the woes that were to come upon the city. By day and by night he chanted the wild dirge: "A voice from the east! a voice from the west! a voice from the four winds! a voice against Jerusalem and against the temple! a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides! a voice against the whole people!" -- Ibid. This strange being was imprisoned and scourged, but no complaint escaped his lips. To insult and abuse he answered only: "Woe, woe to Jerusalem!" "woe, woe to the inhabitants thereof!" His warning cry ceased not until he was slain in the siege he had foretold. Not one Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem. Christ had given His disciples warning, and all who believed His words watched for the promised sign. "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies," said Jesus, "then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out" (Luke 21:20-21). After the Romans under Cestius had surrounded the city, they unexpectedly abandoned the siege when everything seemed favorable for an immediate attack. The besieged, despairing of successful resistance, were on the point of surrender, when the Roman general withdrew his forces without the least apparent reason. But God's merciful providence was directing events for the good of His own people. The promised sign had been given to the waiting Christians, and now an opportunity was offered for all who would, to obey the Saviour's warning. Events were so overruled that neither Jews nor Romans should hinder the flight of the Christians. Upon the retreat of Cestius, the Jews, sallying from Jerusalem, pursued after his retiring army; and while both forces were thus fully engaged, the Christians had an opportunity to leave the city. At this time the country also had been cleared of enemies who might have endeavored to intercept them. At the time of the siege, the Jews were assembled at Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, and thus the Christians throughout the land were able to make their escape unmolested. Without delay they fled to a place of safety -- the city of Pella, in the land of Perea, beyond Jordan. The Jewish forces, pursuing after Cestius and his army, fell upon their rear with such fierceness as to threaten them with total destruction. It was with great difficulty that the Romans succeeded in making their retreat. The Jews escaped almost without loss, and with their spoils returned in triumph to Jerusalem. Yet this apparent success brought them only evil. It inspired them with that spirit of stubborn resistance to the Romans which speedily brought unutterable woe upon the doomed city. Terrible were the calamities that fell upon Jerusalem when the siege was resumed by Titus. The city was invested at the time of the Passover, when millions of Jews were assembled within its walls. Their stores of provision, which if carefully preserved would have supplied the inhabitants for years, had previously been destroyed through the jealousy and revenge of the contending factions, and now all the horrors of starvation were experienced. A measure of wheat was sold for a talent. So fierce were the pangs of hunger that men would gnaw the leather of their belts and sandals and the covering of their shields. Great numbers of the people would steal out at night to gather wild plants growing outside the city walls, though many were seized and put to death with cruel torture, and often those who returned in safety were robbed of what they had gleaned at so great peril. The most inhuman tortures were inflicted by those in power, to force from the want-stricken people the last scanty supplies which they might have concealed. And these cruelties were not infrequently practiced by men who were themselves well fed, and who were merely desirous of laying up a store of provision for the future. Thousands perished from famine and pestilence. Natural affection seemed to have been destroyed. Husbands robbed their wives, and wives their husbands. Children would be seen snatching the food from the mouths of their aged parents. The question of the prophet, "Can a woman forget her sucking child?" received the answer within the walls of that doomed city: "The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people" (Isaiah 49:15; Lamentations 4:10). Again was fulfilled the warning prophecy given fourteen centuries before: "The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, ... and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates" (Deuteronomy 28:56-57). The Roman leaders endeavored to strike terror to the Jews and thus cause them to surrender. Those prisoners who resisted when taken, were scourged, tortured, and crucified before the wall of the city. Hundreds were daily put to death in this manner, and the dreadful work continued until, along the Valley of Jehoshaphat and at Calvary, crosses were erected in so great numbers that there was scarcely room to move among them. So terribly was visited that awful imprecation uttered before the judgment seat of Pilate: "His blood be on us, and on our children" (Matthew 27:25). Titus would willingly have put an end to the fearful scene, and thus have spared Jerusalem the full measure of her doom. He was filled with horror as he saw the bodies of the dead lying in heaps in the valleys. Like one entranced, he looked from the crest of Olivet upon the magnificent temple and gave command that not one stone of it be touched. Before attempting to gain possession of this stronghold, he made an earnest appeal to the Jewish leaders not to force him to defile the sacred place with blood. If they would come forth and fight in any other place, no Roman should violate the sanctity of the temple. Josephus himself, in a most eloquent appeal, entreated them to surrender, to save themselves, their city, and their place of worship. But his words were answered with bitter curses. Darts were hurled at him, their last human mediator, as he stood pleading with them. The Jews had rejected the entreaties of the Son of God, and now expostulation and entreaty only made them more determined to resist to the last. In vain were the efforts of Titus to save the temple; One greater than he had declared that not one stone was to be left upon another. The blind obstinacy of the Jewish leaders, and the detestable crimes perpetrated within the besieged city, excited the horror and indignation of the Romans, and Titus at last decided to take the temple by storm. He determined, however, that if possible it should be saved from destruction. But his commands were disregarded. After he had retired to his tent at night, the Jews, sallying from the temple, attacked the soldiers without. In the struggle, a firebrand was flung by a soldier through an opening in the porch, and immediately the cedar-lined chambers about the holy house were in a blaze. Titus rushed to the place, followed by his generals and legionaries, and commanded the soldiers to quench the flames. His words were unheeded. In their fury the soldiers hurled blazing brands into the chambers adjoining the temple, and then with their swords they slaughtered in great numbers those who had found shelter there. Blood flowed down the temple steps like water. Thousands upon thousands of Jews perished. Above the sound of battle, voices were heard shouting: "Ichabod!" -- the glory is departed. "Titus found it impossible to check the rage of the soldiery; he entered with his officers, and surveyed the interior of the sacred edifice. The splendor filled them with wonder; and as the flames had not yet penetrated to the holy place, he made a last effort to save it, and springing forth, again exhorted the soldiers to stay the progress of the conflagration. The centurion Liberalis endeavored to force obedience with his staff of office; but even respect for the emperor gave way to the furious animosity against the Jews, to the fierce excitement of battle, and to the insatiable hope of plunder. The soldiers saw everything around them radiant with gold, which shone dazzlingly in the wild light of the flames; they supposed that incalculable treasures were laid up in the sanctuary. A soldier, unperceived, thrust a lighted torch between the hinges of the door: the whole building was in flames in an instant. The blinding smoke and fire forced the officers to retreat, and the noble edifice was left to its fate. "It was an appalling spectacle to the Roman -- what was it to the Jew? The whole summit of the hill which commanded the city, blazed like a volcano. One after another the buildings fell in, with a tremendous crash, and were swallowed up in the fiery abyss. The roofs of cedar were like sheets of flame; the gilded pinnacles shone like spikes of red light; the gate towers sent up tall columns of flame and smoke. The neighboring hills were lighted up; and dark groups of people were seen watching in horrible anxiety the progress of the destruction: the walls and heights of the upper city were crowded with faces, some pale with the agony of despair, others scowling unavailing vengeance. The shouts of the Roman soldiery as they ran to and fro, and the howlings of the insurgents who were perishing in the flames, mingled with the roaring of the conflagration and the thundering sound of falling timbers. The echoes of the mountains replied or brought back the shrieks of the people on the heights; all along the walls resounded screams and wailings; men who were expiring with famine rallied their remaining strength to utter a cry of anguish and desolation. "The slaughter within was even more dreadful than the spectacle from without. Men and women, old and young, insurgents and priests, those who fought and those who entreated mercy, were hewn down in indiscriminate carnage. The number of the slain exceeded that of the slayers. The legionaries had to clamber over heaps of dead to carry on the work of extermination." -- Milman, The History of the Jews, book 16. After the destruction of the temple, the whole city soon fell into the hands of the Romans. The leaders of the Jews forsook their impregnable towers, and Titus found them solitary. He gazed upon them with amazement, and declared that God had given them into his hands; for no engines, however powerful, could have prevailed against those stupendous battlements. Both the city and the temple were razed to their foundations, and the ground upon which the holy house had stood was "plowed like a field" (Jeremiah 26:18). In the siege and the slaughter that followed, more than a million of the people perished; the survivors were carried away as captives, sold as slaves, dragged to Rome to grace the conqueror's triumph, thrown to wild beasts in the amphitheaters, or scattered as homeless wanderers throughout the earth. The Jews had forged their own fetters; they had filled for themselves the cup of vengeance. In the utter destruction that befell them as a nation, and in all the woes that followed them in their dispersion, they were but reaping the harvest which their own hands had sown. Says the prophet: "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself;" "for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity" (Hosea 13:9; 14:1). Their sufferings are often represented as a punishment visited upon them by the direct decree of God. It is thus that the great deceiver seeks to conceal his own work. By stubborn rejection of divine love and mercy, the Jews had caused the protection of God to be withdrawn from them, and Satan was permitted to rule them according to his will. The horrible cruelties enacted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan's vindictive power over those who yield to his control. We cannot know how much we owe to Christ for the peace and protection which we enjoy. It is the restraining power of God that prevents mankind from passing fully under the control of Satan. The disobedient and unthankful have great reason for gratitude for God's mercy and long-suffering in holding in check the cruel, malignant power of the evil one. But when men pass the limits of divine forbearance, that restraint is removed. God does not stand toward the sinner as an executioner of the sentence against transgression; but He leaves the rejectors of His mercy to themselves, to reap that which they have sown. Every ray of light rejected, every warning despised or unheeded, every passion indulged, every transgression of the law of God, is a seed sown which yields its unfailing harvest. The Spirit of God, persistently resisted, is at last withdrawn from the sinner, and then there is left no power to control the evil passions of the soul, and no protection from the malice and enmity of Satan. The destruction of Jerusalem is a fearful and solemn warning to all who are trifling with the offers of divine grace and resisting the pleadings of divine mercy. Never was there given a more decisive testimony to God's hatred of sin and to the certain punishment that will fall upon the guilty. The Saviour's prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment, of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow. In the fate of the chosen city we may behold the doom of a world that has rejected God's mercy and trampled upon His law. Dark are the records of human misery that earth has witnessed during its long centuries of crime. The heart sickens, and the mind grows faint in contemplation. Terrible have been the results of rejecting the authority of Heaven. But a scene yet darker is presented in the revelations of the future. The records of the past, -- the long procession of tumults, conflicts, and revolutions, the "battle of the warrior ... with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood" (Isaiah 9:5), -- what are these, in contrast with the terrors of that day when the restraining Spirit of God shall be wholly withdrawn from the wicked, no longer to hold in check the outburst of human passion and satanic wrath! The world will then behold, as never before, the results of Satan's rule. But in that day, as in the time of Jerusalem's destruction, God's people will be delivered, everyone that shall be found written among the living. (Isaiah 4:3). Christ has declared that He will come the second time to gather His faithful ones to Himself: "Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matthew 24:30-31). Then shall they that obey not the gospel be consumed with the spirit of His mouth and be destroyed with the brightness of His coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8). Like Israel of old the wicked destroy themselves; they fall by their iniquity. By a life of sin, they have placed themselves so out of harmony with God, their natures have become so debased with evil, that the manifestation of His glory is to them a consuming fire. Let men beware lest they neglect the lesson conveyed to them in the words of Christ. As He warned His disciples of Jerusalem's destruction, giving them a sign of the approaching ruin, that they might make their escape; so He has warned the world of the day of final destruction and has given them tokens of its approach, that all who will may flee from the wrath to come. Jesus declares: "There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations" (Luke 21:25; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-26; Revelation 6:12-17). Those who behold these harbingers of His coming are to "know that it is near, even at the doors" (Matthew 24:33). "Watch ye therefore," are His words of admonition (Mark 13:35). They that heed the warning shall not be left in darkness, that that day should overtake them unawares. But to them that will not watch, "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2-5). The world is no more ready to credit the message for this time than were the Jews to receive the Saviour's warning concerning Jerusalem. Come when it may, the day of God will come unawares to the ungodly. When life is going on in its unvarying round; when men are absorbed in pleasure, in business, in traffic, in money-making; when religious leaders are magnifying the world's progress and enlightenment, and the people are lulled in a false security -- then, as the midnight thief steals within the unguarded dwelling, so shall sudden destruction come upon the careless and ungodly, "and they shall not escape" (Verse 3). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download "The Great Controversy" book in your own language https://illuminati-bg.bg/2014/The-Conflict-of-the-Ages/ Read online "The Great Controversy" book https://whiteestate.org/books/gc/gc.asp Audio version of "The Great Controversy" book in multiple languages https://ellenwhiteaudio.org Other links of great importance! THE ARK AND THE BLOOD - The discovery of the Ark of the Covenant https://youtube.com/watch?v=rtWuA_dU2C4 2014 -- The Divine Prophecy Fulfilled! https://illuminati-bg.bg/2014/2014-The-Divine-Prophecy-Fulfilled-(11-files)/ Bible Prophecy PLAYLIST https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzSHJ3t_p6d8Vr0y8P9uIeIaVxUHMLd0q The Sacred Chronology of 7000 Years https://illuminati-bg.bg/2014/The-Sacred-Chronology-of-7000-Years-(6-files)/ ----- REKINDLING THE REFORMATION! 2017 – 500 years after Luther (many languages) https://illuminati-bg.bg/whats-new/index.html Jesuits and the Counter Reformation - prof. Walter Veith https://illuminati-bg.bg/video/Jesuits-and-the-Counter-Reformation 930 - Rekindling the Reformation PLAYLIST / Walter Veith https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF170B126002E7CB0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ R222 <<< Come, Lord Jesus >>> Histor Y. 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