EB: 17 The Blessings of Obeying Christ’s Last Great Commandment

Chapter 17

The Blessings of Obeying Christ’s Last Great Commandment

Contents

A) Why obey Christ’s Last Great Commandment?

B) What does the Bible predict for those who obey Christ’s Last Great Commandment? They will uniquely experience the worst things and some of the very best things

C) What kind of Christian will you be?

Primary Points

• We do not need 100% certainty that this prophecy is predicting a nuclear attack on America to actually move out of the country.
• What would be the consequences if the interpretation and application of Revelation 17-18 argued in Endtime Babylon are accurate and you do not heed that? You and your loved ones will suffer a horrific death in disobedience to God.
• God Himself confronts us with such very difficult decisions in Revelation 17-18. Because of the clear destruction this prophecy predicts (17:16), and the clear command it contains (18:4), all Christians need to make a decision about what they think God intended to say in order to be certain they escape the catastrophe it describes.
• Obeying Christ’s Last Great Commandment may be the most difficult thing you ever do in your life. But God will never give us a command we are not able to obey.
• It might seem easier to simply stay in America. But there is something worse than a horrible death. It’s disobedience to a divine command.
• Those who would leave America to escape its divine punishment are not going somewhere to live “happily ever after.” On the contrary, wherever they go, they will probably die in The Greatest Persecution.
• Only the Christians who survive the nuclear annihilation of Endtime Babylon and enter The Greatest Persecution to be martyred or raptured, will be raised in the First Resurrection, and enjoy the privilege of reigning with Christ on the Millennial Earth in resurrected bodies.
• “Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book” (Rev 22:7) including Christ’s Last Great Commandment.
• Whether you are living in America when the Endtimes begins depends primarily on God’s choice. Whether or not you obey Christ’s Last Great Commandment will be your choice.

A) Why obey Christ’s Last Great Commandment?

Previously in this book, and throughout the Endtimes Essentials materials, it has been admitted that no human can be 100% absolutely certain of every aspect of their interpretation and application of Revelation 17-18. Accordingly, it was concluded in this book that the author himself cannot claim more than 85% confidence in the interpretation offered in Endtime Babylon (cf. ch. 8, sec. H). But 85% certainty, or even something significantly lower, is still high enough to consider the conclusions in this book very seriously.

We do not need 100% certainty that this prophecy is predicting a nuclear attack on America to actually move out of the country. The biblical and reasonable arguments provided in Endtime Babylon are sufficient for such action when the time comes to do so. If afterwards, the conclusions in this book can be proven wrong, the consequences would be relatively small and probably nothing that cannot be recovered. But again, what would be the consequences if the interpretation and application of Revelation 17-18 argued in Endtime Babylon are accurate and you do not heed that? You and your loved ones will suffer a horrific death in disobedience to God.

God Himself confronts us with such very difficult decisions in Revelation 17-18. On one hand, no one can be 100% certain of their interpretation of this prophecy until it is fulfilled. But then it would be too late to obey the command in Revelation 18:4 and escape the destruction described in 17:16. Because of the clear destruction this prophecy predicts, and the clear command it contains, all Christians need to make a decision about what they think God intended to say in order to be certain they escape the catastrophe it describes.

Let’s assume for a moment you are sufficiently convinced of the conclusions of Endtime Babylon. Understandably, you still might hesitate to literally and physically obey Revelation 18:4. It has already been said that obeying Christ’s Last Great Commandment may be the most difficult thing you ever do in your life. Even planning for such a thing is a great challenge. One might wonder, why go through all the trouble to develop such a plan, and pursue it, if and when the time comes? Some might be tempted to say, “O.K. so we die. Maybe even instantly in a nuclear blast. Then we wake up on the New Earth for eternity. What’s the big deal?”

The big deal is that there is a commandment of God in Revelation 18:4. He expects His people to correctly interpret it and courageously obey it. God made it clear why He will want His people to move out from Babylon the Great. It will be so that they will not experience her being struck hard with a sudden and severe disaster including being burned down with fire… in one hour (Rev 17:16). All of God’s commands are intended to do us good, not harm. Christ’s Last Great Commandment is no exception.

Some Christians might be tempted to believe they can survive God’s punishment of Endtime Babylon (America), even if it is nuclear warfare. But again, they forget that God’s … purpose will be to permanently remove all people from Endtime Babylon (America) (17:16-17). When God is done punishing it, there will never again be any people living there (cf. Rev 18:21-23). You can leave Endtime Babylon (America) by choice or by death.

Still some may think it would just be easier to stay in America and die, rather than going to all the trouble to leave America and die anyway. Maybe that would be easier. Maybe even a lot easier. But if you are a Christian, then the most important question for you is not what path will be the easiest for you and your loved ones. The most important question is this: will you sin against your Father in Heaven, or obey Him because you love Him more than anything or anyone else?

It has been noted that the many commands to leave Babylon in the OT were initially directed to the Jews who were exiled in ancient Babylon. God wanted them all to leave and return to Israel. But relatively very few of them did. The vast majority of the Jews in Babylon chose to stay. Which strongly suggests that they had found a comfortable place in Babylonian society.

There is a danger in being so attached to the things and people in America, that you disobey God’s command to leave just as many of the Jews did. Just like Lot and his wife may have done if Angels had not physically removed them from Sodom. Do not be like them Christian.

God knows that Christ’s Last Great Commandment is especially challenging to clearly understand. He also knows that in our human weakness we may have all kinds of objections to obeying it. Excuses we give ourselves for not doing so. God anticipated such objections from His OT people, and inspired Moses with encouragement that is appropriate for Christ’s Last Great Commandment:

“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’… The message is … in your heart so that you can obey it.

Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death… For I command you this day to love the LORD your God and to keep his commands…

Today I have given you the choice between life and death… now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. (Deut 30:11-12, 14-16, 19-20 NLT) ^[1]

As noted above, it is tempting to think Christ’s Last Great Commandment is too difficult for you, and … beyond your reach to understand or obey(v. 11). But the prophecy in Revelation 17-18 and the command in 18:4 is not being concealed in heaven. Rather, it has been brought down to Earth, and revealed in Scripture so it can be in your heart so that you can obey it.

Likewise, God will never give us a command we are not able to obey. The NT repeats this promise when we read: God is faithful; he will not let you be tested [peirasthēnai ^[2]] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it (1 Cor 10:13). Indeed, Christ’s Last Great Commandment in Revelation 18:4 presents all American Christians with a great test. But God will provide a way out of America’s destruction and enable you to endure doing so.

Still, obeying Christ’s Last Great Commandment may be the hardest thing you will ever do. Why would you do it? In the above passage, God warned His people that disobedience would bring them disaster (v. 15). Likewise, God has commanded those in Endtime Babylon (America): “Come out of her My people … so that you will not experience her being struck hard with a sudden and severe disaster” (Rev 18:4). Like His OT people, it is suggested that God wants you to obey Him so that you and your loved ones will escape His horrific punishment of idolatrous and sinful America.

If you are still hesitant to obey Christ’s Last Great Commandment, consider again the kind of punishment He is warning He will unleash on Endtime Babylon. Fire, famine, and plagues (Rev 18:8) to kill every single person living there. No wonder He commands His people to escape!

But the passage above reminds us of the most important reason to obey Christ’s Last Great Commandment: You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him (Deut 30:20). The most important reason to obey God is not to avoid unnecessary pain and disaster. The most important reason to obey God is to LOVE Him no matter what happens. That is by far the most important reason and most powerful motivation for doing anything. As Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments” (John 14:15 NLT). This includes Christ’s Last Great Commandment.

Even Christians who think the chapters of Endtime Babylon have reasonably interpreted Revelation 17-18, may choose to not leave America when the time to do so comes. If the interpretation offered here is correct, then they would suffer the painful physical consequences. But they would experience something even worse than that. God’s people have experienced tragic deaths since the murder of Abel (cf. Gen 4:8). But there is something worse than death. It’s disobedience. Disobedience to even the least of God’s commandments is more tragic than the most painful death. The same will be true of disobeying Christ’s Last Great Commandment. Moses reminded God’s people that beings in both heaven and earth will witness the choice you make.

Which leads to another motivation to obey Christ’s Last Great Commandment. There is something equally important to loving God with all your heart. It is glorifying God with your choices and life.

The Remnant Christians who enter The Greatest Persecution will give their Master a great deal of pleasure and glory in all of their sacrifice and suffering. They will have the privilege of serving and dying for Him in fulfilling the Great Commission, finding, and rescuing the last of God’s chosen children on Earth. None of them will fail, or be overcome, by the Evil One. What a glory to God! What a glory for them!

But the Christians who are slaughtered in Endtime Babylon (America) will suffer for nothing. Actually, worse than nothing. They will suffer in disobedience to God’s will because of ignorance or fear. If the Last Generation of Christians living in Endtime Babylon (America) do not obey Christ’s Last Great Commandment, then they will leave this world with a wimper, instead of living a life worthy of the calling they have received (Eph 4:1) as the chosen children, servants, soldiers, and ambassadors of God Almighty. All because they will not understand, accept, respect, and heed Christ’s Last Great Commandment.

B) What does the Bible predict for those who obey Christ’s Last Great Commandment? They will uniquely experience the worst things and some of the very best things

B.1) The “bad news” of obeying Christ’s Last Great Commandment

When the Israelites experienced the First Exodus, they were leaving a place of slavery and hardship in order to go to the Promised Land and prosper. That will not be true of those who leave Endtime Babylon. They will probably be leaving the most comfortable place to live in the history of humanity. And they will be leaving it to experience the most painful events in the history of humanity. Those who would leave America to escape its divine punishment are not going somewhere to live “happily ever after.” On the contrary, they will probably be leaving to die in a more glorious and God-pleasing way than dying from nuclear radiation or famine because of their ignorance or disobedience. But, still, they will be leaving to probably die.

The destruction of Endtime Babylon will be part of the wars Jesus predicted for the beginning of birth pains (Matt 24:5, 8). But even if you escape those wars, Jesus said, “There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands” (Luke 21:9, 11 NLT; cf. Matt 24:6-7). Therefore, even if American Christians would escape the devastating nuclear war on America, they may face unprecedented earthquakes … famines and plagues.

It is predicted in Revelation 6:8 that Death will be given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth (NIV). It was argued in the previous book, The Beginning of Birth Pains (BBP, ch. 18, sec. E), that this describes these disasters as being concentrated in one fourth of the geographical area of the Earth. It was also argued that the famines will primarily include the continent of Africa.

But this is merely an educated guess based on Africa’s current poverty. The one fourth (Rev 6:8) of the Earth where all people are killed by the wars and subsequent disasters could include areas beyond America and Africa. Regardless, American Christians who would escape the nuclear annihilation of America, would still be living in a very desperate and dangerous world.

Even if a Remnant Christian survives The Beginning of Birth Pains they will probably die in The Greatest Persecution. The topic of Antichrist’s Reign & Wrath will be thoroughly discussed in the next volume, The Greatest Persecution.

Again, Remnant Christians will not be leaving America to live “happily ever after,” but to probably be hated, hunted, imprisoned and/or martyred. This would be the “bad news” of surviving the nuclear holocaust of America.

B.2) Those who suffer The Greatest Persecution will uniquely be rewarded with reigning with Christ for 1,000 years on this Earth in resurrected bodies

But the biblical story of those who lose their lives in The Greatest Persecution does not end there. There will be a very special reward for those who do. It would seem that only the Christians who survive the nuclear annihilation of Endtime Babylon, and the famines and diseases of The Beginning of Birth Pains, and enter The Greatest Persecution to be martyred or raptured, will be raised in the First Resurrection, and enjoy the privilege of reigning with Christ on the Millennial Earth for 1,000 years in resurrected bodies. More will be written on this in the next volume, The Greatest Persecution, where a study of Revelation 20:4-6 will be provided.

[Read Revelation 20:4-6]

Here, God promises that those who will be beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus during The Greatest Persecution, and who will not worship the beast or his image and will not receive his mark on their foreheads or their hands, that they will have the unique privilege of coming to life in the first resurrection, and will reign with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead, including all Christians dying before The Greatest Persecution, will not come to life until the thousand years are ended. (Rev 20:4-6 NIV).

Imagine that! This will be God’s special reward for those who obey Christ’s Last Great Commandment to leave Endtime Babylon and escape its nuclear annihilation, survive The Beginning of Birth Pains, and experience The Greatest Persecution. This is a wonderful promise!

B.3) Those who suffer The Greatest Persecution will uniquely be with Christ during His Endtime Wrath and the Battle of Armageddon

What are other special blessings for First Resurrection Christians? In answering this, we should first note how Paul described them in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. After they are resurrected from the dead or “raptured” alive, they will be with the Lord forever. In other words, First Resurrection Christians will accompany Christ in all He does during Christ’s Endtime Wrath.

Therefore, when Christ appears to fight the Battle of Armageddon, we read: The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean (Rev 19:14 NIV). These are not Angels. Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints (Rev 19:8 NIV). These are the same First Resurrection Christians described four times earlier in Revelation as experiencing The Greatest Persecution and being given white robes (cf. 6:11; 7:9, 13-14). Because these Christians are with the Lord forever (1 Thess 4:17) after Christ’s Return, they will be uniquely following him (Rev 19:14) to the Battle of Armageddon.

Therefore, First Resurrection Christians are described here as The armies of heaven. They will not be accompanying Christ to the Battle of Armageddon to just watch. No, they are in the armies of heaven and armies fight. Accordingly, John describes the battle when he writes: I saw the beast [Antichrist] and the kings of the earth [including the 10-nation Endtime Coalition] and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse [Christ, cf. 19:11] and his army (Rev 19:19 NIV).

Christ’s presence will guarantee victory, but it would seem all First Resurrection Christians will uniquely have the privilege of fighting the enemies of Christ at the Battle of Armageddon. The same enemies that destroyed America with nuclear weapons. The same enemies that persecuted and killed them and their loved ones during The Greatest Persecution. Christ will give them their personal revenge. And they will be riding on white horses through the sky! What a blessing!

Christ’s Last Great Commandment says: “Move out from Babylon the Great My people … so that you will not experience her being struck hard with a sudden and severe disaster” (Rev 18:4). It is suggested that the only Christians living in America who will experience the blessings of the first resurrection will be those who obey Revelation 18:4 at the appropriate time. As Jesus says later in the Revelation: “Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book” (Rev 22:7 NLT; cf. 1:3). Including obeying Christ’s Last Great Commandment to physically leave Endtime Babylon when the Endtimes begin.

C) What kind of Christian will you be?

Therefore, it would seem Scripture teaches that American Christians may have two choices if they are living in the Endtimes:

1) Stay in America and be killed from nuclear radiation, disease, famine, or violence, and wake up at the Second Resurrection and enter eternity on the New Earth.

2) Leave America when the Endtimes begin and:

• Trust God to survive the famines, plagues, and earthquakes of The Beginning of Birth Pains.
• Glorify Christ in The Greatest Persecution.
• Be a part of completing the Great Commission.
• Experience the miracles and supernatural grace God will provide.
• Die for the One who died for us.
• Be raptured and/or experience the First Resurrection.
• Accompany Christ in His victorious battle against Antichrist and his armies at Armageddon.
• Ride through the sky on a white horse!
• Reign on Earth with Christ for 1000 years in a resurrected, immortal, and perfect body.

Perhaps we can understand better why God would want His people in America during the Endtimes to leave America so they can escape its destruction. If they are killed in the punishment of Endtime Babylon, they will miss the opportunity to experience all of the above. These biblical possibilities bring up important questions.

First, will you be an Endtimes Christian? Will you be living in the Last Generation Church? Will the Endtimes begin in your lifetime? That seems to depend on God’s Predestined Will. He ultimately decides the times we live in.

Second, will you be living in America? At least initially, that too seems to be something God determines. He probably also determines where we are born. The Bible says: From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands (Acts 17:26 NIV). This seems to imply that God determines when and where a person lives.

Third, will you be a Remnant Christian? By this we mean a Christian living in the Remaining World after the possible nuclear destruction of America. That will be your choice. If America is Endtime Babylon, then only those Christians who live there and obey Christ’s Last Great Commandment will be a Remnant Christian. Unfortunately, it would seem many American Christians living in the Endtimes will not be Remnant Christians. They will not even understand the predictions and warning God has provided in Revelation 17-18 and will probably die in its fulfillment.

Fourth, then, will you be a Persecuted Christian in The Greatest Persecution after The Beginning of Birth Pains? Only if you survive the wars, famines, plagues, earthquakes, and wild beasts that will kill all people living on one fourth of the Earth (cf. Rev 6:8). That would seem to be a matter of your wisdom and even careful planning, mixed with some divine intervention perhaps in answer to your prayers.

If you are a Last Generation Christian, a Remnant Christian, and a Persecuted Christian in the Greatest Persecution, then you will have the unique privilege of being a First Resurrection Christian. If you live through the Greatest Persecution, you will be Rescued (“raptured”). If you have been killed in The Greatest Persecution you will be resurrected from the dead. Either way, Persecuted Christians in The Greatest Persecution will also enjoy the tremendous privilege of being a Millennial Christian, and reigning with the Lord Jesus Christ on this Earth for a literal 1,000 years in a resurrected, immortal, perfect, glorified body!

1. The words in this text include a promise for prosperity or disaster (v. 15) and blessings and curses (v. 19). These statements are removed as physical or financial prosperity will not apply to Christians living in the Endtimes, even if they escape the destruction of Endtime Babylon, and the OT curses do not apply to Christians (cf. Gal 3:13). ↑

2. The Greek word peirazō used twice in 1 Cor 10:13 can mean either: 1) “to entice to improper behavior, tempt;” or 2) “to endeavor to discover the nature or character of something by testing, try, make trial of, put to the test” (BDAG). BDAG places its usage in 1 Cor 10:13 in the latter definition as it is in the suggested translation used here. ↑