Tucker Is Wrong About This...

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Hey guys, Colin here, and welcome back to Fight for Truth. In this video, we're going to talk about Tucker Carlson, John Rich, and the real

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Mark of the Beast. John Rich is a conservative country singer and songwriter who recently wrote a song called

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Revelation. It's about the end times and spiritual warfare. And just to be clear, while I am going to disagree with John about some of his beliefs, he really does seem to be a good brother in Christ who genuinely wants to serve

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God. And I praise the Lord for that. It is very rare to see a man in show business who cares at all about Christianity, let alone someone who appreciates and promotes it the way that John does.

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With that said, I think there are some comments in this interview about the Mark of the Beast in particular that I would like to offer a differing perspective on.

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First, Tucker and John introduced the Book of Revelation by talking about John's song, Revelation.

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Watch this. Out of that blast comes Michael the Archangel, and he pulls a broadsword out of his sheath, and he grits his teeth, and this guy's got muscles.

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That's Hollywood Yates, my buddy from California. He comes walking straight towards the devil, and they're coming like this, and I'm standing in the middle.

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I'm humanity, and here's evil, and here's righteousness, and they are about to clash. And the point of that is to put into people's mind a representation of what is spiritual warfare.

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I wonder what it actually looks like. Now, I did the best job I could trying to depict that, but when you see those scenes,

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I think that's one reason why this song is doing what it's doing, because to my knowledge, nobody's ever even approached this subject in the world of music or video.

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Amazing. So, why is it, why is Revelation so hard for people to grasp, to read, to understand?

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To start off, there's one small correction that needs to be offered. John's song is certainly not the first song to approach the topic of Revelation or of spiritual warfare through music and or video.

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Dozens of songs, maybe hundreds, have been written on the topic, and several movies have been filmed on it as well.

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For example, the Left Behind series, just to name one. And the problem is that most of these productions, even though many of them have good intentions, as they pertain to the end times, they're simply not accurate.

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But regarding spiritual warfare, I think John is really correct. Angels and demons are very real, and we do not wrestle against mere physical forces, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places,

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Ephesians 6 .12. I appreciate the fact that John is trying to bring this reality to people's attention.

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But the next question that Tucker asks is, why is the book of Revelation so hard to understand? And John Rich has a very interesting answer.

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My take would be that the book is hard to understand for a few reasons. One, the literary context of the book is often completely ignored.

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Many people want to interpret Revelation the same way that they would interpret the book of Matthew, for example, as literal descriptions of historical events.

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But the book of Revelation is actually highly symbolic and apocalyptic in nature. It's not meant to be read like Acts or John or Matthew.

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Number two, the book of Revelation is often taken as its own separate topic, one to be read and understood off in a corner by itself.

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But the book is actually the result of all the biblical writings that came before it. By definition, it's the last book in a series of books.

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So Revelation should never be isolated. Rather, it should be read in light of the rest of Scripture.

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Number three, we have simply been misled about the book of Revelation. As John Rich himself says, watch this.

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In some of the stuff that they leave, which I read, actually, there's a sense that like we can predict through numerology, for example, like the day this is history's ending.

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And you're saying we can't. No, the Bible says we can't. I'm not saying anything. The Bible says no man knows the time nor the hour when

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Jesus will return. And that's correct. Nobody knows. Can I back up 200 years with you real quick?

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I know you love history. 200 years ago, basically in 1830, a very wealthy, very charismatic preacher named

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John Darby, D -A -R -B -Y, came with this doctrine that's now referred to as the secret rapture or the pre -tribulation rapture.

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And that message took off. Why wouldn't it? I mean, who doesn't want to hear that we'll all be out of here before anything bad happens?

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That's a great message. That'll pack the views right there. Now, John is correct about this. The view of end times that most people have is called dispensationalism, most popularly demonstrated in the infamous

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Left Behind series of books, which were later turned into movies. In this view, there is a secret rapture where God beams up all the good

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Christians to heaven and unbelievers and fake Christians are left behind with the Antichrist so that they can experience all the terrible events of Revelation, which are, of course, all to be taken literally.

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Undoubtedly, many of you who watch this channel will hold this view. But I would humbly ask you to listen to the video with an open mind and compare everything

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I'm saying with the scriptures, because I believe that what most of us have been told about the end times and the

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Mark of the Beast is simply not accurate. With that in mind, let's see why John Rich doesn't like dispensationalism.

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Watch this. Christians have this idea that they're going to be out of here before any of the things that are prophesied about happen.

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Why is that dangerous? It's dangerous because when the Mark of the Beast shows up, when the son of perdition shows up, who is who we refer to as the

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Antichrist, when those things happen and they're still here, they'll say, well, that can't be the

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Mark of the Beast. That can't be the Antichrist because I'm still here. So this is the part where I'm going to wholeheartedly agree and then start to differ a little bit with John Rich.

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He is correct that dispensationalism and the left behind series are wrong. And the secret rapture is not a historical

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Christian belief. From what I can tell, no Christian in all of history believed in this doctrine the way that John Darby described it until he described it in the 1800s.

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However, I would lovingly and humbly say that John is not correct about why Darby was wrong.

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John Rich says that Darby was wrong because Christians are going to be on the earth when the Mark of the Beast and the

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Antichrist arrive. The only thing he really disagrees with, or so it seems, is the secret rapture.

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But I would take a very different view, a view of the end times called post -millennialism. If you want the nerdy theological term, there it is.

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The millennium is a period in biblical history when Christ reigns and Satan is bound. Revelation 20 verses 1 through 4 talk about this.

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In short, both John Rich and John Darby believe in what's called pre -millennialism. They just have different flavors of it.

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That is that Christ will return pre or before the millennial reign. But in my view, post -millennialism,

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Christ will return post or after his millennial reign. So Christ is ultimately ruling and reigning right at this very moment.

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Now this concept might be new and even confusing to you, and that's okay. Just hear me out. I believe the differences between my view and John Rich's view are also demonstrated through our ideas about the

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Mark of the Beast. Watch this. So for thousands of years, the prophecies in Revelation and Daniel and other places seemed like such science fiction to people.

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They just couldn't understand how these things were even possible, including my own dad, who's been preaching since he was about 19.

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He's in his early 70s now. And he said, yeah, John, you know, just never could understand how some of these things were possible.

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For instance, the Mark of the Beast. How is it possible, we would all say, that you could track every human being in the world and know where they are and how they get their money and where they spend their money?

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I mean, that's just impossible. And here we sit going, oh no, they're tracking us right now.

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They know exactly where we spend our money and where we get our money. Because it says you won't be able to buy or sell unless you have the

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Mark of the Beast. You could replace the word beast with system. Revelation says that. Oh yeah.

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Without the Mark. You won't be able to buy or sell. Unless you bear the Mark of the

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Beast. Now there are several moving parts here. So let's take them one at a time and see what the Bible actually says about the

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Beast and his Mark. Revelation 13, 16 through 17, quote, Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or on the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the

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Mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. Now, John Rich was essentially describing the popular view of the

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Mark in recent history, a science fiction type of view. Most American Christians think that the

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Mark is something futuristic and technological, microchips, credit cards, global surveillance systems, etc.

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But none of these things are the actual, biblical Mark of the Beast. In fact, it's impossible, in my opinion, to consistently understand the

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Book of Revelation in this way. Let's assume that everything in the Book is meant to be taken in a wooden, literal, and futuristic technological sense.

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We just read chapter 13, but let's just go back to chapter 12, for example, verses 3 through 4, which say that a great red dragon sweeps his tail through the sky and throws a third of the stars to the

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Earth. Assuming this is 100 % literal, the Earth would be completely and utterly destroyed.

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After all, a star has more power and energy than probably several nuclear bombs, so if one third of all the stars of the heavens crashed to the

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Earth, what exactly does this mean for this future technological society that's supposedly supposed to exist and give us microchips or credit cards or the

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Mark of the Beast? How can anyone get the physical Mark of the Beast if we've all just been blown up in the previous chapter several hundred times over?

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The fact is, if you take Revelation to be futuristic and literal, you are going to run into all sorts of problems, like this one.

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And here's another. If we are to understand the Mark as being literal in chapter 13, then what are we supposed to believe about what happens in chapter 14?

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Verse 1 says that those who followed the Lamb were 144 ,000 and that they all had his name written on their foreheads.

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So are we supposed to believe that the followers of Jesus Christ will also have a tattoo on their foreheads or a microchip that Jesus puts in their brain?

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Of course not. So if these views are wrong, then what exactly is the Mark of the Beast? That's the question. Well, let's read the

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Bible in light of the Bible. What would any reasonable person who had studied the scriptures have read this to mean when it was written?

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Well, we actually have an Old Testament parallel. In Deuteronomy 6 .8, God says that Israel should take his righteous laws and, quote, bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

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So there it is again, a mark on the forehead between the eyes and on the arm or on the hand. What does this mean?

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Well, to be marked by something is to be set apart by it. The arm is the center of action and activity, and the forehead is the center of the thought of the mind.

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So the Mark of the Beast and the Mark of the Lord in Revelation 14 are symbolic of being set apart for a particular master and to be under his ultimate dominion.

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These marks are not literal or physical. They are symbolic of something far more real and important.

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But this brings up the question, who is the Beast of Revelation and when does he come into the picture? What does this mean?

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Well, I would posit to you that the Beast of Revelation has actually already come. He's not in our future.

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He's in our past. Now, don't get me wrong. He was in the future when this book was written. He's just not anymore.

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In fact, the grand majority of the events of Revelation are also not in our future. They are in our past.

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These events were written to the early church, and the book actually says that. Let me demonstrate this to you using the

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Beast as an example. Revelation 13 .18 says, quote, This calls for wisdom.

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Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

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So is this passage written about future Christians in modern day America? And is the

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Beast a global leader who is about to emerge in world politics? No. Revelation 1 .1

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specifically says that this book was written to, quote, show his servants the things that must soon take place.

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Verse 2 says that, quote, the time is near. And in verse 4, John immediately turns his attention to, quote, the seven churches who are in Asia.

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So who is the primary audience of the book of Revelation? The literal historical Christians who

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John specifically said he was writing the book to 2 ,000 years ago. So in chapter 13, which we just read,

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John says that those who are wise, those who have understanding, can calculate the Beast's number and the number of his name.

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But surely no early Christian, no matter how wise they were, could possibly have understood the

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Mark to be microchips or credit cards. Those things didn't exist, and they were not in their immediate future at all.

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The passage also says that the number of the Beast is the number of a man. So if you want to know who the

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Beast actually is and what the Mark actually is, then let's ask the real question. What man would a wise

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Christian have thought this number referred to at the time it was written? And the answer to that is actually easier than you think.

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Nero Caesar, the leader of the Roman Empire and the most brutal persecutor of Christians who has ever existed.

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The book of Revelation clearly indicates this. Chapter 17, verse three, for example, says that the

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Beast had seven heads. What does this mean? Verse nine says, quote, the seven heads are seven mountains.

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Well, Rome historically has always been known as the city of seven hills. In fact, these hills are mentioned in the original mythology of Rome.

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Verse 10 says that the seven heads are also representative of seven kings. Well, which kings? Verse 10 goes on, quote, five of whom have fallen.

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One currently is, and the other has not yet come. Five are fallen and one is.

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That would be the sixth king, the sixth head. Historically, the sixth emperor of Rome was none other than Nero Caesar, who was brutally persecuting

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Christians at this time. And finally, the number 666 is called the number of a man in chapter 13.

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In the ancient world, it was extremely common for each letter to have a number associated with it, and as such, all names would also have a number.

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This was true of both Greek and Hebrew, the original languages of scripture, which is further evidence that this was written to people who actually used those languages, not to modern

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Americans who don't have categories for it. And here Nero fits the bill yet again. Nero's name in Hebrew is

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Neron Kaiser, which adds to exactly 666. But if that didn't convince you, go ahead and open your

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Bible. Go to chapter 13 in Revelation and look at the footnotes. Most Bibles will read that, quote, some manuscripts say 616 instead of 666.

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Why is that? Well, John, a Jewish man, would, of course, have used Hebrew to get the number of Nero's name.

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But a scribe copying the manuscript of Revelation would have probably been more familiar with the

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Latin version of Nero's name, the more widespread version, Nero Caesar. And when this name is transliterated back into the

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Hebrew, you get 616, not 666. So the scribe had the person correct, but the language wrong.

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And if all of that wasn't enough, we are told that the beast is, quote, to make war with the saints and to overcome them,

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Revelation 13, 7. Nero did precisely this. He most famously killed both Paul and Peter, and even secular sources talk about how brutal and horrible

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Nero was. We are also told that he would succeed in this matter for 42 months,

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Revelation 13, 5. And it is historical fact that Nero persecuted the church from November of AD 64 until his death in June of AD 68, exactly 42 months.

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I could go on, but it would be redundant. The fact is, Revelation was written to a particular people in a particular context, and not all of the events have been fulfilled because Jesus hasn't ultimately come back yet, but many of them have been.

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And while all Christians should eagerly await the ultimate return of Christ, we should not be spending our time constantly dwelling on how

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Revelation specifically deals with modern America or the modern nation state of Israel or red heifers, blood moons, and microchips.

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You see, we have fundamentally misunderstood the book of Revelation, and it's distracting us from what should be our actual goal, which is building the kingdom of God as Christ rules and reigns.

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And we should not be waiting for Christ to return and then start his rule, because he's ruling and reigning right now.

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All authority in heaven and on earth has already been given to him, Matthew 28, verse 18.

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So let's recognize this and build the kingdom for his glory. Please pray for this channel and for anyone mentioned in the video, and check out the ministries linked in the description, like, subscribe, hit the bell, and subscribe to our

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Rumble channel. And these are the amazing people who make this channel possible with their monthly support. Today's highlighted channel supporter is

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Dwight S. If you want us to do more research, make more videos, and reach more people, please hit the link in the description and join the