False Prophets and The Final False Prophet

The subject today is the appalling abomination spoken of by Daniel and that final false prophet. And we will go into prophets and false prophets in a general manner.

To begin what is a prophet? A prophet is someone who does speak or claims to speak in the name of God. Who proclaims that he is speaking with the authority of God, that he is speaking in the name of God or Jesus Christ.

A prophet is saying I am coming to you and speaking to you in the name of the Lord. Now, a true prophet is a person who is speaking through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. And very often, God has sent his angels to certain people in the past and said go deliver such and such a message or write such and such a thing down.

In the past, whenever the nation as a whole sinned and turned away from God, speaking of ancient Israel as a theocratic state, God never corrected the nation through the priest or the ministry of the day or through the king. He sent prophets to the priesthood and to the king. He sent people that he especially called for this particular purpose to go and correct the establishment, the presiding king and the presiding priesthood.

Prophets were called to correct the religion or the church of the day. God did not correct the Church of God through someone within the leadership of that organization. He corrected them with a nobody.

And the primary reason for this was that the church goes astray through arrogance and pride of place. And in order to humble these people, a nobody was chosen and sent to them to correct them.

And the primary mission of a prophet, the primary message which a prophet brings is always repentance. You are sinning. Turn from your sins. Turn back to God. And if you will not do so, God is going to apply the rod of correction, the rod of punishment to you.

God will not correct a nation or a people. He will not apply the rod of correction to anyone unless he first warns them through his servants, the prophets whom he chooses and he sends. And who does he choose? Why, anyone he wants.

A prophet is not someone trained by the established church. In Israel it was not someone trained by the kings or the priest. It was someone who was prepared for this purpose by Almighty God. A prophet is God's choice.

There are certain people who call themselves apostles today who say that two prophets coming will be people trained by me. No sir, it's not going to happen. God chooses whom God wants. Period. And he is not going to pick somebody just because you think he ought to.

He will pick whom he regards as the choice he wants to do the job. This is speaking of the two prophets. It is speaking of any man of God. God is going to choose his representatives by his criteria and he has more wisdom than all of the so-called leaders of all of the so-called churches in the world.

God chooses whom he wants and he sends whom he chooses to correct his people when they have gone astray. When the ministry of the church has gone so far astray, that he cannot work with them anymore then he chooses somebody and sends them to correct these people.

God also sends prophets to provide knowledge that cannot be acquired through regular means, through human understanding and thought processes. That is where the Holy Scripture comes in.

The Bible was written by the prophets and the apostles sent by Jesus Christ. We are a temple built upon the foundations of the apostles and the prophets. God sent these people to write out his word. To write out the things that he wanted as instructions for his people.

Now, the Bible today is complete. It has been complete for nearly 2,000 years or so, about 1,900 years. And the Bible is complete. We need not expect and God will not send anyone new to write anything more. But he will send people whom he is inspiring with understanding to explain these things to people.

Things that have been sealed as the angel said to Daniel. Sealed until the end time and cannot be understood. Will be made understandable through the servants of God, whom he will send.

Therefore it is written that, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before that great and terrible day of the Lord and he shall restore all things. You know the Scriptures. You can look them up in Malachi, in Luke, in various other places. God will send a prophet in the last days. In fact more than one, there will be at least two prophets as it is written in Revelation.

God sends his prophets to reveal those things to us that he wants to reveal and to correct us and turn us back toward him. For it is written, Elijah shall turn the hearts of the children toward their fathers.

What is meant my this? It is recorded in Luke that the angel told Zacharias. He's speaking of John That the child shall turn men toward the wisdom of the just. He shall turn them toward God. He shall teach repentance from sin. That is the role of a prophet, any prophet, all prophets to teach repentance from sin.

How do we know them, who is a true prophet of God and who is not? Jesus Christ tells Moses to write these things beginning in Deuteronomy 13:4, You shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he has spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust you out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So, shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

Now, you can read the whole chapter of Deuteronomywhic is discussing the same subject. Any man who claims to speak for any other god or encourages people to follow any other god is a false prophet. He is leading you astray from the eternal.

Anyone who says, well you must believe the Bible as it is explained by this person or that person is a false prophet. Because he is putting some man between the people and God. He is saying, believe the Bible but only as this particular fellow explains it. The person who says that is a false prophet.

He is pointing you toward that man instead of toward God. He is in fact a false prophet. And anyone who points you directly for God, toward God. And says believe God, believe his word, believe the Scriptures, test all things by the Holy Scriptures. Hold fast that which is good and true put God first. That person can be a true prophet of God or certainly a man of God, a follower of God and Jesus Christ.

A false prophet is a follower of someone else or of something else or of some other person or man and not a true follower of God. If a man says, follow the teachings of this person or that person or follow their words and believe the Bible as they explain it. They have placed that person between you and God. They are a false prophet because they are causing you to follow this other man and not follow God directly.

A man of God says, follow God directly. Test all things, (whatever any man says) by God's word and hold fast that which is good.

How then do we recognize a false prophet? First, he tells us to follow other men or do other things or follow other gods rather than the Eternal. He does not focus on the Eternal. He focuses on other things and he turns men away from the Eternal to get them to focus on other persons or other things.

The second means of discerning a false prophet can be found in Deuteronomy 18:20, But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if you will say in your heart, How shall we know the word which eternal has spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the eternal have not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of that man. You shall not fear him. You shall have no regard or respect for such a person.

There you have it. A true prophet is someone whom God chooses, God calls, God prepares and God sends and he speaks the words of God. He points all men toward God and he says, the word of God, the truth of God.

And a false prophet is someone who decides for himself to stand up and speak and to declare that his words, his own words, his own ideas, his own thoughts are the word of God. He is presumptuously saying, my words are God's word. He stands up and says, this is God speaking to you today through me. And then he proceeds to lie in the name of the Lord.

This is an abomination to God because it casts disrepute upon God. When people begin believing this man represents God and all the while he's lying and deceiving the people.

A false prophet is an abomination. A presumptuous man who says that he is speaking the words of God, when God has not sent him and he is speaking his own words, not the words of God. And he is telling people to do things contrary to the word of God. And he is leading the people about and away from God and toward his own beliefs, his own perspectives, his own positions, his own traditions and his own ideas and is not focusing them on God. This person is an appalling abomination to God.

Now, the apostle Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2. He writes, Now, we beseech you brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by words, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. So, that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things.

Please make it a point to go to our Church Government series and listen to the very first recording called the "Great Deception". This shows how a man can exalt himself above God and still appear like a reasonable, sane person to the masses of people. It shows how a man can claim to be an authority over God's word and can claim to have the authority to change God's word and can deceive the whole world or the vast majority of the world while still doing this.

Will exalt himself above God. While virtually proclaiming that he is a God. Simply by claiming that he has authority over God, authority over God's word, authority to change God's word. And in changing God's word, he is doing what? He is turning people away from God and toward himself and his own teachings, and his own traditions, and his own philosophy, and his own opinions and beliefs. And he is a false prophet and such a false prophet is a disgusting, loathsome, detestable, appalling abomination in the eyes of Almighty God.

2 Thessalonians 2:6, And now you know what withholds that this person might be revealed in his own time, in his time. For the mystery of iniquity was already at work in Paul's time. Only he who now lets. And the word lets actually means restrains or holds back or holds down.

So, in verse 7, only he who now letteth will let, will restrain or hold back until he is taken out of the way. That is he is stopped from doing the restraining. And then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the eternal God shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, deceiving men, deceiving the world, turning them away from God.

deceiving the world, turTurning people away from God's word, deceiving them with power; and signs; and lying wonders; with miracles. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness or wickedness and those that perish because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion.

Why? Because they don't love the truth. They don't love the word of God. They're content to sit back and be told what to think and what to do. They're content to be led around by the nose. They are not ready to study the word of God, to prove all things. They are not testing what these people say or this man says or what any prophet says. They are just letting themselves be led about because they do not love the truth. They are not willing to make the effort to seek out the truth.

Verse 10, Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, and they shall believe a lie. That they all might be damned to believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness or wickedness.

Those who are willing to be led about, who are not willing to take the time and the effort to study God's word, to test and question all things, to prove all things, to hold fast that which is good. And to test the prophets, to test the apostles, to test the evangelist and see whether what they are saying is true or not. To see ifwhat they are saying is consistent with God's word or not.

If you are not willing to apply the test, to make the effort to do the legwork, to do the preparation, to do the study, to learn to discern between right and wrong, and holy and profane, and good and evil, to learn to separate the wheat from the chaff, then you will be led around. And you will be deceived because the deception will be strong, it will be incredibly powerful.

This final false prophet will do tremendous miracles and he will doubtless do them in an attempt to duplicate the miracles of Jesus Christ so as to demonstrate to the people that he is a godly and Christ like person. That he is a holy and righteous person. This final false prophet shall appear like a lamb. He will appear gentle, meek, even weak, vulnerable. He will be a peace lover, he will present himself as a man of peace, as man of honor, as a godly person.

We find him described in Revelation 13:11, And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. He did not speak the words of God. He had the appearance of a lamb, an appearance of godliness. But he did not speak godly words. He spoke the words of the dragon, the devil.

And what are the words of the dragon, the devil? His words are follow me. Don't follow God. Do what I say. Listen to my interpretation, my take on the Bible. I have the right and the authority and the power to substitute the traditions of my church for the Scriptures. The Scriptures must be interpreted by church tradition. And you people don't have enough of God's spirit, you don't have enough understanding, you can't understand the Scriptures. So listen to what I say.

I'll explain it for you. You listen to what I say. Do what I say. Don't worry about studying the Bible so much. Look up the Scriptures I tell you to look up. But don't go wandering off and study independently because you will be confused and that confusion will lead you away from me.

Notice, the confusion will lead you away from me, from my church, from this church. No, it won't lead you away from God. Maybe you'll get exposed to some truth if you look at God's word. And if you look at what these people say or this particular false prophet says with an open mind and ask God to give you some understanding and lead you into the truth, maybe you'll realize that this person is a false prophet and he does not want you to know that. He does not want you to follow God. He wants to follow himself, him.

Now, in verse 12 of Revelation 13, this person who looks like a lamb and who speaks his own words. Who speaks the words of the dragon. Who deceives people away from God into following himself. He exercises the power of the first beast, which is the Roman Empire.

And he exercises the power of the first beast and causes the earth and them that dwell within the earth, around the earth to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. He causes people to worship this government. This governmental system by telling the people of the earth, this is a great and godly government. This is a righteous government. This government has my blessing.

I am the great prophet of God, the great man of God. And I have put my blessing and my sanction on this government. This is a holy government. It is a godly government. And he causes people, all the people to stand in awe of this government and this system.

Continuing in verse 12, This first beast had a deadly wound which was healed. And if we look at history, we see that the Roman Empire particularly the Holy Roman Empire had several revivals and collapses. And their deadly wound which destroyed the Roman Empire, the last time around; will be healed. And those of you who aren't familiar with this, please read our article on "Revelation 17 and the Scarlet Beast".

Now, this second creature or beast does great wonders so that he can even make fire come down from heaven on the earth on the sight of men. And he deceives those that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had the power to do in the sight of the beast. Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Now, an image is not necessarily an idol. It is a likeness or a replica. It can be a revival of the same system. And this great and final false prophet who is still coming; will call for the people of the earth to make a revival or an image or a replica or a likeness of the Roman system. And of course that would have to be in Europe where Rome was.

Now, in verse 15, And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

So, we find that when this final false prophet appears doing great miracles, this beast has been wounded by a sword and was dead. And this final false prophet calls for the people of the world or in particular the people of Europe to make an image, a replica of this dead beast, this dead Roman Empire. And he, this false prophet has the power to give life unto the image, that is he has the power to bring it into existence, to bring it back into existence, to revive it, to raise it up. That this image should speak and should exercise power and causes as many as would not worship it or hold it in esteem, in regard, as many as would resist it should be killed.

And he causes all, both small, great, rich and poor, free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast. For it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred sixty and six.

For those who don't understand this yet, please read our Sign of God, Mark of the Beast page.

Jesus Christ tells us in Matthew 24:15, When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, and let whoso reads, let him understand. Then let those who be in Judaea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house. Neither let him which is in the field return to give his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulations, such as was not, since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

What is this abomination spoken about by of by Jesus Christ? In a reference to Daniel. Well, if we turn back in Daniel to Chapter 11:31, we find that there is a fight going on here. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that makes desolate.

This is a reference to an event which later on took place in history. Wherein a man named Antiochus Epiphanes with his army seize control of Jerusalem and stopped the sacrifice and ended the sacrificial system and placed an idol of his god, Jupiter Olympus in the holy place in the temple and sacrificed swine in the temple. And he did this for a period of precisely three years.

And the temple was polluted and the Jews rose up and because of various circumstances were able to drive Antiochus out and were able to cleanse the temple and purify it. And once again begin the sacrifice, including the daily sacrifice. So, the temple was cleansed.

This is a historical event which was fulfilled by Antiochus. Antiochus did not pollute the temple for three and a half years or for 2300 days or 1150 days. He polluted it for precisely three years. Exactly according to the Hebrew calendar as recorded by Josephus. Which would have meant it would have been about approximately 1100 days without going back and calculating it precisely.

He polluted the temple for about 1100 days. This is not referring to the prophecies regarding the end time. This is simply a presentation of historical events which were going to happen from Daniel's day up until the coming of Messiah. This was for that time then. It is not for our time now.

So, what is for our time now? Well, we can find what is for the latter days in Daniel 12. First of all, remember in verse 4, he says, But you, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

So, no understanding of this shall occur until the very end. Anyone who talks about a prophecy and gives an explanation about the prophecy; and the explanation was made, say a hundred years ago or 200 years ago or 50 years ago; simply cannot be correct. That is proof right there that such an explanation cannot be correct, because a hundred years ago or 50 years ago was not the very last days.

Now, on verse 5, I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on the other side of the bank of the river. One either side of the river. And then one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon or hovering on the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half a time; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

A time can be understood to be a year. Times would then be two years, half a time, half a year. So, he's talking about three and a half years. And we will cover this at another time and in another talk.

So, we can go on here on verse 8, And I heard, but I understood not. Then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said to me, Go your way, Daniel for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Nobody 50 years ago or a hundred years ago could have understood these things.

They are for our understanding now. Those who live at this time; who are close to God, who are obeying him and have therefore been given his spirit, who are following God and keeping his commandments, they are the children of the day and the children of the light. And they shall understand these things. These things shall not be a surprised to them.

In verse 10, Many shall be purified, and made white, and tested; but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand. Who are the wicked? Those who refuse to obey or keep the commandments of God. Those who follow other people or other teachers instead of the word of God.

God. Those who follow Those who do not put God first, who do not have the time or the willingness to make the effort to study the Scriptures and to put God's word first. Those who are content to be led about, those are the wicked. For they will be led away from God and away from his word. And therefore they will be breaking God's commandments.

And the very fact that they do not test the words of all men against the commandments of God is in itself a breaking of God's commandment to put him first. It is breaking the commandment against putting others before him. It is breaking the commandment against idolatry. These people who do not put God first, who do not put God's word first are the wicked and they shall not understand.

But the wise shall understand. And who are the wise? Those who do put God first. Those who do, diligently study his word. Those who do make the effort to please him. Those who do keep all of his commandments. Those who do love him enough to do what he says and try and please him. Those who repent and turn away from sin, turn away from law breaking and turn toward God with all their heart. To seek, to please him. To keep his commandments and to do his will. They are the wise. And he loves his children and he will save those who please him and who seek to please him. And he will be forced to correct those who could care less about his law.

Now, in verse 11, From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and continues and comes to the completion of a thousand three hundred and thirty five days. Go you your way until the end be, for you Daniel shall rest, and stand in your lot at the end of the days.

At the end of the days, you shall receive your inheritance, receive your reward, receive your responsibility in the Kingdom of God.

Now, I have very much to say about this on The Festivals of God site. It's very interesting, very important. And these are very novel, new, different ways of looking at the Annual Festivals of God.

So, we see that this abomination shall be set up, a total of 1335 days before the end. Now, who and what is this abomination? Why, it couldn't be more simple. An appalling abomination. The great false prophet who is the climax of all false prophets. The worker of great miracles done in the power of a dragon, of Satan himself. This great false prophet who exalts himself above all that is called God or all that is worshipped. Saying that he is an authority over God's word and he has the right to change God's word and to interpret God's word by the traditions of his church and by his own ideas and concepts.

This man who exalts himself over God's word, who exalts himself up above God is a detestable, loathsome, disgusting, appalling, contemptible abomination; in the eyes of Almighty God. And he's being set up 1335 days before the coming of Christ who will destroy him. His period of leadership lasts for 1335 days.

So, we find from Paul that this abomination will be set up before the Tribulation, before the day of the Lord. And we find in Revelation that this abomination will rise up and will use his power to deceive the world into reviving the Holy Roman Empire, which in turns start the Tribulation.

We find in Revelation 19:20, Jesus Christ will return and the saints with him, and He shall take the beast and the false prophet together and cast them alive into the fire.. The false prophet that wrought those miracles before the beast. The miracles with which he deceives those that have received the mark of the beast and them that worship his image. And these both, the false prophet and the beast, the leader, the emperor, the king of this Holy Roman Empire, this unholy Holy Roman Empire, this blasphemy, these two, these king, emperor and his false prophet are both cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant (of their supporters) were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, the sword that which proceeded out of his mouth, that is the sword of truth, the word of God.

So, then in conclusion, we find that a false prophet, any false prophet is an abomination to God. And that this final false prophet, this climax of all false prophets, possesses all the deceitful power of all false prophets, full of false teachings; this complete climax of all evil and all falsehood and all wickedness is an abomination, an appalling, astonishing, loathsome abomination to God.

The abomination of desolation is the final false prophet because the final false prophet is an appalling abomination. And when this man is set up, there will be 1335 days until the Kingdom of God is set up. And when this man is set up, he will call for a revival of the Roman system and he will have the power to bring in about and to give life to this system. And when that system rises up, this appalling abomination, this false prophet will go to the holy place as we are told by Jesus Christ in Matthew 24. And when he goes to the holy place, the Great Tribulation, the Time of Jacob's Trouble will begin.

Now, a false prophet is someone who speaks presumptuously his own words; in the name of the Lord. This is not referring to someone who's thinking, well maybe this year, maybe next year or someone who's trying to understand. The Apostle Paul thought time was short.

Thousands, perhaps millions of people throughout history have thought maybe this year, maybe next or maybe a certain time. Thousands of people, perhaps every year thought maybe now, is it now, is it now? Many thought that the Christ could return at any time.

Jews around the world at Passover raise their glasses and say, "Next year in Jerusalem." What are they talking about? They are talking about the coming of Messiah, the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom. And they are saying "Next year. Next year." That is their hope. That is our hope. The sooner the better. Let him come. Let him come.

But, just to think or to speculate or to have an interest in these things does not make one a false prophet. There is no sin in thinking, in learning, in trying to learn and trying to understand. The sin is in presumptuously saying that you do know, that you understand this is definitely going to be a certain time and you are speaking this in the name of the Lord.

When you say I tell you in the name of the Jesus Christ that this is going to happen. You have better be right. Because if you're not you have spoken presumptuously in his name and you have become an abomination to him. And if that should ever happen, repent quickly, repent quickly, lest you face judgment. For you have become an abomination to him.

It is no sin to try and learn, try and think and to even to discuss these things. The sin is to say your own belief, your own words are the will of God, to speak in the name of the Lord. To proclaim such and such will happen and I'm telling you on the authority of God or the authority of Jesus Christ.

When you assume such authority you have better be right because if you're wrong, you have been presumptuous and you have become an abomination in the eyes of God. Anyone who says, "I am a prophet and what I am saying is the word of God" and says things which do not happen is a liar. He has been deceived or he is trying to deceive you. In either case, he is wrong. He has presumed upon the name of eternal. He has presumed to speak his own words in God's name.

He should not be respected. He should not be followed. He should not be feared. He should not be trusted. And any man who says, I tell you in the authority of Jesus Christ or on the authority of God, that this or that will happen, such a man should not be trusted, if those things do not happen.

The key here is not whether something happens or not; or whether a person is speculating or thinking. The key here is being presumptuous and presuming to speak with own words in the name of the Lord.

This final false prophet will speak his own words and substitute the tradition of his church for Holy Scripture. He will speak his own words and do so in the name of the Lord. He will claim that he is a godly person. That he is representing God. That he is in authority over all things. That he is in authority over God's word. That he has the right to decide for himself which things in God's word he is willing to bind or loose, to accept or reject.

And he will pass judgment on God's word. Thereby making himself an authority over God's word and exalting himself above God. And he will go to the holy place showing that he is God sitting in the temple of God. Claiming that he has the authority of God and that he is standing on the Temple Mount.

Now, some have said. I've heard various people say, maybe this false prophet, this man of sin is Joe Tkach or Herbert Armstrong or this person or that person. I tell you, just listen to the tape here. This is ridiculous.

No man in the past has ever called for the final revival of Rome, has ever done those kinds of miracles and has only been in authority for 1335 days, which ended with the coming of Jesus Christ..

Put all of the word of God together, put all the prophecies together, make sure everything fits together like the pieces of a puzzle to form a big picture, a clear overall picture. Don't just look at some minor little thing. Take it of context and apply it the way you think. Take everything. Put it all together, make up the whole puzzle, look at the whole picture.

No person in the Church of God could ever fulfill all of these things because no person in the Church of God could ever have the following of all of Europe. Could ever have the kind of prestige to bring together all these nations. We are a small, little flock, despised. Even our leaders who make mistakes are generally despised.

We could never, none of us have the kind of prestige and authority to bring together Europe, to bring about a revival of the Roman Empire. To do all these kinds of miracles and deceive the whole world. No one has done this.

Of course Herbert Armstrong is not this abomination or was not. And neither was Joseph Tkach and neither is anybody else in the COG. The fact is; the abomination has not been set up yet. When he is set up, there will be 1335 days until the Kingdom of God is set up. Of course these people could be abominations before God, because of their conduct, but they can not be the final false prophet; the abomination that goes to the Holy Place.

Any man who says, well Joe Tkach or this person or that person was the false prophet doesn't know what he's talking about, doesn't have a clue.

The false prophet will come doing great miracles. It will be clear and obvious to all mankind when he is set up. We then can count precisely 1335 days and at the end of that time, the Kingdom of God will be established. This man will be obviously clear to all converted people, to all people with God's spirit. We will all recognize him and know him for precisely what he is.

It will not be done in a closet or a dark corner. It will not be a secret. It will be done on the world stage and the whole world will see it.

And those who are not filled with God's spirit and are not putting God first will be deceived into following him. And those who do put God first, who do love God, who do keep his commandments will see it as clear and bright as a sunny day.