Monday 9 July 2012

Ezekiel's Vision of the Fall of Satan


There is yet another important biblical passage which links the casting of Satan to earth with the occurrence of the "signs in heaven" described throughout the Bible. As I point out in the book, the Bible frequently highlights the importance of the eschatological astronomical phenomena as a sign heralding the arrival of the end-time. In various places throughout Scripture, we are told that an important period during the end-time would be announced through a very rare combination of astronomical phenomena, which the Book of Revelation places at the opening of the sixth seal - when the saints are sealed in heaven, while the prophecy of the mark of the Beast is fulfilled on earth:


When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
(Rev 6:12-13)

These events includes the "sun becoming like sackcloth", or a total solar eclipse, combined with a "blood-moon" - which only occurs during a total lunar eclipse, and a major meteorite shower, when it would appear that a large number of stars would fall to earth. In the earlier post Signs in the Sky, we already discussed at some length how the occurrence of each of these signs all appeared at the turn of the millennium - which according to the Prophecy of Pope Leo XIII, was also the exact moment of the end of the hundred years of Satan's power. And Pope Leo's prophecy of the hundred years of Satan's greater power directly corresponds to the Devil being cast out of heaven by the Archangel Michael in Rev 12:

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
(Rev 12:1-12)

In the post The Year of the Dragon, we have noted several prophecies which linked the turn of the millennium with the eschatological Fall of Satan (which is to be distinguished from his primordial fall from grace detailed in the Book of Genesis), when the Devil would be cast from the heavenly court to earth, upon which he transfers his great power and authority to the Beast that rises from the sea, and the inhabitants of the earth are given his mark:

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.
(Rev 13:1-3)


The Book of Ezekiel makes a similar connection between a dragon emerging from the sea at the moment of his defeat (corresponding to the head with the mortal wound, after it has been crushed through the intercession of the Woman Adorned with Sun, by the Archangel Michael Rev 12:7), and is also marked by the appearance of solar and lunar eclipses:


“Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:
“You consider yourself a lion of the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers. Thus says the Lord GOD:
I will throw my net over you with a host of many peoples, and they will haul you up in my dragnet.
And I will cast you on the ground; on the open field I will fling you, and will cause all the birds of the heavens to settle on you, and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you. I will strew your flesh upon the mountains and fill the valleys with your carcass. I will drench the land even to the mountains with your flowing blood, and the ravines will be full of you. When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, and put darkness on your land, declares the Lord GOD.

(Ezek 32:2-8)


This passage from Ezekiel parallels an earlier reference comparing the situation of the king of Tyre to the fall of Lucifer:


 “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD:
 “You were the signet of perfection,
  full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
  every precious stone was your covering,
 sardius, topaz, and diamond,
  beryl, onyx, and jasper,
 sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle;
  and crafted in gold were your settings
  and your engravings.
 On the day that you were created
  they were prepared.
 You were an anointed guardian cherub.
  I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God;
  in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
 You were blameless in your ways
  from the day you were created,
  till unrighteousness was found in you.
 In the abundance of your trade
  you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
 so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
  and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub,
  from the midst of the stones of fire.
 Your heart was proud because of your beauty;

  you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
 I cast you to the ground;
  I exposed you before kings,
  to feast their eyes on you.
 By the multitude of your iniquities,
  in the unrighteousness of your trade
  you profaned your sanctuaries;
 so I brought fire out from your midst;
  it consumed you,
 and I turned you to ashes on the earth
  in the sight of all who saw you.
 All who know you among the peoples
  are appalled at you;
 you have come to a dreadful end
  and shall be no more forever.”

(Ezek 28:12-19)


The Book of Joel directly links the appearance of the eschatological astronomical phenomena at the defeat of Satan with the arrival of the Second Pentecost:

 “And it shall come to pass afterward,
  that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
 your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
  your old men shall dream dreams,
  and your young men shall see visions.
 Even on the male and female servants
  in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.
(Joel 2:28-32)

As we have already noted in the previous posts The Two Towers and the Sixth Seal, and The Third Secret of Fatima and the Angel with the Flaming Sword, the "blood and fire and columns of smoke" mentioned in Joel, appears to correspond with the Twin Towers attacks on 9/11, adding yet another dimension to the prophecies concerning the turn of the millennium. And when we take into account the various other prophecies which link the turn of the millennium with the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary/Second Pentecost (such as is detailed in the posts John Paul II - The Triumph of Mary and the Great Jubilee, The Prophecies of La Salette and the Turn of the Millennium, St. John Bosco's Prophecy of the Turn of the Millennium, and The Third Secret of Fatima and the Turn of the Millennium), it seems fairly conclusive that we are on the brink of the era of peace promised by the Virgin Mary at Fatima. Although the Second Pentecost has not yet fully arrived, the event which will allow it to happen has already occurred at the millennial anniversary of the First Advent of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Second Pentecost can only take place at the defeat of Satan, when the head of the Serpent is crushed and he is cast from heaven to earth. The Angel with the Flaming Sword has dealt a fatal head-wound to the Dragon that rises from the sea, and the time when Satan would be unleashed for "a little while" (Rev 20:3), has already ended (see the post Tunguska, Pope Leo, and the Opening of the Abyss). It is this moment that was prophesied in the Book of Daniel, when the Archangel would rise up against Satan, and the elect would be delivered from unbelief:

“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book."
(Dan 12:1)

We find some parallels to this verse in Jesus' eschatological discourse on Mount Olivet which also states that this tribulation period would be cut short for the sake of the elect, to allow for a period of conversion:

For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
(Matt 24:21-22)

And a little further in the Gospel of Matthew, we are told that the end of this tribulation period would be marked by the appearance of the eschatological astronomical phenomena:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
(Matt 24:29-30)

It is after this period of tribulation that we find that the elect are allowed to wash their soiled robes in the blood of the Lamb at the opening of the sixth seal:

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
(Rev 7:13-14)

Now after the defeat of Satan in heaven, we await the renewal of the Church through the ministry of the Two Witnesses, when the "gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matt 24:14).

15 comments:

joerusso777 said...

Amazing. It seems that no matter how you look at it, we are at the time of the second pentecost. It's funny because just after the fall of Satan as you state it would seem this time would've begun, as for my own personal experience I had an Outpouring of the Holy Spirit experience of my own that totally consumed me and yanked me out of complete darkness in an instant. I believe God is showing this kind of incredible Mercy everywhere lately. Seems that the world is about to experince something very similair shortly. I guess the question is, since it seems WWIII is brewing very rapidly, is it going to happen before, during or after? Thanks again Emmett, you've been truly blessed with an understanding of these things.

Jamey said...

Hi Joe,

Thanks for sharing your experience - it sounds as though someone was praying for you. I haven't been following the media, from what you say I assume Satan is busy in the middle east atm.

Concurred Emmett is blessed, has a fair bit of horsepower upstairs as well.

J

Emmett O'Regan said...

Hi Joe,

If you look at Pope Leo's prophecy of the 100 years of Satan's power, we see that the full effects of this weren't felt until the start of WWI, fourteen years after the century began, but progressed rapidly from there. So we could probably expect a similar timescale to see the full effects of the casting out of Satan from Heaven until the Second Pentecost. But its fruits would have began at the turn of the millennium.

The battle of Armageddon (which I argue in the book will bring about the end of the world) will not take place until the Second Pentecost is completed - i.e. the conversion of the Jews and the reunification of the Church. As Christ stated:

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
(Matt 24:14)

The Book of Malachi tells us that the Second Pentecost will be established by the Elijah to come - one of the Two Witnesses of Rev 11:

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
(Mal 4:5-6)

After the ministry of the Two Witnesses is complete and the Second Pentecost has been established, the Book of Revelation tells us that they will be put to death by the Antichrist, during the final persecution of Christians:

"And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.
(Rev 11:7-8)

In the book, I suggest that the Antichrist will rise to power after the downfall of the USA as a superpower (which will happen after it is hit by the Cumbre Vieja mega-tsunami), and will ultimately bring the battle of Armageddon, which the Bible tells us will be instigated by an invasion of Israel.
But it seems that we have some time before all this happens...

Emmett O'Regan said...

Joe,

Do you mind sharing the details of your experience? It's totally understandable if you wish to keep it private, but I would be interested to hear. Did it happen around the turn of the millennium, or was it more recent?

Thanks Jamey BTW!

joerusso777 said...

Jamey,

The middle East is gearing up for sure, but China and especially Russia are making some real bold moves lately. Russia is threatening retaliation against America for several reasons, especially our building of a missile defense system near there.
They seem to be starting up the cold war again, only this time I don't think Putin will back down.

Emmett,
That answers my question. It seems to me that aside from the Church happenings, This may be the Worldly issue that propmts the Second pentecost. I remember a passage from I think it was Isiah that talked about God immediately making everyone drop their swords and such, and restoring harmony(era of peace) I can't remember the exact passage though. Let's face it...I don't think there is any way that whats going on (Revolutions, civil wars, Nation against nation, Kingdom against Kingdom) with all the tension that is rising especially against the U.S. Economy. That WWIII could possibly be averted or delayed "Unless" God haults it himself. This would have to happen suddenly, which fits perfectly with your post about the great sign, Also the Angel with the flaming sword. Just my thoughts.

Emmett O'Regan said...

The Isaiah passage is as follows:

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
(Isa 2:2-4)

But after this time of peace, we will be once again brought to war. The secrets of La Salette tell us that the era of peace will not last long before a monster comes to disturb it. St. Paul also warned that the period of peace would be rudely interupted by a sudden disaster:

"Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
(1 Thess 5:1-3)

I was thinking the same thing about the hand of the angel with the flaming sword being stayed by Our Lady. If it didn't refer to the Cuban Missile Crisis, then it could be at some future point when we are at the brink of nuclear conflict.

joerusso777 said...

Yea I don't mind sharing it at all, I actually made a blog site about it at catholicconversions.blogspot.com or just go to my profile there should be a link there as well. start with the post that says part one in the title, and go from there. Many things have happened to me since then, my faith was being greatly jeopardized, but something happened to me the day of this event I speak of in my blog, some kind of grace that God gave me that almost makes it impossible for me to turn away completely...I know this because I was within seconds of throwing it all away with a complete and total rejection of God, and this time I suddenly felt as if I was dying before I finally repented and gave in. This particular instance happened about a 1 1/2 ago. After this I finally decided to make the 33 day consecration to Jesus through Mary after resisting for years. It sounds strange, but I tell you, I don't know who's praying for me, or what, but the Mercy of God has dumped on me like an ocean. As for why, I have no idea, I'm just glad he didn't let me harden my heart completely, or I'd be toast. I'm so thankful to him for his mercy!!!

Anne said...

Joe, your personal story was very moving, thank you for sharing it. How the Good Lord moves in mysterious ways, His ways are infinitely Merciful and he IS Love. I join you in Blessing and Praising the Lord for your conversion. Keep renewing your Consecration to Our Lady.

The Prophets of the Old Testament have always shown us the real wealth is Love, Love God in his creations and in His creatures; Love all men, even your enemies, when we love the spirit of poverty that likens us to Christ and we will no longer suffer from poverty. The Prophets awaken in us manifestations of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was also a poet as well as a teacher of happiness, a herald of joy a revealer of beauty. He came among us not only to offer His blood but to redeem our sins, but to teach us a new form of happiness one of enduring and satisfying wealth that no one can take away from us.

Emmett, thank you once again for your robust and inspiring post.

Anonymous said...

Hi Emmett,
I have a few questions if you would be so kind to answer.

1. The sealing of the saints in heaven and the Barnabas visions seem to imply that no one else can get a seal after that time period. Am I interpreting that correctly? That means no one else can be sealed? Or there is a special formula to get this "seal"? I've read the prayer book that Barnabas says was dictated by Christ and there is a very lengthy arduous set of prayers that one must say to to obtain this seal over the course of months. I always assumed that Baptism and Confirmation were an imprint of this "seal". Would you please elaborate on that? Especially if one is seeking protection during the time of the tribulation and the time of the Anti-Christ.

2. The timing of the "Second Pentecost" is confusing to me. It seems from what I read that we are beginning it (although looking at what's happening the world that is very difficult to believe) but it won't fully manifest itself until after some sort of sign in the sky. And that is after (or during?--I'm not sure)the tribulation--which we also seem to be in right now. Would you elaborate on that too?

3.When this new Pentecost is more firmly manifest will that be before or after the great tsunami will hit the east coast of the USA? I'm thinking everyone will have a chance to repent...even the "whore of Babylon" and there will be a period of peace. Then things will start to change again and America will revert again causing the tsunami. Is that correct? Being an American I'm hoping many people will repent in my country before that awful event.

Thanks again for all of your awesome insights. All I can say is WOW!
rose
p.s. it's very difficult to figure out the codes at the bottom before one publishes a comment. It takes many times to get it right and may discourage some people from commenting.

Emmett O'Regan said...

Hi Rose,

As far as I'm aware, anyone can still receive the "seal" mentioned by Barnabas Nwoye up to the present. It was the "seal" offered by Christina Gallagher that was only offered up to the year 1999. But these are merely unapproved private devotions, and to me, only symbolic in nature. The full and only means of salvation are in the sacraments of the Catholic Church, and as you say, baptism and confirmation are the imprint of this seal. The vision of the sealing of the 144,000 in heaven is primarily used as a symbolic counterbalance to the implementation of the mark of the Beast on earth. So it is by no means necessary to receive the seal offered by Barnabas, since the sacrament of confession is the only recourse to the absolution of sin.

As to the timing of the period of the Second Pentecost, a wealth of prophecies trace its beginning to the turn of the millennium, when a number of them tell us that Satan was cast out of heaven. We still have not seen the effects this grace will bring, since the influences of the 100 years of his power are still very much evident today. But we should not see any more of the great leaps of potentially world destroying technologies and secular ideologies that characterised the 20th century until the rise to power of the Antichrist - to whom Satan transferred his great power and authority once he was cast to earth.
The fruits of the era of the Second Pentecost may be slow to appear, since prophetic time operates relatively rather more slowly to our human perspective:

"For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night."
(Psalm 90:4)

"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
(2 Pet 3:8)

The closest analogy I can think of is that while the 100 years of Satan's power began at the turn of the 20th century, we did not see its full effects begin to emerge until after the Tunguska event and the beginning of WWI between 1908-1914.
The Great Sign should see the end of the tribulation period we are currently experiencing, and fully establish the Second Pentecost, just as Christianity took over the Roman Empire following Contantine's vision of the Chi Rho symbol above the sun. There will then be an era of Peace, that will allow the Gospel to spread to the bring in the "fullness of the Gentiles" (Rom 11:25).
Maximin's secret tells us that "a great peace will come, but it will not last a long time. A monster will come to disturb it". While Melanie's secret states that "Religion will re-flourish and spread all over the world, and there will be a great abundance. The world, glad to be lacking nothing, will fall again into disorder, will give up God, and will return to its criminal passions."
This corresponds to the words of St Paul:

"While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape."
(1 Thess 5:3)

It is after the period of peace that the chastisement will begin, which will take the form of the fall of the USA after the devastation wrought by the mega-tsunami. So people will have a chance to repent before the Angel strikes with his sword, allowing for the cry of "Penance! Penance! Penance" mentioned in the Third Secret to take effect.
I believe that as well as being "Babylon", America is also the "restraining force" mentioned by St. Paul in 2Thes 2:6-8, that once removed "the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming".

Anonymous said...

Emmett,
Thank you very much for your thorough explanation. It all makes sense to me and gives me hope that we still have time to repent.

I would also like to share a link of a meteor plunging into the sea taken in Australia and published 6/30/12 in the Perth Courier Mail. It is stunning as the picture sure looks like a flaming spear or sword to me. Thanks again and God bless you for your excellent work.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/top-stories/meteor-plunges-into-ocean-lighting-up-perth-sky/story-e6frg12l-1226413309565

Jamey said...

Cheers Anon, that is close to where my folks live.

Emmett, a bit of excitement around your neck of the woods this week.

Emmett O'Regan said...

Do you mean the riots? That's an annual event! It's our version of the Pamplola bull run - chasing droves of Orangemen up Catholic streets :-)

Jamey said...

LOL!

I said to my brother I was surprised this happened as Catholics are pretty subdued nowadays his response was "not in Belfast".

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