It’s my opinion that we cannot overemphasize the importance of the Work the Holy Spirit is accomplishing at this moment in history. The Third Person of the Godhead – sent here by the Lord Jesus upon Ascending to the Throne room in Heaven to dwell within each and every believer of the Church Age (Age of Grace) – is presently doing truly phenomenal acts of Restraint.
While, on the surface of Planet Earth, evil seems to be uncontrolled and even uncontrollable, God the Holy Spirit has a Firm Hold on Heaven’s Chain attached to the old serpent’s Collar of Restraint.
We have looked at this supernatural Restraint a number of times in these columns. And doing so should provide a degree of confidence and comfort. God will absolutely not, in this present dispensation, allow Satan and his minions to get away with all their nefarious wickedness. We look in this instance of exactly the kind of holding back the Luciferian plans with regard to a specific, big-time prophetic entity scheduled to be unleashed at some point yet future.
The Scripture, again, that promises God’s Restraint is the following.
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he [the Holy Spirit] who now letteth [Restrains] will let [Restrain], until he [the Holy Spirit] be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked [Antichrist] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming” (2 Thes 2:7-8).
Nuclear war is, at present, the biggest fear of most every diplomat around the world. It seems to me that the average person – at least here in the U.S. – has nowhere near the fear of a nuclear war as did that of my generation those years ago. I’ve expressed a number of times of being worried as a teenager in high school, reading in the school library during study hall about how the Soviets were threatening to nuke anyone who stood in their way of dominating all of Europe – and anywhere else they wished to dominate.
So, with the diplomats who are supposedly in the know about how serious are the threats made by China, as we will look at here, I should be worried, at least to the extent I was worried as that teenager all those years ago.
But I’m not worried – not in the least. There, of course, is a very good reason. I know what God’s Word has to say about your and my future. Bible Prophecy, to me and to those who view it from the preTrib perspective, provides both the confidence and the comfort I mentioned above.
The prospects a little further out in the future, on the other hand, should terrify with abject fear and dread those who don’t know Jesus for Salvation. Nuclear war is almost a certainty as part of the Tribulation era. And China is, I’m certain, to be perhaps the deadliest of all entities in bringing forth destruction – so far as consideration of human involvement in destruction is concerned.
Bible Prophecy foretells that there will be a force to rival that of the great fuehrer of the Fourth Reich. The power will come from the oriental world. John the Revelator was given the prophecy about this tremendous force by the angel assigned to relay the Message from God’s Throne.
We are told of this military juggernaut in two prophetic passages.
“And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them” (Revelation 9:13-16).
“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared” (Revelation 16:12).
This huge military force will approach the occidental world from the far reaches of the oriental world. The numbers are staggering to consider!
China looks at this time in history to be the King of the kings of the east. And they are threatening to invade Taiwan at any time, expressing their willingness to use even nuclear weaponry against the U.S. to accomplish their intention.
The same thing that has kept the nuclear Genie in the bottle is obviously now being used to slow this great military power – to keep the Sino giant bottled up, so to speak. I believe it is a powerful example of God’s Restraining Hand. The following excerpt might further enlighten.
Taiwan’s foreign minister said last week that the US and Taiwan are in talks on the possibility of the island being brought under Washington’s nuclear umbrella, a step that would make a catastrophic war between the US and China much more likely.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu made the comments before Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan. Wu declined to detail the talks when pressed if Taiwan had asked the US to bring the island into its nuclear umbrella.
“Regarding the discussion of this issue with the United States, it is not suitable for me to make it public here,” Wu said, according to The South China Morning Post.
Many of the US’s allies are considered to be under the protection of the US nuclear umbrella, including Japan, South Korea, and every member of NATO. Giving such a guarantee to Taiwan would mean the US could use nuclear weapons if China invades the island or if war breaks out by other means. [Source: Taiwan Says It’s in Talks on Being Brought Under US Nuclear Umbrella – Taiwan’s foreign minister declined to share details about the talks, by Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com, May 28, 2023]
As stated in the above news analysis, it is feared that America’s thinking on including Taiwan under America’s nuclear protective umbrella will provoke the future King of the kings of the east to start a war leading to nuclear Armageddon. But I see it as the Holy Spirit doing His Restraining Work.
The Chinese communists were becoming aggressive to the point of doing something reckless and invading with conventional force. Being so near their target in proximity, they could have perhaps gotten ahead of their prophesied role as the hegemonic King of the region.
America, uncharacteristically of this particular president, is now thinking of making Taiwan a protectorate under the U.S. nuclear umbrella. Therefore, once again, that nuclear Genie hasn’t gotten out of the bottle because even CCP dictators don’t want to be incinerated in a nuclear holocaust.
In my view of things, this prophesied force of mass destruction – the Sino giant – is thereby Restrained by the Hand of God, using a weak presidential administration to do the Restraining.
It is exciting, not troubling, to see the Holy Spirit at Work, and doing so with ease. It is a Mighty God we serve, indeed.
All this points, of course, to the soon removal of the Restrainer from Planet Earth – at least removal in regard to the level He is Restraining at present. Wherever the Holy Spirit goes, believers in whom He dwells go. It’s exciting because we are talking about Rapture being very soon!
Terry James Prophecy Line 
Are the eschatological convergence(signs) all pointing to one gigantic one, say in 2025! A lot of things are supposed to be happening then not the least of which is another so-called pandemic, the WHO mandating some sort of formal health ID system worldwide where countries will no longer be able to discern a safety net for controlling some unforeseen pandemic or public health emergency, a CBDC digital currency mandated by various European nation’s central bank, and finally some confrontation between the United States and China and/or Russia. These are just a few of the convergence signs. Jesus never said when all these things are already underway, He said when you begin to see these ‘THINGS’ start to happen, then look up, your Redemption draweth nigh! Amen!
I have had similar thoughts of things coming to a head in 2025, Dave, and what you said here reinforces them. It is also my belief that only the restraining power of the Holy Spirit has kept the big blowup from occurring already.
This simple passage from Daniel, I think, tells us much:
Daniel {11:43} But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all
the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians [shall be] at his steps. {11:44} But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he
shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.
First, we see how powerful the Antichrist will be. Next we see that enemies from the NORTH and the EAST are strong enough to even cause him to delay his plans. Could the northern enemies be the Russians allied with China? Recent indications make that a distinct possibility.
To be sure, the multiple powder kegs in the world are being assembled, or already placed, just waiting to have their respective fuses lit.
Maybe in a couple of years, the Holy Spirit will stop blowing out the matches and take us home with him!!
I just read where Michelle Obama is being talked about as a possible candidate for president in 2024. Even more astounding is Kamala Harris stepping aside to make room for Barack Obama to bolster Biden’s chances for re-election! The court may have to become involved(again a la 2000) to decide an outcome of an election should they actually win. So he can’t run again for president, but there’s a debate among constitutional scholars whether he could ever serve as vice-president should he actually decide to partner with Biden.Right after Obama defeated Hillary in 2008, many prophesy experts wrongly predicted that things were falling into place(convergence)to start end-time events.Look at all that has happened especially technology since then. And other events we know now that must be fulfilled to make Tribulation foretold events happen! Nobody saw the Abraham Accords, Ai, a pandemic, digital currency, a changing of the guard geo-politically meaning the US losing its influence as a world leader. Things keep happening faster and faster as we head towards the Tribulation just as the Bible said they would prior to Christ’s return!
Gentlemen, speaking as a woman (yes, I know what a woman is since I am one!), I see your conversation as a “dinner setting”. All the plates, glasses, silverware, and napkins are on the table. The food has been prepared and the glorious aroma of the meal is lingering into the dining room. Ahhh, we await only One. He is at the door, gentlemen, preparing to enter! All glory be to the One Who comes to make all things new again!!! God bless you all! MARANANTHA!
The Daniel reference is post rapture and the war of Ezekiel 38 that ensues. If Kennedy is elected and not killed we may receive a small window of time before reaching global climax.
My comment is for Dawn.
Wow, what a wonderful vision to have!
Great comment…from one woman to another!
Enjoyed all the comments and insights, people!
Thanks for them ALL!
Jesus is indeed coming SOON!
The article is wrong in Biblical references. The Chinese make sorry soldiers and not even the Reds can change that. The first reference in the Bible is to a demonic host. The last does not reference China but the Scythians. Paul wrote they were the very worst but still qualified to be redeemed and enter the Kingdom of God. The last Scythian empire is largely ignored by the west. Tamerlane built an empire that stretched from Tashkent to Rabat.
So we are in 2023 and may see the tribulation starting possibly in the 2025 time frame. That said, how does a country with a force of just over 4 million (active, reserve, para) scale up to 200 million? As former military myself, I don’t see how a 50 fold increase in military manpower happens to support this timeline. There are a number of problems with the view that the 200 million army are Chinese. I’ve tried to address it here before but I think I’ll present something in my own post at a later time. Part of this is simply going back and reading the text of revelation 9.
The numbers you speak of are pre-rapture numbers.Things will change dramatically after the Rapture including these numbers. By way of the throngs-hordes of people coming from the East, probably N. Korea, most of the Asian nations participate in the Armageddon war. Unfortunately maybe even friends of ours, like Japan & S. Korea. The Rapture changes everything, I know on this forum I’ve read the 200M man army will actually be supernatural entities–not real human beings. I don’t believe this so what I’m saying is that from our perspective(pre-rapture) we’re not able to envision what will take place after the Rapture. This is an event happening in the 2nd half of the Tribulation sometime after the Ezekiel war so a lot can happen in this time span.
Fascinating!
Love to read all the comments.
Thanks everyone!
I’m one that believes this is a supernatural army due to the description of the entities which is why I say go back and read the text. From a military standpoint there are massive logistical reasons why a 200M human army isn’t feasible. There are other reasons as well but I’ll put it in a post. There is also normalcy bias afoot when interpreting these judgements. There is a tendency to want to attribute them to natural forces in a world that will at that time be almost completely supernatural.
A possibility – how about a human army operating along with AI “Terminators?”
The advantage is that such machinery requires a lot less logistical support and can handle things humans can’t.
After all, take a look at what the various space agencies always use to remotely explore the solar system and what a great job these mechanical emissaries do!
That’s good thought…had not occurred to me before. Part of my thinking about this not being the Chinese army is that the text says a third of mankind will die by this force of 200M. The implication is its worldwide, not regional. Also there is no reason to think that the Chinese are not included in the third that are killed. And it says that killing will be done by this hoard of beings. There is no indication that the 200M receive any casualties, which again supports an argument they are supernatural or perhaps as you suggest.
I, too, think it will not be reserved for a Chinese army, only. India has a huge population and could contribute, for example. I also am quite comfortable with there being a supernatural component involved because the Bible is quite clear about the Antichrist and False prophet having such abilities.
Your point of this conflict reaching a planetary scale is one I hadn’t considered and I think you are right. Also, that these 200 million aren’t killed – that’s a new idea for me, too. It would seem that occurs in the end by Jesus himself, I believe.
Thanks,very much for your input, A. Clark – always a pleasure!