Light at the end of the tunnel

Revelation 13:16-17 “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, (17) and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

As we have already seen earlier the saints will also suffer economic persecution during this time, because as mentioned in the above passage of scripture all who refuse to receive the mark of the beast will be forbidden from buying or selling anything. And so we see that as the false prophet persuades more and more nations to bow their knee to the reign of the Anti-Christ, that one of the first things that he will introduce into those nations is receiving the mark of the beast, thus making it impossible for the saints to hide among the general population. And so because the saints will not be able to purchase the food which they need to live they will be forced out of society.

Luke 23:28-31 “But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. (29) For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!' (30) Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" ‘(31) For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”

Our Lord Jesus made the above statement as He was carrying His cross to Calvary. In context, our Lord was stating that if those in the world could display such cruelty in His day, then how much more can we expect to see when Satan and his cohorts have full reign in the earth, for our Lord said that “If they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” But we have also seen that although it will be an extremely trying time for the saints in the earth, that the end of that three and half year period will usher in the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Michael E.B. Maher