When They Arrive
And Deceive The Nations
“And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”
– Revelation 20:8
Disclaimer:
The interpretations and viewpoints expressed in this book are solely those of the author. While certain material draws from historical events, it is presented through personal analysis not as definitive fact.
Readers are encouraged to weigh these ideas carefully, retaining what is helpful and setting aside what does not align with their own convictions.
Responsibility for how this material is understood or applied rests solely with the reader.
PREFACE
A Note to the Reader:
The title of this book and its cover may not immediately seem connected to its content. As you begin, you may wonder how these pieces fit together. Stay with me.
This book begins by tracing historical foundations within the church because they are essential to understanding what follows. The connection may not be obvious at first, but each chapter builds toward a larger deception that reaches further than you could ever imagine. Everything connects. The pattern emerges. The truth reveals itself.
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The most valuable treasure in all of creation is the eternal soul created in the image of God. The war between God the Father and Lucifer the deceiver is about claiming possession of every eternal soul possible. Keep this in mind as you read the following chapters.
When the church misunderstands or denies history, including its own, it doesn’t merely misread prophecy, it leaves eternal souls in the balance between heaven and hell. It knowingly or unknowingly leaves room for doctrines of devils to corrupt and deceive.
In the complex landscape of Christianity, it’s undeniable that pastors, seminaries, and denominations often find themselves at odds. The divergence in beliefs around the history of the Church, second coming of Christ, and the evils of our present age are substantial.
There are also great discrepancies concerning the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple, the fall of Rome, and multiple worldwide catastrophes that happened during the first millennium. In which millions perished, crops failed on every continent, and animal populations collapsed. Events that are rarely discussed and have largely been removed from history.
These gaps and omissions do more than reflect different perspectives; they expose the fundamental shortcomings of the understanding held by Christian leaders. Clearly, the inconsistencies and contradictions that pervade these doctrines indicate a profound misinterpretation, that could suggest the entire framework of end-time Christian doctrine may be missing the mark. Literally. Or worse still, perhaps these challenges highlight a deeper, hidden, overarching deception.
These misalignments have led me to numerous discussions with ministers and to thousands of hours of research in an effort to understand what the scriptures and history actually tell us. Most would agree that Christendom is performing mental gymnastics in many areas of scripture in an attempt to “tie it all together”.
But we have real problems when history proves that at least some parts of the Revelation of John and other passages about the end times are clearly literal and are proven to have already happened. Yet we either ignore these facts of history, explain them away, or super spiritualize the remaining passages because we refuse to admit something is missing or is just plainly not understood.
This writing is intended to force us all to look at what the Bible actually says about the end of the world, compare it to known historical events, and trace how those ancient warnings have led us directly into the sophisticated web of deception that defines our modern age.
Even if the evidence and perspective goes against all current versions of seminary theology. I am ok if you the reader are shocked, even offended to the core of your soul, by the words that follow. I am not ok for our grand enemy to deceive the entire world and steal millions of souls while we sit by and say nothing. May the God of heaven bless your heart and mind to receive what follows. May he help you to at least give the claims strong consideration, even if they challenge the most elementary foundations of your world view and what you consider true about reality. In Christ name, amen.
INTRODUCTION
The Via Dolorosa is the path of suffering Jesus Christ was horrifically tortured on, as he made his way to the crucifixion. On this path is the house of flagellation, where it is believed Christ was scourged.
The method of scourging was to strip the accused of all his clothing and bind him with cuffs to a stone pillar. Two Roman guards, one on each side, would take turns striking the naked criminal with a hellish, compact whip called the flagrum or flagellum. This scourging whip, often called “the cat of nine tails”, had multiple straps or tails. Each of these venomous tails contained pieces of bone, steel, or stone woven into the last six to eight inches of them. They were carefully crafted to inflict the most bruising, cutting, and flesh ripping damage possible with each strike.
The exact number of lashes Jesus took is not mentioned in scripture. Many teachers believe the number of lashes align with Jewish tradition. The tradition was not to exceed 40 lashes so that the accuser of his brother would not “seem vile” (Deuteronomy 25:3). The obvious problem with this logic is Jesus was accused of blasphemy and was fully considered an outcast and traitor by the Jews, not a brother. Also, he was scourged by the Romans, not Jewish authorities. Other scholars, I believe to be more accurate, say he may have been inflicted with far more than 40 lashes. Possibly a hundred or more and tradition suggests he lost a third of his blood from the wounds inflicted by the beating. All of this happened before he was crucified. All of this happened under the authority of Rome.
PART 1: REFLECTION
TEMPLE DESTROYED
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 maketh desolate. – Daniel 11:31
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) – Matthew 24:15 (Matthew is traditionally considered written between 40-50AD)
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 opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. – 2 Thes 2:3-4
(The church of Thessalonica began in 50AD. Founded by the Apostle Paul. 2 Thessalonians was written around 52AD)
The Babylonian Talmud (Gittin 56b–57a) preserves later Jewish traditions portraying Titus as the defiler and blasphemer of the Temple in Jerusalem. According to these passages, Titus not only led the Roman forces that destroyed the Temple in AD 70, but he is depicted as entering the Holy of Holies with a prostitute, spreading a Torah scroll beneath them, and committing a sin upon it.
The Talmud continues that he cut into the curtain (parochet) separating the Sanctuary and Holy of Holies. A miracle happened causing blood to spurt forth, which he misinterpreted as having killed himself. “Himself” being a euphemism for God. Seeing this he thought the blood meant he had succeeded in killing the Jewish God. Thus “shewing himself that he is God”.
Further traditions describe Titus looting the Temple’s sacred vessels, placing them on a ship, and celebrating their removal in his city. The story continues in the Talmud with Titus’s eventual divine punishment as God sends a small gnat up his nostril that eats at his brain for over seven years and eventually kills him. These passages present a graphic, symbolic account of sacrilege and divine judgment, captured in rabbinic.
It is worth mentioning that Josephus, the first-century historian, makes no mention of Titus committing such acts. He portrays Titus in the exact opposite light writing that Titus attempted to preserve the Temple. But his disobedient soldiers destroyed it anyways.
This discrepancy is most likely due to Josephus, although born a Jew, he had became a Roman citizen. He took the name Titus Flavius Josephus, after surrendering to the Romans during the First Jewish-Roman War and became a client of the Flavian dynasty (Vespasian and his sons). This highlights how Josephus is both viewed as a valuable historian and a traitor. It also makes perfect sense that he would spin his accounts concerning Titus into a positive narrative.
Jesus openly foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple when He declared:
“There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” – Matthew 24:2
He connected that judgment with His own divine authoritative return, telling the high priest,
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” – Matthew 24:30
“Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” – Matthew 26:64
“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” – Matthew 24:34
Within a generation, exactly as He said, these prophecies converged in the Roman siege of Jerusalem in AD 70. The Jewish revolt began in 66, prompting Rome to send General Vespasian and his son Titus to crush the rebellion; by AD 70 Titus had surrounded Jerusalem with legions, trapping the population inside for a five-month siege marked by famine, civil chaos, and disease.
In August of that year, Roman soldiers set fire to the Temple; the intense heat melted the gold, which ran into the cracks of the foundation stones, leading the soldiers to pry the stones apart to retrieve it. Thus, literally fulfilling Jesus’ prediction that not one stone would remain upon another.
According to Josephus, the result was catastrophic: he reports over a million people, almost entirely Jews, were killed in the siege, with tens of thousands more taken captive and enslaved. The army completely burned Jerusalem and left it desolate and emptied of its people. First-century eyewitnesses also recorded extraordinary signs accompanying the city’s fall.
Josephus wrote:
“Chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding the cities” (Jewish War 6.5.3).
The Roman historian Tacitus corroborated the same phenomenon, stating:
“There had been seen hosts joining battle in the skies, the fiery gleam of arms, the temple illuminated by a sudden radiance from the clouds.” (Histories 5.13).
Together, these prophecies and historical accounts form a coherent line of proof. Jesus’ warnings of judgment upon that generation, His declaration that the leaders of Israel would “see the Son of Man coming in the clouds”, the total destruction of the Temple through great blasphemy and abomination (Daniels prophecy fulfilled), the massive loss of life, and the extraordinary phenomena of armies in the sky reported by independent witnesses, all point to the same climactic judgement in AD 70.
The Old Testament order was officially over when Christ’s perfect blood was shed on the Cross (Heb 9:12). His resurrection confirmed this (Rom 1:4). The Jewish Rabbi’s rejected him and chose to continue after the old covenant traditions. The destruction of the temple was a covenantal judgment that showed the Old Testament order was forever over and no longer supported by the Lord. God had chastised the Jews for the rejection and crucifixion of Christ. The sacrificial system had been openly dismantled, and the very words Christ spoke on the Mount of Olives and before the high priest were fulfilled.
THE GREAT PERSECUTIONS
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: – Revelation 6:9
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. – Revelation 20:4
Great Fire of AD 64
The Great Fire of Rome broke out in July AD 64, likely near the Circus Maximus, an ancient Roman stadium. The fire spread rapidly through the city due to dense wooden structures, narrow streets, and strong winds. The fire burned uncontrollably for six days, destroying entire neighborhoods, and after briefly subsiding it reignited and burned for three additional days, compounding the devastation.
Of Rome’s fourteen districts, ten were heavily damaged, with three completely obliterated and only four recorded as escaping unharmed. Vast stretches of homes, shops, temples, public buildings, and marketplaces were reduced to ruins, and numerous senatorial and administrative buildings, leaving much of the city unrecognizable and tens of thousands displaced. The scale and intensity of the destruction marked one of the most catastrophic urban disasters in ancient history.
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