With all these expectations for a real big earthquake to
hit the earth soon, this timeless classic by Robert Burnell
may be more pre-tribulation than we think and the most
outstanding part about these few final paragraphs is a great
sudden earthquake, which could be the very Rapture event
itself which also unfortunately shows a clear separation of
the "wise ( City of God ) and foolish ( Christian City )
believers". Take a bit of time to re-read below, these few
final paragraphs of the vision again and you may be
surprised to see what had not been seen before....(
coincidentally, the vision is 33years old this year if I'm
not mistaken..the same age of Jesus when He was resurrected!
Is this a sign by itself? )
"When I last see the traveler, his mysterious companion
had returned with a final admonition for him: "KEEP looking
to that City and remember who waits for you there. He has
prepared a place for you and will soon be coming for you.
Meanwhile, as you look to the City, He will renew your
strength so that you will mount up on wings as the eagles,
you will run and not be weary, you will walk and not
faint." ( Reminding about the promise of the
Rapture because he is told that " He has`prepared a place
for you and will soon be COMING for you!" )
Two Revivals
At this point I was swept away from the scene of the
traveler's journey to the top of a high cliff. I found there
a stone tablet inscribed with these words from Revelation
19:
"Then I saw heaven opened, and
behold a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful
and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His
eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many
diadems; and He has a name inscribed with no one knows but
Himself. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name
by which He is called is the The Word of God. And the armies
of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed
Him on white horses. From His mouth issues a sharp sword
with which to smite the nations and He will rule them with a
rod of iron; He will tread the wine press of the fury of the
wrath of God the Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He
has a name inscribed, King of Kings and Lord of Lords."
Looking up from the tablet, I saw beneath me two revivals
simultaneously in progress. Christian City was experiencing
a revival which manifested itself in a massive and rapid
growth. Within a very short amount of time the population
had increased tenfold. Building was going on everywhere. New
homes sprawled up an down the surrounding hills. But the
most dramatic aspect of this growth in Christian City was
the appearance of magnificent new church structures towering
over the country side. One cathedral was being completed
which had a spire seventy stories high, housing the world's
most powerful transmitter. Another church was taking shape
in the form of a giant glass dome with revolving stage and
wrap-around sound systems. The most unusual one looked like
an upright cross with fifteen elevators taking people up to
the sanctuary housed in the south arm and a Christian
restaurant housed in the north arm. There were Christian
educational facilities for every age group from
pre-kindergarten to graduate school; this group sponsored
scenic retreat centers in the style of Swiss chalets with
vast seminar halls.
There was a feeling in Christian City that this growth
was a sign of the world's last days. Books on the end of the
age were up near the top of the Christian best seller lists,
second only to the Christian sex manuals. Reporters came
from all over the world to do articles on the booming
conditions there. The inhabitants of Christian City were
claiming that when the End came, they would be caught away
to the City of God, before the chaos
erupted.
At the same time, I saw across the desert far distant
from Christian City a very different revival taking place
with none of the accouterments of successful religion. Dying
men and women were being raised to their feet like the dry
bones Ezekiel saw. They were being delivered from their
diseases, their sins, and their spiritual prisons, merely by
drinking the living, life-giving water and shared it with
others, bringing healing to them. As by a spreading fire or
a surging flood, the sick ones were being swept to their
feet. Laborers there, who'd spent years seeing limited
results, found that now it was taking no more than a single
drop of water on a parched tongue to raise the dying to
life. And each day the process was accelerating.
( Above two paragraphs are parallel to the parable of the
wise and foolish virgins? The 1st paragraph clearly shows
that the believers of "Christian City" declaring confidently
that "they would be caught away to the City of God" but read
further down to see what happens to them.. )
Finally I saw the last prone body raised to life. What
once appeared as a battlefield of defeat had become the camp
of a mighty army. Suddenly an earthquake shook the ground
beneath my feet. The Sky darkened and a sound of war rolled
in from the east. ( A SUDDEN DESTRUCTION / EARTHQUAKE,
TRIGGERS THE SEPARATION OF THE TWO CHRISTIAN REVIVALS! (
Rapture at this point? )
Then I saw Christian City being invaded and destroyed.
The magnificent cathedrals, the world's largest cross,
retreat centers and seminar halls were splintered apart and
flattened by deafening explosions. Dead bodies of the
inhabitants who had thought they would escape this holocaust
filled the streets. The armies of destruction now pressed on
into the desert toward the scene of the second revival. Soon
this seemingly indestructible horde was engulfing the
Wilderness of forgiveness, the Wilderness Worship and the
Wilderness of Prayer. When the City of God came into its
view, a single roar like that of a wounded beast filled the
air. The horde drove on toward its goal, appearing about to
storm the City of God.
But near the wall of the City, the army of revived ones
waited poised and ready. When the enemy came within range,
the gates of the City burst open. Out marched the Army of
Light led by a King of such splendor that the enemy horde
had to shield its eyes. The revived ones merged with the
Army of Light and joined battle with the enemy. Three-and-a
half days later the war was over. The enemy was destroyed
and the triumphant ones entered the City of God for which
they had been chosen before the foundation of the world. (
This paragraph may be depicting the later part of the 7
years treaty until the destruction of the evil trinity at
Armageddon. The "THEN" right at the beginning of this
paragraph may be depicting a time lapse between the previous
paragraph after the Rapture had taken place which may be the
the time for the confirmation of 7years treaty )
Again I was swept away to read another large tablet
engraved with further words from Revelation:
"Then I saw an angel standing in the
sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that
fly in midheaven, 'Come, gather for the great supper of God,
to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh
of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the
flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and
great.' And I saw the beast and the kings of earth with
their armies gathered to make war against Him who sits upon
the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured,
and with it the false prophet who in its presence had worked
the signs by which he deceived those who had received the
mark of the beast and whose who worshiped its image. These
two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with
brimstone. And the rest were slain by the sword of Him who
sits upon the horse, the sword that issues from His mouth;
and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
"Then I saw an angel coming down
from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless
pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that
ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him
for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut
it and sealed it over him, that he could deceive the nations
no more, till the thousand years were ended. After that he
must be loosed for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and
seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed.
Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for
their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who
had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not
received its mark of their foreheads or their hands. They
came to life, and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."
When I had finished reading this, as abruptly as my dream
had come to me it ended, leaving me with a deep sense of
awe, a new awareness of the undercurrents in my own life,
and a renewed desire to seek to know God in spirit and
truth.
Never has it been more clear to me that two revivals are
in progress on the earth. One is the revival of the Spirit
of God by which dead men and women are freed from their sins
by the blood of the Lamb and raised to a life which is the
life of the sons of God, a life which bears God's nature,
manifests God's mercy. The other revival is the revival of
religious flesh, a revival which is so appealing and gathers
such multitudes and wields such power in this world because
it offers all the comfort of religion while allowing you to
keep your ego and all rights to yourself.
Surely each of us has to decide which revival he is going
to be part of . Am I going to invest my life in some
enterprise of booming Christian City? Or am I going to lose
my life in the pursuit of God's will of mercy? Am I going to
concentrate on building something that will cause the
citizens of Christian City to sit up and take notice? Or am
I going to spend my life bringing the poor and the maimed
and the halt and the blind to the Master's table?