AC Corr Course Lesson 12 (Prelim 1973)

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·-\ :ICORRESPONDENCE
'PAS,A.P ':'7'
COURSE
An International Course of Biblical Understanding
Hiroshima After Atomic Attack LESSON 1 2
2 Ambas sa dor Colleg e Correspondence Course
l es son 12
tf/iatOUR
STUDENTS SAY

CORRESPONDENCE COURSE

LESSO N 12
- A. M., Evansville, Indiana
Grelila/im Manager
EdwardC. Kleier
MANAGING EDITOR
Richard H. Sedliacik
Editorial AJSiJ/an/
Ronald Beideck
About
Our
Cover .
Ar/ Editor
Thomas Haworth
G rotesque wreckage of
Hi ros hima, Japan , after t he
first atomic bomb used in
warfar e explod ed 2000 feet abo ve the city on August 6.
1945. One hundred million degree centigrade heat had
been released in a sear ing flash, vaporizing everyt hing
wi th in a half mi le of groun d zero ! One hundred t housa nd
died in that instant . Tho usands more di ed later of wounds
or were ho r ri bly d isfigured for life.
Accordi ng to the Bible. we are today livi ng in th e recess
between stages of world war. And proph ecy warns th at the
next world war will be for roral Stakes! T his lesson shows
ho w you can escape it.
Photogrupher un known
Staff lfl ritm
Lawson C. Briggs Willi am F. Dankcnbring
DIRECTOR
David J on Hill
EDITOR
H ERBERT W . ARMSTRONG
EXECUTIVEEDITOR
Garner Ted Armstrong
An international course of Biblical understanding published by rbe De -
partment of Theology, Ambassador College . 300 West Green Sr.• Pasa-
dena, California, 91123. Ambassador (:allege for the entire
contents of t his publication. All rights reserved.
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belnw
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NOTICE: fk sure co nmil)' the Cor respon dence Cou rS(; Department immcdi-
ately of an}' change in your addr ess. Pit""JSC include both old and new addres s.
'",purt"'''' /
"A very long letter would be necessary to relate
specifically how your Correspondence Course and
supplementary reading material are helping me,
but even this would not express it as well as to say
that I am finding the inner peace for which I have
been searchi ng many years. I am most grateful
that God has guided me to your teaching of the
t ruth. I certainly want to be a part of keeping your
work alive and am enclosing a check for fifty dol -
lars."
"Aft er studying nine lessons of the Ambassador
College Bible Correspondence Course and reading
your booklet, A II A bout Water Baptism, the ne-
cessity of a true baptism into Jesus Christ is made
clear. I have only been 'christened,' so to speak,
and have not been tr uly baptized. I know now that
t r ue repent ance and water baptism into J esus
Christ are necessary so that spiritual growth can
take pl ace. Wou ld it be possible to contact a minis-
ter of t he Worldwide Church of God in my area
who would perform such a baptism for me?"
- J . T. , Duluth, Minnesota
B. F., Memphis, Texas
" I have received t he first eight lessons of t he
Correspondence Course. I really feel t hat I am
learning more important facts from this course
t han from anything I have ever studied before.
Several months ago I st ar ted supporting your
work financially and lately I find myself praying
for you and your work. "
- C. G., Madison, Wisconsin
"Your study program is excellent. Aft er onl y
t hree lessons I've learned more about the scripture
messages than I did during 25-30 adult years in my
church. It pains me to look at those years of regu -
lat ed trivia when I can see cohesive substance in
your course. "
- J . W., Needham, Massachusetts
HI al most made a grave mistake and cancelled
your course for good. I had been steeped in t he
confused denominat ional versions of the Bible for
a long time. I went int o encyclopedias, dictionaries
and hist ory books trying my best to prove that
you are wrong, but I could not do it. Now I have
resumed t he course. Why did I almost can cel it? It
seems to me it is because when one has been
steeped so long in confusion, the real truth, when
it fina lly hits him in t he face, sounds like a stark
lie!"
THERE IS AWAY
OF ESCAPEI
Awesome events are soon to transpire on the earth. The Sible
foretells times of worldwide sorrow, calamity, disaster. Sut
ther e is a WAY OF ESCAPE from all these t roubles for those who
are willing to heed the warning!
W
HA T would be vour reaction if God sud-
denly spoke to you, and uarned you to
take drastic action to save you r life
from imminent destructi on?
Would you listen attentively? Woul d you heed
what He ha d to say?
Or woul d yo u j ust sco ff, and di sregard Hi s warn-
ing?
God Has Already Spoken
Few reali ze t hat God has already spoken t o
humanity - to you. Notice how:
"God, who at sundry times and in divers man-
ners spake in t ime past unto the father s by t he
prophet s, hath in these last days spoken unto us
BY HI S SON [whom t he New Test ament aut hors
fait hfu lly reported ], who m he hath appointed heir
of a ll t hings, by whom also h e made the
worlds. .. . Therefore we ought to gioe the more
earnest heed to the things which ice have heard,
lest at any time we should let t hem slip" (Heb,
1:1-2; 2: 1).
Not only did God speak to ma nk ind, but Hi s
wor ds have also been recorded in a hook hy His
fai thful servants. That book is t he Holy Bible.
Wh en you read and study the Bibl e - it s teach-
ings. its prophecies - you are act ually list ening to
t he ins pired words of God . T herefore, how you
regard what t he Bibl e has t o say shows exactly
how you would regard t he words of God Almighty
- if He wer e t o speak to you person ally right now.
Warnings of Things to Come
The book of Revel ation - t he final book of the
Bible - is full of wa rnings of awesome events soon
to occur. In t he last chapter of this most rnisu n-
EARTHQUAKE! - Great earth-
quakes ore but one of the cata-
clysms prophesied to ravag e the ..
eart h. UPI p h o ~
4 Ambassador College Correspondence Cour se Le sson 12
derst ood book of the Bible, the Revelat or - J esus
Christ - concluded: " Behold, I come quickl y:
blessed is he that keepet h [remembers and acts
on ] the sayings of the prophecy of this book " (Rev.
22:7).
Yet most - and perhaps this incl udes even you
- do no t fully grasp the urgency of heeding th e
stagger ing propheti c warnings of the Bible.
The prophecies of the Bible are not to be taken
lightl y. Your future and t he future of your loved
ones are at stake' If yo u will heed the warnings of
God recorded in the Bib le, He promises a 1m)' of
escape so that you need not suffer the perils t o
come.
A World of Skeptics
There is a way of escape revealed in the inspired
Word of God ! T he agonies which will eng ulf t his
planet and all natio ns upon it need not happen to
you.
But to receive divine protection, you must avoid
the att itude whi ch Netrsi ceek magazine once
spoke of as a growing modern phenomena. It
asserted:
"The U. S . public [and in fact most of the devel-
oped world today ] is the most communication-
glutted group of people in world his tory. Daily
bombarded by ' fact s' whic h confl ict , daily to ld
opposite versions of t he same incidents, hopel essl y
incapable in this complicated world of sorting out
t he truth, a great many Americans [and others]
have undoubtedl y bu ilt a hard shell of skepticism
around themselves" (emphasis ours ).
Feeling incapable of det ermining t he truth in
what men say , most people have developed a
skept ica l, cynica l attitude t oward taking ANY
warning seriously - even from God Himse lf. This
att it ude is one of the curses of our modern age.
Through t he Bible, God's warn ings have been
made know n to man for thousands of years. But
becau se God has seemed so unreal to most people,
they ha ve no respect for what the Bible has to say.
And so people today simply assume the prophecies
of the Bibl e are irrelevant and of no consequence ~
to them.
Thu s mi ll ions to day plod on like ignor an t sheep
- heedless, careless, call oused and skeptic al. T hey
are asleep at the swit ch - unaware of the grave
peril ahead. They are like passengers on a train
thundering down the tracks, completely unaware
t hat a bridge is out j ust ah ead .
What about vou - vour househo ld? Are vou
cynical - skeptical - ' unbelievin g? -
T he world does not have long to wai t before
asto unding, earth-shaking events will begin t o
occur with lightning-like ra pidit y. It won't be long
before the ha rd shells of skept icism are smashed
and shattered!
It Happened Once Before
Todav, the world want s t o believe that "all
thi ngs ;ontinue as they were from the beginning of
the crea t ion" (II Peter 3:4). Most people ar e like
the philosophers of whom Paul wrote : "T hey did
not like t o retain God in their knowl edge" (Rom.
1:28) . Divine intervention? Unt hinkable!
Surprising as it may seem, there is abundant
evide nce that the historical events and miracles
record ed in t he Bihle act ua lly did happen . And if
we can prove they happened, then we can have
absolute assurance that the events prophesied for
our day and age will also surely occur.
In this lesson of the Ambassador College Corre-
spondence Course. you are going to learn, perhaps
for the first time, that God intervened in world
affairs on a grand scale in the past. Th e nations
were terrified. Th ey began to recogni ze the power
of the Creat or God.
The n we will begi n to comprehend God 's end-
time warning message for tis. and how we can
prepar e to escape the terri ble holocaust this world
is bringi ng upon it self.
LESSON 12
God Always WARNS First
I , Whi le Adam was st ill alive, did God forewarn
what wou ld befall rebellious mankind at the
return of Christ? Jude 14-15. From whom did
Enoch obvi ously learn God's pl an s? Gen . 5:22.
COMMENT: The Eternal Crea tor God - the God
of the Old Testamen t who personall y dealt with
mankind; the Logos or "Spokesman" who became
the Christ of the New Testament - to ld Enoch
He would one day come with power to exe cute
justi ce, and to convict t he ungodly of a ll th eir sins .
2, All t hrough t he ages , were other prop hets of
God se nt wit h warning rnessages similar to the one
de livered by Enoch? Act s 3: 19-24. What will ult i-
mat ely happen to those who refuse to heed th e
warnings of the grea test pr ophet of all - Jesus
Christ? Verse 23.
3, Whom did God use to preach ri ght eousn ess
and HL-; w.. arning message of worldwide catas-
trophe j ust prior to the Flood ? II Pet . 2:5. What is
lesson 12 There Is a Way of Escope! 5
t he biblica l definit ion of " righteousne ss"? Ps.
119:172. Is Noah's righteousness, or obedience to
God's law, and his instructi on in righteousness
clearly the reason he found favor in God 's sigh t?
Gen. 6:8-9; 7: 1.
4 . When God warned Noah about the destruc-
tion t o come, did he follow God's instructions on
how to escape it? Gen. G:13-18; Heb. 11:7. But did
the world around him remain heedless to his warn-
ings? Mat t. 24:38-;)9.
5. Lat er, during the time of Abraham, did griev-
ous sins lit erally fill t he city of Sodom? Gen. 13: 13;
Ezek. 16:49-50. Had Melchizedek - pri est of the
Most Hi gh God - Abraham and the king of
Sodom all met together ? Gen . 14:17-22.
COMMENT: Judging from this cont act, ther e
must have been other occasions when the king of
Sodom and Mel chi zedek - t he Christ of t he New
Testament - met and conversed. And si nce God
does not change in the basic way He thinks and
does t hings (He b, 1:3 :8), Melchizedek must hav e
warned t he Sodomites to re pent of t he ir evi l prac-
tices, or one day suffer the inevitabl e consequences
of sin - death '
Sodorn 's sins finall y became so great, so contin-
uall y perverse - suc h an absolute stench to t he
Creat or - God fina lly decreed that the enti re
city's population had to he annihi lated as punish-
ment - just as a ll the ea r t h's inhabitants wer e
destroyed during the Flood , except for righteous
Noah and his famil y.
6 . Was Lot , a nephew of Abraham, obviously
t he only r ighteous man living in Sodom? II Pet.
2:G-8. Did t he messen gers of God wa rn Lot of t he
destru ction He was going to rain upon sinful
Sodom as punishmen t for its sins? Gen. 19:1, 12-
13. Did Lot then try t o warn others of t he punish -
ment to come? Verse 14. How did Lot's sons -in-law
react to his warnings of impending destruction'?
Same verse.
7. How were Sodom and its neighboring com-
muni ti es destroyed ? Ver ses 24-25. Is this destruc-
t ion an example - a WARNING - t o all the
disobedi ent from that t ime on? Jude 7; II Pet . 2:G.
COMMENT: The vast maj orit y today are not
paying any att ention to this or any ot her war nings
in t he Bible. Most peopl e are not concerned about
bi bli cal examples of punishmen t for sin. Most
would rather "enjoy" excesses and illi cit mat erial-
isti c pleasures. They ridi cu le an y mention of God 's
warni ngs of impending disaster.
Most people couldn't care less simply bec au se
they deny th e existence of God!
8. Since God is a God of mercy and love, did He
also wa rn ancient Israel of the punishments He
would bring upon them if t hey sinned? Lev. 26:14-
4G. But did faithless Israel sin regardless of the
warn ing? II Kin gs 17:13-15. Did God therefore
punish t hem as He had warned? Verse 20.
9 , Was God also mer ciful to t he Gentiles by
tcarning them of impending destru cti on because
of their sins? Jonah 1:1-2; 3:1-4. Did t his Assyrian
capit al city heed the warning? Verse 5. Was the
annihilat ion of the city therefore stayed? Verse 10.
10. How las ti ng was the re pentance of the
people of Ni neveh? Nahum 1:1; 3:1-3. Therefor e,
what punishment did God pr onounce upon the
inha bit ant s'! Verses 4-7.
COMMENT: T he Assyrians in Nineveb began to
return t o their old ways of sin soon aft er the
threaten ed cat ast rophe did not occur. So, about a
cent ury and a ha lf lat er , God pr onounced Ni ne-
veh's fina l doom through the prophet Nahum.
Throughout the Bibl e we find t hat God has
always given people ample opportuni ty to repent
- to quit sinning - before sending punishment
for br ea king His laws of happy, abundant living.
Through the ages He has sent His pro phets to
warn the nations of His punishments for t heir
h eedl ess di sobedi ence. God a ls o in spired His
prophet s to write His warnings and made sure
they were preserved for us today. Yet , in nearly
every case, the warnings have falle n on deaf ears!
The Plagues on Egypt -
a WARNING for Today!
Now we come to an amazing histori cal record -
t he account of t he plagues God brought upon
an cient Egypt just prior to Israe l's release from
captivity.
Some of t he events whi ch are pr ophesied to
occur in the fut ure - just before the second corn-
ing of J esus Christ - are compa red in the Bi ble to
events which occurred when Pharaoh refused to
re lease t he children of Israel from Egyptian cap-
tivity. If we ca n understand what happened in
Egypt, we will al so be able to better under stand
what will happen once again - only this time on
a worldwide scale! For many of the awesome
plagues whi ch devastated an cient Egypt are types
of the future plagues coming on this rebelli ous
world - whi ch we will learn ab out later in this
lesson.
1. How were the Israeli t e slaves being t reated
by the Egypt ians? Ex . 3: 7. What did God int end t o
do ab out it ? Verse 8. Who was He going to send to
bring t he ancient Israeli tes ou t of bondage? Ver ses
10-11. What did God command Moses t o warn
Pharaoh He would do if Pharaoh would not let
Israel go? Ex . 4:22-23.
2. In their first meeting with Pharaoh, did
Moses and Aaron merely speak to Pharaoh? Ex.
5: I -d, Was the Egyptian leader impressed? Verse 4.
3. At their next meeting, what miracles did God
perform to impress Pharaoh? Ex. 7:9-12. But did
these cause hi m to let Israel go'! Verse 14.
4. When Pharaoh st ill resisted, what was t he
first pl ague that came upon t he Egyptians'! Verses
20-21. How long did t he plague last '! Ver ses 24-25.
6 Ambassador College Correspondence Course
Lesson 12
C OMM E NT: An ancient record of this terribl e
plague was written on papyrus. It was translated
by A. H. Gardi ner (HJ09) under the ti tl e A dmoni-
ti ons of an Egyptia n Sage [rom a Hi era tic
Papyrus in Leiden. It is common ly referred to as
t he " Papyr us Ipuwer. ' Ipuwer was an Egypt ian
eyeuiitness to the plague.
The papyrus records : " Plague is t hrougho ut the
land. Blood is every where. . . . The river is bl ood .
Men drink and shrink from (t as t ing). Men thirst
after water" (page 9) .
5. What was t he seco nd troub lesome pl ague t he
Eternal God used to punish the Egyptians'! Ex .
8: 1-14. Di d Pharaoh release the Israelit es as he
had promised to do once the plague was st opped'!
Verse 15.
COMMENT: Noti ce t hat as soo n as the plague
\\'38 removed, Pharaoh was stiffened in his stub-
born resistance to God.
6. What was t he third, still more ca lamitous
plague'! Verses 16-17. (Some translations ren der
t he Hebrew here as "gnats" rather than "lice." )
Did the Egyptian magicians, who through the
power of Sat an were able to dupli cat e t he pr evious
pl agues, finally admit t ha t God was int er vening in
Egypt '! Verses 18-19. Bu t did Pharaoh still refuse
to relent'! Verse 19.
7. What was t he fourth gri evous plague God
sent on Ph araoh and the Egypt ia ns'! Verses 20-21.
What bappened to Pharaoh's attitude when he
was afflicted himself? Ver ses 24-28. But when t his
pl ague was mercifully removed by God, did Pha-
raoh remain agreeable'? Verse :l:L
Pharaoh Still Would Not Obey
I. Despit e t hese horrible pl agues t he king an d
hi s people suffered, Pharaoh stil l refused to let
God's people go. So what was the fifth plague God
sent on Egypt '! Ex. 9: 1-7.
COMMENT: A "murrain" refers to a fatal pesti-
lence afllicting ca ttle and ot he r domest ic a nimals.
The st ateme nt in verse 6 t ha t "a ll the ca t t le of
Egypt died" means that a ll aflli ct ed by the mur-
rain died, since some cattle remained to he killed
by a fut ure plague (see verse 20) .
2. Since the king st ill refused to heed t hese
warning plagues, wh at was the sixt h punishment
fro m God ? Verses 8-ll. And what was Pharaoh 's
atti t ude afte r the pl ague was ove r? Verse 12.
C OMMENT: Let's understand what t he Bible
means when it st ates t hat God hardened Pha-
raoh's heart. God mercifu lly gave Pharaoh every
chance to change his attit ude an d allow the Israel -
it es to go. But Pharaoh was a st ubborn, self-willed
man. Each time, after Pharaoh's stubbornness
weakened, God removed the plague. Bu t each
time, once the plague was over, Pharaoh rebelled
again.
God's deli verance of Egypt from ea ch pl ague
merely a llowed Pharaoh again t o feel self-assu red
about the future, and a llowed him to convince
himself he cou ld persist in his st ubbor n, self-will ed -.......,.I
way . Thus God 's great mercy actually caused Pha-
raoh's unappreciative heart to become harder with
each succeeding plague.
3. What further pl ague did God Il'Orn would fall
on the Egyptians'?Verses 18-19. Did some heed the
warning? Verses 20-2 1. Wh at was the exact nature
of this terrifying plague'! Verses 22-26. Was t his
the worst elect rical st orm ever to strike Egypt up
to t hat t ime '? Verse 24.
4. This time did Pharaoh fina lly admit that he
and his peopl e were indeed sinful? Verses 27-28.
Bu t had he really repented'! Or was his heart
hardened once again because of God's mercy? Ver-
ses 34-35.
5. Wh a t was the eight h plague'? Ex. 10:4, 14-15.
What does Psalm 105:34-35 say about this plague'?
6. Again Pharaoh admitted he had sinned, but
hi s hear t was still callous ed (Ex . 10: 16-17,20). So
what terrible plague did God send next'! Ex . 10:21-
23.
In a shrine of black granite at el-
Arish on t he eastern border of Egyp t , t he Egyp-
ti ans recorded what may well be an account of this
fri ght ening wonder : "Evil fell on t hi s land ...
there was no exit from the pal ace by the space of
nine days. Now these days were in violence and
tempest : none whether god or man could see the
face of his fell ow [for three days of t he nine]" (F.
L. Griffith, Th e Anti quiti es of Tel-el -Yahudiyeh
and Miscellaneous Woril in Loicer Egypt in 1887-
88) .
J ewi sh sources give fur ther detai ls of how t he
darkn ess graduall y in cr eased for three da ys ,
remained total for t hree more, then ahated (Gins-
berg, Legends, II, pp. 359-60; V, pp , 431-39) .
7. As a final puni shment - when warning afte r
warning had gone un heeded - what great catas-
t rophe befell Pharaoh and his peopl e'! Ex. 11: I, 4-
8; 12: 29-33.
CmlMENT : - Finally, after all t he first born of
Egypt died, Pharaoh woke up t o the unparall eled
di sast er his st ubborn ness had br ought upon
Egypt; a nd let God 's people go!
Such plagues as those God sent on ancient
Egypt seem pr epost erous to t he natural mind
todav . Mu ch doubt has res ulted fr om cent uries of
controversy over t he s uppos ed hi s t ori cal
inaccu racy of t he hook of Exodus . "Why," it has
been asked, "is t here no proof outside of t he Bibl e
that the plagues really happened'?"
But there is PHOOF!
The fact is, Egyptian chronology has been
greatly misunderstood. There was an att empt -
out of national pride - to make Egyp t appear
more ancient than it reall y was. Hi s torical
research has proved t hat Manetho, an important
Egypti an hist ori an of a nti quity, deliberately
Wide World phOt05
ATOMIC SCARS - The first atomi c bomb used
in modern warfare wa s but a small firecracker
compar ed to modern thermonuclear weapons! Hiro-
shima WQS lef t a level wasteland after at omic
a t t a c ~ ; many of its people scarred for lif e.
falsified and stretched out Egyptian chr ono logy .
As a result, t he even t s surrounding t he Exodus
have been dated cent uries before their true time of
occurrence, causing all evi dence of the plagues on
Egy pt to be genera lly overlooked an d disregarded.
This errol' has never been correcte d in hist ory
text books.
Never theless, t here are ancient Egyptian docu-
ments - as we have seen in this lesson - which
actua lly bear record of some of these plagues !
Now we are rea dy to begin st udying some of t he
most astounding warning prophecies in all the
Bib le - prophec ies which are dest ined to be ful -
filled in t his "end t ime" spoken of by so many of
the prophets - prophecies of wh ich t he pl agues on
Egypt were types. For God has also ioarned our
worl d!
The Great Tribulation
The scriptural warnings of Jesus' "Olivet proph-
ecy" recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke
21, have taken on real meaning in our 20th cen-
tury! The worl d has bee n experiencing the condi-
tions Christ foreto ld i t wou l d befo r e the
occurrence of great catastrophic events.

,/
r
In a world spir it ua lly deceived t hrough the
efforts of t he devil and his false minister s (Rev.
12:9; II Cor. 11:13-15), preaching a false Chr ist
and substituting a false gospel in place of His t rue
Gospel, we are in t he sec ond recess between st ages
of world war. The first two worl d wars have
occurred. In this interim, brushfire wars have
raged and "rumors of wars" continue.
Next to strike t he eart h are great famines, dis-
ease epidemics, eart hquakes and fina lly t he con-
tinuation of world war. All these condit ions will
grow in sever ity until hundreds of millions of t his
world's inhabit an ts suffer from their effects.
Yet, according t o Matthew 24:8, t hese events
are only the "begi nning of sorrows" - or, more
pr operly translate d - of travail, or tribulation!
L As we learned in Lesson 2, t he four- pa rt
" begi nni ng of sorrows " is also pict ured by t he first
four seals - the four "horsemen" described in
Revel at ion 6:1-8. Exactly how did J esus explain
the fifth seal - t he fift h worl d-shaking event?
Mat t. 24:9 . What happens as a res ult of this per-
secution? Verses 10-13.
COMMENT: Man y t ruly Spirit- begotten Chris-
tians wi ll apparently have become so lukewarm, so
out of prayer ful contact wit h God, t hat they will
8 Ambassador College Correspondence Course lesson 12
turn against their bret hren, and will not " be
accounted worthy t o escape" the tribulation of
that time (Luke 21:36).
2. What help will God give hi s fai thful ser vants
at that time? Luke 21: 12-19.
COMMENT: We ne ed to underst and t hat t he
principle of duality appli es to many proph-
ecies. T here is a form er t ypi ca l and then a final
antitypica l fulfi llment of these prophecies.
The persecution spoken of in Matthew 24: 9 did
actuall y occur, in the typical forerunner sense, in
t he nation of Judah, about 70 A.D.
3. How does Luke 21:20-24 descr ibe what will
happen to Judah and Jerusalem at this time?
COMMENT: Verses 2:3-24 are made plain er in
t he modern English of t he Moffatt t ranslation:
"For sore anguish will come upon the land and
wrat h upon this people; they will fall by the edge
of t he sword, t hey will be carried prison ers to all
nat ions, and .Ierusalem will he under the heel of
t he Ge ntiles ti ll t he period of t he Gent il es
expires."
4. Not ice a lso t he parall el account in Matthew
24:15-28 - especi ally verse 21. Do t hese verses
show a t ime of t ribula tion and war in t he world?
5. How is t his great t ribulation represented in
the opening of the fifth sea l of Revelation 6:9- 11?
COMMENT: Clearly this fifth seal pictures a mar-
tyrdom of saints - of converted, but "lukewarm"
(Rev. 3: 14-19; 12:17) begot t en children of God!
Noti ce two separate martyrdoms are here por-
t rayed. The first martyrs died during t he great
religious persecu ti ons whic h occurred prior to and
down t o t he end of t he Middl e Ages. These vers es
show that t he earl ier martyrdoms wer e only a
type, or forerunner, for t he mart yrs of t hat time
are told t o wait until another martyrdom of saints
has occurred. This future martyrdom will occur at
the t ime to which J ohn, t he writ er of this book of
Revelation, has been carried forward in vision -
j ust prior to the "day of the Lord."
These martyrs are in ac tuality, of course, sleep-
ing - unconscious - dead in their graves, having
been in a sense sacrificed on the a ltar beneath
which was collected the blood in which had
resided t hei r lives - or "souls" (Greek psuche).
But they are pi ctured in vision as if crying out
from under the altar, " How long?" before Christ
will come and avenge their martyrdom. They are
told Christ will not come to take vengeance on
t heir behalf until another great persecution and
mart yrdom of saints will have taken place.
Is such a horribl e t hing really possible in our
suppos edly "enligh te ned" age? Da chau and ot her
World War II concent rat ion and extermination
camps st and as, mute but shout ing wi tnesses to
what human minds ca n do when t hey rej ect God
- even in the twentieth century - and answer
YES!
6 . Will mart yrdom even be t he lot of God 's t wo
very specia l witnesses'? Rev. 11:3-10. Wh o will be
responsible for this end-time religious persecution? ~
Rev. 11:7; 17:5-6; 18:24; 19:2. Will human beings
behave t his way because t he devil , who has
deceived the whole world (Re v. 12:9), will have
become ext remely active in wor ki ng t hrough hi s
agents? Rev. 12:12, 17.
COMMENT: We have a lready learned t he iden-
t ity of the " beast " and the "great whore" in Les-
sons 10 and 11. The "woman" mentioned in
Revelation 12 is God's true Church. A lukewar m
remnant of t he true Church (verse 17) will not be
accounted uorthy t o escape t he wrat h of Satan
the devil in the great trihulation!
Great Signs in Heaven
and Earth
1. Wh at is t he descripti on of the sixth sear? Rev.
6:12-13. Will a grea t earthquak e occur at t his
t ime? Verse 12. What will happen t o t he very
" powers of the heavens"? Matt. 24: 29. How soon
after the fifth seal does all t his occur? Same verse.
COMM ENT: The sixth seal consists of specta cular
heaven ly signs - sun and moon becoming dark,
and t he "st ars " fa lling. Tremendous meteor show-
ers will ma ke the starry heavens appea r t o be
crashing ear t hward! Some claim this already has
occu rred, bu t the events t hey describe were local
eve nts, seen only in a small se ction of New
England many years ago, and wer e at most merely
small forerunners and warni ngs of the far more
vast . awe-inspiring and terrifying events yet to
come .
2. Wh at gr ea t heavenly sign accompa nies or
immedi a tely foll ows t his event? Rev. 6:14 -16;
Matt. 24:30. (Not ice al so Isaiah 34:4, which is a
prop hecy of this same time.) Are all t hese events
intended to warn t he wor ld t hat God's WRATH
upon rebelli ous mankind is ab out to begin - that
the "day of t he Lord" with its punishmen ts for sin
is ahout to commence? Rev. 6:16-17; J oel 2:30-31;
Zeph. 1:14-18; Isa. 2: 19-21.
A Manifestation of Gad's
Great LOV E!
1. What is the reason for the pu nishment God is
soon to br ing upon t his world '? Isa. 24:4-6 . Notice
especially verse 5.
COMMENT: God says He will br ing t his distress
upon defiant and sinful men who hat e t he t ruth
and peace, and love evil.
2. But will God's punishment of mankind he a
manifestation of His great love for humanity'?
Heb. 12: 5-7. To what end will God 's punishment
be di rected? I Tim. 2:3-4; II Pet. 3:9.
COMMENT: Ther e are those who believe t hat the
plagues God brought upon ancient Egypt, and will
yet bring upon t he whole world in t he future,
l esson 12 There Is a Way of Escape !
9
constitute the one great exception to the state-
ment : "God is LOVE" (I John 4:8).
A commo n idea is that God is abou t to close
"probation" - that the time of salvat ion will soon
be over. Then, accord ing to this belief, a "vengeful
God of wrat h" will glut His ra ge and passion by
pouring: out exc ruciating torture upon defensel ess,
helpl ess humans. This is a PAGAN concept ion of a
god capa ble of all t he base passions of degraded
men. But t his concept is ut terly untrue of the true
God.
For nearly 6000 years God has sent His lovin g
messages to mankind. In love God revealed His
law - His WAY of life that would lead to every-
thing good and desir able - t o our first parents,
Adam and Eve. They rej ect ed that way . God later
sent His prophets wit h His message of PEACE,
revealing to mankind the way to peace and happi-
ness.
All t hese men of God have pleaded with this
rebellious world in love. They brought a message
of pea ce, of love, of mercy and compassion.
Through them God has pleaded with this st iff-
necked and self-willed world for near ly sixty cen-
turies! But men have rejected the message, and
killed th e prophet s.
Rebellious mankind put to death God's son who
brought th e good news of t he Kingdom of God -
whic h is the Worl d Tomorrow. They martyred
J esus' apostl es who went out int o the wor ld wit h
the message of God 's way of life, and God' s ben-
eficent rule over our lives .
I n love and fender mercy, God has given thi s
stubborn, misguided human race every chance to
t urn t o Him. But men would not heed. Th ey will
not heed today.
God will not - cannot, without defeating His
purpose for mankind - remove the prerogative of
free mor al agency from man. Bu t men have proved
t hey will not (exce pt for the very few) voluntarily
res pond as lon g as God's pleading is limit ed to
words. So God is about to st ep in and spea k to this
rebellious a nd hell-bent world with more t ha n
words .
As any wise and loving fat her puni shes his chil-
dren for their own good, when they refuse to
respond to kind and lovin g verbal admonit ion, so
an a ll-loving, all-wise God will finall y plead wit h
rebell ious humani ty in the only language they will
be a ble to un derstand!
God is going to punish t his world with righteous
judgments - with plagu es so te rrible that many
will at last recognize God is dealing with th em.
Many will t he n heed and turn from their wicked
ways to seek God a nd His ways that lead t o
peace a nd everyt hing good. And that coming
period of punishment, described in more than 30
different propbecies sca t t ered t hrough both Old
and New Testaments as t he "day of the Lord,"
shall lead directly into the second coming of J esus
Christ and wor ld peace!
Protection for the Repentont
1. After the a wesome signs in the heavens and
earth occur, and j ust before t he sevent h seal L,
opened, will further disruptions be stopped for a
bri ef period of time? Rev. 7: 1. Why? Verses 2-3.
How many - and who - will be "sealed" in
t heir foreheads? Verse 4.
The "four winds,"of course, are sy m-
bols, but t hey are rest rained from blowing until
t he "servants of God" are sea led in t heir foreheads .
First of t hese to be sealed are t he 144,000. They
are 12,000 from each of t he 12 lit eral tribes of
Israel (see Mr . Herbert W. Armstrong 's book, Th e
United States and British Commonwealth in
Proph ecy ).
2. Bu t what is this "sea l" wit h which they are
sea led? Verse 2; Re v, 14:I; Eph. 1:13; II Cor. 1:22.
COMMENT: The 144,000 ar e sea led "in t heir fore-
heads" (symbolic of their minds ) by receiving the
Holy Spirit of God, and it is the Father's name
(aut hority, power ) that is wri tten t here. J esus'
very last prayer for His Church was that they
would be kept in th e Father 's name (J oh n 17:11).
This sealing, or recei ving of God 's Spirit , is a resul t
of personal repentance of past sins and total sur-
render to God's righteous ways.
3. Aft er t he 144,000 are sealed, will a great nurn-
bel' of others also be seal ed'! Rev. 7:9. Are these
people from all nations'! Same verse. What did
they come out of? Vers es 13·14.
COMMENT: "These are they which came out of
[the] great tribulation . . ." - and have been
forgiven their sins through the shed blood of
Christ. They are seen clothed in whi te robes, sym-
bolizing purity a nd righteousness - obedience to
God's laws - unspotted by t he ways and customs
of th e world. As t hey see God int ervening through
terrible supernatural signs in the heavens and on
eart h, this great mul titude of all nati ons will sur-
render themselves completely to God, ask God t o
cleanse them from a ll t heir past sins by t he blood
of J esus Christ , and be brou ght under divine pro-
tection, so t hat j ust as God protect ed t he chil dren
of Isr ael when He poured out the plagues on
an cien t Egypt, so shall a ll t hese be protected from
the plagues to come.
Then, just as those prot ect ed from t hose an cient
plagu es were t aken under Moses and J oshua t o
the pr omised land, the Holy Land, so sha ll those
sa ved from the comi ng plagues be t aken by Christ
into the Kingdom of God - to be set up on earth
with headquarters in Jerusal em!
The "Trumpets" Begin
to Blow
1. What transpires as soon as the "sealing"
is complete and the sevent h sea l is opened? Hev.
10
Ambassador College Correspondence Course lesson 12
8: 1-6. Ar e these "t ru mpets" actually pla gues? Rev.
9:20.
COMMENT: John sees in vision seve n t rumpets
bei ng handed t o seven angels. The seven trumpets
are, of course, symbols. They represent real world
events to come. These trumpets are plagues which
God shall send in physical punishmen t of evil in
this world.
These "trumpets" are not, as so many have
believed , identical to or contemporaneous with the
seven seals. Neither do they follow the closing of
the seventh seal. They are - they constitu te -
the sevent h seal. This seventh seal occurs, then, in
seven successive st ages, each of the seve n stag es or
parts being called a trumpet.
The first four trumpet pla gues are the "winds"
which were held back from blowing upon the earth
(Rev. 7:1). But we do not here at t empt to inter-
pret t he exact nat ure of these plagues - wh ether
t his la nguage is to be t aken lit er all y or as symbols.
2. What occurs on t he earth after the first t rum-
pet is blown'? Rev. 8:6-7.
COMMENT: The result of limited us e of chemical
defo liants during t he Vietnam War will seem t ri -
fling after t his supernat ura l fire burns all the grass
and one-t hird of the trees on earth!
3. What does t he bla st of t he second angel' s
trumpet announce'? Verses 8 ~ 9 .
COMMENT: The seas will be gravely affected by
t his pl agu e. One-third of t he seas will t urn to
blood , one- t hird of all life in it will be destroyed,
and one-third of t he ships will be destroyed !
4 . Next, what happens to part of t he earth's
supplies of drinking water when t he trumpet of
t he t hird angel is sounded'? Verses 10-11. Will
many die from drinking this poisoned water'?
Verse II.
5. What terrifying pla gue is announced by t he
fourth trumpet'? Verse 12.
Next - World War
In vision, God con tinued to show the Apostle
J ohn t hat the nex t tormenting event to afflict re-
bellious, heedless mankind will be renewed WAR-
FARE' It is described in the ninth cha pte r of
Hevelat ion.
1. Wh at are the last three t r umpets called'? Hev.
8:13. .
COMMENT: The last t hree trumpets are called
"woes" because they shall cause terrible woe on
t he earth, There ;"i ll be great destruction of
human life and natural resources. And when these
woes are finished, onl y God will be able t o repair
th e damage that will have been done to t he sur-
face of the ea rth.
In Old Testament t imes, the sound of a trumpet
was us ed to signify a time of trouble and "an
alarm of wa r" (J er . 4:19-20). Zephaniah 1:16 says:
"A day of the trumpet an d alarm against the
fenced [that is, fortifi ed or defended] cit ies, and
against t he high towers [that is, mi litary fortifica-
tions ]." Thus a "t ru mpet " is a symbol of war and
dest ruction.
Just as God punished ancient Israel by sending
the armies of Assyria, and punished J ud ah by the
armies of the Chaldeans, so He will send armies of
one nat ion against another to punish the whole
world - ALL NATIONS - because their evil is de-
stroying t hem and bringing suffering and unhappi-
ness on all peopl es.
And so t he last three t rumpet plagues specifi-
cally pict ure three phases of coming WOULD WAR!
At the third stage - the third woe and last t r um-
pet - men wi ll be saved from exti nc tion only by a
miracle fr om God. If God did not personally inter-
vene in thi s climactic war, men would destroy the
last vesti ge of hu man life from th e face of t he
eart h !
The First Woe
1. As the fifth a ngel sounds his t rumpet, how is
t he first woe described? Rev. 9: 1-11. Are men to be
tormented by symbolic "locusts"? Verses 3-6.
COMMENT: Note in verse 5 t hat their to rment is
not "of' a scorpion, but "as of' a scorpion. These
are not actual scorpions.
2. How are these "locusts" described? Verses 7-10.
COMMENT: These symbolic locust-like "horses"
with power t o "hurt" me n (verse 10) can only refer
to terrifying war machines - very possibl y sophis-
ticated attack helicopters, or similar weapons yet
to be invented.
Today mac hines carry men as a "horse" did
th en . And th ey hop and j ump and fly like "lo-
custs." Could the fact that their hurt will be "as
of ' a scorpion - painful bu t not usu all y fat al -
perhaps represent some nonfatal chemical , bac-
teriol ogical , biol ogi cal, or radiological weapon, yet
t o be unveiled, whose effect will linger for five
months?
Precisely what specific weapons are meant and
how they will be used by power- crazed men will be
plainly evident when th e fifth t r umpet (first woe)
is blown and the terrible warfare begins .
3 . Where does thi s super-army come from? Ver-
ses 2-3. Where did we find t he "bottomless pit " in-
terpreted in a pre vious lesson '? Rev. 17:8-14.
COMMENT: We found that th e final resurrection
of the Roman Empire is the power whi ch emerges
out of t he "bottomless pit " (abyss). It is a wa r-
making power (verse 14) wit h a supe r-army
equipped wit h sophisticate d weaponry. Mussolini
restored the pi ti fully wea k, insigni ficant sixt h
"head" of t he "beast" - the Roman Empire. A
sevent h and last reviva l is yet to come , as we
learned in Lesson s 10-11.
Lesson 12 There Is a Way of Escap e! 11
4. Who is t he mot ivat ing for ce - t he real lead er
- of this reli gio-poli t ieal war-making power ? Rev.
9: I I.
COMMENT: The Hebrew word Abaddon, a nd t he
Greek word Apollyon, bot h mean "dest royer"] The
sinis ter power guiding t he "beast's" army will be
none other tha n the great dest royer himself -
Satan t he devi l!
5. Who will be spared from this blitzkrieg-type
warfare'? Verse 4.
COMMENT: When the forces of t he beast attack
its enemies, t hose who came through the great
t r ibu lation, turned to God an d were "sealed" by
His Spirit , will be pro tect ed. The people now being
WARI' EUof t hese terrify ing days by God's modern-
day "watchmen" (Ezek, 33: 7-9; Matt . 24:14) will
be left unprotect ed, exce pt t hey repent a nd turn
to God.
Mean wh ile, hordes of other peopl e in Asia will
also have bee n preparing for war. They will have
similar space-age " horses" wit h heads of "lions,"
The second woe is ready t o begin - t he six th
t rumpet is ready to sound.
The Second Woe
1. Are t he sixt h angel's trumpet pl ague an d t he
second woe cl ea rl y t he same? Hev. 9: 12-13. Wh at
happens when t he sixt h trumpet is blown - who
will dare to threaten and even to make war on the
"beast "? Ver ses 14-16. And how are t heir weapons
described? Verses 17-19.
COMMENT: To t he eas t (fro m the point of view
of the Holy La nd), beyond the Euphrates Ri ver,
lies t he Communist realm. Fr om ther e an army of
t wo hundred million men (verse 16) wi li attack
west ward. T heir war machi nes , here again de-
scribed by symbolic terms , deal deat h fr om front
and rear - principally by "fire, smoke and bri m-
stone." T hese symbols may incl ude all for ms of ex-
pl osives, fire bombs, hydrogen bombs. poison gas
and ot her chemical agents.
'2. How many people will suffer the torment,
torture and death inflicted by this mighty army
and it s sophist icated weaponry? Verses 15, 18.
COMMENT: As man's technical knowledge mus h-
rooms and the international arms race continues,
even hithert o unheard of wea pons may be used. It
is t his wholesale carnage that Jesus Christ's per -
so na l intervention must halt , for if such battles
were permi tted to continue, no flesh uiould be
saved alive! (Matt. 24:22).
3. How does Isaiah 13:4-19 describe thi s time !
COMMENT: You wi ll recall from Lesson 11 t hat
t his attack of the modern Medes will contribute in
ultimately bringin g about t he final end of t he
" beast" power, spoken of here as "Ba by lon."
4. Even after t his t remendous toll of death, de-
st r uct ion and suffering, will most of st ubbor n, re-
be llious , h a rd- t o -con vi n ce man kind r emai n
unrepentant'? Rev. 9:20. What kind of sins will
they cont inue to commit'? Ver se 21. .
5. Even during these plagues will God ha ve con-
tinued to plead with all mankind to repent. of their
evil ways'? Rev. 11:3-6. .
COM:Io1ENT: Notice t hat t he "two witnesses" are
given super nat ural protect ion as t hey del iver I
God's las t warnings to t he evi l powers of eart h.
6 . Once t he mission of the two witnesses is fin-
ished, will God have allowed t he : :beast" 't o put
them to death'? Verse 7. Where are their dead bod-
ies t o be displayed'! Verse 8; J er. 2:1:14, .
7. What will be the react ion of peopl e in the ria-
tions which are united under t he "beast" when
God's t wo witnesses are finally pu t to death? Rev.
11:9-10. What will God, wh o has the power of life
and death, do for them as a sign to t heir murder-
ers? Ver ses 11-12. Do some at this time begin to
ac knowledge God a nd give glory to Him'! Verse 13.
Do a ll of t hese events clearly take place at t he end
of the second woe, or sixt h trumpet'? Verse 14.
The Third Woe -
Last Trumpet
1. What happens when t he seve nt h trumpet
sounds and t he t hird woe begins? Rev, 11:15. Is
Wide World photo
CAPTIVITY - Dachau and ather Warld War II
concentr atio n and extermination camps are gri m
remi nders that fu ture at roci ties are not impos sible
in ou r mode rn age.
12 Ambassador College Correspondence Cour se lesson 12
this cl early the time of Chr ist's second coming t o
t ake over t he govern me nts of the world and to es-
tablish t he Kingdom of God on earth'?Same verse.
COMMENT: We saw t hat following hard on the
heels of the first four t ru mpet pl agues warfare
will rage. Millions will di e. Mankind will be t hrea t -
ened wit h COSMOCIDE! And so it is at the LAST
THUMPET t hat mankind will be saved from ex-
ti nction by t he return of Jesus Christ to intervene
in the t itanic war whi ch will be raging on t he earth
- t he war which wou ld otherwise lead t o t he an-
nihil ation of all life.
2. But what is the react ion of rebelli ous man -
kind at t his time'? Verse 18.
COMMENT: J esus Chr ist, t he new Ruler of t he
world, will no t be meekl y accepted by t he power-
crazed na ti ons already engaged in an all-out
struggle t o grab world domination. Men ha ve
never wan ted God's rule - eve n though it is the
on ly way t o peace, hap piness and joy. And so the
nations are found angry. They will contest Christ's
ru le over t he ea rth by gathe ring t hei r forces to-
gethe r to fight t he King of Kings!
3. What else occurs at t he blowing of t he
sevent h an d last t rumpet'? Verse 18. Notice the
words, "t hy wrath is come."
COMMENT: The only thing described at the
blowing of t his seventh t rumpet t hat cou ld possi -
bly be t he t hird woe is t he WRATH OF GOD. But all
the t r umpets have been plagues, pou ring out t he
wrath of God - Hi s punishment s to bring t his
hell -bent world to it s se nses . We will see that the
seven t h trumpet a ct uall y consummates this
wrath.
4. Exactly what consummates - fills up -
completes, the wrath of God'? Rev. 15:1. Ar e t hese
plagues to be poured out in Christ's presence on
earth'? Hev. 11:15; 14:10.
COMMENT: All of t he pr ecedi ng six trumpets
have heral ded the unl eashing of different t ypes of
grievous plagues upon this rebellious world. But
notice that t he seventh, !u· last, trumpet (Rev,
11:15) consummat es - completes - t his wr ath
by ushering in the terrifying "seven last plagues."
The Moffatt t ransla tion renders t he last part of
Revelation 15:1: ". . . For t hey [t he seven last
plagues] complete t he wrath of God. "
J ust as t he seventh seal is subdivided into t he
seven trumpets, so the seve nt h trumpet is divided
into the seven last plagues, which are and consti-
t ute t he seventh trumpet or t hir d woe. Th us t he
seven last plagues, too, are a par t of t he sevent h
seal. An d t he seven last plagues are poured autat
Christ's comi ng - ac tually in the very presence of
Jesus Christ and a ll t he holy angels - immedi-
ately after He returns to save humanity from ex-
t inction in the warfare whi ch constit utes t he
second woe .
The Seven Last Plagues
I . Are t hese fina l pl agu es of wrath compared t o
" via ls" about to be poured out'? Rev. 15: 7. (Some
translations use the word " bowl." ) Are they
poured out upon the earth? Rev. 16: 1. Read t he
rest of t his chapt er to get the story flow.
2 . Will the seven last plagues be poured out in
one day? Rev. 18:8.
COMMENT: T hese pl a gues are God 's righteous
judgments upon modern "Ba bylon. " This scrip-
t ure indi cates that all seven vials will begin t o he
poured out in one 24-hollr day, though some of
these symbolic vials of wrat h will undoubtedl y
continue to be administ ered past thi s 24-hour
period.
This 24-hour day is the climactic par t of t he
much lon ger "day of t he Lord" which will have be-
gun with t he seventh seal (Rev. 8:1) which ushers
in the seve n consecut ive trumpet plagues. And it
will be during t his one day t hat t he "Baby louis h"
leadership of t his sinful worl d will be UTTERLY DE-
5THOYED !
3. Upon whom does t he first via l cause ex-
cruciat ing sores? Rev. 16:2.
COMMENT: It will he pou red upon all who are
parti cipating in this world's false, paganized civil-
reli gious syste m - the "beas t" system we studied
in Lessons 10-11.
Note that t he first of these seve n last plagues,
"poured out " on t hose who wors hip a false god, is
t he same type of pl ague which fell upon t he an -
cient Egypt ian s who foste red a false religion (Ex.
9:10-11).
4. What will t he second and t hird of t he se
plagues do'? Rev. 16:3-4. How j us t and righteous
are these pun ishments of God upon mankind?
Verses 5-7.
COMMENT: Recall that t his also was one of t he
plagues God used to smit e t he pagan Egyptians
(Ex. 7:19-21).
5. What great pl ague is pr odu ced as t he fourth
angel pours out his vial'? Rev. 16:8. How intense
will God cause t he light of the sun to become for a
short time'? Isa. 30:26-27. Will many repen t as a
result of these grievous plagues, or wi ll men con-
t inue t o defy God? Hev. 16:9.
6. What cumulative effect will the pl agues of
God have on t he earth's popu lation" I sa. 24:6. Wi ll
comparatively f ew mort al people be left at the
st art of Chr ist's r ule? Same verse .
COMMENT: Note particularly that not all people
will die ! Ther e will sti ll he millions left . With
t hese, as Hi s subjects, Christ will begin Hi s rule on
earth.
7. What , aga in, is t he reason God must punish
mankind so severely'? Isa. 24:5.
COMMENT: Sill - diso bedience t o God's laws -
is t he CAUSE of a ll human suffer ing an d woe. The
l e sson 12 There Is a W':Jy of Esca pe! 13
world is in reality bringing this wrath upon its el f
by refusing t o obey God! And so God will have to
punish the world severe ly to bring it to its senses.
Yet, in spite of the severit y of the fourth plague,
many sti ll will not repent.
8. Aft er t he fifth angel empties his vial, will
da rk ness and grea t pain afflict t hose in t he area of
t he headquarters of t he beast? Hev. 16: 10. (Notice
t he Egypti ans experienced a simi lar plague - Ex.
1O:21-2:1.) Will this plague finally compel these
people t o repent of their evil deeds and submit t o
Chr ist'? Verse II.
COMMENT: God 's Word clearly shows that the
eart h' s inha bit ant s will refuse to yield to Chri st 's
authority when He comes. That is why Jesus
Chr ist ~ i l l have to powerfully subdue t h'e world
a nd force mankind, at first , to submit to Hi s ru le!
It is amazing to see, in advance, j ust how this
world will react t o t he seco nd coming of J esus
Christ.
9. At the pouring ou t of the sixt h vial will the
great est battl e in all human history occur - with
the world's nations joining together t o fight the re-
turned Chris t? Rev. 16:12-16. Will Christ righ -
teously j udge and mak e war on defiant men? Hev.
19: 11; lsa. 11:4.
COMMENT: T his plague is part of God's plan t o
gat her the armies of a ll nations t hat remai n re-
bellious to His ways into one place for t he fina l
phase - t he final battle - of Wo rld Wa r II I.
T he details of t hi s tremendous battle and t he
pri or gat hering of these armies at Armageddon
wer e covered in Lesson 3, pages 14- 15. You may
wish to review those pages at this t ime.
10. Even in destroying the wicked at His com-
ing, won 't Chr ist be pleading with men t o repen t
of t heir wicked ways? .Ier, 25:2!J-3:1. Notice espe-
cially ver se 31.
11. Will the ea r t h be violent ly shaken by the
mightiest eart hquake ever t o occur when t he sev-
ent h and last plague is poured out? Rev. 16:17-18.
Will even the islands of the sea be moved? Verse 20.
COMMENT: Many isla nds, being dormant vol-
ca nic cones, will literally bl ow up and disappear as
t his final plague is unl eashed!
The "day of the Lord " is often described as a
day of darkness. Her e is one major reason why:
when vol canoes er upt they emit great quant ities
of cinder and ash wh ich obscure t he light of the
sun. In 188:3 t he er uption of Krakatoa in t he Ea st
Ind ies spewed such eno rmo us quan ti ti es of matter
into t he upper atmosphere t hat for an entire year
the su nrises and sunsets t hroughout the world
wer e ahnormally colored. If the erupt ion of one
volca no ca n accomplish this, j us t imagine what
hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of eru pt ing
volca noes will do!
12. Will part of God's very last and final pun-
ishment of men be with gigantic hailstones? Hev.
16:21.
CO'''IENT: The weight of each hail stone will be
about a talent - approximately 58 pounds. Can
you imagine the tremendous dest r uct ion t his
storm will cause'?
The Coming Great Exodus
1. Aft er t he last t rump and Hi s ret urn to inter-
vene in t he affair s of men, what will Christ do for
t he descendants of His people Isr ael who will
ha ve heen oppressed by the nations into whi ch
t hey wer e taken capt ive? [sa. 27:12-1:3; 10:20-22.
COMM>: NT: When they heard the warning mes-
sage (Hosea 5:8-9) of God's minist ers proclaiming
t he terrible end-time wars to come upon the
earth, they did not heed a nd ended up in capt ivity.
2. Wi ll God have per mit t ed His people to be
scattered among all t he na t ions of t he earth? Isa.
11:11-12. Won't this be similar to t he exodus of an-
cien t Israel from Egypt"? Verses 11, 16.
3. Wi ll this future exodus from Europe and
around the world be mu ch great er t ha n the exodus
from Egypt in the days of Moses"? -Jer . 16: 14-15;
2:1::3, 7-8.
COMM' :NT: J eremiah's God-inspired prophecy of
this coming exodus was given about 6()() B.C. It
ha s not yet happened. The first exodus was only
a lesser type of t he SECOND exodus!
Notice t hat t hese regathere d Isr aelit es are not
changed to immor t ality when J esus Christ ret ur ns
- but, instead, are restored to Palestine as physical
human beings.
4. Will God lead His reclaimed peopl e t o see
themsel ves as He sees t he m, a nd to loathe them-
selves for their wickedness, and t hen grant them
re pentant attitudes for the first time"? Ezek.
20:42-4;1; J er. 31:8-9; 50::3-,5.
COMM>: NT: All peoples of this world - espe-
cially t he descendan ts of ancient Israel - have yet
t o suffer enor mously before t hey will fina lly learn
t hat God is God, and before they will t urn who le-
heartedly to Him. But individuall y ea ch of us ca n
receive God 's di vine protection during coming
worldwid e catastrophes.
You need NOT fear any of these sorrows - if you
heed God's warnings, repent and turn t o Him nov..·.
Yes, ther e IS a way of escape!
Your ONLY Way of Escape!
Your Bible shows that t his eart h will soon be-
come nearly desolate because of man 's si ns. It is
man's own ways - contrary to God's ways -
which are bri nging t hese dire ca lamities upon him.
God warns that "as a sna re" this trouble will come
on all who dwell on t he face of t he eart h (Luke
21:35). But aft er t hese t errifying events are over,
God's new world order will be established on
earth.
Then - after Jesus Chr ist establishes the Kin g-
14 Ambassador College Corr esponde nce Course l esson 12
dom of God on eart h - God will reall y begin to set
His hand t o SAVE humanit y, ultima tely giving
everyone an opport unity for sa lvat ion - a chance
to become a member of His world-ruling Family.
But in the meantime, how can you escape the
terrifyi ng times you have just .studied'?
In thi s age of nucl ear ' weapons, human hide-
aways offer no hope for permanent protection .
The onl y escape from the grisl y realit ies to come is
recou rse to t he great est realit y in the uni verse -
Almighty. GOD!
I , Does God promise to protect those of Hi s
end-t ime peopl e who faithfu lly keep His Word and
do His work'? Rev. 3: 7-8, 10. What speci fic j ob did
J esus say would be carried on t oday'? Matt. 24:14:
II Cor. 2:12.
COMMENT: Even t ho ugh Hi, Church possesses
re latively little numerica l st re ngt h, .Jesus has
opened t he powerful "doors" of radio. te levision,
the printin g press and personal evangelism to His
church to preach an d publ ish His Gospel of t he
Kingdom as a uarning u-itness to the world. As a
reward for fait hfully obeying His Word and doin g
His works, Christ promises to SPARE His servants
from t he t er rible t r ibula t ion and pl agues t o come.
2. Cha pter 12 of Revelation personifi es God's
true Church as a woman, His betrothed wife. Does
God promise her mirac ulous, supernatural, spiri-
t ua l an d phys ica l shelt er? Rev. 12:1:3-16.
COMMENT:; This end-t ime pr ophecy tell s of a n
.: "escape" from the terrible war and tribul ati on
which are promot ed by Satan the devil. For t hree
l esson 12 There Is a Way of Escape! 15
and one-half years God 's Church will be un-
to uched by Satan (the "serpent ") and t he cata-
clysm of a worl d at war around them.
3. Does t he true Church of God cl earl y keep t he
commandments and the instructi ons of Chris t?
Verse 17.
COMMENT: There are many ch urches in t he
worl d today. But don't make the mistake of fol-
lowing t he false counterfeit Chr istianit y which
may masquerad e as churches of God, yet refuse to
obey God's will in everything. Very few so-ca lled
"Christian " churc hes can claim to obey all of
God's T en Commandments. Some that do ac-
kn owl edge these commands refuse to obey other
laws of t he Bib le.
Don't assu me t hat a church professing t he name
of God or Christ is necessarily a ch urch that
obeys Christ . Don 't swal low mainstream Chr is-
t ianity, which your Bi ble has exposed as the first
" horsema n" of Revel at ion 6. Instead, study what
Chri st Himself said, study t he Bible 's t ru e doc-
trines (which are in most cases t he direct opposite
of men's ideas) , and you shouldn't have a ny
trouble recognizing where t he true Church of God
is t oday.
T hat group is doi ng God's work, an d it has been
promised a way of escape. Regardless of WHERE
the " place" is t hat God's Church is t o be nourished
and protected du ring t he perilous t imes ahead. t he
way t o mak e sure you wi ll be t here is clear.
To those who will t ruly repent of wanting their
own way - who are willing to rid t he ir lives thor-
oughly of all their old ways, ideas and pr actices
which are contrary to God's ways as revealed in
t he Bible - and who will come t o God t hrough
J esus Christ an d His sac rifice, He pr omi ses spiri-
tual, supernatural , mi raculous she lter!
Will vou be one of those to receive God's divine
protection duri ng the hideously hell ish days
ahead'! Will you repent and turn to God and be
"accounte d worthy t o escape"? The decision is
yours. Don't put it off. Check up on your own spir-
itual condition . Don't assume you are "right with
God ."
You ca n learn more about God's WAy t o physi-
cal protect ion an d spir it ual sa lvatio n by sending
for the booklets and repr int ed articles list ed on the
encl osed " Supplement ary Heading Mate rial" card.
Be sure to wr ite for t hose booklets and arti cles you
have not received already - especially the book-
lets, What Is a Real Christian?and Just What Do
You Mean s , : Con versi on?
With this current lesson you have completed t he
Ambass ador College Correspondence Course. Vr/ e
feel that thi s series of 12 lessons, together with the
suppleme ntary reading offered with each lesson,
has pr esented sufficient st udy mater ial to t hor-
oughly acquai nt you with t he major doctri nes and
prophecies of God's inspired Word and to
und erstand His plan of salvat ion for mankind.
We sincere ly hope that yon have profited from
t his st udy. We also hope t hat you will request t he
reading material listed on t he enclosed card (as
well as t he litera ture you may not have requ ested
before). Remember , the stakes are high. Don 't
miss out on what God has t o offer you and your
famil y. .And always feel free to call on our repre-
sent atives for per sonal instruction as you have
need.
The ent ire Corres ponde nce Course st aff t han ks
you sincerely for having had t he opp ortunity of
servi ng you through these lessons! 0
PERSONAL
INSTRUCTION
Many of our st ude nts have wr itten asking
if we have representatives in their areas to
inst ruct and counse l with them personally
- to answer their questions - and even to
bapti ze in certain cases .
The emphatic answer is yes , we do!
The Wor ldwide Church of God st ations
personal representat ives (ordai ned minis-
te rs) in most pa rts of the United Sta tes and
British Commonwealth and man y ot her
a reas of the world. All of thes e dedi cated
men ar e carefully t rained und er t he sponso r-
ship of the Ambassador College Department
of Theology, which also publ ishes this
course .
These men of God can visit you directl y in
your own home. Of course, none of them
will ever call on you unles s invited.
If you do have questions - or requ ire
pe rsonal counse l for any reason - fee l free
to write us a nd requ est a private appoint -
ment . We 'd be happy to se nd one of our
men to see you. Worldwide mailing ad-
dresses are on pag e 2.
If you' d prefer faster se rvice, please dial
this toll-free number in the Contine ntal
United States: 800-4 23 -4444. (St ude nts in
California , Nevada , Alaska an d Hawa ii
should cal l 2 13-577- 5225 collect.)
Remember, this se rvice is absolutel y FREE
a nd wit hout personal obliga tion.
ANSWERS TO QU IZ
1-( 5·0 9·. 13-F 1 7 ~ G
2·. 6·( 10-C 14-F 18-F
3 · ( 7-0 11·T 15-T 19-1
4 ·A 8-C 12 -T 16-J 20-A
Rate yourself
19-20 correct excellent
16- 18 correct . good
13-15 correct fair
16
Ambassador College Cor re spondence Course
l esson 12
TEST YOUR MEMORY
This quiz is designed to help you remember the im p ort a nt
facts you have learned in the lesson. You simply circle or un-
derline each correct answer. After you've finished the test,
check your choices with the correct answers listed on page
'5, and then rate yourself.
1. God is spe a king to you personall y and to the
world today A. in dreams a t night. 8. by in-
flue ncing pe ople's thoughts and actions in und etec-
ta ble ways. C. through His inspired Word - the
Bible . D. through trance -like visions.
2. What is one vita l thing God ha s been te lling
mankind? A. Tha t He will destroy a ll mankind be-
cause of sin. B. That imoqinct ion-def yinq catas-
trophes involving notions and na tur e ore just ah ead
because of man' s sins. C. Tha t mon ' s effort s will
final ly produce utopia . D. Tha t e ver ybody must
join the church of his choice.
subsequent world hist or y in comparison to the first
exodus. B. will be simila r in many way s to the
first e xod us. C. occur red in the 1940s. D. is
one of the books of the Old Testament.
1O. The true Church of God today A. is very dif-
ficult to identify. B. is not offer ed protect ion from
either the wrath of the devil or the wrath of
God. C. obeys the commands of God and
preaches the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the
world as a witness. D. is not interested in pro-
claiming God's wa rning me ssage to the world .
3 . Why does God warn the world in advance of cc -
ta strophe? A. Because God like s to see us squ irm
in fear . 8 . He doesn't - such " wa rnings" are
me rely allegorical. C. Becau se He is a loving
Father who wa nts to spare His children unhappi ness
a nd sufferi ng . D. Beca use He is unfai r.
4 . Whe n did God begin to foretell the disruptio ns
to befa ll t his wo rld in the end time? A. In the life-
time of Adam. 8. Just be fore the Flood . C. Dur-
ing the human ministr y of Jesus Christ . D. Onl y
during the twentiet h century.
TRUE OR FALSE
11. The four " winds" de scribed in Revelation 7: 1
will leave much of the earth a ruin similar to a ncient
Egypt a fter its pla gues . T F
12. It seems rather clea r that the symbo ls given in
Revelation 9 repre sent some type of modern mili-
ta ry weapo nry. T F
13. The " seven last plagues " are poured out long
before Chri st returns . T F
MATCHING
Draw a line from each phrase in the left ·hand col-
umn to the correctl y related phrase in the right -
hand column.
14. As a result of the se ven lost plagues, all man-
kind will finall y turn to the Creator God, repent of
their sins , and begin obeying Him. T F
15. God promises a way of es ca pe from all the
hor rors to come - but only to those who ha ve
turned to Him in true repentance. T F
A For the repentant
B. Symbol ic locusts
C. l ove s to puni sh
D. The Gr eat Tribulation
E. Satan's wra th
F. Pha ses of world war
G. Seven " t rumpet"
plagues
H. Beginning of sorrows
I. Christ 's coming
J . Punishes in love.
20. Protectio n
18. Three " woes "
1 9 . last trumpet
1 7 . Se venth seal
16. God
7.The Great Tribulation is A. part of the seventh
se al. B. the wra th of God. C. one of the seven
las t plagues. D. the wra th of Satan.
6. The plag ues on ancient Egypt A. ca nnot be re -
peated in today' s world. B. were a ctually na tura l
phenomena. C. followed a dvance wa rning from
God. D. never rea lly happened.
9. The second exodus A. will be insignificant to
5. Who ha s ever heeded a God-given warning?
A. Absolutely none except a few converted Chris -
tians. B. Many in the days of Noah. C. A tithe
- ten per cent - of the inhabitants o f Sod om a nd
Gomorrah . D. The Nine vite s who m Jonah
wa rne d .
8. The 144,000 and a great innumerabl e multi -
tude A. will be sealed afte r the " woes" be -
gin. B. will not be protected from the terribl e
trumpet plagues. C. will be " sea led" by recei ving
God' s Sp irit an d protected from all the plagues to
follow. D. ar e not se a led although they heeded
God' s wa rnings, re pented of the ir sins and turned
to God.
185M873

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