In the Bible, there are certain passages we refer to as “mysteries” – portions of the Bible that God veils for a time, but then – at just the right time – God pulls the veil across, and the truth is revealed to us.
I recently had one of these “mysteries” shown to me.
While studying Revelation 5 – a passage I’ve read and taught several times – for the first time, I came to the realization that the word “myriad” literally means the number 10,000. Now, in the ancient world, 10,000 was the highest number they used; and we see this in Revelation 5:11, when the Apostle John sees in his vision "myriads" of angels (the passage actually reads “ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands”, which means the angels literally coat the sky), as they join both the Church and the Cherubim and other beings in praising Jesus (in His Godlike form), as He sits on His throne.
So, why – after maybe reading this passage a dozen times in the past – did I just now come to the knowledge of this information?
Here’s why…
Almost immediately after my mom died, back in October 2017, I significantly stepped up my ministry – pretty much spending most of my waking hours either teaching, writing, blogging, recording, or reading and studying the Word – with the very strong conviction that Jesus would very soon Rapture His Bride, the Church.
And trust me, in the past 9 months – with everything happening in the world; with so many prophecies being fulfilled before our very eyes – that belief has not dissipated one iota!
Yet, almost from the moment mom died, I began to have the most disturbing dreams – every night – where an unseen entity would feverishly be trying to get into my bedroom, always from a western window, to harm both Kiley (my pup) and me. Several times I’ve even woken in the middle of the night and physically jumped up out of bed. Once, I actually bolted out of bed, grabbed Kiley, and ran out the front door, onto the porch.
Absolutely horrifying, you say, right?
Actually, no. For one, within seconds of waking, I’m at peace; and in almost every case, within seconds, I've already put the incident completely out of my mind.
And these evil forces? Well, obviously they're demonic, of course, they are; I’ve never doubted that for a second.
And yet, I have absolutely no fear of "what's out there", because I'm in my Bible pretty much all day, thus I know my “two-edged sword” is razor sharp and ready for battle. (So, let's "get it on", as my good friend, Tony Fightmaster, might say.)
More importantly, though, I have complete confidence that God is protecting Kiley and me, most likely sending a “myriad” of angels to hover all around us, forming a barrier.
Strangely, though, all this SUPERNATURAL stuff happening in my life has actually increased my faith, since I have 100% assurance that my incessant preaching and teaching and blogging on the End Times is wickedly accurate; spot-on; which is evident in the sheer time and effort Satan and his minions are spending on me, as they seem to be pulling out all the stops, trying in vain to get to me, to possibly derail (or at least slow down) my ministry... even as Satan and his demons are completely powerless to attack or harm me or Kiley; or affect us in any way.
And yet, as we all know, 'ole Nick never gives up, does he? And when he can’t get to us in one way, he will always try another...and another and another.
Sure enough, I woke up the other morning – on a day when I had an important deadline – and was beset by a terrible migraine headache...likely brought on by a conversation I'd had the day before with an old "friend" from Sterling – a Christian even – an interchange that was quite troubling and hurtful. This person had heard about my “End Times” ministry and – even though I hadn’t spoken to him in 30 years – he viciously attacked and ridiculed everything I’ve been doing. (I know, I know; I should be used to this by now, right?)
But if that wasn’t bad enough...throughout the entire day, I received several similar messages from other “Christians” – supposed Facebook “friends” – naysayers and dissenters all of the; apostates who not only “despise prophecy” (1 Thessalonians 5:20) and don’t support my ministry, but foolishly (like the Pharisees) refuse to “recognize the signs” of Jesus’ Second Coming (Luke 12:56), thus Jesus calls them “hypocrites”.
Why? Because even though they say they have concern for others, these Pharisee-like "Christians" fail to have a sense of urgency in their message, thus they are completely complacent in their walk with Christ; and in most cases, foolishly think the Church will just keep going on and on and on ad infinitum...even as Jesus is begging, pleading with them to “recognize the signs” of the End Times, and use these last few days – and the truth of Biblical prophecy – to make one final push to save their unsaved friends and family.
So, with all of these demonic attacks, and all the negativity – not to mention the pain of an incessant migraine – I fell to my knees and began to pray, “Lord, I need some help, I need some support, I need you to send me a sign that will give me a little boost today; cause I really, really, really need it.”
After I got up off my knees, I went to my computer and – for some reason – felt compelled to go to my website and check the visitor "hit" counter at the bottom of the page (the running ticker that shows the number of total visits), something I hardly ever do, since I never think about it.
When I did – when I looked down at the bottom of the screen – it showed the following number...
10,000.
Not 9,999 or 10,001 but…
10,000.
A myriad. The highest number used in the ancient world. The number used by God to describe the number of angels...and most likely the number of angels that even now are hovering over Kiley and me, at any one time, always protecting us from Satan and his minions.
Well, sometime later – after I'd stopped weeping – I thanked God for that little "sign" – realizing, with Him, there are no coincidences – then, I proceeded to accomplish twice as much that day than I'd initially intended.
Oh...and the migraine headache?
Like the demonic dreams, it too soon faded away.
These days, most Christians have such a low view of scripture – and especially prophetic scripture – that they never even come close to scratching the surface of what God is capable of doing in their lives; or discovering the magic that is even now happening in the world around us; or the reality that Jesus is just about ready to wrap up this tired, worn-out, broken-down world, and soon began something amazing and shiny and completely brand new.
However...every now and then, if we have a discerning spirit, He may reveal to us the meaning behind a “mystery”, as a way to increase our faith, to keep us going, and to give us strength in those difficult times when we need it the most.