#1260 Days of Two Witnesses

[randyfrushour]

continuing

Little Book Open

by Randall Frushour

-Revelation chapter 10 - Daniel chapter 9

Stand Alone

Could it now then more be fitting to consider that the 70th Week remain undisclosed? Perhaps to be reserved for Gentile' roles in our contemporary society particularly so during the prophesied "1,260 Days of the Two Witnesses" event, prior to and segue just the last battle of Armageddon? An era still culminating quite near the end of one thousand years more? Do we really and perspectly review things? How all of creation awaits this final hour and not only be a handful of choice believers contouring the scripture to paint their futures!

Astronomer scientists might apply by Ai lintelligent measurement apportioning the 70 Weeks, period of days. Particularly so the 70th week yet undetermind by scholar review.

According to the Bible Christians will be as "part with the Resurrection" at the Rapture. However two things, this part in the rapture is a millennium (ahead) moment before it as well over all the millennium after it, as all while in that case the rest of humanity left in the world might have to seriously rely on technological systems and advance measurements, to survive, basically. The Gentile ruler who will wield power as comparable to that first beast of Revelation 13 will play a pivotal role in this by measuring the earth and covering the heavens. Habakkuk 3: 3-6. 

The Gentile ruler is often interpreted as a future world leader who will come to power during the end times. Not to belabor here that he may be a powerful and charismatic figure who, some say, will deceive many people into following him. Paul states: the Lord will cause them to believe a lie. Many more see that scripture in Revelation 13 depicting the first beast before him, it reads "who deceives and that, causes" all to recieve the Mark of the Beast and he, or it, causes all who do not to be killed. Some distinction, though it's okay by me if the two distinctions are for ever and a day conflated in constant comment. That it's the second beast, the Gentile human leader and not the first beast, Earth's advance system of technologies all balled in one program.

The fulfillment of the Red Dragon prophecy, yet another sign of the end times, is now in our rear view mirror.

VERSE 3 and 4 REVELATION CHAPTER 12

And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

What is The Sign Of The Son of Man? Is it the Red Dragon? Is the rapture, that sign? Is the sun's ceasing to shine, the sign? Who knows which is?

The James Webb Space Telescope in our skies now is such the perfect match to the Red Dragon. Is the JWST the Red Dragon?

As it is, that much passes us by. We read it as it is, whether a stand-alone prophecy or a biblical commandment.

We continue, discussing interpretations of passages from the Book of Revelation, particularly next in Revelation 11 and events surrounding the end times. It suggests a unique perspective on how certain elements in the text relate to control of earth and the role of various entities. Interpretation of prophetic texts can vary widely among scholars and theologians and it's essential to approach them with a sense of humbleness and a respect for differing viewpoints. Our own understanding is what critically matters  momentarily. Every moment. 

The Book of Revelation is known for illustration and complexity making it a subject of ongoing debate and study among scholars and religious communities. If you have specific questions or seek further discussion on this topic, feel free to ask and I'll do my absolute best to provide with information and insight based on my knowledge and what then is available for us to look more at to date.

Regarding Revelation 11: 1, passage mentioning the "court given to the gentiles," it's primarily intent to so signify relinquishing control of the earth and skies from the Saints. Not to mention Satan who has power over the air but at that not for much longer in the scheme of God's prophetic plan. For Satan and rest is history at this point anyway, the church raptured and gone and secured in the sky above. Additionally there, is reference to the Holy Spirit "now taken out of the way," with no mention though for Satan who subsequent is taken and thrown into the bottomless pit. This pit, metaphorically described as cross microcosmic, electron, cosmological, molecular-level atmosphere enveloping earth, is where transitioning and transmitting, Satan fulfills his JWST role above us and out of the earth. Go figure. Or  just to say the JWST fulfills its roll and his role anyway, and thus then, Satan thrown into the pit.

World Leaders Take Control here in the End Times

According to the Bible, world leaders will eventually take control of climate and ecological agendas indefinitely, as well as the economies and scientific development of the world. This will happen during the arrival of the ten kings or kingdoms associated with the seven-headed beast, and it will be a time of rapid technological advancement. The saying "a day is as a thousand years" hints at the transformative nature of these events.

The situation will persist until at least the appearance of the Two Witnesses, which marks another significant turning point in Earth's affairs. At that time, clarity will undoubtedly prevail for everyone.

This passage from the Bible suggests that the end times will be a time of great upheaval and change. 

NOTE: At end of this ebook I may insert an at length commentary that BARD gave to me interestingly, in cohesive essay on my topic and above remarks. And below next are remarks we need to mum  discuss further. Emails and review comments for this ebook I'll address thoroughly in the second book of the Last Bible Keys series. 

 

Following are some possible implications of this passage, according to Bard, on just from what I'm writing .. 

..World leaders may use their power to address climate change and ecological problems, but they may also use it to exploit and control people.

Technological advancement may lead to new discoveries and innovations, but it may also be used to create new weapons and surveillance systems.

The appearance of the two witnesses may signal a time of great spiritual awakening, or it may simply be a reference to two specific individuals who will play a key role in the end times.

Bard quips "ultimately, the meaning of this passage is up to each individual to interpret". However, it is clear that the Bible warns us that the end times will be a time of great change and upheaval. It is also clear that God promises that He will be with us through it all.

Here is one possible scenario for how this passage could play out:

World leaders become increasingly concerned about the threat of climate change and ecological collapse. They decide to take control of these issues in order to ensure the survival of humanity.

They use their power to invest in renewable energy sources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect endangered species. However, they also use their power to crack down on dissent and silence critics.

Technological advancement accelerates during this time. New technologies are developed to help address climate change and other environmental problems. However, these technologies are also used to create new surveillance systems and weapons.

The two witnesses appear during this time. They are two individuals who are called by God to speak out against the injustices of the world and to prepare people for His return.

The appearance of the two witnesses marks a turning point in Earth's affairs. People begin to see the world in a new light, and they realize that the current system is not sustainable.

Clarity eventually prevails, and people begin to work together to create a better future.

This is just one possible scenario, and it is important to remember that the Bible does not provide all the details about what will happen in the end times. However, this passage does give us a glimpse of what to expect. It is a time of great change and upheaval, but it is also a time of hope. God is with us through it all, and He will lead us to a better future.

Gentiles Role in The Millennial Reign 

Revelation 11:1-3 describes how Gentiles will play a significant role in the Millennial Reign, which is the 1,000-year period of peace and prosperity that will follow Christ's Return. This is a continuation of the prophetic timeline that began with Daniel, who was instructed to seal up the words and the book until the time of the end, which encompasses the second coming of Christ and "time of the resurrection" of the dead at the conclusion of this millennium.

During the Millennial Reign, Gentiles will rule along in time as Christs reign and help to bring about His plan for the earth. Not once is this mentioned from scripture how they give their power and strength unto the beast to fulfill the words of God. It will be a time of profound understanding of God's plan, and people will no longer be left in confusion. Instead, this knowledge will be deeply ingrained in them, in hearts and minds.

Prophecy suggests that all people on Earth will worship the Lord during the Millennial Reign at least so once a year. This will be a transformation that has never transpired before. People will have experienced the very near total desolation and consumption of the planet, but they will ultimately come to know the Lord as a merciful Savior. Even some, likely everyone who were not taken during the judgment days of Earth will turn to Him for sustenance and guidance, marking a new beginning.

Habakkuk 2: 3 implore us to wait for the vision of the end days with the final, last end, assuring us it, the days, will come without delay.

I believe that this "vision of all" as spoken of in Habakkuk and told by Isaiah in chapter 29, which has of effect been around since the turn of the century, is now coming into fruition. The siege mounts and footings of the Iraq, Afghanistan and Iranian wars were just the beginning and we'll see it commence at around the time of the 2024 elections picking up the text in Daniel 11: 18-20 considering everything written in prophecy about the Vision and Prophecy of "many days" of the latter times also told as latter days of the world.

Certainly, in Daniel chapter 7, the fourth terrible beast represents convergence technology, and there are four of them mentioned. In contrast, Revelation chapter 13 describes two beasts. One of them, the first, symbolizes a digitalized or decentralized, technological, empirical system, while the other represents a man, possibly a Gentile ruler who wields the power equally of the first beast. This ruler is said to subdue or overtake three of the ten kings and kingdoms of the 7 head beast. It's got to be referring to the seven continents. 

We are exploring the possibility that the roles of the Two Witnesses and the last half of the 70th Week may have already been partially predetermined, with their full realization occurring at the end of the 1,000 years. These witnesses will have prophesied for 1,260 days, which coincide with the latter half of the 70th week in total years. From this perspective, it suggests that the "appointed end" could serve as a blueprint, a guide, program, or playbook for future events.

It's crucial to acknowledge that interpretations of biblical prophecies can vary significantly, and each statement reflects a particular viewpoint on the matter.

[graceandpeacejoanne]

Revelation 11-13: 1,260 Days

Revelation 11-13 speaks repeatedly of a timeframe that seems to last about 3.5 years (the length of Jesus's ministry, interestingly enough). But there is not consensus about what it all means. #Revelation11 #TheBeast #TheGreatTribulation

John’s Apocalypse spends three chapters describing a period of time equaling about three and a half years: Forty-Two Months … but the outer court of the temple put outside, and do not measure it, because it was given to the Gentiles, for the holy city will be tread underfoot (by them) in forty-two months. … And it was given to [the beast] a mouth speaking immensities and blasphemies, and it…

[yeats-infection]

hi gen! recently revisited your novel "1260" bc I've been thinking a lot about apocalypse both naturally and politically... it really understands 21st century disaster malaise in a very prescient way for 2015. Just wanted to appreciate the vibe captured that's not unlike hitting a really bad joint and panicking.

how did you come up with/what inspired the 42-act time-place loop structure? enthralling as usual

thank you so much dear anon... i wrote that novel about exactly ten years ago which is kind of hard to believe!! i do still think about parts of it sometimes and the increasing relevance of several of the apocalypse scenarios. i'm really glad that not only did you read it but you REREAD it and that it holds up! that means a tremendous amount to me.

the 42-act structure is inspired by THE BIBLE LOL... i forget how i learned about this now as i was not raised religious in any way, but in a lot of biblical end times prophesizing, the rough time frame of 1260 days / 42 months / 3.5 years repeats several times. the central conceit was the biblical concept of the "two witnesses" who are raised up to witness the apocalypse for a period of 1260 days. from there i plotted everything out and created the order really intentionally thinking of the important numbers... for instance all the important plot stuff happens by sevens. the places are just favorite or resonant places of myself and friends. i was interested in playing with time and the potential of the "time loop" and the idea of "witnesses" who can't change the course of events and meditating somewhat on the meaning of american landscape in american mythology...

other than that the novel was heavily inspired as was basically everything i did in the year 2014 by copious weed and slint listening...

here's the tag for inspiration for the novel on my old blog

another band who heavily inspired the vibe is this band from portland called marriage + cancer who used to play in seattle all the time back then. i'm not sure they're still around and not much of their stuff is on the internet anymore but this song "comeuppance" immediately puts me in the mental place...

[katie-the-bug]

Tribulation Force: The Continuing Drama of Katie Getting Angry at a Book

As promised, we immediately return to Tribulation Force. In case you missed the first post, our cast: Rayford Steele, allegedly the greatest pilot in the world; Buck Williams, allegedly the greatest reporter in the world; Chloe Steele, Rayford's daughter and Buck's girlfriend; Bruce Barnes, pastor and expositor; Nicolae Carpathia, Antichrist; Hattie Durham, girlfriend of Antichrist.

The beginning of Chapter 9 is concerned with Buck and Chloe talking themselves in circles about their relationship or lack thereof before finally clearing up a misunderstanding that shouldn't have existed in the first place. Rayford and Buck promptly blame Chloe for making problems out of nothing and generally being a woman unreasonable. I hope somebody dies soon.

Buck: "The issue was the difference in our ages. Then I realized that with only about seven more years ahead of us, that becomes a nonissue." It's official: Buck thinks that the impending end of the world permits being creepy.

NOW Chloe thinks BRUCE wants to date her based on some mysterious flowers that arrived on her doorstep and is talking about how she's going to talk to him about THAT. I'm going to throw myself off a coffee table.

In Chapter 10, Buck has a single, blinding moment of common sense. "The UN signs a peace treaty with Israel and you think it's bigger than the disappearances of billions all over the globe?"

Somewhere in between all the nothing that was going on, Rayford has been offered a job flying Nicolae's plane. He doesn't quite take the job, but he does agree to fly Nicolae to Israel for the treaty signing. In a better story he would be grappling with the possibility of crashing the plane en route, killing himself but possibly killing the Antichrist and saving the world as well. Even if he didn't go through with it, the fallout of his decision would take his character in an interesting direction. Unfortunately Rayford is nothing but a bystander, and the story remains uninteresting.

"Buck laughed, not because the joke was any funnier than the first time, but because it was theirs and it was stupid." Congratulations, authors. You have captured one (1) relatable human experience.

In Chapter 12, a bunch of religious leaders under Nicolae's influence announce their desire to create "an entirely new religion, one that would incorporate the tenets of all." Meaning, for example, a religion that simultaneously believes in one god in one person and one god in three persons and millions of gods and no god and the Flying Spaghetti Monster, all at once. This only makes sense if you, like the authors, believe that the world only has two religions to begin with: True Christianity and Everything Else. The authors believe that Everything Else is fundamentally the same, and thus will eventually come together into a one-world-religion. The authors are crazy.

In Chapter 13, Buck interviews a rabbi during a cab trip, at the end of which the rabbi asks him to pay for it. Buck jokes that he'll do anything short of funding the rabbi's upcoming flight, and the rabbi says, "Now that you mention it-" The greedy Jew stereotype: you hate to see it!

In Chapter 14, Buck goes to Jerusalem to see the two witnesses, who are promptly attacked by a screaming man with a gun who claims to be on a mission from Allah. The violent Muslim stereotype: you hate to see it!

The two witnesses are not killed, because prophecy says they will preach for 1260 days. I think it would be really funny if they died only a few weeks in and threw the prophecy into chaos, but I suppose if I want to see that I'll have to write it myself.

Our new friend Tsion Ben-Judah says of Jesus, "His very name is as profane to the Jew as racial slurs and epithets are to other minorities." The authors have convinced themselves that the only reason Jews aren't Christian is because they hate Jesus personally. Just in case you still thought they had any respect for Judaism at all.

In Chapter 15, it's mentioned that Nicolae will be buying most of the world's media, and we get a list that includes Disney. This has no bearing on the plot, I just find it funny.

We get this in Chapter 16, while the characters are attending the treaty signing: "The Antichrist was on a course foretold centuries before, and the drama would be played out to the end." Followed by: "No one could stem the tide of history." The authors are now trying to convince us that our "heroes" are justified in not doing anything about the impending apocalypse. This book is so dumb.

"The seven-year 'week' had begun. The Tribulation." Wow, what an endi - why are there three more chapters?

In Chapter 17, Tsion goes on TV to discuss the messianic prophecies and criteria he's been studying for years - most of which are only messianic in nature by Christian reckoning. Unsurprisingly, he comes to the conclusion that Jesus was the Messiah and is promptly chased out of the studio. Nicolae remarks, "I would have liked him saying he was the Messiah better," and cements himself as my favorite character.

Chapter 18 begins with the words, "Eighteen months later." You guys realize you're supposed to put the time skip BETWEEN books, right? And with the number of things that have changed in the time skip, I feel like I'm starting another book anyway!

Rayford's narration mentions one "Amanda White," who had been mentioned exactly once before in the story as an acquaintance of his wife's. She is introduced as a good-looking, fashionable woman with a "servant's attitude." An entire romantic arc between her and Rayford is crammed into a summary of the preceding eighteen months, and I'm pretty sure the authors just want to give Rayford a second dead wife in a couple books.

The world has changed in many ways during this time skip - for example, the new world religion is now "Enigma Babylon One World Faith" and Nicolae is now the "Potentate" of the "Global Community." Terrible branding all round.

"The one-world religion was headed by the new Pope Peter..." That'd be Pope Peter II, ya Protestant.

Buck is devising an "anti-Global Community Web site on the Internet." Ah, the 90s.

In Chapter 19, we get the news that Nicolae and Hattie are expecting a baby. I've read enough summaries of this series to know that their relationship won't work out, but I want so bad for them to live happily with their little hellspawn. Hattie deserves it after all the shit these books are putting her through, and having a kid would open up some interesting characterization angles for Nicolae. I would love to see this giving him a genuine motivation to oppose God, as opposed to just being evil for evil's sake - he wants the world to go on so his child can grow up, and if he thinks taking over the world and wiping out Christianity will help, so be it. Excuse me while I outline a fanfiction...."Son of Rome and Babylon," coming probably never!

As of Chapter 19, WWIII has broken out, and it occurs to me - none of these major world events are connected to each other in any way. The Rapture doesn't contribute to the rise of the Antichrist, it merely heralds it. If the treaty with Israel has any bearing on WWIII, the book doesn't say. There isn't even any lead-up to WWIII in this book - we get a minor warning of it a chapter before it happens, and that's it. Jenkins and LaHaye aren't writing a story - they're writing a very elaborate checklist.

On the last page, somebody - Bruce - finally dies. I feel no emotion other than slight disappointment that it took this long.

And that's it for Tribulation Force. It's all downhill from here for characters and reader alike.

[baxterkairos]

THE DOOR THAT STANDS AT THE DOOR AND OPENS THE DOOR, May 15, 2026

God has set a shut door for His people in the past, which is the concealment of His appointed time, and an open door for His people in these last days, which is the revelation of His return.

REVELATION 3:7, 8

(7) …he that OPENETH, and NO MAN SHUTTETH; and SHUTTETH, and NO MAN OPENETH;

(8) …I have SET before thee an OPEN DOOR, and NO MAN can SHUT IT…

Herewith, God forewarned His people in the past to shun any time settings (Revelation 10:4, 6), for His appointed time was yet withheld unto them.

This indicates a shut door whereby no man can open, resulting in several disappointments in previous generations, as many had attempted to predict the set time of Christ’s return despite the given prohibition.

Nonetheless, God has now disclosed the mystery of His appointed time (Romans 16:25), which has been kept secret for ages (Ephesians 3:4-5, Colossians 1:26).

1 CORINTHIANS 16:9 For a GREAT DOOR and effectual is OPENED unto me…

COLOSSIANS 4:3 …that God would OPEN unto us a DOOR OF UTTERANCE, to speak the MYSTERY of Christ…

The word “utterance” in Strong’s Greek #3056 means mental faculty, divine expression, computation, doctrine.

Thus, the wisdom of knowing the exact day of Christ’s coming involves mathematical computation.

Hereupon, as God commanded His people to prophesy again, He gave number 1260 as a hint to be computed for the exact year of His return, 2026.

REVELATION 10:7, 11

(7) …the VOICE of the SEVENTH angel, when he shall begin to SOUND, the MYSTERY of God should be FINISHED…

(11) …Thou must PROPHESY AGAIN before many peoples, and nations…

REVELATION 11:2-4

(3) And I will give power… and they shall PROPHESY A THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED and THREESCORE days…

1260 – A THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED and THREESCORE days (verse3)

1 x 26 = 26

42 – FORTY and TWO months (verse 2)

2 – TWO witnesses (verse 3), 2 – TWO olive trees (verse 4), 2 – TWO candlesticks (verse 4)

4 + 2 + 2 + 2 x 2 = 20

BY USING CONCATENATION: 20 + 26 = 2026

God’s people in these last days will never be ignorant of His appointed time (Acts 17:30-31), for God surely reveals the appointed time of His return.

1 TIMOTHY 6:14, 15

(14) …until the APPEARING of our Lord JESUS CHRIST:

(15) Which in HIS TIMES he shall SHEW…

JOHN 15:15 Henceforth I call you NOT SERVANTS; for the SERVANT KNOWETH NOT… but I have called you FRIENDS; for all things that I have HEARD of my FATHER I have MADE KNOWN unto you.

Christ’s return, which was being depicted as even at the doors, can precisely be known just as the how definite is the summer season.

MARK 13:28-29

(28) Now learn a parable of the fig tree… and putteth forth leaves, YE KNOW that SUMMER is near:

(29) So ye IN LIKE MANNER, when ye shall see these things come to pass, KNOW that it is nigh, even at the DOORS.

A popular belief wherein Christ knew not the day of His return is highly improbable, for Christ, who has been depicted as the door and stands at the door, has likewise opened the door to His people, which signifies the revelation of His appointed time.

REVELATION 3:20 Behold, I STAND at the DOOR, and knock: if any man HEAR my VOICE, and OPEN the DOOR, I will come in to him…

REVELATION 4:1 … a DOOR was OPENED in heaven: and the first VOICE which I heard was as it were of a TRUMPET talking with me… and I will SHEW THEE THINGS which must be HEREAFTER.

JOHN 10:9, 10

(9) I AM the DOOR: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved…

(10) The THIEF COMETH not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I AM COME that they might have LIFE…

Therefore, it would be completely inconsistent with the Bible to claim that Christ is like a thief during His Second Advent, for He comes to give life unto men, whereas a thief would have come to destroy and kill.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

#fypシ #fypシ゚viralシ #fypviralシ #viralvideoシ #viralshorts #fbreelsfypシ゚ #fbreelsvideo #reelsviralシ #reelsfbシ #Jesusiscoming #Rapture #endtimesprophecy #endtimes #endtimesigns #Jerusalem #Yeshua #Apocalypse #apostolic #Armageddon #heaven #bible #prophecy #predictions #doomsday #SignsOfTheTimes #lastdays

[legend-collection]

Western Dragon

The modern, western image of a dragon developed in western Europe during the Middle Ages through the combination of the snakelike dragons of classical Graeco-Roman literature, references to Near Eastern European dragons preserved in the Bible, and western European folk traditions. The period between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries represents the height of European interest in dragons as living creatures. The twelfth-century Welsh monk Geoffrey of Monmouth recounts a famous legend in his Historia Regum Britanniae in which the child prophet Merlin witnesses the Romano-Celtic warlord Vortigern attempt to build a tower on Mount Snowdon to keep safe from the Anglo-Saxons, but the tower keeps being swallowed into the ground. Merlin informs Vortigern that, underneath the foundation he has built, is a pool with two dragons sleeping in it. Vortigern orders for the pool to be drained, exposing a red dragon and a white dragon, who immediately begin fighting. Merlin delivers a prophecy that the white dragon will triumph over the red, symbolizing England's conquest of Wales, but declares that the red dragon will eventually return and defeat the white one. This story remained popular throughout the fifteenth century.

The oldest recognizable image of a fully modern, western dragon appears in a hand-painted illustration from the medieval manuscript MS Harley 3244, which was produced in around 1260 AD. The dragon in the illustration has two sets of wings and its tail is longer than most modern depictions of dragons, but it clearly displays many of the same distinctive features. Dragons are generally depicted as living in rivers or having an underground lair or cave. They are envisioned as greedy and gluttonous, with voracious appetites. They are often identified with Satan, due to the references to Satan as a "dragon" in the Book of Revelation. The thirteenth-century Golden Legend, written in Latin, records the story of Saint Margaret of Antioch, a virgin martyr who, after being tortured for her faith in the Diocletianic Persecution and thrown back into her cell, is said to have been confronted by a monstrous dragon, but she made the sign of the cross and the dragon vanished. In some versions of the story, she is actually swallowed by the dragon alive and, after making the sign of the cross in the dragon's stomach, emerges unharmed.

The legend of Saint George and the Dragon may be referenced as early as the sixth century AD, but the earliest artistic representations of it come from the eleventh century and the first full account of it comes from an eleventh-century Georgian text. The most famous version of the story from the Golden Legend holds that a dragon kept pillaging the sheep of the town of Silene in Libya. After it ate a young shepherd, the people were forced to placate it by leaving two sheep as sacrificial offerings every morning beside the lake where the dragon lived. Eventually, the dragon ate all of the sheep and the people were forced to start offering it their own children. One day, the king's own daughter came up in the lottery and, despite the king's pleas for her life, she was dressed as a bride and chained to a rock beside the lake to be eaten. Then, Saint George arrived and saw the princess. When the dragon arrived to eat her, he stabbed it with his lance and subdued it by making the sign of the cross and tying the princess's girdle around its neck. Saint George and the princess led the now-docile dragon into the town and George promised to kill it if the townspeople would convert to Christianity. All the townspeople converted and Saint George killed the dragon with his sword. In some versions, Saint George marries the princess, but, in others, he continues wandering.

Gargoyles are carved stone figures sometimes resembling dragons that originally served as waterspouts on buildings. Precursors to the medieval gargoyle can be found on ancient Greek and Egyptian temples, but, over the course of the Middle Ages, many fantastic stories were invented to explain them. One medieval French legend holds that, in ancient times, a fearsome dragon known as La Gargouille had been causing floods and sinking ships on the river Seine, so the people of the town of Rouen would offer the dragon a human sacrifice once each year to appease its hunger. Then, in around 600 AD, a priest named Romanus promised that, if the people would build a church, he would rid them of the dragon. Romanus slew the dragon and its severed head was mounted on the walls of the city as the first gargoyle.

Dragons are prominent in medieval heraldry. Uther Pendragon was famously said to have had two gold dragons crowned with red standing back-to-back on his royal coat of arms. Originally, heraldic dragons could have any number of legs, but, by the late Middle Ages, due to the widespread proliferation of bestiaries, heraldry began to distinguish between a "dragon" (which could only have exactly four legs) and a "wyvern" (which could only have exactly two). In myths, wyverns are associated with viciousness, envy, and pestilence, but, in heraldry, they are used as symbols for overthrowing the tyranny of Satan and his demonic forces. Late medieval heraldry also distinguished a draconic creature known as a "cockatrice". A cockatrice is supposedly born when a serpent hatches an egg that has been laid on a dunghill by a rooster and it is so venomous that its breath and its gaze are both lethal to any living creature, except for a weasel, which is the cockatrice's mortal enemy. A basilisk is a serpent with the head of a dragon at the end of its tail that is born when a toad hatches an egg that has been laid in a midden by a nine-year-old cockatrice. Like the cockatrice, its glare is said to be deadly.

Pic from Flight Of Dragons

[notesonfilm1]

  Burt Lancaster got his contract with Hal B. Wallis at Paramount on the basis of a test directed by Byron Haskin with Wendell Corey and Lizabeth Scott for Desert Fury. Lucky for him, the film was not ready to shoot for another six months and he was able to fit in Robert Siodmak’s The Killers(1946)  for producer Mark Hallinger at Universal beforehand. Desert Fury started shooting two weeks before the release of The Killers but there were already whisperings of Lancaster as a big new star, and the whisperings were so loud that Hallinger gave him first billing and a big publicity build-up rather than the little ‘and introducing….’ title at the end of the credits that was then typical, and is indeed the billing offered Wendell Corey in Desert Fury as you can see in the poster above. Before Desert Fury started shooting, Hal Wallis knew he had a big fat star on his hands and that his part had to be beefed up so as to capitalise on it.

By the time the film was released on September 24th, 1947,, Burt Lancaster was the biggest star in the film. The Killers hit screens on the 29th of August 1946. As Kate Buford writes, Ít was an extraordinary debut for a complete unknown. Overnight he was a star with a meteoric rise ¨faster than Gable´s, Garbo´s or Lana Turner,¨as Cosmopolitan said years later (Buford, loc 1260). In New York the movie, ‘played twenty-four hours a day at the Winter Garden theatre, ‘where over 120,000 picture-goers filled the 1,300 seat theatre in the first two weeks, figures Variety called “unbelievably sensational.”‘ Brute Force was the fourth film Lancaster made, after I Walk Alone, but it was the second to be released, on June 30th 1947. According to Kate Buford, it too ‘set set first-week records at movie houses across the country’ (loc 1412).

  Lancaster’s status as a star is reflected in the lobby card and poster above, where in spite of being billed third, what´s being sold is what Burt Lancaster already represented, the publicity materials giving a false impression that he is much more central to the narrative than is in fact the case. His image dominates in both, and even the tag lines are attributed to him: ‘I got a memory for faces…killer´s faces…Get away from my girl…and get going’, is the tagline in the lobby card. The text on the poster reads, ´Two men wanted her love…the third wanted her life.

  In the ad below, he´s billed second, as ´the sensation of The Killers, Dynamite with the fuse lit’

When trying to recapture a past moment in relation to cinema, it´s often useful to look at trailers and other paratextual publicity materials. Trailers hold and try to disseminate the film´s promise to viewers. Of course, its purpose is to sell, to dramatise its attractions so that viewers will go see it. And of course, they often lie, dramatising not what is but what they hope will sell. That said, those promises, lies and hopes are often very revealing.

  As you can see above, the trailer is selling melodrama — violent passions — in a magnificent natural setting filmed in Technicolor. Burt Lancaster’s name is only mentioned 39 second into the 1.41 trailer, after Lizabeth Scott with her strangeness and her defiance of convention and after John Hodiak with his secrets and coiled snakeyness. And Lancaster’s introduced as ‘hammer fisted’ Tom Hanson, erroneously giving the impression that this will be an action film. But note too that by the end of the trailer, Lancaster is given top billing.

According to Kate Buford, in Burt Lancaster: An American Life, Lancaster thought ‘Desert Fury would not have lunched anybody’, later ‘dismissing it as having ‘starred a station wagon’ (loc 1157). The film is really a series of triangles: Eddie (John Hodiak) and Tom (Burt Lancaster) are both in love with Paula (Lizabeth Scott), Fritzy (Mary Astor) has already had an affair with Tom who is currently pursuing an affair with her daughter Paula, Paula and Johnny (Wendell Corey) are both in love with Eddie etc. I have made a not-quite-video essay that nonetheless well illustrates the Johnny-Eddie-Paula triangle, surely one of the queerest of the classic period, which can be seen here:

Tom is really a fifth wheel in the narrative. But by the time the film started shooting, Burt Lancaster was already the biggest star in it.  His part was beefed up to take his new status into account, scenes were added, According to Gary Fishgall, the film was based on a 1945 novel, Desert Town by Ramona Stewart, and ‘ Lancaster’s role was an amalgam of two of the novel’s characters: the embittered, sadistic deputy sheriff, Tom Hansen, and a likeable highway patrolman named Luke Sheridan. Neither character was romantically linked to Paula (p.55). But in the film, he ends up with Lizabeth Scott at the end. All these additions probably contributed to the film seeming so structurally disjointed.

In Desert Fury Tom, a former rodeo rider, just hangs around waiting for Paula to get wise to Eddie, leaving her enough rope to act freely, as he does with colts when taming them, but not enough so that she hangs herself, or so he thinks. Really, he’s extraneous. He gets to walk into the sunset with Paula at the end of the film but the film really ends once Paula and Fritzy kiss, on the lips. He certainly doesn’t get much to do during it, except for a couple of great scenes where Fritzy tries to buy him into marrying her daughter (above) and another bit of banter when she thinks he’s come to accept her offer (below). Mary Astor steals both scenes. In fact she steals everything. Every time she appears, her wit, weariness, intelligence, the intensity of her love for her daughter — she lifts the film to a level it probably doesn’t deserve to be in. But Lancaster is good. These are the only scenes in the film where he looks like he’s enjoying himself.

Tom is the closest the film has to a ´normal character’. Indeed, aside from the character he plays in All My Sons (1948) this is the closest he’d come to such a type during the whole of his period in film noir in the late 40s and which includes all of his films up to The Flame and the Arrow in 1950. Even in Variety Girl, which is an all-star comedy where he and Lizabeth Scott spoof  the hardboiled characters they’re associated with, the surprise is that they’ve already created personas to spoof in such a short time (see below).

    According to Fishgall, ‘Lancaster –billed third before the film’s title — acquitted himself well in the essentially thankless other man’ role. Still, if Desert Fury had marked his screen debut as originally planned, it is unlikely that he would have achieved stardom quite so quickly. Not only did the film lack the stylish impact of The Killers, but so did the actor. Without the smouldering intensity of the Swede and his first pictures’ moody black and white photography, he appeared to be more of a regular fellow, and guy-next-door types rarely become overnight sensations’ (p. 67).

In Desert Fury we’re told that unlike the drugstore cowboys who are now criticising him, Tom used to be the best rodeo rider there was but a while back, whilst wrestling a steer, he got thrown off and is now all busted up inside. Being ‘busted up inside’ is what all the characters Burt Lancaster plays in the late ’40s have in common. He thinks of returning to the rodeo all the time but knows he can never be as good. He used to be a champ, now all he can hope for is to be second best. He knows he ‘ain’t got what it takes anymore’. He’s in love with Paula and she knows it. But she doesn’t know what she wants. He think he does: ‘you’re looking for what I used to get when I rode in the rodeo.  The kick of having people say “that’s a mighty special person” I’d like to get that kick again. Maybe I can get it with just one person saying it’. He will, but he’ll have to wait until the end of the movie.

But even in this,  Lancaster doesn´t play entirely nicey-poo, true-blue, throughout, and his Tom is given moments of wanton bullying and cruelty where he gets to abuse Eddie just because he’s a cop and wants to. And it´s interesting that it´s that moment, which jives so well with the ´brute force´Lancaster was already known for, and which would attach itself to his persona for many a year, that is the one chosen for the trailer.

According to Robyn Karney, in Burt Lancaster: A Singular Man, ‘As the straightforward moral law officer in a small Arizona town who rescues the object of his affections from the dangerous clutches of a murderous professional gambler, Burt had little to do other than look strong, handsome and reliable. Despite Wallis’ much vaunted rewrites, the role of the Sheriff Tom Hanson remained stubbornly secondary and uninteresting, with the limelight focused on John Hodiak as the villain, fellow contract players Elizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey’ (p.31).

  I mainly agree with Robyn Karney except for four points, two textual and stated above: the first is that even in this Lancaster is playing a failure, someone once a somebody that people talked about but now all busted up inside; the second is that that element of being ´busted up inside´leads to a longing that gets displaced onto Paula. If the rodeo is what made feel alive and gave him a reason to live before his accident, now it´s Paula, and the idea that she might also be an unobtainable goal  leads to his outbursts of unprovoked violence towards the rival for his affections, Eddie (John Hodiak).

The other two points of interest are extra textual. Desert Fury is gloriously filmed by Charles Lang. A few years later, in Rope of Fury, Lang would film Lancaster as a beauty queen: eyelashes, shadows and smoke, lips and hair (see below):

  Here, even with his pre-stardom teeth and his bird´s nest of a hairdo, Lancaster sets the prototype for the Malboro Man:

He looks good in technicolour, and Lang brings out the blue of his eyes:

  More importantly, the film visualises him, for the first time, as Wester Hero, a genre that would become a mainstay of his career from Vengeance Valley (1951) right through Ulzana´s Raid (1972) and even onto Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1981):

  Desert Fury was not well reviewed. According to the Daily Herald ‘The acting is first-class. But except for Mr. Lancaster as a speed cop, the characters in the Arizona town with their lavish clothes and luxury roadsters, are contemptible to the point of being more than slightly nauseating’ (cited in Hunter p. 27),

The Monthly Film Bulletin labelled the film a western melodrama, claiming, surprisingly, that ‘The vivid technicolor and grand stretches of burning Arizona desert give a certain air of reality to the film’. Hard for us to see this thrillingly melodramatic film, lurid, in every aspect, evaluated in the light of realism. The MFB continued with, ´This reality is however counteracted by the way in which the sharply defined, but extremely unnatural characters act. Everything is over dramatised, and the title is a mystery in that the desert is comparatively peaceful compared with the way the human beings behaved…Lizabeth Scott is suitably beautiful as Paula and Burt Lancaster suitably tough as Tom. (Jan 1, 1947, p. 139)

Thus, we can see that on the evidence above, the film was badly reviewed, Time magazine going so far as to call it, ‘impossible to take with a straight face’ (Buford, loc1293). But Burt Lancaster´s performance was either exempted from the criticism or its faults where attributed to the film rather than to himself. More importantly still, the film was a hit, Burt Lancaster´s third in a row. Finally, as I´ve discussed elsewhere, the film is now considered by many a kind of camp classic,  a leading example of noir in technicolor as well as arguably the gayest film ever produced in the classic period. 

  José Arroyo

  Burt Lancaster in Desert Fury: Third Film, Fifth Wheel Burt Lancaster got his contract with Hal B. Wallis at Paramount on the basis of a test directed by Byron Haskin with Wendell Corey and Lizabeth Scott for…

[god-whispers]

jul 6

will you hear the clarion call

"therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.  others said, 'an angel has spoken to Him.'" john 12:29  "and the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one." acts 9:7

when the trumpet is blown and the clarion call is given: "come up here" (rev 11:12) - will you hear it distinctly or will it just sound like an indistinct voice?

the two witnesses, after they had prophesied for 1260 days and their death had been celebrated, heard the call.  even death was not sufficient to deaden their hearing.  and yet, there are many even now who will only hear perhaps a thunder or an indistinct voice.  it is because they do not know their Father's voice.  if He's not the actual One blowing the trumpet, He surely will be the One Who commands it's blowing.

in 2 kings 10 jehu, the righteous king seeking to destroy all the worshipers of baal, called a solemn assembly seeking to gather them all together for destruction.  the king then gave orders: "then jehu sent throughout all israel; and all the worshipers of baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come.  so they came into the temple of baal, and the temple of baal was full from one end to the other.  and he said to the one in charge of the wardrobe, 'bring out vestments for all the worshipers of Baal.'  so he brought out vestments for them.  then jehu and jehonadab the son of rechab went into the temple of baal, and said to the worshipers of baal, 'search and see that no servants of the Lord are here with you, but only the worshipers of baal.'  so they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.  now jehu had appointed for himself eighty men on the outside, and had said, 'if any of the men whom i have brought into your hands escapes, whoever lets him escape, it shall be his life for the life of the other.” 2 kings 21-24

(this makes me think of the rapture.  our Lord will make sure believers are safely removed before His wrath is delivered.  and yes, i still think it will take a special commitment to become the bride of Christ, but there will be many attendees to the wedding feast and the seating order will matter.  this story of jehu is illustrative of how the wrath is reserved for only those who have not adorned themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.  the wrath is reserved for the unbelieving only.  (that is not to say how bad satan or the world makes things before we leave, but it will not be God's wrath.)

i fear there are many who are now deadening their ears to hear that clarion call - just a thunder or perhaps an indistinct voice will be their reaction.  there ears and lives are trained to worship at the feet of another.  they are encouraged to dress in their garments of worship:  fornication, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, sodomy, thievery, covetousness, drunkenness, extortion.  the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sorcerers, these are the garments they adorn themselves in.  (it is not me saying this - it is the word of God saying it.)

anything that is put before the Creator is an idol that must be extinguished.  it all goes back to the beginning when satan teased in the garden "you will be like God". gen 3:5  mankind has sought that every since, putting self as god instead.  that is why the flesh must be crucified.  God, in His great mercy and love, sought to redeem those who would open their eyes to the truth.  but make no mistake - the lamb of God came only once, the wrath of the lamb is soon to come and none shall escape.

"therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?" 2 pet 3:11  the word tells us to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." rom 13:12  (He is the garment we dress in.)  it admonishes that while "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age". titus 2:12

i think whether we follow that admonishment or not will determine whether we hear that clarion call or not.  the word says, "to those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation." heb 9:28  are you looking?  are you listening?  are you eagerly waiting?  or are you one of those who the word warns of, "because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold." matt 24:12  growing cold will leave you out in the cold.  or more precisely, out in "the lake of fire ... the second death." rev 20:14  recently i spoke of "holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." heb 12:14  God chastises us so "we may be partakers of His holiness". heb 12:10

i say none of this to put anyone in fear or doubt.  on the contrary: "look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." luke 21:28  often i have heard people exclaim, "wouldn't it be great to live in biblical times".  well, rejoice, because we are now in biblical times.  never have i seen such expectancy in the air.  never have i seen so many lay people warning and teaching others - some beyond the limits of their knowledge.  (perhaps there are those who would put me in that category also.)  all in know is we are all trying to listen to the Holy Spirit and walk in what we know to walk in.  believe me, i know how easily the flesh can creep in.  and "holier than thou" is always seeking entrance at the door.

as long as we seek the truth and try to deliver it in humility and love, we do well.  "and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying,  this is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." isa 30:21 kjv  but the truth we have, we must deliver.  "narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." matt 7:14  we leave judgment to others.  the wrath of the lamb is coming and He will judge in righteousness.  nothing is hidden from from His knowing.  all the good, bad and the ugly is up for judgment.

i for one, choose to know His grace instead of His judgment.  God warns, "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live." deut 30:19

the choice is ours.  it's always ours.  it's called "free will".

[numbersbythebook]

The 11th Hebrew Letter Kaf & the 11th Chapter of Revelation

written by Will Schumacher

The eleventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the kaf.

The pictograph of the kaf is the palm of the hand.  The word kaf means palm or spoon and what is in the possession of the palm or spoon. When the “kaf” follows a word it means possession.

When the kaf is prefixed to a word it acts like a preposition meaning “to be like” or “as”.

When you read the 11th chapter of Revelation you see the Two Witnesses are treated like (kaf) Jesus was treated at His first coming. The Two Witnesses are the Church and the Church was promised by Christ to be treated as (kaf) He was treated.

Jesus says the world will hate the Church just as it hated Him:

John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

We see the Two Witnesses are left for dead and no one will bury them.  Burial of family members is sacred to the Jewish people.  To say a family member would leave a relative unburied and lying in the street is another way of saying that the dead member was hated and disowned.

Revelation 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

Their dead bodies will lie in the same place that Jesus was crucified, again identifying the death of the Two Witnesses with the death of Jesus.

Revelation 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified

The world rejoiced over the death of Jesus:

John 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

The world rejoices over the death of the Two Witnesses:

Revelation 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

Jesus was resurrected and taken up in a cloud while He was beheld by His disciples:

Acts 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

The Two Witnesses are resurrected and taken up in a cloud while they are beheld by their enemies:

Revelation 11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

Chapter 11 is about the Church being like “kaf” Christ.  It begins with John being given a rod to “measure” the temple of God:

Revelation 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

To “measure” means to see if it is fit, to inspect it, to evaluate it.  Are we like (kaf) Christ?

In chapter 11 we are first introduced to the concept originally found in Daniel of the times time and half.  Here it is called 42 months, 1260 days, and 3 ½ days:

Revelation 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. Revelation 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. Revelation 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

Revelation 11:11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

The Tabernacle had 11 curtains of goat’s hair for a covering:

Exodus 26:7 And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make

This is Bible verse 2243.  Strongs G2243 = Elijah.

Sackcloth is made of goat’s hair.  Just like the 11 curtains of goat’s hair on the Tabernacle.

The 2 witnesses are clothed in sackcloth. There are 11 curtains measuring 30 cubits by 4 cubits joined together to become one:

Exodus 26:8 The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and the eleven curtains shall be all of one measure.

However the last curtain is to be doubled back. This is important:

Exodus 26:9 And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle.

Each of the 11 curtains is 120 sq cubits.  When it is joined as one it is 11 x 120 sq cubits or 1320 sq cubits.  However God commanded that the last curtain is to be doubled back.  So from a size perspective you lose ½ a curtain or 60 sq ft.  So the actual size of the goats hair covering is 1260 sq cubits. Elijah prophesied for 3 ½ years and the Two Witnesses will prophesy for 1260 days:

Luke 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;

Revelation11:3 And I will give power unto my Two Witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth

That’s not all. The length of the goat’s hair curtain is 30 cubits.  The breadth of the curtain when doubled back is 10.5 curtains x 4 cubits each or 42 cubits.  The perimeter of this curtain then is 144 cubits.  (30 +30 + 42 + 42) 144 is a completion number used of the 144,000 sealed in Revelation 7 and the 144,000 standing with the Lamb on Mt Zion in Revelation 14. 144 is the gematria of Lazarus which I have posted about also. 144 is the measurement of the wall of New Jerusalem:

Revelation 21:17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

So the 144,000, the Two Witnesses, the wall of New Jerusalem, they all speak of the same thing, the Church filled with the Holy Spirit which the Temple and Tabernacle typed.  The 1260 days is the time of the Church preparing a way for the Lord.

The Two Witnesses stand before God: Revelation 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

There are only 2 people in all the Bible that say they stand before God and they are both introduced in the 11th book of the Bible, Elijah and Elisha.  They are pictures of the Church filled with the Holy Spirit:

1 Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 1 Kings 18:15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day. 2 Kings 3:14 And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. 2 Kings 5:16 But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.

Elijah was called a “lord of hair”.  He wore a mantle of hair, quite possibly goat’s hair matching the 1260 sq cubit goat’s covering of the Tabernacle. John the Baptist is also a clear type of the Spirit-filled church.  He preached the first coming of the Lord.  The Spirit filled church preaches the second coming of the Lord.  John was likened to Elijah, clothed in camel’s hair.  Mark Biltz had a good study on the camel hair is a picture of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey

2 Kings 1:8 And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.

Jesus tells us that John is the Elijah prophesied to come.

Mat 11:14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.

The Church is now “Elijah” prophesying by the Holy Spirit the coming of the Lord.

Elijah shut up the heavens for 3 ½ years: Luke 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;

The Two Witnesses are like “kaf” Elijah. Revelation 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

Chapter 11 ends with the 7th trumpet. As chapter 10 foretold, the sounding of the 7th trumpet brings the end of the mystery of God, which is the Church. As I said earlier attaching the 11th Hebrew letter kaf to the end of a word means “possession”.  Christ takes possession:

Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. Revelation 11:17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

We then see God’s wrath come. Strong’s G3709 = ”wrath” . The word “kaf” is Strong’s H3709:

Revelation 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Lastly we see a Tishri 10, Day of Atonement allusion:

Revelation 11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

The only time the Holy of Holies is opened and the eyes of a man could see the ark of the covenant is on Tishri 10, the Day of Atonement. This day is a day of vengeance:

Isaiah 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

My thought is that either God’s wrath begins or ends on this day.

[jesus-thenameaboveeveryname]

53 Assumption that 2300 days end in the half point of the last1week

Assumption  that 2300 days end in the half point of the last1week

= The 2300 days begin 1040  days before the last1week begins

Before the last1week begins

1st half of the last1week

Half point of the last1week

 *Thrown down of the temple

*Abolition of the sacrifice

*Persecution of the saints

*The son of destruction in the temple building

*Abolition of the sacrifice

*Persecution of the saints

*1st resurrection

*Atonement for the true temple

1040

1260

 2300

Cleansing of the sanctuary

Question

2300 days after the abolition of the regular  sacrifice, the sanctuary is cleansed.[1] 1335  days after the abolition of the regular sacrifice, a blessed event takes  place.[2] If  the regular sacrifice was abolished 1040 days before the beginning of the  last1week, a blessed event must take place (1335 - 1040 =) 295 days after the  beginning of the last1week. To support this view, it would be necessary to be  able to explain what it is.

 Assumption that 2300 days  are over at the end of the last1week

= 220 days after the  beginning of the last1week, 2300 days begin

1st half of the last1week

Half point of the last1week

2nd half of the last1week

*End of sin

*Cleansing of the sanctuary

*Judgment of the beasts

*Imprisonment of Satan

*The son of destruction

*Abolition of the sacrifice

*Persecution of the saints

*Thrown down of the temple

*Abolition of the sacrifice

*Persecution of the saints

*1st resurrection

*Atonement

 220

1040

 1260

 2300

Question

After the 1st resurrection, there are no  more saints on the earth. If anyone rejects the mark of the beast666, he/she  will be recognized as a martyr witness[3] and  will be caught up into the air.[4] After  the 1st resurrection, there are only beast worshipers who have received the  mark of the beast666 on the earth. The trampling of the saints ends at the  end of the 2300 days. All the period of the 2nd half of the last1week are  included in the 2300 days, how can the saints be trampled upon on the earth  where there are no saints on the earth? To support this view, it seems  necessary to be able to explain it.

 Destruction of the sanctuary  and cleansing of the sanctuary

By  connecting the destruction of the sanctuary with the last1week

2300 days[5]

Last1week[6]

Reign of the beast[7]

Thrown down of the temple

Abolition  of the sacrifice

Persecution  of the saints

Abomination  of desolation[8]

Abolition  of the sacrifice

Persecution  of the saints

The  son of destruction stands

Beast  worship=mark of the beast[9]

Persecution  of the saints

By  connecting the cleansing of the sanctuary with the last1week

2300 days[10]

Last1week[11]

Day of Atonement

*Cleansing of the sanctuary

*Finish of the transgression

*End of sin

*Atonement for iniquity

*Everlasting righteousness

*Atonement for the true temple[12]

= 1st resurrection (Coming to the air[13]) + 7 plagues

*Atonement for Hades

= Judgment on the beasts[14] (Coming to  the earth[15])

*Abyss imprisonment Azazel Satan[16]

[1] Dan.8:11 Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and it took away from him the continual [burnt offering], and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. The host was given over [to it] together with the continual [burnt offering] through disobedience; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did [its pleasure] and prospered. Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, How long shall be the vision [concerning] the continual [burnt-offering], and the disobedience that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? He said to me, To two thousand and three hundred evenings [and] mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

[2] Dan.12:11 From the time that the continual [burnt offering] shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred thirty-five days.

[3] Rev.20:4 I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn't worship the beast nor his image, and didn't receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived, and reigned with Christ for the thousand years. The rest of the dead didn't live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

[4] 1Thess.4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God's trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.

[5] Dan.8:13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, How long shall be the vision [concerning] the continual [burnt-offering], and the disobedience that makes desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

[6] Dan.9:27 He shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week(view2:for half of the week) he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on the wing of abominations [shall come] one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, shall [wrath] be poured out on the desolate.

[7] Rev.13:7 It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been killed.

[8] Matt.24:15 "When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

 Dan.12:11 From the time that the continual [burnt offering] shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred ninety days.

[9] Rev.13:16 He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, so that they should give them marks on their right hand, or on their forehead; and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six.

[10] Dan.8:14 He said to me, To two thousand and three hundred evenings [and] mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

[11] Dan.9:24 Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.

[12] Lev.16:17 There shall be no one in the Tent of Meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, and has made atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.

 Rev.15:8 The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power. No one was able to enter into the temple, until the seven plagues of the seven angels would be finished.

[13] 1Thess.4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God's trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.

[14] Rev.19:19 I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse, and against his army. The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. They two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

[15] Rev.19:14 The armies which are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in white, pure, fine linen. Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with a rod of iron. He treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.

[16] Lev.16:20 "When he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness.

 Rev.20:2 He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.

[olko71]

New Post has been published on All about business online

New Post has been published on http://yaroreviews.info/2021/06/the-apple-microsoft-tech-war-reignites-for-a-new-era

The Apple-Microsoft Tech War Reignites for a New Era

A new clash of tech titans is taking shape as Apple Inc. AAPL -0.22% and Microsoft Corp. MSFT -0.63% reignite a feud that dates back to the formative days of the personal computer era.

The companies’ co-founders, Apple’s Steve Jobs and Bill Gates at Microsoft, battled early in their history before largely burying the hatchet. In recent months, both companies have taken up arms again in a skirmish that is roiling other tech companies and their customers.

Apple, in its legal fight with Epic Games Inc., accused Microsoft of being the puppet master behind the game maker’s case. Epic Games has accused the iPhone maker of anticompetitive practices, while Microsoft has blamed Apple for restricting its ability to reach users with its own videogame service.

On Thursday, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella launched Windows 11 with what was widely seen as a swipe at Apple and the controls it wields over its iPhone App Store, but without mentioning the rival directly. Both companies are positioning themselves for an impending battle over the augmented and virtual reality market that is seen as the next major frontier in computing.

“The world needs a more open platform—one that allows apps to become platforms in their own right,” Mr. Nadella said Thursday during a virtual event.

Apple has defended its tight controls over its App Store as offering users greater privacy protection and cybersecurity. Others, including Facebook Inc. and Epic Games, claim the company is unfairly wielding its power to control access to more than one billion iPhone users.

Mr. Nadella is casting Microsoft as the defender of developers and a good partner. The company teamed up with Amazon.com Inc., for instance, to bring the e-commerce giant’s version of Google’s Android apps to Windows 11 users, while Apple has been doubling down on its walled garden of devices and apps.

‘The world needs a more open platform—one that allows apps to become platforms in their own right,’ Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during a virtual event launching Windows 11.

Photo: Microsoft

It is somewhat of a role reversal. In the past, Apple was seen as the scrappy underdog beloved by content creators fighting a heavy-handed monopolist.

Apple and Microsoft are the oldest of the modern tech titans, founded back in the mid-1970s. As young men, Messrs. Jobs and Gates feuded for years. Mr. Jobs at one point accused Microsoft of stealing Apple’s ideas and having a poorly designed product. They publicly called a truce around 1997 soon after Mr. Jobs returned to run the company he helped create. That year Mr. Gates invested $150 million in Apple, giving a badly needed cash infusion and lifeline for Mr. Jobs’s second act.

The companies still took occasional swipes at each other. Apple ran TV spots making fun of PC users, prompting Microsoft to launch a countercampaign.

Mr. Jobs at one point reflected that the rivalry had become unhealthy. “If the game was a zero-sum game, where for Apple to win Microsoft had to lose then Apple was going to lose,” he said in a joint interview with Mr. Gates at a Wall Street Journal conference in 2009, a time the software giant was much larger. “We tried to patch things up,” Mr. Jobs said.

Windows 11, due out later this year, is full of new features, including a new Start menu that has been moved to the center and a Microsoft Store with Android apps. In an interview, WSJ’s Joanna Stern spoke with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella about the software, the influence of the pandemic and his strategy of competing with Google and Apple. Photo illustration: Alex Kuzoian/The Wall Street Journal. An earlier version of the closed captions incorrectly transcribed Mr. Nadella’s name.

Until recently, a new generation of leadership at both companies seemed inclined to keep the peace publicly. Tim Cook took over from Mr. Jobs at Apple in 2011, and Mr. Nadella became Microsoft’s CEO in 2014. One of Mr. Nadella’s first big public actions was to bring the company’s Office productivity applications to Apple’s iPad tablet.

“Microsoft and Apple have been bitter enemies and frenemies, it’s gone back and forth,” Patrick Moorhead, president of the technology firm Moor Insights & Strategy, said. “They’re back at enemies.”

Now the two contenders have become America’s principal business superpowers, the only two U.S. companies to be valued at around $2 trillion or more. Both have more than 140,000 employees on their payroll, and their combined annual sales top $400 billion.

At the heart of the current dispute is the power Apple wields as the gatekeeper over who and what is distributed on the iPhone. Microsoft has been vocal in criticizing limits that it sees as hampering the growth of its own booming videogaming business.

Microsoft this year backed videogame creator Epic Games when it sued Apple for what it alleged are anticompetitive practices that the Cupertino, Calif.-based company denies. Apple takes as much as a 30% cut for in-app sales made when the software is downloaded through the App Store.

Epic Games called Lori Wright, Microsoft’s vice president of business development for gaming, media and entertainment, as a witness to talk about her failed attempt to bring a bundled videogame streaming service called Game Pass Ultimate to Apple’s App Store. Apple, she said, treated Microsoft’s offering in a way that was different from how it handled streaming services provided by other companies such as Netflix Inc.

In a court filing, Apple tried to discredit her testimony and raise questions about the motives of other Epic witnesses, suggesting Microsoft was pulling the strings behind Epic’s legal action.

Microsoft has said it is lowering the cut it takes on content sold on its new app store.

Photo: Microsoft

“A reasonable observer might wonder whether Epic is serving as a stalking horse for Microsoft,” Apple said in a court filing. “Yet Microsoft shielded itself from meaningful discovery in this litigation by not appearing as a party or sending a corporate representative to testify.”

A judge is expected to rule on the overall case in the coming weeks.

While Microsoft said it is lowering the cut it takes on content sold on its new app store, the company will continue to take 30% on games sold on its Xbox console.

Both Apple and Microsoft have other companies they spar with. Apple and Facebook have been at loggerheads over the tracking of user data, and Microsoft’s list of rivals spans Amazon’s cloud-computing business and companies such as Zoom Video Communications Inc. and Slack Technologies Inc.

But none of those disputes come with the same history.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

Will the Windows 11 launch deepen the rifts between Apple and Microsoft? Why or why not? Join the conversation below.

Things are also heating up as both Apple and Microsoft are preparing to win in the still-nascent augmented reality market, in which digital information is overlaid in the real world. Microsoft is already selling its HoloLens headset, and Apple is expected to unveil its device as soon as next year.

“We’re taking a perspective that it’s going to be open,” Alex Kipman, a Microsoft Technical Fellow, said of the emerging market. “None of this ’you have to go through our app store and pay tax,’” he said last month at The Wall Street Journal’s The Future of Everything Festival.

Industry officials expect Apple to carry its App Store rules into the virtual world. Apple hasn’t commented on its plans.

“It’s definitely heating up,” said Gene Munster, a longtime observer of both companies and managing partner at Loup Ventures, a venture-capital firm specializing in tech research. “Augmented reality is really important, and that’s the next window for Microsoft to get back into growth mode…and Apple obviously wants to kind of defend their mobile turf.”

—For more WSJ Technology analysis, reviews, advice and headlines, sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Write to Tim Higgins at Tim.Higgins@WSJ.com and Aaron Tilley at aaron.tilley@wsj.com

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

[stvincentk]

Revelation 2020 / 47

We have discovered the two witnesses of Revelation 11.  Let’s now explain Revelation 11:3. Revelation 11:3  And I will give power to my two witnesses and they will prophecy for 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth. The two witnesses (Christian believers and God’s word) will prophecy for 1260 days. How long is 1260 days?  Let’s […]

Revelation 2020 / 47

[plong42]

The Death of the Two Witnesses – Revelation 11:7-14

The Death of the Two Witnesses – Revelation 11:7-14 -

After 1260 days of ministry, the “beast that comes from the bottomless pit” will attack and kill the two witnesses. This is the first time Revelation refers to the beast, and it is a bit surprising since the beast is not fully explained until chapter 13. Who is this beast ascending from the bottomless pit?

John develops an important image from Daniel describing a progression of human kingdoms as…

[baxterkairos]

NOAH KNEW THE FLOOD, SO ARE WE OF CHRIST’S RETURN, May 15, 2026

God gave 120 years of probationary period in the days of Noah (Genesis 6:3), which has been preached and made known to all people.

Thus, those who mocked the message of God’s appointed time were all devastated by the flood, while Noah and his family, who knew and believed, had prepared and were being saved (Hebrews 11:7).

MATTHEW 24:37-39

(37) But as the DAYS of NOE were, so shall also the COMING of the SON of man be.

(38) …they were eating and drinking… until the day that NOE ENTERED into the ARK,

(39) And KNEW NOT until the flood came, and TOOK THEM all away…

1 CHRONICLES 12:32 …which were men that had UNDERSTANDING of the TIMES, to KNOW WHAT Israel ought TO DO…

God placed the exact year of His return in the days of Noah, as it foretells His Second Advent.

GENESIS 6:3, 15, 10, 16, 19

12 – HUNDRED and TWENTY years (verse 3)

3 – THREE HUNDRED cubits (verse 15)

5 – FIFTY cubits (verse 15)

3 – THIRTY CUBITS (verse 15)

12 x 35 x 3 = 1260

3 – THREE sons (verse 10)

2 – SECOND (verse 16)

3 – THIRD stories (verse 16)

2 – TWO (verse 19)

3 + 2 + 3 + 2 = 10

1260 + 10 = 2260 (flipped figure of 2026)

Christ has withheld the revelation of His return to His people in the past, for He will not come in their time.

ACTS 1:6-8

(6) …Lord, wilt thou at THIS TIME RESTORE again the KINGDOM to Israel?

(7) …It is NOT FOR YOU to KNOW the TIMES or the SEASONS…

(8) But ye shall RECEIVE POWER, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be WITNESSES unto me…

However, God assures His people that in these last days, He will now disclose the definite time of His return that has been kept secret for ages.

JOHN 16:12, 13

(12) I have yet many things to SAY unto you, but ye CANNOT BEAR them NOW.

(13) Howbeit when he, the SPIRIT of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth… and he will SHEW you THINGS to COME.

Additionally, God would not have His people ignorant of the day of His return (1 Thessalonians 4:13, 16-17), for He has aforetime appointed a day in which He will judge the world (Acts 17:30, 31).

God called His people, who were the children of light, as His friends, for He revealed unto them His appointed time, which was likewise known by the Father.

JOHN 15:15 …I have called you FRIENDS; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made KNOWN unto you.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:2, 4-5, 20-21

(2) …that the DAY of the Lord so COMETH as a THIEF in the night.

(4) But ye, brethren, are NOT in DARKNESS, that that DAY should OVERTAKE you as a THIEF.

(5) Ye are all the children of LIGHT… we are NOT of the NIGHT, NOR of DARKNESS.

(20) DESPISE NOT PROPHESYINGS.

(21) Prove all things; HOLD FAST that which is GOOD.

Herewith, Christ’s return will only overtake as a thief in the night to those who were in darkness being willfully ignorant, for they despise the prophesying of God’s appointed time.

The belief that Christ’s return will not be known is clearly a deceptive doctrine taught by false prophets and teachers (Matthew 24:3, 24, 26).

Moreover, those who conform to the fallacious teachings of these false teachers will likewise be delivered to a dreadful destruction similar to the fall of Jerusalem, for it will have a global destruction in these last days (Luke 19:41-44).

The scripture has plainly expounded that God surely reveals His appointed time in these last days (Amos 3:7).

LUKE 12:2 For there is NOTHING COVERED, that shall NOT be REVEALED; NEITHER HID, that shall NOT be KNOWN.

Hereby, the gospel of God’s set time is hidden from those who have been lost in their faith.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:3 But if our GOSPEL be HID, it is HID to them that are LOST:

MARK 1:15 The TIME IS FULFILLED, and the kingdom of God is at hand: REPENT ye, and BELIEVE the gospel.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

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[automaticvr]

DAY 1260. Like yesterday, this form also nourishes the central nervous system. And like Wise Owl, today’s form is one of the Eight Brocades, also known as the Ba Duan Jin. In the description that accompanies this form’s Qigong Lesson Film, I write: “All aspects in existence that do not hold form offer us the beautiful opportunity to go beyond the current understanding and beliefs we hold. If a thing cannot be seen, touched, or heard, if it has no scent nor even a taste for us to gain some sense of it, humans have a tendency to resist accepting a thing’s rightful place in our reality.” Up until recently the concept of a pandemic was foreign to me; while I accepted its existence, I could not integrate it fully as part of reality because it hadn’t yet taken form in my experience. Yesterday, for the first time for me, I found out two people I knew had gotten the virus. They were sick for only a few days, but it made it more real; the formless virus began to take shape. Later that same day I sat for a virtual tea sit and witnessed a woman share that many people she knew were very sick— “young people—“ with one on oxygen. It was a splash of cold water on my face. I was awakened by the real suffering of people I knew either first hand or close enough for it to hit me differently than just hearing about the intensity of the virus’ affect on the human race as a whole. These are times to take care of each other well. Our relationships are our essential support systems and we must tend them with gentleness and compassion. For our relationships, we can support the Triple Burner, and this form in particular does that. ▿▿▿ TODAY’S FORM ❘ Lift the Sky Qigong ❘ Practice this form to cultivate (among many more aspects) relative perspective, harmonious relationships, generous endurance, and the assurance in one’s ability to shoulder our burdens, responsibilities, and the challenges life throws one’s way. THE QIGONG LESSON FILMS ❘ Learn Lift the Sky in detail by moving through the full-length lesson film: Pay what you like + become a patron ❘ What you get: Access to an entire library of Qigong forms that I lead you through step by step, a new Qigong Lesson Film bi-monthly, + monthly support to help you keep up your home practice ▿▿▿ THE EVERYDAY GONGFU FILMS ❘ This project, documenting my daily practice, has been published on Instagram for almost three and a half years. I’m currently taking a rest from social media, to retreat from IG, to detox myself from its influence, and to allow myself space for fresh growth. Even though I’m not posting there this month, you can still find 1240 daily practice movies @kwanyinkungfu or https://ift.tt/3b2cccv ▿▿▿ MY FOREVER GRATITUDE FOR YOUR SUPPORT ❘ Dearest Patrons, thank you so much for your support. In so many ways it carries me, lifts me up, encourages me, and fires me up to keep making, sharing, feeling, and living as deeply as I can. May we all have the blessing (for it is our right) to receive reciprocity for our art in ways that sustain our health, peace, joy, and fulfillment in this life. ▿▿▿ SHARING DISCLAIMER: All material shared by Brea is intended to assist others in their personal development and home study only. In responsibility to the lineage, no teaching permissions are granted. Should one share— via social media or otherwise— their personal practice of forms and/or teachings learned from Brea, clear citation must be made. MEDICAL DISCLAIMER:  The information provided here is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. Copyright © 2020 by Brea Fisher, all rights reserved.

[captainmarvels]

One More Time (Peter Parker x Reader)

Anonymous asked: Hi I was hoping you could write something angsty where the reader is a SHIELD agent and they are assigned to work with the avengers but then they put her with Peter Parker/Spider-Man and theres awkwardness and beef between the two because they were once close childhood friends or something and they ended on bad terms (romantically and something bad happened to them) and they work things out and ending is fluffy. Sorry if this is a lot to work with, but if u do it it would really make my day.

A/N: ngl, I kinda stole an idea/plot point from tasm2 but y’all will see; it’s divided in 2 parts, 1st part in Peter’s POV and the 2nd in reader’s POV; italics indicate inner thoughts!! (also, Y/S/T means your skin tone, fyi) hope you enjoy!!

Warnings: Language

Word Count: 1260

Part One:

No. Fricking. Way. It can’t be her, right? Peter’s mind was racing as he watched the SHIELD agent standing at the front of the conference room. Her (Y/H/C) hair was long, tied back into a high ponytail. Her (Y/S/T) skin looked like it was...glowing. She had changed so much since the last time Peter saw her. If that’s her. Peter snapped out of his daze when Bucky called his name from behind.

“Parker, mind passing the reports over? Any day now would be nice.”

“S-sorry, Bucky! Here,” Peter slid the folder over to his colleague, looking back towards the front of the room. Tony finally walked in, flashing the agents a smile before turning to the rest of the Avengers.

“Hello, lovely ladies and gentlemen. Today, as you can see, we have some special guests visiting. These SHIELD agents have been assigned to work our latest mission with us; they will be doing the intel-gathering behind the scenes, while we do the dirty work! So, one agent will be assigned to one of you, and they’ll be like your own F.R.I.D.A.Y - except they won’t do everything for you, so don’t get too useless.” Tony winked just before turning around to address the agents.

“Now, when I call your name and the name of the Avenger you’ll be working with, please make your way to where they’re sitting, so you can get acquainted. Oh, and by the way,” He turned around, locking eyes with Peter, “These agents will be here for up to a month; this mission is going to be a long one.” As he turned back around, Peter locked eyes with the agent he had been watching earlier, and his worst fear was confirmed; fuck, it is her.

“Okay, now Agent Y/N Y/L/N, you will be working...ah yes, Mr. Peter Parker. Spiderling, can you please raise your hand?” Tony stared Peter down as he reluctantly raised his hand. Y/N rolled her eyes as she made her way towards him, and Peter wanted to swing his way out of the room. Of all the agents here, Mr. Stark had to assign her to me?!

As she finally made it to where he sat, Peter played with the fraying end of his sweatshirt, refusing to make eye contact with her. Just gotta play it cool, right? I got this.

“Hey, Parker. Long time no see.” Oh, no.

“Wait, you know each other?” Sam craned his neck over Bucky’s shoulder, shooting Peter a look as he turned to look at the SHIELD agent standing behind him.

“Uh, y-yeah, we do. We went to the same schools until high school be-”

“Because he’s a genius, and I’m not, clearly.” Y/N hissed, as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, staring down at her feet.

“Well, clearly you are, or else you wouldn’t be with SHIELD, Y/N.” Ugh, what am I doing?!

“Thanks, Peter. Do you want to debrief here or?”

“We can go to a different conference room, it’s a little loud here.”

As Peter lead the way out of the bustling room, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous; what if she tries to kill me? I’m gonna die, oh my god.

As he held the door open for Y/N, she whispered, “Depends on what you have to say for yourself, Spidey. Maybe you won’t die.”

Of COURSE I said that out loud, you imbecile. Now you really are gonna die.

Part Two:

“Now that we’re gonna have to work together, I think it’s time we clear the air between us, Peter. Stop ignoring the elephant in the room?” God, why did I say that? He’s gonna think I’m trying too hard to be cool, which I am, but that doesn’t matter.

“Y-yeah. Look, Y/N, I’m sorry.”

“Really? Are you, Peter? Because you didn’t look sorry when I caught you kissing Betty, or when you chose the Avengers over me. But that’s fine. Just fine,” Except it wasn’t.

Y/N and Peter had been best friends since practically the day they met. They lived across the street from one another; Y/N literally running into Peter one day, the day after his parents left him in his aunt and uncle’s care. Y/N was a year older than Peter, but she always admired, even at such a young age, how Peter was so intelligent for his age. They grew up together, always ending up in the same classes over the years, until it was time for high school. While Y/N ended up going to a public high school in Queens, Peter was accepted into Midtown High, one of the best high schools in New York. Y/N was always somewhat jealous, considering herself just as smart as Peter. But, she never let those feelings show to him. They remained friends, eventually more, although they were never exclusive.

One day, arriving home earlier than usual from school, Y/N witnessed Peter kissing her close friend, Betty Brant, on the steps of his brownstone. Refusing to cause a scene, Y/N walked away, heartbroken.

She wanted to confront Peter that same night, only to have him reveal his biggest secret to her, when he showed up at her bedroom window, donning his Spider-Man suit, bloody and bruised all over. She took care of him that night, and every night after, forgiving him for what he had done.

But, he did it, again. Left her heart in a million tiny pieces. It was a month after his high school graduation, and he had just informed her that he was leaving for the city, for good. He was ending things with her, to pursue a life as an Avenger, saving the world with renowned superheroes and secret agents. Y/N tried to convince him that he didn’t need to end things, that they could still be together, but Peter refused. “I made a promise, Y/N. I would never let you get in harm’s way. If we stay together, I put you at risk for the rest of your life. This is the only way I can keep you safe! It’s better this way.”

“Remember that, Peter? You left me, thinking I couldn’t handle myself.”

“I-I swear, I’m sorry, Y/N! I’m sorry I always underestimated you. I just al-”

“Just what, Peter? Just always saw me as the dumb, weak girl who would never leave you?”

“No, Y/N, no! I always loved you. It killed me to leave you! But I was wrong. Look at you. Top of your field at SHIELD - you’re one of the best.”

“Wh-how did you know that?”

“I kept tabs on you. Just because I left, didn’t mean I stopped caring. I never stopped, not for one second. I’ve loved you since the day we met, Y/N.” As Peter spoke, he moved closer and closer, until they were face to face, Y/N hearing Peter’s slow breaths as he faced away from her.

“Then why now, Peter? Why wait all this time?”

“You’re independent - you always have been. I didn’t want to distract you. But here we are, together.” Peter grasped both of her hands, pulling her into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing the top of Y/N’s head.

Is this real? Is the love of my life really coming back to me, after all this time?

“What do you say, Y/N? Should we give this - us - a second chance? I swear, I will never hurt you, I never mean-”

“Shut up and kiss me, Parker. You always know how to ruin a moment.”

Tags: @retroasgardian, @bladebarnes, @roamingharlem