Welcome to Prophecy Q & A with Jimmy DeYoung!
“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”
Revelation 16:15 KJV
The context for this verse is the Sixth Vial Judgment in verse 12 and the Seventh Vial Judgment starting in verse 17. In verses 13, 14, 15, and 16, this parenthetical passage is talking about how the armies of the world will be drawn to the city of Jerusalem.
Verse 13 says,
“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.”
Revelation 16:13 KJV
That is the Satanic trinity. The dragon, according to Revelation 12:9, is Satan. The beast, according to Revelation 13:1, is the antichrist, and the false prophet is the one who tries to replicate the Holy Spirit. Satan tries to replicate God the Father. The Antichrist tries to replicate Jesus.
There are spirits like frogs that come out of the mouth of the false prophet and the dragon and the beast. Verse 14 says,
“For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
Revelation 16:14 KJV
This is what is taking place at the end of the Tribulation period. These Satanic creatures are going to be using signs, wonders, and miracles to gather all the kings of the earth to the city of Jerusalem. Zechariah 14:2 says,
“For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; And the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; And half of the city shall go forth into captivity, And the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”
Zechariah 14:2 KJV
Revelation 16:16 says,
“And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
Revelation 16:16 KJV
When John writes, “Behold, I come as a thief,” he is talking about the people in the Tribulation period, not us today. Many of those people will be lost.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, we find the rapture of the church. In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul is responding to questions from the people in Thessalonica where he had just been three weeks earlier and led them to the Lord. They were wondering if the rapture had already happened. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1, he wrote,
“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:1 KJV
He was just there. The Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. The Day of the Lord is the day that Jesus Christ steps back on the Mount of Olives when all of these armies gather in Jerusalem. Zechariah 14:2 says that all of the armies of the world gather all the kings of the nations, but in 14:4 it says that Jesus Christ steps back on the earth. This is the Day of the Lord. He comes as a thief to those who are living in darkness.
1 Thessalonians 5:4 says,
“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
1 Thessalonians 5:4 KJV
If we are not in darkness but are the children of light (which is what verse 5 says), He’ll not overtake us as a thief. This is talking about the Tribulation period and Jesus coming as a thief in the night, which is exactly what he said would happen in the Day of the Lord which is the day that Jesus steps back on the earth.
Jimmy DeYoung was a prophecy teacher and journalist who travelled the country and the world educating the Body of Christ of the future events foretold in God’s prophetic Word. His goal was to equip Christians with the knowledge and understanding of what God’s Word says will happen someday soon, so that they can make better decisions today. Dr. DeYoung went home to be with his Savior on August 15, 2021.
