On the Revelation of Yahshua Christ, Part 25: Violence of the Lambs

On the Revelation of Yahshua Christ, Part 25: Violence of the Lambs

As it is described in the vision of Revelation chapter 18, at the fall of Babylon the children of Israel, who are the exclusive people of Yahweh God, are called to come out of her and to separate themselves, whereupon they are told to “6 … return to her as she also had rendered, and you double twice the things according to her works. 7 As much as she had magnified herself and lived wantonly, so much you give torment and grief to her!” So it is fully evident that according to the Revelation, the children of Israel shall indeed have a role in executing the vengeance of Yahweh God upon His enemies. As we have already said in relation to this, Paul of Tarsus had also made the same expression to the Corinthians, where he had written to them in his second epistle in chapter 10: “4 For the arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but through Yahweh they are able to destroy strongholds, 5 destroying reasonings and every bulwark raising itself up against the knowledge of Yahweh, and taking captive every thought into the obedience of the Anointed; 6 also being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, whenever you shall have fulfilled your obedience.” Paul of Tarsus wrote that epistle perhaps 40 years before John recorded this Revelation of Yahshua Christ, and must have had his own understanding from the words of the Old Testament prophets, with whom this Revelation certainly agrees, magnifies, and augments.

With this we may understand that before Babylon falls, Christians must constrain themselves to fighting for the hearts and minds of their own people, so that they do not worship the beast. But then, being obedient to the commandments of Christ, once Babylon does fall then Christians shall indeed have a part in the execution of God’s will against His enemies. So while Revelation chapter 19 began with a description of the bride preparing herself for the marriage supper of the lamb, that preparation is evidently fulfilled as the children of Israel come out of Babylon and turn to obedience in Christ. The Word of God offers no other path to redemption other than repentance and separation from the wicked Society, but evidently Yahweh God also informs us that such a separation cannot be successful until the Society itself crumbles.

This situation leads us to conclude that coming out of Babylon truly entails the separation of Christian Israel from all other peoples, since they are not of God and they themselves, not having the spirit of God, are little but beasts. This is evident in the epistles of the apostles. For example, as it is in the King James Version, the apostle Jude wrote to his Christian readers that they should “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” his is a reference to their ancestors, the Old Testament saints. Then immediately after writing that, Jude warned them concerning infiltrators, men who were already condemned by God, which he went on to relate to the Nephilim, or fallen angels. Following that, as he described them further he wrote: “ 10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.” With this he also related their behavior to the “way of Cain” and the “error of Balaam”, both of which were related to race-mixing fornication, and then to the “gainsaying of Core”, who had sought to establish his own order of priests contrary to the instructions which Moses had received from Yahweh, and for that he was punished severely.

Not ending there, Jude explained that these beasts were already living among Christians in his own time, where he wrote: “12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.” So the apostle described a race related to the Nephilim which was already scattered among first century Christians, that they would infiltrate and corrupt Christian communities, and that their fate is “the blackness of darkness forever”, which is similar to the fate of the fallen angels described elsewhere in Scripture.

In chapter 2 of his own second epistle, the apostle Peter warned of the same infiltrators using very similar language, and described them as “12 … natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed” who “speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; 13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; 14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children…” Where Peter continues, he also associates them with the race-mixing fornication of Balaam, continuing to warn his readers. In his first epistle to the Corinthians, in chapter 10, Paul of Tarsus explained that such fornication was the sin of the event which resulted from the counsel of Balaam, which is also evident here in Revelation chapter 2. Nothing which Yahweh had created was made simply to be “taken and destroyed”, but rather, everything which He created was good. But every corruption of His creation is worthy to be destroyed, for which reason in that same chapter of the Revelation Yahshua Christ has promised to kill the children of the fornicators. So the violence of the Lamb is a just and righteous violence, and His judgment is coming.

Furthermore, the cursed children mentioned by Peter are the children of Cain, Canaan and Esau, since Yahweh God promised to bless the children of Israel, and as Paul wrote concerning the scattered children of Israel in Galatians chapter 3: “13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse on our behalf, (for it is written, ‘Accursed is everyone who hangs upon a timber,’) 14 in order that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Nations at the hand of Christ Yahshua, that we should receive the promise of the Spirit through the faith.” Paul clarified his meaning in chapter 4 of that epistle where he wrote “4 And when the fulfillment of the time had come, Yahweh had dispatched His Son, having been born of a woman, having been subject to law, 5 in order that he would redeem those subject to law, that we would recover the position of sons.” Elsewhere, in Romans chapter 9, Paul explained that this same position of sons, or adoption as it is in many popular translations, as well as the law itself is only for the true children of Israel, as opposed to the Edomites and other Canaanites in Judaea who were also calling themselves Israel.

Those nations to whom the promise would come can only be the nations which Abraham was promised would come from his seed, as Paul wrote in Romans chapter 4, in part: “16 Therefore from of the faith, that in accordance with favor, then the promise is to be certain to all of the offspring, not to that of the law only, but also to that of the faith of Abraham, who is father of us all; 17 (just as it is written, ‘That a father of many nations I have made you,’) before Yahweh whom he trusted, who raises the dead to life, and calls things not existing as existing; 18 who contrary to expectation, in expectation believed, for which he would become a father of many nations according to the declaration, ‘Thus your offspring will be:’” Where Paul said “not to that of the law only, but also to that of the faith of Abraham”, he is not opting for one or the other, but for both, as he had told the Galatians that Christ had come to redeem those under the law, not those who merely believe something. Furthermore, here Paul defined the faith of Abraham as what Abraham had believed, and not what anyone may believe. As Paul explains in that passage, the nations are reckoned by what faith Abraham had, not from what anyone else may or may not believe, and Abraham had believed that his offspring would become those many nations. Abraham never believed that other nations would somehow become his offspring, but the churches have been spreading that lie for over eighteen hundred years in spite of the fact that is not what either Moses or Paul had written.

Within the historical context of first century Judaea, speaking of “cursed children”, “brute beasts” and “spots in your feasts of charity”, the apostles Jude and Peter could only have been referring to the mixed-race Edomites and Canaanites spread throughout the region, who had descended in part from both Cain, Canaan and the ancient Nephilim. After the time of Christ, not having accepted the Gospel these became known collectively, for the most part, as Jews. Christ Himself described them in his parable of the tares of the field, describing people who were sown by the devil. When He gave that parable, as it is recorded in Matthew chapter 13, His disciples did not understand it, so when they asked Him to explain, we read that “37 … responding He said: ‘He sowing the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 now the field is the world, and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom. But the tares are the sons of the Evil One, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the Devil, and the harvest is the consummation of the age, and the reapers are messengers. 40 Therefore just as the tares are gathered and burn in fire, thusly it shall be at the consummation of the age.’”

Many Christian commentators have correctly remarked that Joshua the son of Nun served in various ways as a type for another Joshua who is Yahshua Christ. But they fail to describe the entirety of such a type. In the history of Joshua in Canaan, the successor to Moses was told to lead the children of Israel to completely extinguish all of the Canaanites in the land, a task which he being a man had failed to complete before he died. Subsequently, the children of Israel failed to fulfill the command, left many of the Canaanites in various places unharmed, and for that they were told, as it is recorded in Numbers chapter 33: “55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.” Ultimately, Yahweh did punish the children of Israel and have them taken them out of the land, as He had warned at that early time.

Although Joshua the son of Nun had failed to destroy all of the enemies of Yahweh during the conquest of Canaan, the scope of Yahshua Christ at His promised return is much greater, since now the children of Israel cover not only Canaan, but the entire planet, as the promises to Abraham, that they would become many nations and be spread abroad, have long been fulfilled. This fulfillment was professed by Paul of Tarsus in several of his epistles, and especially in Romans chapter 4. So while it can also be demonstrated from ancient history that White Europeans have indeed descended predominately from the ancient children of Israel, wherever they dwell today they are vexed by those same Edomites and Canaanites of which they had been warned. But today they are found by other names, such as Jews and Arabs, and even Mexicans or Hispanics, among other races who descended from the ancient Nephilim. While Joshua had failed, men often fail, but Yahshua Christ being Yahweh God incarnate shall not fail.

Therefore Christ Himself had professed, in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats which is recorded in Matthew chapter 25: “31 And when the Son of Man should come in His effulgence and all the messengers with Him, then He shall sit upon His throne of honor. 32 And they shall gather before Him all the nations and He shall separate them from one another just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” So all nations, not churches or groups of believers and unbelievers, are separated as a shepherd does the sheep from the goats, which is by their appearance, and not by an inquiry into any particular animal’s behavior or profession of faith. Sheep are sheep, and goats are goats, regardless of what they could possibly do, or what they may think about themselves.

Continuing with the parable: “33 And He shall indeed stand the sheep at His right hand, but the goats at His left hand. 34 Then the King [Christ Himself] shall say to those at His right hand: ‘Come, those blessed of My Father, you shall inherit the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of Society! 35 For I hungered and you gave Me to eat; I had thirst and you had given Me drink; I was a visitor and you had taken Me in; 36 naked and you had clothed Me; I had been sick and you watched over Me; I was in prison and you had come to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous shall respond to Him saying: ‘Master, when have we seen You hungry and nourished You, or thirsting and had given drink? 38 And when have we seen You a visitor and had taken You in, or naked and had clothed You? 39 And when have we seen You being sick or in prison and had come to You?’ 40 And replying the King shall say to them: ‘Truly I say to you, for whomever of the least of My brethren have you done one of these things, you have done them for Me!’” So the sheep are also the brethren of Christ, and Paul of Tarsus informs us in Hebrews chapter 2 that Yahshua Christ took upon Himself the seed of Abraham so that He could become as His brethren.

As the apostle John had also taught in his epistles, Christians demonstrate their own worthiness by keeping the commandments of Christ and by loving their own brethren, which is all that Christ Himself had commanded them. If all sins are forgiven, as Yahweh God has promised, then any act of good will towards one’s brethren may be interpreted as a good deed worthy of at least some reward in the Kingdom of Heaven, as Paul also described in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 where he wrote that “13 the work of each will become evident; indeed the day will disclose it, because in fire it is revealed; and of what quality the work of each is, the fire will scrutinize. 14 If the work of anyone who has built remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If the work of anyone burns completely, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be preserved, although consequently through fire.”

Continuing once more with the parable: “41 Then He shall say also to those at the left hand [to the goats]: ‘Go from Me, accursed, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the False Accuser [or Devil] and his messengers [the fallen angels and their offspring, who are the tares of the field]! 42 For I hungered and you did not give Me to eat, and I had thirst and you had not given Me drink; 43 I was a visitor and you had not taken Me in, naked and you had not clothed Me, sick and in prison and you had not visited Me!’ 44 Then they themselves shall also respond saying: ‘Master, when have we seen You hungry or thirsting or a visitor or naked or sick or in prison and had not served You?’ 45 Then He shall respond to them saying: ‘Truly I say to you, for whatever you have not done for one of the least of these, neither have you done them for Me!’ 46 And they shall go off into the eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

This does not mean that the goats shall be judged well if their behavior is good. It means that the goats are judged for how they may have treated the sheep, “the least of these” being a reference to the sheep. If they failed in one act of charity towards the sheep, they have failed completely. But even their very presence among the sheep is also a violation of Yahweh’s law, so there is no manner in which the goats could possibly do good, and in the end they all shall be destroyed. As the parable explains, the goats are nations, and all of the goats are condemned together in that same fire “prepared for the Devil and his angels”.

As we interpret the latter portion of Revelation chapter 19, and also the parallel vision in chapter 20, we shall interpret these events in a matter which reconciles this prophecy with many similar descriptions found in the words of the prophets. Up to this point in this chapter, we have seen the announcement of the wedding-feast of the Lamb, the purpose of that feast for the children of Israel as it was described in the words of the prophets, and the proclamation that the Bride has prepared herself, ostensibly by coming out from the fallen state of Mystery Babylon. So we paused our commentary at verse 9 where we read: “And he says to me: ‘Write! Blessed are those invited to the dinner of the wedding-feast of the Lamb!’ And he says to me: ‘These are true words from Yahweh!’” According to those same prophets, and according to Christ who said “I have not been sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, only the children of Israel are invited to that feast.

Now we shall commence with Revelation chapter 19:

10 And I fell before his feet to worship [the manuscripts of the Majority Text following Andreas of Caesareia have “and worshipped”] him. And he says to me: “No, look! I am your fellow-servant and of your [א has “the”] brethren who have the testimony of Yahshua! Worship Yahweh! For the testimony of Yahshua is the spirit of interpreting prophecy.”

As Paul of Tarsus had written in Hebrews chapter 1, of prophecy in the sense of revealing and announcing the will of God to man, Yahshua Christ is the last prophet. However as Liddell & Scott explain, the Greek word προφητεία is primarily “the gift of interpreting the will of the gods”, in the profane Greek writings, and therefore it is the gift of interpreting the will of God, which Paul had also professed. Here it is translated in that manner, as interpreting prophecy. The word has one other use in the New Testament, which is the ability to reveal things which are not generally known or known by any apparent means to the person who can reveal them.

Here the messenger, or angel with whom John had interacted and to whom he had apparently sought to do homage must be the same angel described at the beginning of chapter 17, as the context is not broken from that point, where we read: “And one from among the seven messengers having the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying…” and that same angel took him to witness the Whore in the wilderness, or desert as we have it here. While we do not know the precise identity or status of the angel, as the word refers merely to a messenger and not to a peculiar race or creature, here the messenger describes himself as a man, and also as one of John’s own brethren, so we cannot imagine it to be anything ethereal.

But this may also assist in understanding another obscure aspect of Scripture, that the messengers, or angels, who are gathered to Christ at the time of His return are also like this angel, who professed that he was one of John’s brethren, meaning that he too must have been of the children of Israel. While we cannot see the future, and while what Paul of Tarsus meant specifically is debatable, as his words are obscure, this passage leads one to consider Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 where he wrote: “51 Behold I tell you a mystery, we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed. 52 In an instant, in a dart of an eye, with the last trumpet; for it shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” The subsequent description of the incorruptible man which he made in that chapter is very similar to statements in the final chapters of the Revelation.

11 And I saw the heaven having been opened, and behold! A white horse, and He sitting upon it called Faithful and True, and He judges in righteousness and makes war.

Originally the word called was left out of the text of the Christogenea New Testament, as the 27th edition of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece marks it as doubtful. The 28th edition retains the marking. The word is wanting in the Codex Alexandrinus (A) and the Majority Text manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia, but it is present in the Codex Sinaiticus (א) and the traditional manuscripts of the Majority Text, although the word order is slightly different. Here we have chosen to include the word.

In Revelation chapter 6 we read of “A white horse, and he sitting upon it having a bow, and a crown has been given to him and he went out conquering and that he may conquer.” So in our commentary for that passage we said in part that “We may view the White Horse as symbolizing the expansion of Rome. Yahweh God having prophesied of the Roman empire as early as the days of Daniel, the crown on the White Horse was bestowed by God, whether for better or for worse.” Here that interpretation is corroborated, that the conqueror on the white horse has the blessings of God. But now it is Yahshua Christ Himself, Yahweh God incarnate, upon the white horse where He is setting out to destroy His enemies and to establish His Own Kingdom. So it continues to describe Him:

12 Now His eyes are as [א and the MT want “as”] flames of fire, and upon His head are many diadems, having a name inscribed [or simply “written”] which no one knows except Him, 13 and He is cloaked with a garment dipped in [א has “sprinkled about with”; the text follows A and the MT] blood, and His Name is called the Word of Yahweh.

The Word of Yahweh: Yahshua Christ is the Word made flesh, the same word of which the very first utterance recorded in Genesis chapter 1 had been “Let there be Light”, and that Light was also an indication of the presence of Yahweh God in the world, an early announcement of the Gospel of Christ as the Light come into the world. He being the Word made flesh is God the Word which came to men in order to keep His promises of redemption and salvation for Israel, and also the promises of Genesis made to the entire Adamic race, to the man created by God as opposed to the corruptions of those who have rebelled against Him.

A garment dipped in blood: To this vision we may compare the harvests of both the parched and the ripe grapes in Revelation chapter 14, and also a related prophecy where in Isaiah chapter 63 Yahweh Himself promised to destroy His enemies the Edomites, and His garments are covered with their blood. There we read: “1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. 2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? 3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. 4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” That same day of vengeance is described here in Revelation chapter 19, when it shall finally be fulfilled.

And upon His head are many diadems: these diadems, or crowns, seem to represent the previous announcement of the angel who had sounded the seventh trumpet, in Revelation chapter 11, and said: “The Kingdom of the Society of our Prince and of His Anointed has come, and He shall rule for the eternal ages!” So now Christ is pictured symbolically as wearing the crowns of all of the former kingdoms because He is the true King. This also helps indicate that this last part of the Revelation represents a lengthy process, rather than a series of singular events. But each of those kingdoms had already belonged to Christ once the peoples of Europe had accepted Christianity, which is evident in Daniel 2:44 where it explains that the Kingdom established by God shall “break in pieces and consume” all previous worldly kingdoms, and that will also help us to interpret a similar reference in Revelation chapter 20.

14 And the armies in heaven follow Him upon white horses [the Majority Text manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia have “upon many horses”], clothed with clean white [א has “white and clean”] linen.

These are evidently those who had followed the call “to come out of her, my people” once Babylon had fallen. In that the Bride prepares herself for the marriage supper of the Lamb, and we read earlier in this chapter that “8 ... it is given to her that she is wrapped in clean bright linen. For the linen is the vindications of the saints!” So here it is those same saints who are described as being gathered to Christ and following behind Him. From a similar aspect, the apostle Jude cited the writings of Enoch in verse 14 of his epistle where he wrote: “14 And Enoch, seventh from Adam, prophesied to these saying ‘Behold, the Prince has come with ten thousands of His saints 15 to execute judgment against all and to convict every soul for all of their impious deeds which they committed impiously and for all of the harsh things which the impious wrongdoers have spoken against Him!’” There we must also see that the saints, or sanctified ones, who are the children of Israel, are the angels who shall accompany Christ and take a part in the execution of His vengeance.

15 And a sharp sword comes out from of His mouth, in order that with it He may smite the Nations, and He shall shepherd them with an iron staff, and He shall trample the vat of the wine of the wrath of the anger [א has “anger of the wrath”; the Majority Text manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia have “wrath and anger”] of Yahweh Almighty, 16 and He has upon His garment and [A wants “upon His garment and”] upon His thigh a name written: “King of Kings and Sovereign of Sovereigns [or ‘Prince of Princes’]”.

This evokes the closing lines of the Song of Moses found in Deuteronomy, and by this we are once again assured as to which song of Moses is referred in Revelation chapter 15, where it is also described as the Song of the Lamb. So we read in Deuteronomy chapter 32: “41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. 42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.”

There are several prophecies which indicate that the children of Israel shall be besieged by people of other races at the day of Yahweh's wrath, and this is also described in Revelation chapter 20. Among them are Jeremiah chapter 31, verses 27 through 30: “27 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD. 29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. 30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.” These words were uttered immediately preceding an explicit promise of the New Covenant, which, as we have already explained, is not yet fully consummated and will not be consummated until after the fall of Babylon and this wedding-feast of the Lamb.

So it should be evident that the current world situation, where all sorts of alien beasts have been flooding into the lands of the nations of Christendom, is a judgement from Yahweh. However just as Yahweh had used the Assyrians and the Babylonians to chastise the children of Israel in ancient times, and then punished the Assyrians and Babylonians, so shall He punish these beasts which are presently flooding Israelite lands. The prophet Isaiah also corroborates for us the fact that these are beasts, where he wrote in Isaiah chapter 56: “9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. 10 His watchmen [pastors] are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.” While the children of Israel are suffering this judgement from Yahweh, it is the watchmen of Israel who have allowed this to happen. Rather than teaching Scripture, they have tailored false doctrines to satisfy the needs of the merchants of Mystery Babylon, seeking to fill their own bellies rather than guarding the true flock of God.

With this it may also become apparent that the destruction of ancient Israel is a type for the circumstances of today, as the same historical patterns have been followed where Israel sought to enrich herself through global trade with the heathen nations, but those nations ultimately destroy Israel. So in the 79th Psalm, which reflects the attitude of a repentant Israel already in captivity, it is evident once again that for this, the wrath of Yahweh is upon those nations. There we read: “1 O God, the [nations] are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. 2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. 3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.” Later in this chapter of the Revelation, the birds of heaven are depicted eating the flesh of the enemies rather than the flesh of Israel. Continuing with the Psalm: “4 We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. 5 How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?” Once again White Christians are a scorn and a derision to their heathen neighbors, and open hatred of Whites is fully apparent in the world’s media, government policy and in the schools.

Continuing again with the 79th Psalm: “6 Pour out thy wrath upon the [nations] that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. 7 For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place. 8 O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low. 9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake. 10 Wherefore should the [nations] say, Where is their God? let him be known among the [nations] in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.” In Amos 3:2 it is stated explicitly that Yahweh has only known the children of Israel, but that they must be punished for their iniquities, which is the reason for the captivities. Here, in Revelation chapter 6, the souls of the children of Israel depicted as being under the altar before the throne of God are also described as crying out to God, that He avenge their blood against those dwelling upon the earth.

The final verses of the Psalm: “11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die; 12 And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord. 13 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations. “ Those who were appointed to die, Israel as prisoners in captivity, are the children of Israel who were liable under the law of the adulterous wife, but who now have mercy through Christ, as Paul had explained in Romans chapter 7. While this Psalm described the state of Israel in captivity, it just as aptly describes the state of the children of Israel today, as their neighbors devour them.

As a digression, even among Identity Christians there is a false theology which we call Dominion Theology. It was popularized in the British Israel movement to give the British Empire a veneer of legitimacy. But they are absolute fools to think that the kingdom of heaven consists of the sons of Adam ruling over the non-Adamic so-called peoples with the laws of our God, as if “natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed” could actually ever understand or abide in His law! This is also reflected in the failed missionary pursuits of the past five hundred years, where there has been no true progress regardless of the enormous resources which are poured into certain impoverished nations. It is a doctrine designed to promote the preservation of devils, as if empathy for the devil was ever edifying to the assembly of God.

The children of Israel being the sheep of Yahweh’s pasture, as both David and Asaph had professed in several of the Psalms, Christ had informed them, as it is recorded in Matthew chapter 7, that: “6 You should not give that which is holy to the dogs, nor should you cast your pearls before swine, lest they shall trample them with their feet and turning they would rend you to pieces!” Therefore we must ask, can the nature of the swine or the dogs ever change? Does a leopard change its spots? Do goats ever become sheep? Should Yahshua Christ ever change His admonition? Of course not, since He does not change, as Paul had professed in Hebrews chapter 13: “8 Yahshua Christ: the same yesterday, and today, and for the ages. 9 Do not be carried away with strange and diverse teachings, for the good heart is confirmed by favor, not foods, by which those who walk have no advantage.”

So we read in the 147th Psalm, which in the Septuagint is attributed to the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, where it is speaking of Yahweh God: “19 He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. 20 He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.” The prophets were joyful and praised God that only Israel had the law, and Paul of Tarsus had also affirmed that fact in Romans chapter 9. It is also affirmed in the words of Christ in that same parable of the sheep and the goats, where Christ explained that only Sheep nations shall remain, and only Sheep nations will be shepherded “with a rod of iron”, which is His law.

Returning to this passage in Revelation chapter 19, in verse 15 we have read that Christ “shall trample the vat of the wine of the wrath of the anger of Yahweh Almighty…” As we have also explained, the visions in these seven chapters of the Revelation, chapters 14 through 20, are all parallelisms, as they each describe different aspects of the same events of the last days from various perspectives. So the trampling of the wine vat mentioned in verse 15 represents those same harvests of the parched and then of the ripe grapes which are described in Revelation chapter 14.

Now we must also note, that the Word of Yahweh God in His prophets had also foreseen the major controversy of this very age. The apostles of Christ taught that the twelve tribes scattered abroad mainly in Europe and Anatolia were true Israel, along with the remnants in Judaea and Mesopotamia, in the words of Peter, Paul and James. But from the second century when so-called “replacement theology” began to develop in Judaea, and especially with the formation of the Roman Catholic Church in the fourth century, the Church had claimed to be the Israel and forgot about the twelve tribes in spite of the words of the apostles. But the Church did not claim to be Israel in the true and Biblical national sense of the word. Now in modern times, from the 19th century especially, the Jews have asserted that only they are Israel, and have been engaged in setting up a false Israeli State in Palestine in order to assert and maintain that claim. This is found in Isaiah chapter 34, in another explicit promise of the vengeance of Yahweh. But first it must be explained, as we shall also assert when we discuss Obadiah in this context, that this prophecy in Isaiah chapter 34 has never been fulfilled. Edom was never destroyed by the Assyrians, Babylonians or Persians. The Edomites were tributaries subject to Israel and Judah from the time of David, and quickly allied themselves with the Assyrians, and in turn, the Babylonians, in order to free themselves from Israel. After the captivity of Judah, the Edomites migrated northward into the lands left vacant by the deportations. Then, in the second century before Christ, as Paul, Strabo and Flavius Josephus all attest, the Edomites were converted to Judaism and became known as Judaeans. The Israelites who accepted Christ lost their identity as Judaeans, and those who rejected him became mingled with the Edomites, who were left behind to become known as Jews. We cannot repeat all of the historical details here, but we have explained the Creation of the Jewish People elsewhere.

So with that understanding, we shall read Isaiah chapter 34, in part: “1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.” This is a description of the gathering of all nations at the time of Yahweh’s vengeance, and ostensibly they are being gathered into Israelite lands, which are the nations of modern Christendom. So continuing with Isaiah: “2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. 3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.” Paul alluded to this passage in reference to Christ in Hebrews 1:11-12. The hosts of heaven here seem to refer to the world governments, the governments of the children of Israel which are joined to the beast.

The mountains are the nations in general, and not literal mountains. There is also similar language in parallel prophecies in Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39. For example in Ezekiel 38:16 we read of all of the nations gathered against the mountains of Israel that they “shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the [nations, the nations of Israel] may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.” But the “mountains of Israel” are not necessarily the mountains which the children of Israel may inhabit. Rather, we read in Ezekiel chapter 36: “1 Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD”, where mountains must represent the nations of the tribes of Israel. Parallels with Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 and these chapters of the Revelation shall be addressed further as we progress through this commentary, as they relate more directly to the vision of the Camp of the Saints in chapter 20.

Continuing again with Isaiah chapter 34: “5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. 6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. 7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. 8 For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. 9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.” Here we would assert that Bozrah and Edom are representative of the people of the Edomites, the modern Jews, and not of the ancient geographical places. As we also said, here it is fully evident that the very reason for Yahweh’s vengeance is the controversy of Zion. The word Zion in prophecy represents the mountain of the people of Yahweh, and the Jews are not Zion; rather, they along with the Arabs are the children of the ancient Edomites and Canaanites.

Now we shall read a similar prophecy in Obadiah. Contrary to the lies of the Talmudic rabbis who claim an early date of authorship for Obadiah, and associate him with a man of that name who lived in the time of Ahab and Jezebel, the prophet could not have written until after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity. Perhaps he wrote as late as the second temple period, but that cannot be determined with certainty. However where in verse 7 we read “ 7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee;” we see an allusion to the Assyrians and Babylonians with whom the Edomites had allied themselves. In the 137th Psalm, which was written in the captivity, we read “7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.” Then in 1 Esdras chapter 4 we read: “45 Thou also hast vowed to build up the temple, which the Edomites burned when Judea was made desolate by the Chaldees.” So the Edomites had an active role in the destruction of Judah and of Solomon’s temple, and a little further on in Obadiah we read: “10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. 11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.”

Once we realize when it was that Obadiah was written, we must understand that like Isaiah chapter 34, his prophecy against Edom is not yet fulfilled. At no time since the Old Kingdom, or the failed attempts of the Maccabees to drive the Edomites out of Judaea before they began converting them instead, have any of the children of Israel destroyed the Edomites, of whom are today’s Jews. The only exception is the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and the subsequent wars with the Jews, but that is a subject of other prophecies, and neither did that destroy all of Jewry.

So later in Obadiah, in a prophecy parallel to that which we read from Isaiah chapter 34, the prophet describes the wrath of Yahweh: “15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the [nations]: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.” This is language similar to that of the punishment of Mystery Babylon in Revelation chapter 18. “16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.” This is the judgment of the goats, of all of the beasts who have been living in Christian lands and feeding off of the White Europeans who had established their societies. Upon their judgment, they shall all be as though they had never existed. Then as the prophet continues: “17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. 18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.” This is the violence of the lambs, the role which the children of Israel shall have in the vengeance of Yahweh against His enemies. But in this context, it also becomes apparent that Edom is responsible for the fate of all these nations which had been feeding themselves off of the people of Israel, and Edom being world Jewry, we should plainly see in modern history just how that role is fulfilled. That same phenomenon is described in different terms in Revelation chapter 20, where it is Satan, another label for world Jewry, who gathers all of the alien nations against the Camp of the Saints.

Parallel to these prophecies in Isaiah and Obadiah is a passage in Micah chapter 4, to which we have already referred several times in the course of this commentary on the Revelation, beginning in chapter 12. So we shall read only from the end of the chapter: “10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.” In this passage the children of Israel are described as going to Babylon, an allegory which was made at the beginning of their captivity. But they are not in the city. Rather, they are out in the field. Now in the Revelation the children of Israel are delivered by coming out of Mystery Babylon, so the allegory of the prophet indicates for us that the words are referring to the same process of deliverance and redemption which we see here in these chapters of the Revelation, a process of the punishment and ultimate salvation of Israel which began with the ancient captivities, and we await the culmination of that process today.

Now Micah informs us of the same circumstances which we see described of Israel in Isaiah chapter 34, Obadiah, Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 and Revelation chapter 20: “11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.” This was not written in relation to ancient Israel and Judah. Rather, it is clear from the context provided throughout the chapter that it speaks of Israel in the last days, after the captivities where the Word of Yahweh had already said in verse 1 of that same chapter: “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.” Then further on, in verses 6 and 7, there is a description what would become of Israel in captivity: “6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; 7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.” So the time of Micah 4:11 must be this time.

Continuing with the last verses of Micah chapter 4, where all nations are gathered against scattered Israel in the last days: “12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. 13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.” This is the violence of the lambs, and now there are several prophetic and apostolic witnesses to the fact that in the day of the wrath of Yahweh, the children of Israel who had turned to obedience to Him shall indeed have a share in His vengeance when it is executed upon His enemies. As we have said, that violence shall be a just and righteous violence, because it is from God.

In the New Testament, the children of Israel are described as the Body of Christ, and especially in the epistles of Paul. With this in mind, we find the violence of the lambs expressed once again in the 118th Psalm, which is a Messianic prophecy for His second advent, and a prayer which all Israel should utter today: “1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever…. 5 I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. 6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? 7 The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. 8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.” The children of Israel are now set in a large place, but we should interpret this last line as an indication that there is no political solution to our woes.

Now continuing with the Psalm: “10 All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them. 11 They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. 12 They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.” The “I” representing the Body of Christ, which is also the children of Israel collectively, this also describes the violence of the lambs.

Now where it continues the enemies are briefly addressed: “13 Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me. 14 The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation…. 17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. 18 The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.” We have passed over a few verses which offered further praise for Yahweh. Now, at the end of the Psalm, it becomes evident that this is indeed a Messianic prophecy: “22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. 23 This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.” The builders are those original Israelites who had demanded an earthly king, sinfully rejecting Yahweh as their king. Now there is more to the Psalm, but we will only read two more verses, in relation to Christ as King: “24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.” The day it references is evidently the day of His wrath, when the enemies are destroyed by the Body of Christ, in which all the other nations, that came against Israel, are also destroyed.

In that same manner Revelation chapter 19 also continues:

17 And I saw one [א has “another”; the traditional Majority Text manuscripts want “one”] messenger standing on [ἐν, literally “in”] the sun, and he cried out with a great voice saying [the Majority Text manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia want “saying”] to all of the birds flying in mid-air [or ‘mid-heaven’]: “Come! Gather to [the Majority Text manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia have only “Come to”] the great dinner of Yahweh, 18 in order that you may eat the flesh of the kings and the flesh of the commanders [χιλιάρχων, literally ‘leaders of thousands’] and the flesh of the mighty and the flesh of the horses and of those sitting upon them and the flesh of all both free and slaves and small and great!”

Preparing for this commentary I had two humbling experiences. First, I noted an error in the transcription of Matthew 25:45 in the Christogenea New Testament, which is far too removed to sort out but which is now corrected. Then, beginning the preparation for this commentary earlier this week, I discovered that verses 17 and 18 are completely missing from the 2011 commentary, an error which is previously undiscovered, or at least, had never been reported to me by any reader. Again, I must apologize for my errors, and I will certainly make more. But I cannot apologize for being a mere man, prone to mistakes, and the experience is always humbling.

The vision of the birds flying in mid-air and being called to eat the flesh of the enemies of Yahweh evokes the words of Christ in Mathew chapter 24. There, in answer to His statement concerning the coming destruction of the temple, the apostles had asked Him several questions, where we read “3 Then with His sitting upon the Mount of Olives the students came forth to Him by themselves, saying: ‘Tell us, when shall these things be?’ and ‘What is the sign of Your coming, and of the consummation of the age?’” Then later in the chapter, in relation to the last of these questions, we read “27 For just as lightning comes out from the east and appears so far as the west, thusly shall be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse may be, there the eagles shall be gathered!” The corpse must also be a reference to the fallen state of the children of Israel, the remnants of the Whore who had joined herself to the beast, and as Revelation chapter 18 affirms, those who do not hear the call to come out of Babylon shall be punished along with the enemies.

There is another vision of Israel in captivity in Isaiah chapter 41. Within the context of Isaiah, the last 26 chapters, beginning with 41, were written after the Assyrian deportations of Israel and most of Judah, and the end of the failed siege against Jerusalem which left King Hezekiah and the inhabitants of the city. So these verses may be applicable to the events following the captivities of Israel, but it is not limited to that time and continue today: “8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. 9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. 10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. 12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. 13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” By worm, perhaps remnant is the underlying meaning of the allegory. Now, in language similar to that of Micah chapter 4, where the violence of the lambs is also evident, we read: “15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. 16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.” Here once again we see similar language as that in the parallel prophecies of Micah and Obadiah.

19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their [A has “his”] armies gathered to make war with Him sitting upon the horse and with His army.

In Revelation chapter 20 this same phenomenon shall be explained from a different perspective, as Satan who gathers all of the nations, therein described as Gog and Magog, from the four corners of the earth to come against the Camp of the Saints. But this same thing is also described in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, where Gog and Magog are included in a gathering of many nations against the mountains of Israel, and there is much similar language there with both Revelation chapters 19 and 20, which we shall reserve for our commentary for that latter chapter. Here we shall only state of the armies which fight against Christ and His army, that these are not necessarily literal armies in the traditional military sense of the word. But we cannot rule out a literal military invasion of the nations of Christendom by armed hordes of the enemy races, although one is not necessary in order to fulfill the words of these prophesies. It is evident in modern times that the nations of the children of Israel are already overrun by all of the other races, and each day they become even more overrun with them, as the Dragon has made war with the Woman under the pretense of peace.

20 And He seized the beast, and with him the false prophet [A has “the beast and those with him, the false prophet”; the text follows א and the MT manuscripts, which vary slightly] who had been making signs before him, by which he deceived those having received the inscribed mark of the beast and who worshipped his image. These two are cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with sulfur. 21 And those remaining were slain by the sword of Him sitting upon the horse, which came from out of His mouth, and all the birds ate their fill from their flesh.

The references to birds in verses 17 and 21 may be interesting since we would assert that prophetic mentions of birds are often allegories for people, although here it seems to refer to literal birds. Likewise, in Ezekiel chapter 39 we read where Yahweh tells the hordes of the enemy that “4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.” This may refer to literal birds, but it also may refer to the parallel prophecy of Ezekiel chapter 38 where it states that “every man's sword shall be against his brother.” As we have said in the earlier portions of this commentary, sometimes “birds of heaven” seems to describe the fallen angels and their descendants.

Of course the beast is not a literal individual, and neither is the false prophet. The beast is the world system which comprises the global mercantile, political and religious system and the banks and corporations which are its arms, or perhaps its heads. This beast is a global manifestation of all former world empires, as we had seen in Revelation chapter 17. Then, since it is the dragon which gives its power to the beast, as it is stated in Revelation chapter 13, world Jewry and the international Jewish banking and mercantile families have given their power to form this modern beast.

The pope is a false prophet, but so are all the rabbis of Judaism, the imams of Islam, every Orthodox and Roman Catholic bishop and priest, and all other proponents of every other religion. Moreover, throughout every institution in the West today there are found beasts and false prophets. The entire media is replete with false prophets, and every so-called “think tank”, every philosopher, nearly every university professor and every politician is a false prophet. So the beast and the false prophet cannot represent particular individuals, but rather, they must represent aspects of the overall social structure of the modern world and its many institutions. Anyone who merely repeats those things which the beast has promoted is a false prophet and a mouthpiece for the beast. The birds shall eat their fill from the flesh of every last one of them.

Notice that here it does not state that those who take the mark of the beast are cast into the Lake of Fire. Rather, only those who have deceived them into taking the mark are cast in, who are represented by the label of False Prophet. As we read in Revelation chapter 14 of those who took the mark: “9 And another, third messenger followed them saying with a great voice: “If one worships the beast and its image and receives an engraved mark upon his forehead or upon his hand, 10 then he shall drink from the wine of the wrath of Yahweh which is poured unmixed into the cup of His anger, and he shall be tormented in fire and sulfur before the holy messengers and before the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends for eternal ages, and they who worship the beast and its image and one who receives the engraved mark of its name shall not have rest day and night.” But even that does not mean that those who took the mark are cast into the lake of fire. Rather, we interpret this to mean that they are punished in this life, and that the memory of that punishment lasts forever.

Later, in Revelation chapter 20, we see that in addition to the beast and the false prophet, “whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” This is a different group entirely, and must represent the goat nations, as Christ had explained in Matthew chapter 25 that their fate is the same as that fire which is reserved for the Devil and his angels. But on the other hand, earlier in the Revelation, in chapters 13, 14 and 17, it appears that only those whose names are not written into the book of life shall worship the beast and accept the mark. This we shall discuss further as we begin our commentary for Revelation chapter 20. Once the historical fulfillments of the earlier chapters of the Revelation are understood, any seeming conflicts should dissolve.

This concludes our commentary for Revelation chapter 19, however we shall continue with this same subject in the parallel chapter 20, although that chapter is broader in scope as it introduces different aspects of the punishment and ultimate salvation of Israel.