Jesus walked out of the temple with an unhappy look upon his face and was approached by one of his most favored disciples. The man pointed up at a group of buildings Jesus had been dealing with and said,

“Do you see all these worldly things, all of this matter, and what it means to us all?
I tell you now truly that what I see is this. There is great carnage here and not one stone will remain upon another my lord; every stone shall be ripped from its place of support and thrown down on the ground upon which we now walk!”

The moments that passed at this time were heavy with thought and Jesus sat upon the Mount of Olives. Then the disciples came to him in confidence and said,

“Please my lord, tell us… when will this happen and what sign of your coming and the end of this age will we see?

Jesus answered the man; “Be wary for deception and malevolence and keep your heart open to the truth as many will come in my name claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ but they shall have no powers as bright as mine nor with my honor. Their disgrace will deceive many. Words will come revealing the untruth of wars and lies but be steadfast and keep the armor of your faith and do not be aroused.”

“Such things shall pass but know that the end is still to come! Nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom shall rise up against kingdom. This will happen and our friends from other realms shall be with us. Know that we are far from alone in these times and do not show fear. You shall witness famines and the earth shall shake and in all places on earth, this will indicate the beginning of birth pains.”

Daniel’s Vision of a Man
As time comes through us in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, there was given to Daniel a revelation. Then Daniel, now known as Belteshazzar, stood back and saw a vision. The words he heard came down from the sky in chaos and disorder but there was truth and he knew he must then listen. It was a message of a great war and the vision became scrambled.

“I am Belteshazzar! Be clear and in halcyon or do not speak at all!”

Daniel was then affected and mourned for three weeks.

“I shall eat no foods of sustenance; no meat or wine shall touch my lips; no lotions shall be upon me until a period of three weeks has passed.”

After twenty-four days of this month as I stood on the banks of the great river Tigris and suddenly, a vision from above came to me. Behold a man dressed in white linin adorned with a belt of the finest gold from Uphaz; his body like topaz and his face as lightning with eyes drenched in flame. His arms and legs gleamed of burnished bronze and when he spoke, it was that of many. I heard the words of a multitude.

Alas, only Daniel’s eyes beheld this vision as others saw nothing but emptiness. They felt overwhelmed in terror and they fled until they could be unseen and unheard. Again, I was left alone but the vision stayed with me in my solstice. Though I kept my gaze steady and my faith intact, my strength was taken and my face became pale as in death. I was helpless!

He spoke to me and the earth trembled beneath my feet. His words were strong and full of truth but a deep sleep came over me and I felt my face upon the earth on which I had stood.

I felt a gentle hand upon my face and my body began trembling as I pushed myself up to my hands and knees. He said,

“Daniel, you are in my eyes a man highly esteemed so consider now my words to you and arise as I have been delivered to you in love and with great care.” Upon hearing these words, I stood but could not stop the trembling as his presence was magnificent.

   Elaborated work from the Bible by Morgan Chambers