Revelation 13:2-4 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Five (5) references to the beast. Five (5) denotes satanic influence over evil men (mankind) on earth. There can be no mistake of the satanic influence and control over the evil man described as the beast. Man by Satan. MbS.
Daniel 9:26-27 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the ‘prince’ that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And ‘he’ shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
False 7 year covenant of ‘peace and security’: Jerusalem Al-Aqsa muezzin echoes 500 (5) years of evil influence and family tradition. ‘Those who worship the dragon in the apple of God’s eye.’
Guillaume Lavallee and Joe Dyke AFP•April 15, 2020
Jerusalem (AFP) – As the rising sun gently begins to illuminate Jerusalem’s golden Dome of the Rock and the city slowly awakens, Firas al-Qazzaz’s hypnotic voice echoes softly through the Old City.
He is the latest member of his family in 500 (5) years to lead prayers from the minaret at the cherished Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. (‘those who worship the dragon and soon the beast.’)
“Allahu akbar (allah/god of the earth/dragon is greatest),” begins the call rising over the mosque compound, not jerky or abrupt but smooth like honey, calling the faithful closer to allah.
“When you pull someone from sleep to prayer at dawn, take him kindly,” Qazzaz said, explaining the different tones for the five (5) daily Islamic prayers.
The site, where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed travelled on a winged horse before ascending to heaven, lies in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City, (‘apple of God’s eye’) home to places holy to Christians, Jews and Muslims alike.
The global outbreak of the novel coronavirus means the cobbled streets leading to the compound, normally heaving with life, now lie eerily quiet.
The mosque may be closed and empty but Qazzaz’s call can be heard echoing above the silence of a city in lockdown.
Unimpeded by car horns or noisy cafe chatter, his voice soars upwards clear and crisp amid sweet birdsong.
Standing straight and with a slow, deliberate way of speaking, the 32-year-old is the youngest muezzin, or religious official who sounds the call to prayer, at Al-Aqsa.
In happier times after prayers, Qazzaz would pick his way slowly through the streets, greeting all those around — a handshake here, an “Asalamu aleikum” (“Peace be unto you”) there, an invitation to join another for an Arabic coffee scented with cardamom.
– ‘A beautiful voice’ –
“It is an honour from allah that this family has been blessed with beautiful voices to be able to call the prayer in the Al-Aqsa mosque,” he told AFP in a friend’s house, where the walls are adorned with china whirling dervishes and a clock decorated with a picture of Mickey Mouse.
His ancestors moved from Hijaz in modern-day Saudi Arabia to take up the mantle as the mosque’s muezzin in the 15th century, and since then the family has passed the title from generation to generation.
His father held the prestigious post for more than 40 years and Qazzaz himself never dreamed of anything else.
He shadowed his father from a young age — learning the call to prayer and how to breathe properly while reciting the Koran.
At 14, he first asked his father if he could recite the Islamic call to prayer.
“The weather was cold — there was snow. I was afraid anyone would hear me, because Al-Aqsa has an awe of prestige,” he said.
“It is not easy to stop and read and call the prayers. But I called the prayer.”
“The head of the Waqf (the religious organisation that runs the mosque) asked ‘who was that?’ My father said ‘that was my son.’ He said ‘he has a beautiful voice, but it is still weak’.”
To hone his talent, the young Firas went to train in a private institute in Jerusalem before spending a year in Cairo at the Al-Azhar mosque, learning from an Egyptian master, Sheikh Mohammed al-Masri.
– ‘Touching the soul’ –
Across the Arab world, another Egyptian voice resonates — that of the late singer Umm Kulthum, perhaps the most famous Arab musician in history, known for her bewitching voice.
Asked if he considers himself an artist like Kulthum, Qazzaz considered the question from another angle.
“Many of the well-known Arabic artists began with the holy Koran. Umm Kulthum, she began by reading the Koran. Sabah Fakhry (a famous Syrian singer) was a muezzin in a mosque.”
“It would be easy for me to sing, but a singer would find it very difficult to call prayers. It is not easy because of the Koran, the prayers, the grammar,” he added.
Qazzaz is the youngest of half a dozen (6) muezzins who rotate the prayers, giving them time to rest their voices in between.
In the markets of major Arab cities, cassettes or CDs of calls to prayer can still be found.
But with the development of mobile networks and high-speed internet, many are turning to YouTube to listen to the muezzins and to dissect their style and influences.
“Everything is there on YouTube,” Qazzaz said, speaking soothingly in classical Arabic.
“I listen to a lot (of muezzins) but am not won over by many — only by those with a powerful voice that can affect people.”
Qazzaz, who has a five-year-old daughter, said that if he has a son, he would hope the boy would follow in his footsteps.
“Ultimately the muezzin calls people to pray, but the more beautiful part is he leaves an impact on their souls.”
For more than a month, muezzins from major Arab cities have urged the faithful to stay at home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in mosques.
“We ask allah to put an end to this calamity, this pandemic, and to return to calm during the month of Ramadan, in the hope that the Al-Aqsa mosque and the other places of worship will be able to reopen,” Qazzaz said.
“For me as a muezzin, when I say at the end ‘pray in your homes’, it breaks my heart.”
Revelation 13:2-4 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Isaiah 28:14-19 Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
Jesus Christ’s Offer of Salvation:
The ABCs of Salvation through Jesus Christ (the Lamb)
A. Admit/Acknowledge/Accept that you are sinner. Ask God’s forgiveness and repent of your sins.
. . . “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).
. . . “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10).
. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).
B. Believe Jesus is Lord. Believe that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be; that He was both fully God and fully man and that we are saved through His death, burial, and resurrection. Put your trust in Him as your only hope of salvation. Become a son or daughter of God by receiving Christ.
. . . “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17). For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13).
C. Call upon His name, Confess with your heart and with your lips that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.
. . . “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10).
. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (John 1:8-10).
. . . “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (John 2:2).
. . . “In this was manifested the love of god toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:9, 14-15).
. . . “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10).
. . . “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).
. . . “Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6).
. . . “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” (Romans 1:16).
. . . “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts: 4:12).
. . . “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:4-6).
. . . “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
. . . “But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12).
True Church / Bride of Christ Spared from God’s Wrath:
Romans 5:8-10. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Romans 12:19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 1:10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians 5:9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Jeremiah 30:7. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.