The End

August 28, 2010

By Ernie Knoll

In my dream, I am standing in a grove of redwood trees. The size of these trees is amazing. As I look up, it is inspiring to see their lofty height. Surveying the base of the trees, I am impressed at their enormous well-planted foothold. I am thinking how true Christians are like redwood trees. They stand tall for Jesus and have a well-planted foothold for His truth. They search the sky for that promise of Him who planted them.

My thoughts are now interrupted by a familiar voice. I turn around to see the Herald has been standing behind me. He states that the heavenly Father is the Awesome Creator and the Grand Arborist. Calling me by the name I only remember in my dreams, the Herald says he has been sent to show me something. He asks if I would go with him. I extend my right hand, and as he holds it tightly, he explains that we will continue as before and that a scene must still play out because it is not finished yet.

The Herald and I are now in the air about five miles up. He calls my attention to the east. I see what can only be described as a heavenly body that moves slowly away from the earth. I realize it is all the heavenly angels and the redeemed with Christ on their way to heaven. My heart begins to pound as I realize what I see and what it means. I so want to be with Jesus as He is leaving. I squeeze the Herald’s hand and look at him with tears running down my face. He turns and explains, “It is by His command that I stand here with you. With His permission I wipe the tears from your face, as He is the only One who reserves to show such love. Know that this is a dream, and you are to serve as a messenger. Notice what you are shown and report accurately. As you were told, if you remain faithful in serving the Great Creator, who is our Master and your Saviour, you will be with Him as He leaves for the Great Celestial City. You are now to hold to your faith. Few were they who went on the ark. Few are they who hear the quiet voice of the Great Comforter. Few are they who make up the remnant.”

As the Herald firmly holds my right hand, he extends his right hand to show me the scene to the west and below me. I turn in shock towards the Herald as if wanting him to shield me from the horror I see for the first time. The sight leaves an empty feeling unlike anything I have experienced. Placing his right hand under my chin, the Herald looks in my eyes and says, “You need to hold strongly to your faith. Describe what you see the best you are able to, as you have been called to serve as a messenger.”

I turn and look to the west once again. The scene before me depicts the time after the seven last plagues are poured out and the start of the one thousand years that Satan is chained to this worthless pit. It is also the beginning of the time the special saints will spend one thousand years reviewing every life of those on the earth who made their decision to follow Satan. It is the time that God is vindicated before the entire universe as to the validity of His laws, and it is shown that He is just and the Most Perfect of all Perfection.

As far as my eyes can see, before me is a view of desolation beyond which any human mind can conceive. God had instructed the four angels to release the four angry winds of utter destruction. I see what looks like large plates of the earth’s surface that were ripped from their foundation, then twisted and crumbled in many places and jammed back into the ground at an angle. Tall majestic mountains, where climbers aspired to reach their lofty heights, were pulled from the ground and cast into the depths of the oceans. The remains of large cities appear as if mixed with the soil of the earth. The once tall skyscrapers, made to be monuments to the greatness of man, were smashed to the ground as if simple sand castles. Entire cities were demolished and nothing was left unturned. Not one landmark is recognizable. Not one building is left standing; all is rubble. The vast oceans are now gone, and there is no way to differentiate west from east or north from south.[1]

I have been made to understand that just as God spoke and all life came into existence, He will speak and every living creature will no longer exist. The largest animals that live in water will cease their existence. Every fish, every bird, everything that crawled on or below the earth, every kind of animal will no longer exist. Just as the Almighty Words spoke the creatures into existence, they will be spoken out of existence. The heavenly Father will save only who He sent His Son to save. Those who will be saved, He will claim as His own and leave the earth with them for one thousand years. Satan will have no one to tempt. He and his retinue of angels will remain on this earth during the millennium. The redeemed will have a Sabbath rest in heaven from the evils of Satan for one thousand years. The universe will be cleansed from the tempting ones jailed on the earth.

I now notice I do not hear anything. The Great Creator even spoke sound out of existence. There is no longer the rush of wind, the chirp of a cricket, the musical notes of a songbird, the mooing of a cow, or the galloping of a horse.

As I watch the earth slowly turn, there are no animals, not even an insect. However, I do see men, women and children scattered on the face of the earth, those who had been created in God’s image but chose to follow the words of the great deceiver rather than God’s words. They will not stand at Christ’s Second Coming, because they did not make a stand for Him who gave all. They had held Satan’s hand and received their direction from him. Now they lay for a thousand years before the King of All Kings pronounces their judgment of eternal death. Some of the scattered are those who were raised, including those who beat, cursed, spat upon, nailed and mocked the Son of God. Some are those who lived to witness the Second Coming.[2]

Surveying the scene in front of me, I am surprised by the lack of color in the sky. It no longer has that hue of blue or those beautiful white clouds. My mind instantly recalls how my attending angel had once explained that the blue of the sky represents His love and His law, and the white clouds represent His righteousness and protection. Without these, all earthly life would cease to exist. That beautiful blue in the sky is now gone; not even a cloud can be seen. The earth no longer holds those who are deserving of His righteousness. The day of repentance, of asking in faith for forgiveness is no more. The day of reforming is over. The day when one could approach the Great and Wonderful Throne of Mercy is finished. Color has been removed from everything. The beautiful hues and the myriads of God’s creation in plant life is no more. The luscious green grass, the flowers of a myriad colors, and the blue waters are all gone—all that which the Great Creator had spoken into existence. Color no longer exists. There is no black or white. Even gray has no color. Color is dead.

I notice that odors do not exist. There is no fragrance that used to float on a breeze. No longer is there the aroma of grass, trees, or the sweet wildflowers. Not even the pungent smell of a horse pasture exists or the freshness of a salty ocean. The air I smell is very stale. All odors are dead.

All I see now is death. Animal life, color, sound, and odors are gone. The Creator had removed all life forms which He created six thousand years before, from the largest creatures in the water to the smallest microbial organisms. Without the God-given organisms, all of those from many generations will continue to lie where they are and for one thousand years will not rot.

It is as if Jesus will say to Satan, “You are the owner of this earth. You purchased this planet through your deception with my first creations—Adam and Eve. Since you hold the keys to this earth and you lay claim to it, this earth is yours. However, you will not have the other things that I created. You will not have the blue sky or white clouds for shade. You will not have the wind or the seasons. You will not have the birds of the air, the animals that walk or crawl or the fish and other animals that live in the water. You will not have those minute creations that are beyond the sight of normal eyes. You will not have the multicolored plants or the variety of aromas. You will not have the vast oceans. I will save for you the sun and the moon in the sky, and although they will be darkened, they will illuminate enough for you to look upon how you have ruled for six thousand years. The angels I created who followed you will also see their handiwork of following your direction. Now you may walk over and rule what is yours for one thousand years. When the thousand years are up, I will return to destroy that which you hold claim to and I will rule as King of the universe as well as the new earth.” I am now made to know that during the millennium, Satan will look upon those he deceived who now lay on the ground. He is no longer able to tempt them.[3]

I now turn to the Herald and he looks at me with eyes of compassion and states, “You have a Savior whose love you have described as the love of the love of the love.” He places his right hand on my shoulder and says, “One thousand years is now past. Look up.” I look up to see my beautiful Jesus with a retinue of angels and those from earth who decided to follow Him. I now watch as He is in front of all and is descending. The sound of His voice breaks the death of sound and can be heard around the earth and throughout its core. Jesus now instructs those who lay strewn upon the ground and in the deepest recesses of the earth to rise and stand. It is a people who cannot be numbered and who stand as they were the day they were laid to rest from the torments of their life. They do not stand like the righteous who came forth when Jesus called them at His Second Coming, clothed in eternal immortality with every sinful physical attribute removed. No, these stand with the stains of sin written into their being.[4]

The Herald next shows me an innumerable group of men and women that begins to form and stand together. It is as if the Great Judge has caused them to band together to receive their judgment. I notice this group stand as they did when they were laid to rest. Many have the obvious results of open sin brought on by immoral practices. I am made to know that their lifestyle was allowed because so many stated it was politically correct. The Herald breaks his silence and says, “Six thousand years ago the universe watched as the Creator reached into the soil and formed from the dirt of the earth a perfect man created in His image. He then decided it would be good for this man to have a helpmate, someone he could enjoy, talk and fellowship with, and someone who would be his equal. The Creator caused this man to sleep, and from this man He created a woman in His image. He created them as male and female. Nowhere in the universe is there male or female except on the earth. The Creator sanctified their union as husband and wife and pronounced them as married. Notice this was the second institution that the Great Founder created. The first institution is the seventh-day Sabbath. The Creator then commanded that these two in their marital union, through the holy institution of marriage, be fruitful and multiply. They were to populate the earth. They were not created with a genetic makeup of a man and a man or a woman and a woman to live in this holy union or to have a sexual relationship. The Great Founder created a perfect union between a man and a woman, between a husband and a wife in the sanctity He called marriage. He never created a genetic makeup that results in a life of homosexuality. Those who have chosen this path have not chosen it because of an inherited trait or a genetic disorder. It is not anything that is connected with the Creator’s grand design. Those who live this style of life live it because of what they have chosen. It is not through what was created. Those in a position of counsel who did not assist in correcting those who lived that lifestyle, those that endorsed it and spoke smooth, soft things will give an account to the Great Judge.”

My eyes now scan over those who performed this sin of trampling on God’s holy institution of marriage. Man is standing with man and woman with woman, because they chose to sin rather than follow the marriage lifestyle that God instituted in the Garden of Eden. It is made clear to me that they will stand to receive their reward for trampling on one of God’s institutions and for breaking His holy law, which brings them the reward of eternal death. They each acknowledge it was a choice and that they have sinned.[5]

The Herald calls me by my heavenly name and says, “Continue to review and report those who you see standing in this second resurrection.” As I look upon the surface of the world, I have an overwhelming realization how the majority of those who lived upon the earth have followed Satan. Yet the Great Creator knew each one personally. As my eyes scan over this vast multitude, I understand they include those from the beginning until that time when Jesus arrived to call forth from the earth every righteous saint who ascended with Him at His Second Coming. The multitude also includes giants from before the great Flood. I see so many who excelled in world leadership, yet not to the glory of the Great Leader, but to their own devising and greed. Now at Christ’s third and final coming every unrighteous being upon the earth stands and looks upon the face of their Creator.

I now see individuals who I am very surprised to see standing to receive eternal death. They have served in a high position in God’s last remnant church and many followed them in their system of belief. There are others who sat as infiltrators to deceive and lead away God’s chosen people. Many had spoken truth and error, including those in the leadership of God’s remnant church. It was through their service to the great deceiver they now stand looking up at Jesus coming as He said He would the third time. Many ignored, chastised and condemned God’s prophets and messengers, and they now stand with those they led astray. Those who had been given an opportunity to pray and study to know the truth themselves instead allowed their elders, pastors and conference officials to lead them astray. Now they stand seeing Jesus return not to welcome them to eternal life but to give their just reward of eternal death.

I am now in shock as I see personal family members who had been given the truth, but because pride entered in and they did not humble themselves, they lied and condemned the messages I have been given from God. It must be asked:  When does Satan invite people to repent and reform, to fervently pray, read and study the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy? When does Satan lead many to give their hearts and lives over to Jesus and claim Him as their Savior? Now instead of receiving a crown of life, these family members receive a condemnation sentence of eternal death. My heart aches because they will be held accountable for leading others astray. Yet I know this is a dream, and I know I will never see them again unless they repent before it is forever too late.[6]

I see those who once walked so closely to God while serving as pastors, elders and very close friends, but then turned away from God. They were given the opportunity to repent and cast their sins at the feet of Jesus. They now stand as Jesus casts at their feet His decree of death. I have no words to describe the looks on the faces of my own family, friends, elders and pastors. They believed they lived a life of a true Christian, many as Seventh-day Adventist Christians. They stand in shock and expect to meet Jesus in the air. Now they are as those who Christ says “I know you not.” Many cry out about all the good deeds and miracles they performed, how they spoke in the name of Jesus. They now stand unable to move, but just wait to receive their punishment.[7]

As I see Jesus Christ descend from heaven, he is surrounded by His angels and His redeemed, including those who did not take the mark of the beast. The faithful who were chastised, starved, tortured or died in His name now stand with Him. Every eye now looks upon the Great Redeemer.

The Herald now instructs me to look where he is pointing. I see Jesus as He now slows down and His bare feet touch the Mount of Olives from where He left three thousand years ago. It is as if the mountain obeys His touch as it renders its loftiness to a smooth flat plain. The Herald says to look up once again. The Great Celestial City is slowly descending. Beneath it is what looks like layers upon layers of clouds. Over the Great City are what appear to be many layers of clear domes, which produce the most visually stunning rainbow. These layers do not reflect the sun but rather the mighty presence of the heavenly Father who sits on His glorious throne. The Great Holy City shines with a power that makes the sun appear as a small dark circle in the sky. The Holy City now lands on the enormous plain that Jesus prepared for it.[8]

Everyone now looks up high, far above the Holy City to see the event that no being can deny. Even those without eyes can perfectly see it. They are looking at a throne of indescribable beauty. It appears to be of a gold that radiates perfect energy. Upon this throne sits the Son of God, who is the Sun of Righteousness. On each side of Him are attending angels. A most noble angel, who I know to be Gabriel, lovingly places a crown of holy perfection upon the head of Jesus. He is crowning Jesus as the King of the Universe. Everyone throughout the universe observes this scene. Satan observes what he could be doing in that position if he had remained obedient to God. I smile as I look up to the Herald. He looks at me and says, “To serve as a heavenly messenger is a position of continual service in all humility.” After Jesus receives His crown, He is acknowledged by all living creations throughout the universe as the King of Kings.

Jesus now stands up. To His right is a large book. He breaks its seal and the book is opened. All the unrighteous stand looking at the face of King Jesus and instantly have brought to their mind every sin they have committed.[9]

I notice a depiction above the throne of the empty cross that Jesus died on for everyone who would accept Him. Below the cross is a recording of the life of Christ from His unwelcome birth through His baptism and ministry, from His trial and torture, His crucifixion and death, to His resurrection and ascending from the Mount of Olives. All eyes are fixed on the scenes before them. Every evil angel and Satan himself is made to see what they have caused by their rebellion.[10]

All stand now for their reward to be meted out in justice and mercy by the One who sits as the King of Kings—the One who looks into the hearts of each with those eyes of such love. He is the One who is entitled to this right. The sins of those who followed the instructions of certain leaders are passed on to those leaders whose sins are passed on to other leaders. All sins are finally passed to Satan.

Jesus now raises His hand and with the power granted through the Father, fire comes down from heaven and the earth begins to be consumed. I hear the cries of those in the Holy City as they see family members, friends, and loved ones in pain, and they plead for Christ to shorten their agony. Others look down upon those who mocked, tortured and killed them, and they plead for mercy upon them as they are now dying. The righteous know that those who are consumed would not have been happy in heaven. God in His infinite love and mercy knows they would not have been happy. Those who were unfaithful in God’s holy remnant church now burn for days. Those who have little sin are consumed quickly. Some go instantly. It is all according to their deeds. The bodies are consumed first then the sinful nature or character of the person is consumed last. Satan and his angels burn the longest, but Satan is the last to be consumed. The fire is of the most intense pure thermal heat so that it can destroy the evilness of all, especially Satan. After he is destroyed, the cleansing flames continue to burn the earth until nothing is left, except the ground the Holy City rests on. The flames consume the first heaven until every trace of sin is removed from the universe. The only reminders left of sin will be the scars in the wounded head, hands, feet, and side of Jesus for all eternity.[11]

I now watch as Jesus raises His lovely hand and commands that there be a new heaven and a new earth because the former were destroyed in the cleansing fire. Now the redeemed saints, the heavenly angels, and the entire universe proclaim in one voice the holiness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and praise the King of Kings who is the Love of the Love of the Love.

 [1]     Revelation 16:20
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

[2]     Jeremiah 25:33
And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried.

[3]     The Great Controversy, pp. 658-659
That the expression “bottomless pit” represents the earth in a state of confusion and darkness is evident from other scriptures. Concerning the condition of the earth “in the beginning,” the Bible record says that it “was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Genesis 1:2. Prophecy teaches that it will be brought back, partially at least, to this condition. Looking forward to the great day of God, the prophet Jeremiah declares: “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down.” Jeremiah 4:23-26.

Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years. Limited to the earth, he will not have access to other worlds to tempt and annoy those who have never fallen. It is in this sense that he is bound: there are none remaining, upon whom he can exercise his power. He is wholly cut off from the work of deception and ruin which for so many centuries has been his sole delight.

[4]     Revelation 20:5
The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.

[5]     Romans 1:26-27
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.

[6]     Matthew 10:36
A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

Maranatha, p. 197
We shall find that we must let loose of all hands except the hand of Jesus Christ. Friends will prove treacherous, and will betray us. Relatives, deceived by the enemy, will think they do God service in opposing us and putting forth the utmost efforts to bring us into hard places, hoping we will deny our faith. But we may trust our hand in the hand of Christ amid darkness and peril.

The followers of Christ must expect to encounter sneers. They will be reviled; their words and their faith will be misrepresented. Coldness and contempt may be harder to endure than martyrdom. . . . 

Parents will turn harshly against their children who accept unpopular truth. Those who conscientiously serve God will be accused of rebellion.

[7]    Ibid., p. 209
Many who have had great light will fail to walk in the light, because they have not become one with Christ.

[8]     The Signs of the Times, March 6, 1879
A rainbow is represented in Heaven round about the throne, also above the head of Christ, as a symbol of God’s mercy encompassing the earth. When man, by his great wickedness, provokes the wrath of God, Christ, man’s intercessor, pleads for him, and points to the rainbow in the cloud, as evidence of God’s great compassion for erring man; also to the rainbow above the throne and upon his head, emblematical of the glory and mercy from God resting there for the benefit of repentant man.

The Great Controversy (1888), pp. 662-663
Christ descends upon the Mount of Olives, whence, after his resurrection, he ascended, and where angels repeated the promise of his return. Says the prophet, “The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.” “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof, . . . and there shall be a very great valley.” “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.” [Zechariah 14:5, 4, 9.] As the New Jerusalem, in its dazzling splendor, comes down out of Heaven, it rests upon the place purified and made ready to receive it, and Christ with his people and the angels, enters the holy city.

[9]     Early Writings, pp. 290-291
Then I saw thrones, and Jesus and the redeemed saints sat upon them; and the saints reigned as kings and priests unto God. Christ, in union with His people, judged the wicked dead, comparing their acts with the statute book, the Word of God, and deciding every case according to the deeds done in the body. Then they meted out to the wicked the portion which they must suffer, according to their works; and it was written against their names in the book of death. Satan also and his angels were judged by Jesus and the saints. Satan’s punishment was to be far greater than that of those whom he had deceived. His suffering would so far exceed theirs as to bear no comparison with it. After all those whom he had deceived had perished, Satan was still to live and suffer on much longer.

Heaven, pp. 126-127
Says the prophet of God: “I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Revelation 20:11, 12.

As soon as the books of record are opened, and the eye of Jesus looks upon the wicked, they are conscious of every sin which they have ever committed. They see just where their feet diverged from the path of purity and holiness, just how far pride and rebellion have carried them in the violation of the law of God. The seductive temptations which they encouraged by indulgence in sin, the blessings perverted, the messengers of God despised, the warnings rejected, the waves of mercy beaten back by the stubborn, unrepentant heart—all appear as if written in letters of fire. . . .  The whole wicked world stand arraigned at the bar of God on the charge of high treason against the government of heaven. They have none to plead their cause; they are without excuse; and the sentence of eternal death is pronounced against them.

[10]   Maranatha, p. 343
Above the throne is revealed the cross . . . .

[11]   Last Day Events, pp. 240-241
It is the glory of God to be merciful, full of forbearance, kindness, goodness, and truth. But the justice shown in punishing the sinner is as verily the glory of the Lord as is the manifestation of His mercy.

God’s love is represented in our day as being of such a character as would forbid His destroying the sinner. Men reason from their own low standard of right and justice.

In no kingdom or government is it left to the lawbreakers to say what punishment is to be executed against those who have broken the law. . . . God is a moral governor as well as a Father. He is the Lawgiver. He makes and executes His laws. Law that has no penalty is of no force.

Ibid., p. 279
Could those whose hearts are filled with hatred of God, of truth and holiness, mingle with the heavenly throng and join their songs of praise? Could they endure the glory of God and the Lamb? No, no; years of probation were granted them, that they might form characters for heaven; but they have never trained the mind to love purity; they have never learned the language of heaven, and now it is too late. A life of rebellion against God has unfitted them for heaven. Its purity, holiness, and peace would be torture to them; the glory of God would be a consuming fire. They would long to flee from that holy place. They would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden from the face of Him who died to redeem them. The destiny of the wicked is fixed by their own choice. Their exclusion from heaven is voluntary with themselves, and just and merciful on the part of God.

Malachi 4:1
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Heaven, p. 131
While the earth was wrapped in the fire of destruction, the righteous abode safely in the Holy City. Upon those that had part in the first resurrection, the second death has no power. While God is to the wicked a consuming fire, He is to His people both a sun and a shield. Revelation 20:6; Psalm 84:11.

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” Revelation 21:1. The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin.