Introduction to The Little Book that John Ate

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Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."

The Historical Perspective:

The revelation of the prophecies began in October 1962. God gave a vision. Jesus called. The Holy Spirit taught and revealed the mystery of the end times. The words and study are God's! To God be the honor, praise and glory.

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." Revelation 2:11

Late October 1962: The First Dream

Note: All verses are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.

It was as thought I had been ejected from my bed. Almost before I was awake, I found myself out of bed standing on my feet. Through a profusion of tears, I could see the luminous dial on the clock. It was 4:00 A.M. I wanted to go back and see the dream again, for I had a strange feeling that I had missed something even before I had turned it over in my mind. It seems there was something I did not understand which I should have understood. I turned it over in my mind.

No question about it, I had missed something in that strange dream. This certainly impressed me even before I could consider it. The heavy feeling in my heart grew with the realization that I could not go back and see the dream or vision or whatever it was, again.

As I made my way in the dark to the kitchen, weeping, I felt compelled to reach for my Bible. Yes, of course, this is where I shall get relief from this burden on my heart, I thought. Immediately, I went into the Psalms. God had provided me with just the comfort needed often before in those precious words.

I read and prayed and searched and read some more. But the heavy feeling in my heart was not relieved! The stirring of the family forced me to delay further search till later that night. But during the day I shared this with some Christian friends. Each one was touched but could give me no comfort or help. So I was forced to continue to search the Word of God for my relief. Meanwhile the burden continued to grow heavier.

As soon as I could get back to my Bible in the evening I began to pray and search again. I did not know what I was searching for, except that I earnestly wished to be relieved of the heavy feeling. The search spread to other books of the Bible. But still no relief. This continued and the third night I was back again asking the Lord to help me. By this time the search had focused in the book of Revelation though I did not know why. Large numbers of people were in the dream and large numbers of people are also represented in the book of Revelation. However, I was not aware of that similarity till later. But God was guiding me.

So as it was, as I was reading in the Revelation of John, that a most remarkable thing happened: Suddenly I had a deep understanding of what I was reading! Such comprehension almost overwhelmed me. In Revelation 17:12, "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast." The ten horns (kings) are ten heads of government! They have the power of governing, but they did not receive their power by election or heredity. The got it from a beastly source.

Excitedly I read on in the next verse (13), "These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast." They have one mind. They agree. They agree on what? These heads of government agree on their kind of government! They give their power and strength back to the beast from which they received it. They are puppet heads of government. I couldn't stop!

And in verse 14, "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings: and they that are with him are called, and chose, and faithful." So this beasts' philosophy of government is anti-christ, and these ten puppet kings agree upon this!

In the first flood of excitement over this sudden comprehension, I had completely forgotten myself and everything else. Now I realized the heavy, burdensome feeling had vanished! And I was full of joy running over. Oh, how I thanked the Lord! Not only had He removed the burden, but He had also given understanding of his Word, and prophecy at that. It was almost too much to take in.

But that first flood of joy began to give way to the serious concern. These things that I was understanding are in this world today. And the understanding of the prophecies was to be held till the end times! Yet I was understanding some very important things. Several awesome questions in my mind raised goose pimples on my scalp: Not the least of which was, "Why me?" And I said, "Oh God, why me?" There are so many really worthy people who merit honor or favor in your kingdom." By any standard I could think of, I was unworthy and unqualified. And as I prayed over this question, the comfort came: "God will use whom He chooses. His grace makes up for your lack." This came as an immeasurable comfort to me. I said, "Thank you Lord." And He took away my fear.

God's Timing:

The next questions was, "Lord, why now?" Prayer and meditation brought no answer. So I went back to the verses He had just shown me. Only this time I began at verse 10 of Revelation 17. And it happened again!

There was a new depth../the_bible/Revelation.html#Rev17-10 of comprehension. The words seemed to stand out on the page: "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come: and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." The understanding of this verse is the answer to my prayer of "Why now?"

AFTER five are fallen, WHILE one is, and BEFORE the one that is not yet come. The words after, while and before are implied in the verse. And the Lord gave them to explain when this prophecy was to be understood: While one is. For these are seven successive leaders in line, who build this anti-christ concept of government till it reaches its final, great power in the world. And this was to be understood WHILE ONE IS and BEFORE the one that is not yet come.

In verse 11, "And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition." This is the mind which these rulers or powers in the world have. What they agree on is part of them. It is their philosophy of government. Their anti-christ philosophy is their uniting factor. They do indeed have one mind.

As I studied Revelation 17:10-14, again I could see nothing had changed. But what I had received from the Lord was discernment, not anything new. Praise the Lord. I was carried along on that first flood of excitement and joy for several weeks.

This all began later in October of 1962. But at the first opportunity, which came early December 1962, we went to our former home to share with a trusted friend what the Lord had done. I told him the strange dream and the heavy burden with which it left me, and how the burden was lifted as the discernment of the scriptures came and of my unworthiness. The counsel he gave was of more help than I can say.

He surprised me with, "Well, if this is a gift of the Lord, there will be more." Incredible! I already knew it all. How could there be any more? Hum, yes, the donkey, that thought seemed remarkably comforting to me. He had used what was convenient to Him.

He seemed to sense my deep feelings of unworthiness and inadequacy. For he continued, saying that perhaps the Lord would not have used me if I had learned enough to have formed ideas which would make it impossible for me to be led by the Holy Spirit. This would be true where the leading would conflict with ideas learned elsewhere. Perhaps God wanted me because I knew almost nothing about the prophecies. There certainly were no pre-conceived ideas to obstruct the flow of the Spirit. Since that time my one unchanging prayer has been, "Lord keep me teachable."

My friend continued, saying that I should make a chart to show these things, and write it all down. He urged me to pray and get into the Word more. By this time, partly I wanted there to be more and partly I wanted no more at all. So we returned to our home with mixed emotions but still refreshed.

The Voice of Jesus: The Call

All these things were set aside as Christmas drew near. The children's Christmas program at church took place on Sunday evening just before Christmas. My husband and I were standing outside the church in the dark chilly night afterward. There were only a couple of other people outside. I heard a man say to me, "This is the way, walk…" I turned on my heel instantly to go, hardly hearing the rest of his words. His voice was so commanding I just wanted to go right then. I turned to the left. There was only the desert. I turned to the right. There was only the dimly lit parking lot. "Which way?" I asked. For I was ready to go somewhere.

Though he had not heard what I had heard, my husband seemed to understand. It did not make sense to me. So I rationalized that the man out in the parking lot had spoken to someone else and I had misunderstood. This explanation did not satisfy me for the words I had heard were distinct. But it was an explanation. But the voice I heard was so commanding that I wanted to go right then. It was not a deep thundering voice. It was a man's voice, firm but gentle. I shall never forget the sound. It came like from over my shoulder behind me. All I knew at the time was I wanted to obey the command.

But final preparations for Christmas took all the time and attention, and this also was set aside for the time. It was about the middle of January 1963, before I could really get down to business with the Lord again. By then there had been time to think about it and pray about it and decide if I wanted any more. I was half-afraid there would be more and half-afraid there wouldn't be.

"Oh, Father, if there is more you would have me to understand, lead me as you will." I thought, "If Jesus has something for me, I want it."

As I was sitting at my desk praying, I took my Bible immediately. Holding it between my hands, I asked the Lord to open the book wherever He wanted me to start. So again, without opening my eyes, I slowly opened my book, vowing I would begin to study on the page the Lord saw fit to show me.

The Book opened at Isaiah Chapter 30. So with pencil and notebook in hand, I gave thanks to the Lord and began to study. At verse 21, I stifled a shout as I read:

Isaiah 30:21

"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."

Immediately the scene outside the church flashed back to me and I remembered the commanding tone of the voice saying, "This is the way, walk…"it was the voice of my Savior Jesus! No doubt about it. That's why I couldn't forget it. He had spoken to me! That is what I heard Him say. That is why I wanted to go! It is just like Jesus to said in John 10:27, I heard His voice. That is why I wanted to obey. The joy over this miracle was almost too much to contain. Praise God!

It was six months later that I came to realize this was my call. But God is so gracious. His call is not binding on us unless we are willing that it be so. For I would never have known He called me if I had not asked the Lord to show me if there was more for me. He had proved Himself by the Word. This comforted me and reassured me. I came to know Him and love Him in a new and deeper way. This study is His, not mine. Hallelujah!

From Isaiah 30, we went right through to Revelation. Many of the notes taken were on verses which I did not understand myself. As I was making a note on "The veil of the temple was rent in twain." This thought came into my mind: "This is a very important scripture." And then I had to laugh, because I didn't have the foggiest notion what it meant. The first reading of Daniel left me with one thought: "My, I'm glad I won't have to work on this." It was a total maze.

During the weeks and months of this first rather cursory study I learned much and prayed much. He was showing parts of it. His method was clarified to me later thus:

Isaiah 28:10

"For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:"

By the time we reached the end of Revelation, I had an outline of the prophecies and meager familiarity with them, which seemed to me at the time to be a world of information.

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