The belief in the Endtime was a long-term staple of The Family. The beginning of this apocalyptic time was prophesied periodically, the official date repeatedly updated so it always loomed. When my parents were younger, they practiced drills in preparation for the event that Endtime soldiers came for us. There were entire camps about how to survive in the Endtime.[1] When I was a child, we mostly read about the Endtime and prepared for it on a smaller scale. As a little girl, I asked my mom about our future, and she said she didn’t think she would live beyond 30 years old, because she believed she’d die in the Endtime or be raptured by then. I was raised to believe that the Endtime was right around the corner.

The Endtime was everywhere for children in TFI: it was an occasion we trained for, whether in classes or our Word Time. We learned key promises to aid us in battle, studied how to receive prophecies to fight and survive, and trained to master prayer – all so we could prevail in the Endtime. These three – key promises, prayer and prophecy – were all called Weapons of the Spirit, weapons to one day use against the Antichrist and his soldiers.

The Endtime was such a staple in our lives that it was all over our make-believe: We would play Christians who hid from Antichrist soldiers – in essence, we children would hide from our caretakers and other adults. Our daily assignments to memorize verses and prophesy seeped into our games and became part of them. Included in our games was stealing food from the pantry, climbing walls and trees, and practice-fighting with sticks; all because we deemed these necessary skills to have in the Endtime.[2] The Endtime was so pervasive that TFI even had a board game centred around it. This board game concerned the 16 events of the Endtime; the players had to either recite verses that belonged to each event or answer a variety of questions about the Endtime (like how many days each event should last for).

In the articles that follow I explain the basics surrounding TFI’s beliefs about the Endtime. I exemplify these beliefs with the help of examples from Warriors: At the Edge of Time. First, I delve into TFI’s 16 stages of the Endtime and explain each event. I explain the events first with the relevant verses from the MB2K, then usually expand on the verses with information from the Book of the Future[3], then finally I give examples from the novel. The second article in this Endtime series examines TFI’s beliefs that concerned the Antichrist – what we were taught about him, his role in the Endtime, and how these aspects affect his characterisation in the novel. In the third and final Endtime article, I describe TFI’s teachings taught about the role its members would play in the Endtime. These teachings are clearly demonstrated throughout the novel, whose quotes support my description.

[1] Camps were similar to Swiss Lager, except they were not only for children. The specific camp I reference here was described to me by my grandmother. It was a camp she attended that was all about preparing for the Endtime.

[2] We would have to steal food, of course, because none of us would have the Mark of the Antichrist (666) and therefore we would have no other way to attain food. Besides provisioning, of course, but that was much less fun to play.

[3] The Book of the Future is quite old, compiled in 1983. Some details about the Endtime only arise in later Mo Letters, but an astounding amount of information that we learned appears in The Book of the Future.

David Berg taught an elaborate, yet mostly fixed, timeline of the Endtime’s events. We were required to memorise this timeline vigorously. It was vital for us to know each of the Endtime’s stages or events, as well as exactly what to expect from each event. The Memory Book 2000 (hereafter MB2K)[1] contains a compilation of memory verses pertaining to each Endtime event that were essential learning. On top of that, we had games to play and timelines to memorise, there were song and videos about the Endtime,[2] as well as novels, books and magazines.

The main Endtime events we were taught – in chronological order – are as follows:[3]

1. The Last Days
2. The Signs of the Times
3. The Economic Crash/The Great Confusion
4. The Rise of the Antichrist
5. The Confirming of the Covenant
6. The Breaking of the Covenant
7. The Great Tribulation
8. The Atomic War
9. The Rapture
10. The Marriage Supper and Judgement Seat of Christ
11. The Wrath of God
12. The Battle of Armageddon
13. The Millennium
14. The Battle of Gog and Magog
15. The Great White Throne Judgement
16. The New Heaven and New Earth

According to TFI, these events are all foretold in the Bible. The relevant verses that predict the Endtime were collected into the MB2K. Many are singular verses, but Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation are Endtime-relevant and were encouraged reading and memorisation. We were instructed to memorise all these verses, because they supposedly contain details about the Endtime that would be beneficial knowledge once the Antichrist rose.

Warriors: At the Edge of Time only deals with the first five stages of the Endtime – the characters don’t actively experience any events beyond the Confirming of the Covenant. Meanwhile the sequel, Warriors: In the Final Fray, portrays some of the Endtime past that point, primarily the Breaking of the Covenant and The Great Tribulation. Nevertheless, both novels mention verses and prophecies that pertain to later Endtime events.

With these introductory remarks complete, let’s move into the descriptions of the Endtime events. In the following sections, I explain the first five events in detail, since those occur in the novel; the remaining events have a simple overview. I begin with the relevant verses from the MB2K and often follow-up with information from The Book of the Future, TFI’s official book that applied many MB2K verses to world events. Everywhere possible I have added quotes from Warriors that correspond to the relevant event.

[1] Those who have read my other articles know about the MB2K or Memory Book 2000. This book of verses was compiled in the year 2000 and is a collection of what TFI deemed to be the most important verses. Verses in the MB2K that were required to memorise had a little ‘*’ next to their reference. The Endtime had its own entire section in the MB2K (45-53).

[2] Interested parties are encouraged to check out the TFI music video ‘Watch Out for 666’, which can be found on YouTube. It’s one of the classic TFI Endtime songs and even contains a synchronised shopping cart dance! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmHNnCDvKf4&t=127s&ab_channel=thecentimetersquare)

[3] These events were not all the same length. While the Rise of the Antichrist and the Confirming of the Covenant were simultaneous, 3 and ½ years pass between the Confirming of the Covenant and the Breaking of the Covenant.

The Last Days is the vaguest of the Endtime events. The three verses about this stage in the MB2K are Hosea 3:5, 2 Timothy 3:1, and 1 John 2:18. These verses as written in the MB2K are as follows:

Hosea 3:5: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the Latter Days. (45)

2 Timothy 3:1: In the Last Days perilous times shall come. (45)

1 John 2:18: Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” (45)

Clearly there are no concise descriptions of these “Last Days”. The verses mention the “Latter days”, the “Last Days” and the “last time”, but they do not contain any details. This did not stop David Berg, who interpreted a lot into these few verses.

Firstly, the Hosea verse: “The children of Israel” was interpreted to mean us, members of The Family. We were the children of Israel who had returned. Where we returned to and from where was left unclear, but the location did not have anything to do with Israel, we were simply the children of Israel. Then we would seek God and David our king – in this case, Berg interpreted this King David to be himself, David Berg. He proclaimed himself to be a fulfilment of this biblical prophecy (from hundreds of years ago). The rest of verse was interpreted to mean that we would fear – revere – the Lord and his aid during the Endtime.

The idea that Berg would be a sign of the Last Days is not mentioned in the Book of the Future, so I believe this was a later belief. It must have been prominent around at the time Warriors was written, because Lenny mentions it in Part II, Chapter 1: “A Family Affair”. At the end of the chapter, Lenny and Gypsy drive from Gypsy’s home to visit Don, whom they plan to convert. As they drive, Lenny thinks about David Berg:

Lenny began to whistle as he drove, thinking of Mo and how, right before his eyes, he was seeing God’s Word fulfilled, how He would use David as the shepherd to gather the lost sheep from where they had been scattered, how He would use him to break off the yoke of the System that had them bound, how David himself was one of the signs that these were the Last Days. (HL, 108)

This is the idea taken from Hosea 3:5, how Israel’s children will seek their King David. This “David” is normally interpreted to mean someone from King David’s lineage (Wikipedia, c), but Berg instead claimed that the verse was about him. He claimed to be the prophesied person and therefore a sign of the Last Days.

The second verse, from the book of Timothy, was taken quite literally: The Endtime would be dangerous, and people would die. This verse was viewed alone – without the context of the surrounding verses, chapter or book – as a prophecy about the Endtime. I do not recall that anyone ever taught us the context of this verse, which is already problematic, because if we ever discussed it, then it was surely never focused on. When one considers the context, a letter from a follower of Jesus to Timothy that contained advice for their current time (Wikipedia, d), it is rather wild that Berg used verses from this chapter to predict the Endtime.

Finally, there is the verse in 1 John: The verse begins with “Little children”, so this was deemed a prophecy that was meant for us, the Children of God (The Family International). The verse was interpreted as a warning that there were many antichrists, but the “main” antichrist would still come. These two aspects would show us that we were experiencing the Last Days. As with the verse from Timothy, I was never taught the context for this verse in TFI; I finally read the full chapter when writing this article. 1 John is a letter written to John’s followers or other Christians (Wikipedia, e). The letter is written in the present tense, because the author was literally writing a letter in their present time. I cannot fathom why David Berg claimed this verse referred to The Family International and our current time rather than the author’s.

Moving away from the verses, The Book of the Future describes The Last Days as the time before the second coming of Christ (Berg, 6, 17-18). This is, ridiculously, the extent of the infromation about the Last Days, which don’t even get their own chapter or section in the Book of the Future. In case the Last Days were a later addition to TFI’s Endtime beliefs, I also examined later Mo Letters. While the Last Days are briefly and vaguely mentioned time and time again, I found no specific Mo Letter that details this Endtime event.

In any case, in the Book of the Future, there is a significant overlap between what Berg calls the Last Days and what he discusses in the chapter “The Signs of the Times”. Neither the MB2K verses nor the Book of the Future contain clear specifications or descriptions about what precisely distinguishes the Last Days from any other events before The Rapture. The only real description of the Last Days that I learned as a child stemmed from 1 John 2:18, that in the Last Days, the Antichrist would come.

Similarly to the MB2K verses and the Book of the Future, Warriors does not contain many details about the Last Days, although they are mentioned multiple times throughout the first six chapters. The initial mention of the Last Days occurs near the end of Part I, Chapter 1: “A Heavenly Call”. Lenny has a trip while on LSD in which he makes a series of choices that result in him choosing Jesus above his girlfriend. As he comes down from his high, he finds himself declaring, “It’s Jesus! It’s Jesus! […] I saw Him. He was standing there and calling me to follow Him, because it’s the Last Days and there isn’t much time.” (HL, 24). The dream does not describe any details about the Last Days, and Jesus doesn’t actually mention the Last Days in the dream. Nevertheless, after his trip Lenny instinctively knows that the Endtime is coming and that he needs to prepare for it. As in the other literature, the reader is told the Last Days will come, but it is never explained what that entails.

A further example from the novel shows a theoretically non-TFI perspective, when in Part I, Chapter 3: “The Devil Fights”, Don’s father discusses the Last Days. Don’s father is the town’s preacher, and he even goes into a lengthy, opinionated speech – it covers two entire pages of the novel – about Christian beliefs surrounding the Last Days. Some of his arguments are rather amusing when the context of TFI is considered:

“Brethren, I want to speak to you today on the Biblical doctrine of ‘the Last Days.’ As you well know, we have had many cults and sects and fanatical ‘prophets’ from time immemorial spouting out a message of doom and gloom and warning us that the Last Days were upon us, and that Jesus Christ was returning at any moment, on such-and-such a day or night.” […]

“We must, however, remember that Jesus Himself told us that His Kingdom was not coming with observation, but that it is within us–each and every one of us. Jesus told His disciples that no man knows the day or the hour. Therefore, brethren, anyone who tries to tell you he knows when Jesus will return, don’t believe him!” (56-57)

The content of this sermon amuses me because TFI represented and taught these exact ideas. When TFI was better known as the Children of God, they were stereotypically one of the Doomsday Cults who warned about the coming of Christ and the Last Days. Furthermore, even in the Book of the Future David Berg mentions the verse described here, Matthew 24:36, where Jesus tells his apostles that no one knows when he will return (10). After Berg describes this verse, he proceeds to explain why he believes that verse should be ignored because of all the signs of the Last Days that exist in other verses, as well as the rest of Matthew 24 (10-13). This contradiction always confused me as a child, and I remain perplexed that TFI members agreed with David Berg’s decision to ignore this verse from that important a Bible chapter.

TFI’s basic knowledge of the Signs of the Times came from Matthew 24, especially the verses 5-7, 12, and 14. These verses are included in the MB2K section on The Signs of the Times. Otherwise, that MB2K section also contains Daniel 12:4. In quick summation, some of the signs of the Endtime were as follows: many false prophets/people pretending to be Jesus (Matthew 24:5, 45), “war and rumours of wars” (Matthew 24:6, 45), “famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places” (Matthew 24:7, 45), “the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12, 45), how the word of God – aka the Bible – would be preached worldwide (Matthew 24:14, 45), and finally how “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4, 45).

Let’s begin this analysis with the sign in Matthew 24:5: the false prophets and false Christs. The Book of the Future itself does not describe specifics about false Christs or false prophets, although it does mention them multiple times, especially the false prophets (Berg, 27, 64-66, 93-94, 96, 128, 139, 146, 176-177, 187). Therefore, some aspects that I was taught must have developed later. For example, I learned that the Antichrist would be one of these false Christs. This interpretation likely arose since the Antichrist would rise as a saviour who magically solves all the world’s problems. We were also taught that the Antichrist would definitively state that he is Christ who returned, which occurs in some of TFI’s Endtime novels.

This particular interpretation does match the verse, which precisely reads, “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:5, 45). The above interpretation focuses on the Antichrist who would claim to be Jesus Christ returned, which at least carries a sentiment from the verse. While TFI taught that others would pretend to be Christ, the focus remained on the Antichrist alone.  Meanwhile, the interpretation that states that there would be many false prophets clearly does not stem from this verse. Rather, this idea was likely conflated from a later verse in Matthew 24, namely the beginning of verse 24: “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets” (BibleGateway, b). This verse was not required learning in the Endtime section of the MB2K, but the idea of false prophets was nevertheless taught alongside Matthew 24:5.

While TFI focused on the Antichrist as a false Christ, when it came to the false prophets there was a focus on numerous prophets. These false prophets would lie and claim to be chosen by God to speak his word. The idea that these prophets would be lying was very important – this was a typical tactic to differentiate TFI members from non-TFI Christians. When we received prophecies, we were legitimate. When non-TFI members received prophecies or claimed to be chosen by God, they were easily dismissed as false prophets. In this way, Berg’s prophecies, and the prophecies received by any of the leadership in TFI, were legitimized.

Matthew 24:5 is the least questionable of the Signs of the Times taken from these verses. Under close analysis, many of other signs become ridiculous when we examine Berg’s interpretation of the verses and which aspects he focuses on. For example, there is Matthew 24:6, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet,” (45). In the Book of the Future, Berg claims that it’s irrelevant that the world has always been at war (30-31). Instead, Berg writes that what matters is that wars were not as international in the past (30-31). With this interpretation, Berg specifically declares the World Wars as Signs of the Endtime, for the sheer amount of countries, people and money involved (Berg, 30-31). He further argues that there have never been as many deaths before and that there are more conflicts worldwide than ever before (Berg, 31).

Such arguments are dubious, because on the one hand they are hard to prove or disprove, while on the other hand it’s kind of just sensible. If an argument cannot be proven or disproven, there is no reasonable argument to be had about the topic – it is hard to prove Berg wrong, because we simply know neither how many wars were comparatively waged in the past, nor how much money was comparatively spent. Furthermore, it is sensible that some aspects will have increased. Deaths increase as populations increase, and it is possible for more people to be drawn into more conflicts. That’s not even accounting for technological advancement, which of course can worsen the negative impact of wars. The point is this: Berg’s claim can always be true, at least based on our history. Likely at any point in time, one could have said, “There have never been as many deaths, or as widespread wars,” and would have held true, because with technological advancement and increased populations, this would be the outcome. Berg seeing the World Wars as a Sign of the Endtime does not make sense, because why not any war before? Why not any war after? Such an interpretation or such a sign is not sensible, because it does not eliminate anything. Berg could have, at any time, claimed that any of the most recent wars were a Sign of the Times, and it would have still fit the verse Matthew 24:6.

Such reasoning is also used for the other verses. Take Matthew 24:7: “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” The first half of the verse was often added to verse 6 and the argument of wars; meanwhile the second half was interpreted as either an increase in or simply the existence of famines and diseases and earthquakes. This is a further sign where its prophetic usefulness is miniscule – the world has always had famines, diseases, and earthquakes, since they are natural occurrences. This argument could be made at any time, so that claim that it will be a specific sign of a future event does not make sense. Much like war, there are a variety of reasons why there would be more or fewer of these natural events.

• I do also want to specify that none of the verses state that there will be an increase of these signs, simply that they will be present. Meanwhile, Berg repeatedly argues that an increase of the signs’ occurrences matters (30-35).

Furthermore, Berg’s argument about Matthew 6-7 undermines itself. Namely, Berg argues that “we’ve had these things for two millenniums since Jesus was here. He said they’re only the ‘beginning of sorrows’” (30). Essentially, Berg declares that wars and natural disasters have occurred for years and are only the beginning of the end. This end, he’s saying, has been going on for two thousand years. This argument is ludicrous: If these “signs” have occurred for 2’000 years, how can they possibly be used to predict a specific date? Just on the previous page before this argument, Berg writes, “He has been quite generous in His revelations of the future. He has specified what the various Endtime events will be and has even given us approximate timeframes leading up to the very end,” (29). I ask you, how does 2’000 years count as an approximate timeframe? How can an increase over 2’000 years count as one specific sign?

Nevertheless, let’s consider the next verse, Matthew 24:12: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold,” (MB2K, 45). If we accept this verse as a metaphor, that would require some way to conclude that people in the 20^th century feel less love than they did in the past. Berg went for the most ridiculous option to explain this verse in a way that he could claim the imminence of the Endtime: “With today’s selfish and self-indulgent ‘me generation,’ this prophecy by Jesus about the endtime is being fulfilled” (35). That’s his entire reasoning. Berg declares that, in his point of view, people today are selfish and self-indulgent, and this clearly means that they feel less love. He doesn’t even give examples of what behaviour he thinks is selfish or self-indulgent! Again, that sentence quoted above encompasses Berg’s entire argument around Matthew 24:12.

The next verse that contains a Sign of the Times is Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come,” (45). Berg’s primary interpretation of this verse is that the Bible and Christianity will be preached world-wide (31). However, this interpretation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because of another enthusiastically taught, required verse: Mark 16:15, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (MB2K, 10?) The issue is thus: if the Bible tells you to preach the gospel around the world, so you’re always preaching the Gospel around the world, then of course if the Endtime comes you would still be preaching all around the world. Just like the verses above, this interpretation allowed Berg to constantly say that the Endtime was just around the corner. The more international The Family International got, the more Berg could argue that Matthew 24:14 was being fulfilled. Of course, in this case I am making the assumption that Berg’s interpretation of the verse concerned us. As the “chosen” children of God, what mattered was that we were preaching all around the world, not that other Christians were preaching or had preached in the past.

Berg’s secondary interpretation of this verse is similar in nature to his extra interpretation of Matthew 24:5. For Matthew 24:5, Berg claims that what matters is that wars are more international, there is more money involved, and more people are dying (30-31). These aspects are obviously not in the original verse. For Matthew 24:14, Berg decides that the way the Bible and Christianity are preached matter as well (31). Berg writes that it’s important that the preaching is not only worldwide, but across different media, like radio programs, TV, books and pamphlets and mags, as well as the internet (31). This clearly moves away from the verse and into Berg’s own interpretations.

Finally, there is the last MB2K verse, Daniel 12:4: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased,” (45). Berg’s first argument about the increase of knowledge is straightforward and resembles his other arguments: Our modern day’s level of knowledge indicates this increase of knowledge, and science has progressed farther over the last century than ever before (33-34). As previously, Berg’s argument is flawed because in most cases knowledge will have increased from one year to the next throughout our history. Furthermore, his point that science has progressed incredibly over the last century is moot: we will be able to make that exact claim about the 21^st century as well.

However, the most ridiculous interpretation of all is of the phrase “many shall run to and fro” (Daniel 12:4, MB2K, 45). Berg interprets this as a “drastic increase in international travel” (18). One could just as easily interpret running “to and fro” as chaos, which was my instinct. Instead, Berg settles for certain on international travel. He claims that the increase in travel is proven by increased tourism, increased speed of travel and increased types of travel (31-33). Again, Berg argues a point that can always be true: travel has always been developing, and people have steadily travelled more and more over the centuries. If you pick a point in history and compare it to the past behind it, all of these Signs of the Times will be accurate.

In conclusion, there are a few large issues with all Berg’s arguments. Another important point to consider that I haven’t mentioned before, is that Berg writes under the assumption that the world is only 6’000 years old. When he writes that travel or science did not change for thousands of years (32-33), his argument relies on an Earth that is 6’000 years old, so the time when humans didn’t have any machines in the first place is discounted. Furthermore, Berg can discount ancient natural disasters. While a majority of people believe that extremes in the Earth’s climate have occurred in the past, Berg’s belief in a 6’000 year-old Earth means that the worst case of climate disruption is occurring in our current time.

Essentially, these verses were interpreted in such a way that they could fit if the Antichrist appeared in the modern day. The fact that these signs are such common occurrences is part of why Berg was able to predict the Endtime over and over again. Furthermore, because TFI constantly searched for these signs, the members often found them. There are frequently famines and sicknesses and earthquakes, there is always war, “running to and fro”, and an increase of knowledge. Adding to that, the argument that “it’s more than it’s ever been” was so unspecific that it was applicable to any time frame. So each prediction of the Endtime was based on one “larger” famine, one more significant war, one jump forward in knowledge – and then nothing happened, so Berg moved on to the next one.

Warriors holds a plethora of Signs of the Times, but many of them correspond better to the numerous signs that are described in the Book of the Future.[1] Nevertheless, the novel does contain a handful of signs that correspond to the verses in the MB2K. For example, right near the beginning of the novel, there is a scene with Lenny and his friends: Lenny has decided to leave and search for Christ, and he is convinced that it’s the Last Days. He declares this to his friends and two of them freak out and proclaim that the world cannot be ending. Lenny answers with a long speech that lists all the horrible things happening around the world that prove it must be the Last Days. Below is a snippet from this speech that best corresponds to the verses discussed above:

“When a lady gets mugged and stabbed multiple times in broad daylight, screaming for help and people just die and step over her as she dies, you tell me it’s not the End? we’re fighting a war that we never declared, in a country that most of us never heard of before, and it costs 50’000 American lives so far and how many of theirs, and for what, nothing!–you tell me it’s not the End? When our soldiers in that war, guys next door just like you and me, wipe out a whole village of civilians, women and children, in cold blood, don’t tell me it’s not the End.” (33)

This extract picks up Matthew 24:6 and a little of Matthew 24:12. Clearly this extract contains talk of war, in this case they’re referring to the Vietnam War.[2] In the first sentence Lenny describes what I assume is the well-known murder of Kitty Genovese and the mistaken news report that there were 38 witnesses who neither helped her nor called the police (Wikipedia, f). This and the last sentence, which mentions killing “in cold blood”, likely represent Matthew 24:12 and how “the love of many shall wax cold”, since both examples describe the heartlessness of everyday people.

This is only a small part of the speech, which contains other Signs of the Endtime or strong TFI beliefs. One example is how music can be of the Devil, which is represented by the Manson murders, where the murderers apparently claimed that the Beatles told them to do it (HL, 32). It’s further exemplified by a murder that apparently took place at a Rolling Stones concert, where the Hell’s Angels acted as security and killed a person during the song ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ (HL, 33). Following the example of music, Lenny mentions the existence and threat of nuclear weapons (HL, 34), which is a Sign of the Endtime Berg mentions in the Book of the Future (36-37). Finally, Lenny mentions the situation in the Middle East, the war for oil and the conflict in Israel (HL, 34). The solution, and therefore the existence, of the crisis in the Middle East is a key event in the novel and in the Book of the Future (Berg, 19), which the Antichrist relies on to become the World Leader[3].

A more obvious example of a Sign of the Endtime occurs in Part II, Chapter 2: “Don’s Deliverance”. This chapter describes how Lenny and Gypsy save Don from his sins of the pride of life and the lust of the flesh. At the start of the chapter, Lenny and Gypsy find Don in a messy apartment. He has been suffering from panic attacks and nightmares sent by the Devil. Don refuses to listen to Lenny, so Gypsy tries to get through to him, teach him about God, and argues that God needs him. Don doesn’t believe her, but Gypsy insists that Don is needed for the Endtime – to back up her statement, she describes signs that they’re in the Last Days.

[Gypsy:] “The signs, the signs show it. Oh, Lenny, what are all those different signs?”

Lenny shrugged, then nodded for her to go ahead, that she was doing fine.

“Man’s knowledge increasing so rapidly, worldwide travel … it’s predicted in the Bible how man would travel like crazy in the Last Days … earthquakes increasing, wars increasing and being worldwide, famines, Israel becoming a nation again, the rise of Russia as a great power, even nuclear weapons, man’s lack of love for his fellow man, even our cars and highways – all these things are signs that the End is near.” (114)

Gypsy brushes over most of the verses discussed above. She mentions the Daniel verse and all the above Matthew verses except for Matthew 24:5, since she doesn’t describe false Christs. Gypsy has also clearly learned that the prophecies and verses declare increases or expansions, an aspect that I mentioned previously. Therefore, the mere presence of wars is not enough, rather there must be more wars that involve more nations, which is not in the verse. Similarly, there cannot just be earthquakes, there must be an increase in earthquakes.

Gypsy also mentions other signs, some of which are covered in the Book of the Future, but not the MB2K. For example, that Israel will become a country again, that Russia will rise, the creation of nuclear weapons, as well as the existence of cars and highways. The Book of the Future doesn’t actually say that Israel will become a nation, rather it says that Israel and the Arabs will agree to share Jerusalem (46-47), so I’m not sure how the author chose that particular Sign of the Endtime. What’s notable is that no verse is mentioned that prophesies this event in either the novel or the Book of the Future. Meanwhile, Russia’s rise is not mentioned in the Book of the Future, but I was also taught that was a Sign of the Endtime, so that belief presumably arose later in TFI. Nuclear weapons, however, are mentioned in the Book of the Future, and are apparently prophesied somewhere in the verses Revelation 17:12, 16-17; 18:1-10, 17-19 – the book does not specify which of these verses specifically contains the prophecy (Berg, 21). Revelation 18:8 does mention how “she shall be utterly burned with fire” (BibleGateway, c), which is the only verse I can imagine being interpreted as the usage of nuclear weapons. Lastly, the Book of the Future claims that cars and highways are prophesied in Nahum 2:3-4, especially Nahum 2:4, “The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall jostle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings,” (33). Berg explains that lightnings was the best way Nahum could explain headlights at fast speeds on highways (32-33).

While the previous extracts from the novel were predictions of the Endtime and prophecies about the Signs of the Times, in the later parts of the novel, the actual Endtime events occur. The following quote is from Part III – Chapter 2: “Compassion Takes Action”; since Part III takes place 30 years after the events of Parts I and II, the predictions discussed in those parts begin to come true. In this case, the extract is not from anyone’s point of view, it is simply a narrator who describes the slow descent into the Endtime over a year.

• Suicides were up. Crime was up. Men’s hearts were failing for fear. […]
• Peace, faith, trust–all were things of the past, belonging to a time when the
• world was simpler, when miracles really happened, when people believed that
• there was a God above who looked down with loving eyes and came down
• with caring hands to help. Now the skies held only satellites–satellites which
• carried the news that all was not well. Now the skies held only fear that some
• madman would send those hell bombs whistling their way and shatter the
• broken peace. Now the skies held only fear of a depleted ozone layer. […]
• Smiles and laughter were reserved for the barrooms when drink had
• temporarily drowned despair in forgetfulness. Bitterness and a fatalistic sense
• of doom had withered the smiles and dried the tears so that what was left was
• a zombie-like numbness over the world’s populace, like cattle herded into the
• slaughterhouse waiting for death and the meatpacker’s blade. Numbness had
• set in from hearing of and seeing disaster after disaster, morbid murder after
• grisly death. Plagues, famine, suicides, perversion–consciences truly were
• seared with hot irons. (198-199)

This extract contains many aspects discussed before, as well as a few new Signs of the Endtime. The nuclear weapons are mentioned again, as are the natural disasters. The “bitterness”, “fatalistic sense of doom” and “zombie-like numbness” from lines 10 to 12 could be referring to an interpretation of Matthew 24:12 and how love is lessened. The sign of heart failure [1], while not in an MB2K verse, is in the Book of the Future. This sign is interpreted from the first part of Luke 21:26, “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:”, which is mentioned repeatedly in the Book of the Future (13, 18-19, 36-37). Berg claims that this prophecy of heart failure will be a result of the Matthew 24:12 prophecy and how “the love of many shall wax cold” (18-19). Later Berg more specifically explains how he interprets “men’s heart failing them for fear” as literal heart failure, primarily from fear of a “nuclear holocaust” (36), and somewhat from fear of crime (36-37).

Another sign that occurs in the Book of the Future concerns the consciences seared with hot irons [15-16], which references 1 Timothy 4:1-2. 1 Timothy 4:1-2 reads, “ ¹ Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; ² Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;” (BibleGateway, d). Berg claims this as a further Sign of the Endtime, because people have an increased interest in other religious movements, what TFI would call pagan religions (37). This is repeatedly depicted in the novel, with Marduke being a witch (HL, 77), her cronies practicing magic (130), Will’s tattoos of an ankh and a “witchcraft star” (131), as well as Gypsy’s very negative experience when she chants a Hindu mantra (45-46). The actual statement of “conscience seared with a hot iron”, while repeatedly mentioned, is never explained, and I’m not sure what TFI’s interpretation entailed.

Otherwise, there are many new signs that I cannot easily match with verses or find in the Book of the Future. For example, an increase in suicides and crime [1] [14-15], a lack of peace, faith and trust [2], or the strange seeming-dislike of satellites [5-6]. However, while I cannot assign verses or quotes from the Book of the Future to these signs, they are very familiar to me as Signs of the Endtime that I was taught. Especially the focus on the satellites which bring bad news, since TFI was quite against the media and the news. The novel often mentions how news outlets are working for the Antichrist, and this was a belief TFI held, due to the tendency for TFI to be portrayed poorly in the media.

[1] The verses analysed above are from the MB2K, however many, many more are touched in in the Book of the Future, and many of these appear in Warriors. For the sake of time and space, I do not examine those in depth, and only mention those verses that appear in the chosen extracts. However, if you’re in the mood for ridiculous arguments from Berg and the worst Biblical interpretations you’ve ever seen, feel free to read Chapters 2 and 3 from the Book of the Future.

[2] The Vietnam War is historically relevant to TFI because of the hippies that protested it, the Children of God’s own protests against it, and how the Children of God used these protests as a means of gaining membership. Furthermore, some first-generation members of TFI were soldiers and ex-soldiers from that war.

[3] World Leader, Supreme Leader, Supreme Lord, and Chairman are a few of the many pseudonyms for the Antichrist in Warriors.

Once I reached this event, The Economic Crash, I was confounded. I realised that I couldn’t immediately recall what verses prophesy this event. So I read the verse and began digging: And then I laughed. There is literally one single verse in the MB2K, the Book of the Future doesn’t mention it at all, and apparently the importance of this event came from one of Berg’s dreams!

The relevant verse in the MB2K is 1 Thessalonians 5:3, “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape,” (46). I cannot even begin to fathom how this verse is relevant to this Endtime event. Sudden destruction has so many potential meanings, I do not know what possessed Berg to ascribe this to an economic crash. What’s further amusing about this verse in particular, is that while 1 Thessalonians 5 is generally accepted as discussing the Endtime, the chapter explains that the Endtime will be surprising and unpredictable (Wikipedia, g). This verse and the verse that precedes it literally state that we cannot predict when exactly the Endtime will come. The irony is ridiculous, I cannot believe they put this verse in the MB2K right after the verses that Berg argues should give us an exact prediction of the Endtime.

Nevertheless, David Berg claimed this verse predicted the crash, presumably after he had his special dream (Berg, ML #284). The dream was decently-known in TFI – I remember watching a children’s show, I believe an episode of Family Fun, in which the dream was told with props and then interpreted. It was a long and extensive dream with multiple facets,[1] but the relevant part is when Berg was in an elevator, and then it fell (Berg, ML #284). That is the part that he interpreted as the Economic Crash. This dream seems to be the first time the Economic Crash occurred to Berg as an important future event, and it’s also significant that it’s in one of the earlier MO Letters. Over later Mo Letters, Berg progressively fixates on the Economic Crash and how it will play a key role in the Antichrist’s rise. Berg’s theory – or prophecy – was that the Antichrist and his forces would cause a worldwide crisis in the shape of an economic crash. Then the Antichrist would come forth as a superman who saves the day by solving the economic crisis. This solution would propel him forward to the status of World Leader and serve to convince individual leaders of the world’s countries to sign the covenant.

• The lack of the Economic Crash in the Book of the Future is probably because the Book of the Future was compiled in 1983; while this is after Berg had that dream, it’s before his fixation on the Crash become prominent. There are multiple Mo Letters that mention a coming crash, or claim a crash is the Crash. For example, the Crash of 1987 (Berg, ML #2’379) and the Crash of 1979 (Berg, ML #762).

The Economic Crash did not start off with a lot of notoriety in TFI, however the importance increased over time, and this is exemplified by the novel. By the time the novel was written, the Crash must have been a noteworthy belief, because that event is mentioned a great deal, and it’s portrayed as a significant Sign of the Endtime. The villains especially foreshadow and prepare for the Crash for the entire Part III of the novel. Once the Crash occurs, the Crash and its consequences receive entire pages and paragraphs of description and are repeatedly mentioned over Part IV.

In Part III, Chapter 2: “Compassion Takes Action”, Will is on the way to being saved and acts as a double agent against Marduke. Officially, he still works for Marduke, who has enlisted him to take down his old friends: Lenny, Gypsy, Don and Roy. Will uses this cover to gain Marduke’s trust and gather information about the Antichrist’s plans. In the following scene, Marduke celebrates the progress that they’re making against TFI. Will tries to cover up that he has changed sides and simultaneously uncover the Antichrist’s next step. When Marduke mentions the Economic Crash, Will immediately asks about it.

Will came from behind the bar with the drinks. He and Marduke toasted each other. “To the Crash,” she said.

“Is it going to be soon?”

“Very! There will be things happening in the new year that will bring all the world’s interdependent economic systems crashing to their knees. Then, our Supreme Lord will be able to come in and pick up the pieces and run things the way they should be run.” […]

“The groundwork has been laid for years,” Marduke continued, “And if all goes the way it should, it’s finally going to happen – everything we’ve dreamed of. Most governments have already fallen into place and are toeing the line. But the rug is about to be pulled out from under the economics of the world, and when that happens, those countries which have been resisting the New World Order will finally be forced to their knees. Soon after, our Supreme Lord will reveal himself, and what a day that will be!”

(HL, 188-189)

This passage sets up the basic beliefs TFI had about the economy and the Crash. There was this general belief that the Antichrist and his minions control the economy, which is why they are able to influence it when it’s convenient for them. Furthermore, Marduke makes it clear that they will cause the crash in order to take advantage of it and enable the Antichrist’s rise. This was a more central TFI belief, because it follows Berg’s reasoning that the Antichrist causes the Crash in the first place. This would make it easy for the Antichrist to swoop in and solve this issue, which would set him up to become the World Leader. Lastly, this passage shows the second usage for the Crash – any countries who resisted the Antichrist before the Crash would have no option but to accept his solution and sign his covenant. In this way, not only would the general populace view the Antichrist as a saviour, but he would force all countries to support him with the covenant, and he could control the entire world.

Over the rest of Chapter 2 and in Chapter 3, the novel builds up to the crash. Some of the Signs of the Time begin to crop up, and the novel describes how the economy increasingly destabilizes. Finally, at the end of Part III, Chapter 3: “The People That Do Know Their God”, the actual Economic Crash occurs. This news of the Crash is given from the point of view of Don and Gypsy’s home’s: they saw the signs and were prepared for it.

It had been coming for a while; you could see it in the headlines. Every Family member could see the writing on the wall, so no one was really surprised when the major stock markets of the world lost a quarter of their value in one day. There were bailouts by this or that part of the world until their markets dropped too. Finally, no part of the world or international financial institution–including the World Bank and the IMF–was able to help the other, and everyone went down like the great Titanic. Governments, utilities and businesses–from small shops to major corporations–began to fail and descend into confusion one after another. […]

The Family in South Africa was gathered around the radio listening to a special broadcast from Pretoria. […]

Then there was silence. The radios had gone dead. The lights began to flicker for a few ominous seconds and then went out completely. Word spread that the government had collapsed. (215-216)

This passage describes the inevitable descent into chaos that follows the Economic Crash. Members of The Family International obviously know it’s coming, because they’ve learned about the Endtime and this particular event. They simply watch while the stock markets crash and then the rest of the economy collapses. What’s importantly further specified in this passage is the second title of this event: The Great Confusion. Following the Economic Crash, the world would fall into utter confusion, because everything would fall apart. This passage describes how first the banks fall, but then governments and all kinds of businesses also begin to fail and “descend into confusion”. Finally, the governments crash as well, and with them apparently everything else, since the radio stations also cease to function. Since no administrative entities remain after the crash, the world falls into a Great Confusion.

The “Introduction” of Part IV describes further consequences of the Economic Crash that further elucidate The Great Confusion. It clarifies that not only the economy fails, but also governments and armies (245). The novel further describes unsuccessful attempts to stabilise the world’s economies that only lead to money running out (245). What follows is poverty and hunger, fear and hopelessness, anarchy and gangs (246). The “Introduction” ends with the Antichrist’s minions’ viewpoint, how they wait for the “darkest hour” to introduce the saviour the world clearly needs (247). And who will rise to save them all?

[1] I urge interested parties to read Mo Letter #284, The Crash, from 1973. It’s so ridiculous that it’s rather amusing. Link: https://pubs.xfamily.org/text.php?t=284. If you have the time, feel free to also check out the video, which is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ca041eJDek&ab_channel=OldMemoryLane.

The Rise of the Antichrist is the second largest section in the MB2K, with about a page of 8 verses. This is indicative of its importance to TFI, especially the importance staked on the ability to recognise the Antichrist’s rise. This recognition was trained by learning the verses, which contain information about the Antichrist’s behaviour, appearance and plans. The eight verses can be split into four groups: Daniel 8:23-25, Daniel 11:21, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, and Revelation 13:3b-4.

Daniel 8:23-25 is at least sort of a prophecy (Wikipedia, h). Daniel chapter 8 in general discusses the author’s own time and describes a vision of the future when the Jews will no longer be oppressed (Wikipedia, h). The specific verses 23-25 mention “a king of fierce countenance” who rises, is powerful and destructive (especially to “holy people”), then how he’ll be prosperous and peaceful, but ultimately destroyed.

Dan.8:23-25

And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

     And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

     And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. (MB2K, 46)

Berg interprets that this king is the Antichrist who will still come and sees these verses and this vision as not yet fulfilled (19). While this king will be fierce, powerful, and destructive towards religions and religious people, he would make the world prosperous and bring about world peace (19). This is not explicitly mentioned in the novel, however the Antichrist’s solution for the Economic Crash is meant to make the world prosperous, and part of his grand solution is to stop the war in the Middle East and bring peace. Daniel 8:25 then says that the king will stand up against the “Prince of princes”, which TFI interpreted as Jesus, and then the king would be defeated. We were taught that this meant the Antichrist would fight TFI members who would destroy him.

Daniel 11:21 is also part of a prophecy, this time a longer one (Wikipedia, b). This prophecy takes up chapters 10-12 in the book of Daniel and is about the Time of the End; Chapter 10 is an introduction to the vision, Chapter 11 is the vision, and Chapter 12 acts as a conclusion to the vision (Wikipedia, b). Verse 21 of chapter 11 goes, “And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries,” (MB2K, 46). Again, Berg interprets this as the Antichrist and how he will be peaceful and use persuasion rather than violence to obtain power (46, 52). This vision is generally considered fulfilled by scholars, especially since the particular content around verse 21 is historically accurate (Wikipedia, b). Rather than the Antichrist, scholars believe this vision refers to the ancient ruler Antiochus IV (Wikipedia, b).

The main depiction of the above verses occurs in Part IV: “Saturday: One Last Day”. This chapter is near the very end of Warriors and contains the Antichrist’s first address to the whole world. At this time in the novel, all forms of media are down due to the Economic Crash and Great Confusion. However, just for the Antichrist’s special speech, his people have worked and managed to get the TV stations online so that he can broadcast his message to the world. This message is meant to prepare the world for the following morning, when there will be a second broadcast wherein the Antichrist promises he will unveil a special agreement to solve all the world’s issues. In this scene, four members of the Family are watching this broadcast in a bar; to them this speech signifies a clear preface to the Confirming of the Covenant.

The figure of an impressive-looking man came on and off and on and off again. He was attired in some sort of military uniform, and he was undeniably quite handsome and charismatic. When the picture and sound were suitably tuned, he wasted no time.

“My fellow inhabitants of this planet we call Earth, I greet you. Soon, I am going to be announcing to you matters of extreme significance, things that will affect all of our futures immeasurably, and help to turn our ever-smaller globe into the paradise of peace and haven of rest it should have always been. (327)

[…] I am not one of your well-known, lofty leaders; I am but a humanitarian, a humble servant, brining aid to a troubled world.

[…]

We will be so bold as to say that tomorrow will usher in a new era of peace, love, harmony and understanding among peoples. Tomorrow, you will begin to see ‘swords beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks’ and ‘peace and goodness covering the Earth as the waters cover the seas’.

[…]

The four Christian friends sat in dumbfounded amazement.

“He quoted Scripture!”

“He made it sound so good.”

“He’s so handsome; you don’t pick up at first how cruel he looks.”

“Yeah, the fierce countenance the Bible speaks of.”

“Judy, Collin,” Roy finally said, “do you realise what we just saw?”

“Yes,” they answered. “We just got our first glimpse of the Antichrist, didn’t we?” (328)

This one scene covers a lot of ground when it comes to the Antichrist’s rise. The speech’s primary purpose is to depict all of the positive aspects of the Antichrist and his argument – these are the reasons why everyone would follow him and not recognise his dark side beneath. The Antichrist is not only “impressive”, but also “handsome and charismatic”. He makes an impression, not only because he is good-looking, but because his presence is also persuasive. Much of his speech details his plans for peace, prosperity and inclusion, just like in the Daniel verses above. The Antichrist also sets himself above other world leaders by claiming that he is just “a humble servant” and therefore less likely than the other World Leaders to be influenced by “threats, bribes, lobbies” (328) and many more issues that abound in politics. The Antichrist ends his speech with Bible quotes – this is special, because the Antichrist uses the Bible to trick Christians into following him. Of course, the novel must show that the TFI members are not duped by this seemingly wonderful message, so the characters discuss how this must be the Antichrist and directly reference the Bible. Because TFI members have been trained to notice and anticipate the Rise of the Antichrist, they cannot be fooled.

The next verse mentioned in the MB2K is from 2 Thessalonians 2. This chapter is a letter from Paul to the Christians of Thessalonica. In this letter, Paul corrects some misinter-pretations of a previous letter he wrote about the time of the end and explains to his followers that it’s not quite the time of the end yet. He clarifies that first many people must stop believing in God, then a figure enabled by Satan will rise. The verses 3-4 introduce this figure:

2Thes.2:3-4

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.

     Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (MB2K, 46)

The interpretation of this verse in TFI focussed on the last line of verse 3 and verse 4, although the “falling away first” was an important setup. The “falling away first” means that first many people will stop believing in God or his word. Berg considers this fulfilled because of Western society’s general disregard for God and Christianity (19). The “man of sin”, clearly interpreted to be the Antichrist, is revealed and he is “the son of perdition”, which Berg argues contextually means son of hell (57). Verse 4 was an important sign for the Rise of the Antichrist – notoriously the Antichrist would proclaim himself as better than God, then pretend to be God and even sit in God’s temple. Berg’s interpretation states that this temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem during the period after the Confirming of the Covenant (19, 57).

The final verses that concern the Rise of the Antichrist are Revelation 13:3b-4. The book of Revelation is primarily a collection of prophecies that predict Endtime events, like the rapture and judgements of the Earth (Wikipedia, i). Revelation chapter 13 in particular mentions two beasts, which Berg interprets as the Antichrist and the False Prophet, although Berg also mentions that they’re the same person, but also they’re a government entity (38, 63). The relevant verses in the MB2K are the second half of the third verse and the fourth verse.

*Rev.13:3b-4

     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? (47)

According to Berg, the Beast referred to in precisely verse 3 is not only the Antichrist, but also his one-world government (38). Berg’s interpretation of verse 3 is that everyone except the Family and some others will be awestruck by, “wonder after”, the “Antichrist and his government” (38). The dragon which gives the Beast power is actually Satan (Berg, 62-63); this particular interpretation comes from Revelation 12:9, because Satan appeared to Adam a where Satan is referred to as a dragon and a serpent (59). When the dragon gives power to the Beast, the Beast is no longer also the government, but apparently just the Antichrist (Berg, 63). The overall point is that people begin to worship the Antichrist and the one-world government that he has created, partly because they are in awe of the powers exhibited by the Antichrist and Satan.

• I almost got a headache attempting to follow Berg’s argumentation in the section about The Dragon and the Beast (58-65). The amount of jumping between verses in completely different books of the Bible, not to mention the bizarre argumentation about the Beast, was baffling. He refers to the Beast as the Antichrist, then the Antichrist and his government, then also the False Prophet, then also all the kingdoms of the world are the Beast, and then later Satan is also the Beast. There’s also a whole interpretation about an assassination attempt on the Antichrist, followed by the Antichrist’s resurrection. It’s certainly a difficult story to follow.

In the novel, the word “Beast” comes up four times. Once in reference to the Mark of the Beast, once as a chapter title, and twice in reference to the Antichrist (HL, 186, 335, 350, 355). In the novel’s last chapter, “Zero Hour and the Beast”, Roy receives one last prophecy about the Endtime and the coming years, wherein God reveals there will be worship of the Beast (350). Finally, in the “Conclusion”, the narrator also references worship of the Beast “before it becomes compulsory to do so” (355).

While the verses in this section were meant to be relevant to the Rise of the Antichrist, they generally discuss aspects that only occur after the Confirming of the Covenant. Signs of the Antichrist’s rise were supposed to occur before the covenant’s seven years, but in TFI his rise was very intertwined with the covenant, the signing thereof, and the 3 ½ years between the Confirming and Breaking of the Covenant.

The MB2K only allots half a verse to the Confirming of the Covenant, and that is Daniel 9:27a. Daniel chapter 9 and its overall prophecy is known as the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks (Wikipedia, a). The name comes from the revelation that the angel Gabriel gives to Daniel, because the beginning of verse 24 reads: “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city” (BibleGateway, e). Verses 25 to 27 break down these seventy weeks into three segments of seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, and finally the one week mentioned in Daniel 9:27 (Wikipedia, a). The weeks of these verses in Daniel 9 are commonly interpreted to represent years (Wikipedia, a), an interpretation Berg takes on as well (51). I don’t remember any of the other weeks being very important in TFI, but that last week is significant and symbolises the seven years of the Covenant (Berg, 51).

Dan.9:27a

And he [the Antichrist] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. ([the Antichrist] in original MB2K, 47).

TFI’s interpretation of this verse is straightforward. This “he” is the Antichrist, and he confirms this covenant, which is called an agreement in the novel. This covenant is confirmed with many, which TFI interpreted as Earth’s world leaders, for one week, or seven years. Although this half-verse is the only one in this section, Berg uses other verses to extrapolate that this covenant will be a worldwide peace treaty, which he declares will solve all the world’s problems (52).

This verse and the analysis thereof elucidate that Berg can extrapolate a lot from half a verse. The novel takes those few words and adds many of Berg’s interpretations to flesh out this situation in the novel. The novel focuses on two aspects in particular. First, how this covenant entails many world leaders signing over their power to the Antichrist. Second, how the world leaders’ signatures mean that they agree to the Antichrist’s plan to solve all of Earth’s difficulties. The Confirming of the Covenant is described in a passage near the very end of Warriors. The Antichrist gives his second and principal televised speech to convince the world’s populace of the brilliance of his agreement, his covenant.

As the camera scanned the crowds, it was clear that the orthodox Jews in the crowd were at first pleased that the Chairman was of Jewish origin. Then, as he continued to speak, you could see rapturous looks on their faces as he spoke of Jerusalem and of the rebuilding of the Temple. It was easy to read on their lips the words that were being spoken–“Messiah.”

Yet the Arabs seemed to sense also that here was a man they could talk to, who would listen, who understood their plight. He had worded his statements in such a simple and clear, but well-chosen way that Jews, Arabs and even Christians could see his perception was one of truth and justice, and that it just might work.

No issue was left uncovered–war, poverty, refugees, disputed territories, distribution of wealth, religion, disease, social welfare, human rights – every problem was touched on. As he spoke, everyone could easily recognise that his proposed solution was the only way to solve each of these problems; his proposal was so simple, yet so obviously brilliant. (HL, 338-339)

This extract from the novel depicts the content of the Antichrist’s covenant. The agreement and the speech describe a future where Jerusalem is shared by Jews and Arabs, and the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem is rebuilt. This embodies the large idea of peace in the Middle East and between religions which was one key aspect of the Antichrist’s rule that Berg focuses on (19, 45-47, 52).[1] Then the novel rushes over issue upon issue that the Antichrist solves, pretty much any worldwide difficulty one can imagine. All these issues have plagued the world for eons, and apparently the Antichrist has a simple proposal to solve them all.

It is telling that the novel never describes this simple and brilliant plan. There isn’t even an attempt made to describe what this plan could possibly be. I was surprised to realise this when I reread the novel. I remembered potential solutions being detailed; after all, why would they not be? If this novel was received through prophecy, then why not learn about the Antichrist’s solution from spirit helpers? The novel takes the easy way out and describes the Antichrist’s brilliant plan without explaining anything at all.

Nevertheless, in the novel the world’s populace is convinced by the remarkable plan that the Antichrist sets before them. After the events that have followed the Economic Crash and The Great Confusion, the people are rapturously joyful for this turn of events and eager to see the world leaders sign the proffered treaty. Only the children of God are dismayed and wary as the Antichrist’s speech finishes and the world’s leaders move to support his vision.

There was a musical interlude while dignitary after dignitary came out on the balcony to shake the Chairman’s [Antichrist’s] hand and sign the Covenant on the white-clothed table before them. Each one took the commemorative gold pen with which he signed, and held it aloft to wild cheers and shouts, before placing it in his pocket as a souvenir for his part in the so-called greatest event in history. ([Antichrist’s] added, 339)

The Confirming of the Covenant contains a lot of fanfare in the novel. First there’s the spectacle that surrounds the affair, a televised event that promises answers to all the world’s problems.   Then comes the handsome Chairman – the Antichrist – who gets everyone on his side with his charisma and persuasive speech. The cameras don’t stop once he finishes talking; they keep rolling and film the entirety of the signing alongside a musical composition. The whole world watches as the agreement is signed on a white table with pens of gold. Every signature is met with cheers. Half a verse from the book of Daniel is transformed into a remarkable occasion: the beginning of the final seven years.

[1] I do find it amusing that when Berg speaks about religious freedom and peace (19), he does seem to only ever mean peace between Arabs (he always says Arabs and never Muslims), Jews and Christians. I wonder what was supposed to happen to all the other religions – are they allowed religious freedom as well?

The verses ascribed to the Breaking of the Covenant in the MB2K are both from Daniel. In fact, the first verse follows right after the verse about the Confirming of the Covenant discussed above, namely Daniel 9:27b. This verse is, as before, part of the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks, which has truly numerous interpretations.[1] Nevertheless, as before, TFI focussed on the seventy weeks prophecy as predictive of the Endtime. Daniel 9:27b was deemed important due to its helpful information to determine the timeline of Endtime events.

Dan.9:27b

In the midst of the week he [the Antichrist] 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. ([the Antichrist] in original text of MB2K, 47)

The main important interpretations from this verse come from the first phrase: 1) After half the “week”, in essence after three and a half years, the Antichrist will break the covenant (Berg, 92); 2) The covenant will be broken because the Antichrist will order the worship in Jerusalem to stop (Berg, 92). The occurrence of these two events would signal to all the Family members that the Great Tribulation had arrived. At one point in the Book of the Future, Berg specifically focuses on the covenant as a holy covenant[2] rather than an agreement to solve the world’s problems (48). This is important because Berg writes that the Antichrist will break the covenant’s terms of religious freedom (52). Essentially, at the Confirming of the Covenant, the Antichrist claims Jerusalem as the world’s capital and instigates religious freedom there (Berg, 50-51). However, after 3 and ½ years, the Antichrist commands all other religions to cease worship, discontinues sacrifices specifically in Jerusalem, and declares himself the only God to be worshipped (52). This last part is not mentioned in Daniel 9:27,[3] but rather in the verse analysed below.

The second verse in this MB2K section comes from Daniel 11. Daniel 11 was discussed above in the section about the Rise of the Antichrist. To reiterate, chapters 10, 11, and 12 of the book of Daniel are called “Daniel’s final vision”; chapters 10 and 12 are viewed as the prologue and epilogue, respectively, and Daniel 11 contains the actual vision (Wikipedia, b). The verse examined above was Daniel 11:21, which is specifically about a person who comes to power with charisma and persuasion. The relevant verse for the Breaking of the Covenant is ten verses later, Daniel 11:31, and presumably refers to the same character.[4]

Dan.11:31

And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. (47)

Berg interprets this verse as a companion verse to Daniel 9:27b and claims that they refer to the same event (53-54). He interprets “arms shall stand on his part” to mean that the Antichrist will use soldiers to seize the new temple in Jerusalem (19, 54). The Antichrist will further remove all religions worship and daily sacrifices from this temple, because he will take the temple for himself instead (19). Importantly to TFI, the Antichrist will proceed to set up an “abomination of desolation” in this temple, which will be worshipped as a god (20). Berg preaches that this “abomination of desolation” will be a cyber-statue of the Antichrist that can both talk and murder people (20, 39, 55-56, 67-68).

The Breaking of the Covenant is not depicted in the first Warriors novel, although the “Conclusion” heavily hints at this event. For example, it mentions how the Antichrist will require all people to worship him (HL, 355). The second novel begins with the Breaking of the Covenant and deals with the entire aftermath of that event, the Great Tribulation. However, since the Great Tribulation and the rest of the Endtime events are not depicted in Warriors: At the Edge of Time, the following sections shall be shorter, less detailed, and instead grant a general overview of each event.

[1] I invite any interested reader to check out the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks on Wikipedia (the link can be found in this article’s references). The sheer amount of interpretation around those 70 weeks is impressive.

[2] Berg’s idea of the holy covenant is one he takes from Daniel 11:30; whether this verse is even relevant to Daniel 9:27, I cannot say.

[3] The rest of Daniel 9:27b, the “overspreading of abominations” and “consummation” and “poured upon the desolate”, is not examined in the Book of the Future. Whenever Berg quotes that latter part of the verse, he never delves into it. I myself cannot recall any explanation or importance assigned to that second part of the verse.

[4] To reiterate a point that I’ve made previously, scholars are generally in agreement that Daniel 11 is about Antiochus IV, a Greek king who lived during the time of the author/s of the book of Daniel (Wikipedia, b). Berg was very insistent that this prophecy had not yet come true and instead referred to a coming Antichrist.

Verses from Revelation 12 and 13 are the primary sources of TFI’s information on The Great Tribulation.[1] Revelation 12:6 and 12:14 speak of a woman who “flees into the wilderness” (MB2K, 48), where God protects her from a serpent for three and a half years. Berg interprets this woman as the “Endtime Church” and the serpent as the Antichrist (61). In Revelation 13, TFI focussed on the verses 5, 7-8, and 15-18. These verses all concerned the Antichrist and the actions he would take during the Great Tribulation. For example, he would endorse the Mark of the Beast and demand that everyone worship him.

Two verses from Matthew 24 were also important: Matthew 24:15 and 24:21.[2] Verse 15 reads that the “abomination of desolation” (MB2K, 47) will “stand in the holy place” (47), while verse 21 concerns the existence of a “great tribulation” (47). Berg interprets this first verse to meant that the cyber-statue of the Antichrist will be raised in Jerusalem’s new temple (39). Secondly, since Berg connects the two verses, he declares that the appearance of the cyber-statue in Jerusalem signals the start of the Great Tribulation (92-93).

Berg and TFI taught that the Great Tribulation was the second part of the 7 years when the Antichrist is in power. After the Breaking of the Covenant, there would be three and a half years when the Antichrist would show his true colours and properly fight the children of God. These chosen Christians would, of course, be protected by God during these three and a half years. God would give them powers and gifts of the Spirit with which to survive the Endtime and fight the Antichrist. For example, the gift of prophecy was consistently connected to the Endtime as a way to avoid or defeat the Antichrist’s soldiers. Meanwhile, the rest of the world would experience a terrible time wherein the Antichrist is a dictator who demands unquestionable allegiance. Part of this allegiance would be the acquisition of the Mark of the Beast, 666, in the right hand or the forehead. This mark would determine who was working with or against the Antichrist.

[1] All full verses from sections 7-16 can be found in the Appendix.

[2] I’m not sure if these verses even make sense when they’re put together like this without the context of the verses in between.

The MB2K has verses from Revelation 18 for this section, namely verses 2, 8 and 10. These verses all concern the city Babylon which becomes overwhelmed by “plagues, death, mourning and famine” (MB2K, 49). Berg just interprets this to mean an Atomic War with the Antichrist and ten European countries on one side, and this city Babylon on the other side (21). The first atomic attack will be on Babylon (21).[1]

A simple read of the verses mentioned in MB2K make it clear that there’s a lot of interpretation going on there. I can’t say where Berg exactly got the idea for the Atomic War, because I cannot even begin to find hints of that in those verses. Berg also doesn’t explain his sources or thought process in the Book of the Future, where he writes the following:

During this tribulation period, ten “kings” will join the Antichrist and together they will destroy and “devour with fire Babylon, the great whore.”—A final judgment which, according to many scriptures, sounds like it is meted out by the ten leading nations of Europe, and a nuclear first strike that will destroy this modern Babylon in one hour (Revelation 17:12,16–17; 18:1–10, 17–19). (21)

Not only is this passage the extent of what Berg writes about Babylon, it is the only passage in which he references Revelation 18. His entire interpretation of the Atomic War’s verses is stated in the above extract. Of course, Berg does not explain how he arrives at the outcome of ten European nations, nor where or what city Babylon will be, nor why on earth he assumes that this represents an Atomic War.

[1] Berg does not clarify at all which city is meant by Babylon, but I have it clearly in mind that it was supposed to be somewhere in the USA. I believe this is mentioned in one of the old TFI songbooks where they sing about Babylon’s fall.

The MB2K verses about the Rapture stem from three different books of the Bible: 1 Thessalonians, Matthew and 1 Corinthians. In 1 Thessalonians it is chapter 4, verses 16-17. These two verses describe how a trumpet raises dead Christians, then the rest of the living Christians also rise, to meet God in the sky. The Matthew verses are 29-31 from chapter 24, which discuss how the end of the Great Tribulation is signalled by heavenly bodies going dark, Jesus appearing in the sky, and then his angels gathering Christians from around the world. Chapter 15, verses 51-52 from 1 Corinthians describe how after a trumpet plays, everyone changes, and dead are raised.

I cannot say whether any of these verses, chapters, or books even make sense as Endtime prophecies. That would be nuance and analysis that we were not taught as children. The true relevance of the verses, and whether it is sensible that Berg and TFI connected them, is a discussion for a different article. Nevertheless, this really is what TFI taught and what I was raised to believe. At the end of the 7 years, after the 3 ½ years of The Great Tribulation, there would no longer be light in the sky; the world would fall dark. Then a trumpet would sound as Jesus’ heavenly forces appear in the sky. The dead Christians would rise first, all with new heavenly bodies. Then the rest of the living Christians would transform, be granted heavenly bodies, and be floated up to meet God.

Figure 1. The Rescue

Following the Rapture, all the children of God were meant to be raised to heaven for the Marriage Supper, then assessed at the Judgement Seat of Christ. The verses that describe this instance in the MB2K are Revelation 19:7-9, 2 Corinthians 5:10, and Daniel 12:2-3. The Revelation verses describe a wife who dresses in clean, white linen, then attends the “marriage of the Lamb” (MB2K, 50). The 2 Corinthians verse states how everyone will be judged for the actions they performed in their physical bodies at the “judgement seat of Christ” (MB2K, 50). The Daniel verses depict how the dead rise for either “everlasting life” or “everlasting contempt” (MB2K, 50), then those who are “wise shall shine” (MB2K, 50).

Again, I cannot speak for the context, especially of the Daniel verses and the 2 Corinthians verse. I am completely unaware whether those two verses can even be sensibly ascribed to the context of the Endtime and the period after the Rapture. Setting those issues aside, as far as I understood the situation, the Marriage of the Lamb occurs before the judgement. The lamb was understood as Jesus, while this marriage supper was for the marriage between Jesus and all Christians who officially become his wife.

The specific description in Revelation of the wife’s clothing became representative of heavenly clothing for TFI members – in much, if not all, art that depicts heaven, the people are drawn in white linen.[1] This focus on the white linen also appeared in much art that depicted the Rapture (see above): with the transformation to “heavenly bodies” during the Rapture, the raptured would suddenly wear nice white, linen clothing. This heavenly attire was necessary to be properly clothed for the wedding, yet also for the judgement. The timing is somewhat unclear: Even after reading the Book of the Future, I cannot ascertain whether the judgement occurs during the wedding or after the wedding. However, I remember learning that it occurs during the wedding.

Berg’s interpretation of the above verses is thus: Everyone who is resurrected and raised during the Rapture is brought to Heaven for the Marriage Supper (109). There occurs a wedding of all Christians to Jesus Christ and a feast in celebration (110). During the celebration feast, all the Christians are judged at the Judgement Seat of Christ (111-112). This judgement is based on works and deeds, the actions that Christians took on Earth in order to win them special rewards in Heaven (113). For example, in the TFI novel series Blood and Freedom, one Christian betrays his fellow TFI members. Due to this betrayal, this character ends up with a shack in heaven instead of a house. Further examples are given in the Book of the Future, rewards like rulership over one city, or many cities, depending on which actions one performed for God and within his favour (113).

Within this argumentation, Berg does ensure to keep a strong distinction between good deeds performed to attain salvation and good deeds that grant rewards in heaven (113-117). Berg preaches in favour of the latter, meanwhile he repeatedly states that salvation is free for anyone who believes in Jesus (113-117). However, if a person does not perform much for Jesus while on Earth, then they will in turn receive lesser rewards in heaven (116). Maybe a less pleasing house, or rulership over fewer or no cities.

Figure 2. The Princess Wedding

[1] I say white linen, but it is arguably rather see-through clothing.

The Marriage Supper celebration and the judgement are for the Christians of the world. Meanwhile, all the non-Christians left on Earth experience the Wrath of God. The one and a half verses allotted to this instance are Revelation 14:9b-10. This segment essentially explains that anyone who worshipped the Antichrist and was marked with 666 will be punished with “fire and brimstone” (MB2K, 51). The Book of the Future goes into intricate detail about this event and what it entails, primarily referencing Revelation 16 and 17. Apparently, there are seven angels who have seven plagues, or vials of the wrath of God, which they pour out onto the rest of the world while the Christians are celebrating in heaven (123-132).

The Book of the Future details each of these plagues (123-132). The first five are: sores (124), [1] that saltwater becomes blood and all saltwater creatures die (124-125), that freshwater becomes blood (125), that the sun becomes seven times hotter (126), and that darkness will fall in Jerusalem (126). For the sixth plague or vial, the Euphrates River will dry up in preparation for the Battle of Armageddon (127-128). For this battle, the Antichrist will call on the world’s kings and armies to fight God and his armies (128). It is during this battle that the seventh plague or vial will be released: giant hailstones and a huge earthquake that will decimate the Earth’s armies (129-131).

As I’ve mentioned time and again, I’m unsure how the referenced verses are generally interpreted or whether any of Berg’s interpretations make sense when the verses’ contexts in their chapters and books are taken into account. Nevertheless, what’s written above corresponds to what we were generally taught. Albeit, I believe we were not required to learn quite the amount of detail provided by the Book of the Future. Of primary importance was that the wrath of God would rain down on the Earth, while the children of God were in heaven.

[1] Berg horrifying postulates that the vial or plague of sores will be an advanced form of our modern day’s skin cancer (124).

According to Berg’s interpretation of the Bible, the Battle of Armageddon is part and parcel of the 7^th plague of the Wrath of God (129). The Battle of Armageddon would take place after the Marriage Supper and Judgement Seat of Christ. This is important because all the Christians brought to heaven would be expected to return to Earth to fight alongside Jesus in the Battle of Armageddon.

The book of Revelation was used to teach us about this battle and the MB2K references Revelation chapter 19, verses 11, 14, and 19-21, as well as Revelation 16:16. The Revelation 19 verses 11 and 14 describe a man on a white horse followed by an army in white also riding white horses. Then verses 19-21 describe that the Antichrist, the world’s kings, and their armies prepare to fight God’s army, then the Antichrist and the False Prophet are thrown into lava, then the man on the white horse kills everyone else. Revelation 16:16 describes how a person gathers some people to a location called Armageddon.

According to Berg, the Battle of Armageddon is called thus because it takes place at a location called Armageddon, which “literally means the ‘height of Megiddo,’ which is a big round mountain in the middle of the valley of Megiddo” (129). This battle is not against the rest of the people left on Earth, rather it’s against the kings’ armies, the False Prophet, the Antichrist and his men, who have been gathered to the location Armageddon for this battle (138). During the battle a main person rides out on a white horse – this main person is clearly Jesus according to Berg (138). All of God’s children ride as well, to fight alongside Jesus (134), while the hailstones and earthquakes from the final plague occur (131-132). Over the course of this battle, the Antichrist and the False Prophet are thrown into lava, which Berg further interprets as the lava of hell, specifically (139). Then Jesus kills everyone else at the battle, when he rides out “in an invasion from outer space” (140). The Book of the Future goes into a lot of further detail about how many dead there are, how much blood there is, and how long it will take to clean up that mess (141). However, the most important information to take away from this section is that there are still survivors on Earth after this horrific event, survivors who are key for the next stage: the Millennium.

The Millennium that follows the Battle of Armageddon is supposed entail 1’000 years of peace on Earth, wherein the Christians who were raptured help rebuild civilisation.[1] There are four primary verses TFI determined as most relevant to the Millennium: Revelation 20:4, Isaiah 11:6 and 9, and Daniel 2:44a. The Revelation verse describes how John the Elder sees martyrs reigning on thrones alongside Jesus. The first Isaiah verse describes animals at peace with one another, the second verse writes that there will be no violence in God’s “holy mountain” (MB2K, 52). The Daniel verse describes a kingdom of God that will remain forever.

After the Battle of Armageddon, first there will be a time of cleansing and organising, wherein the Earth’s towns and villages will be built anew (Berg, 157-158). During this time, Jesus will establish his throne on Earth in Jerusalem (153-154): This is the meaning interpreted into Isaiah 11:9 and Daniel 2:44a. Christians from Heaven will reign with God and help the surviving humans rebuild the Earth, which is how Berg interprets the Revelation verse (158). Which Christians help the rebuilding effort, as well as how they help, is influenced by the previous rewards given in the Judgement Seat of Christ.  At this time, the animals will all be at peace because, according to Berg, everyone and every creature was vegetarian before the flood in Noah’s time (160-161). This is Berg’s interpretation of Isaiah 11:6, then he further interprets this vegetarianism into Isaiah 11:9, as he writes that there will be no violence, not even from animals (161-162). No pain from either mosquitos or snakes, they won’t sting anymore or be venomous (161-162).

[1] The Warriors novels neither depict nor mention much about the Millennium. However, the TFI novel In Armageddon’s Wake specifically deals with the time following the Battle of Armageddon. It primarily follows the experiences of a raptured TFI member, and the work assigned to her in Armageddon’s aftermath. As in the verses, her primary work is rebuilding a small community on Earth.

Considering how everyone treats the Battle of Armageddon as the final battle, this actual final, final battle may come as a surprise! The Battle of Gog and Magog is the final (for real this time) battle between Heaven’s forces and Satan, which takes place after the 1’000 years of the Millennium.

• Fun Fact: I never understood as a child what exactly Gog and Magog was supposed to mean. After writing this article – I still don’t really understand!

There are three verses assigned to describe this event in the MB2K: Revelation 20:7-9. The essence of these verses is that 7) Satan will leave his prison after 1’000 years, 8) to trick people all around the Earth and gather another huge army, 9) which will surround “the camp of the saints” (MB2K, 53), before God burns them all with fire.

• Yes, Satan was in prison for these 1’000 years. I realize that this wasn’t mentioned in any of the verses, but we were taught in depth that Satan is thrown into a bottomless pit in the centre of the Earth after the Battle of Armageddon, where he falls for those 1’000 years.
• This saint’s camp is supposed to be Jerusalem, from which Jesus reigns throughout the Millennium.

The Book of the Future attempts an explanation of this battle’s name (176). Apparently, Gog is the name given to the Antichrist in Ezekiel 38, and he is from Magog, which is supposed to be a country (176). Berg writes that this Gog and Magog combination was present in the Battle of Armageddon and returns for the actual Battle of Gog and Magog (177).  I struggle with this explanation, since the Antichrist as “Gog” is no longer present in the actual Battle of Gog and Magog, since the Antichrist is dead at that point. Nevertheless, Berg reasons that it’s still the same kingdom of the Antichrist that fights again, the kingdom of Gog and Magog, full of people who never converted even through the Millennium (177).

• Clearly this makes all the sense in the world. Even though Jesus is literally on Earth, there will be people who still don’t believe in him. An army large enough that, according to Berg’s reference in Revelation 20:8, “the number of whom is as the sand of the sea”.

A very important belief about the Battle of Gog and Magog, that is not quite as explicit in the verses, is that the whole world gets burned – not just that new army (184). That’s right, readers, after the Battle of Gog and Magog, God literally burns the entire surface of the Earth to cleanse it one final time. This is supposed to mirror how God flooded the Earth in Noah’s time – which he promised to never do again, but go figure. This time, he floods the Earth with fire (184-185). Berg speculates about how the Christians on Earth will be saved from this event, but he offers no answers, because he says this rescue is not described in the Bible (186-187). This final burning and purging of the Earth should establish a new start for the planet, which occurs over the last two stages of the Endtime.

After the Earth’s surface is burned to a crisp, God raises everyone who has ever died, and they are all judged at the Great White Throne Judgement. Three more verses from Revelation 20 are applied to this event: verses 11, 12 and 15. Verse 11 describes God sitting on a “great white throne” (MB2K, 53) and verse 12 describes how all the dead stand before that throne and are judged by the deeds they performed in life. Verse 15 states that whoever’s name is not “in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (MB2K, 53). Essentially, God sits on a throne and judges dead people’s actions written in this Book of Life. If someone is in the Book of Life, they’re fine; if they’re not, they’re sent to hell.

The Book of the Future’s chapter on The Great White Throne Judgement covers precisely the above basics, but as always goes into more details and some tangents. The Book of the Future clarifies that after the entire Earth burns, God resurrects everyone (Berg, 191-192). Before, he only resurrected the Christians, but this time every person who ever died is resurrected (192). This includes those who just died in the Battle of Gog and Magog and in the subsequent burning of the whole Earth (191-192). They are all resurrected so they can be judged in the Great White Throne Judgement (192).

One aspect that Berg discusses intensely in this chapter is the ambiguity about what happens with those unsaved, non-Christian dead who are not tossed into the Lake of Fire (195-211). They aren’t saved so they don’t officially get to go to Heaven, yet they’re not going to hell’s Lake of Fire, so where are they going? Berg speculates some ideas, but doesn’t come up with an actual answer; he merely says there will probably be a third place for them (200).

Once the Great White Throne Judgement is complete, after the fire has burned up the Earth, God creates a new Earth and a new Heaven. The new Earth has more land and less water: because the fire burned away much of the water, there are no longer oceans. The new Heaven is actual just heaven, which literally comes down to Earth.

Once more there are three verses from Revelation, this time from chapter 21. The verses are Revelation 21: 1-2 and 24. In the first verse, John the Elder sees a new heaven and an earth without seas. In the second verse, John then sees New Jerusalem descend from Heaven. Finally, verse 24 describes how those who are “saved shall walk in the light of it” (53). Essentially, John the Elder sees this New Heaven and New Earth, and they don’t have large bodies of water anymore. Then New Jerusalem descends from Heaven; this is assumedly a new city. Finally, when Verse 24 says people who are saved “shall walk in the light of it” (53), based on the way it’s presented in the MB2K, TFI meant saved people could walk in the light of this New Jerusalem.

The Book of the Future lends some details to expand the ideas taught in TFI around these three verses. For example, in the chapter about the New Heaven and New Earth, Berg references Revelation 21:1 and says that everyone who doesn’t “make it into” the actual city of heaven will live on this new Earth (220). Then although the second verse says the holy city will “come down out of Heaven” (MB2K, 53), Berg interprets this to mean that Heaven literally comes down to Earth (221). Lastly, for Revelation 21:24, Berg explains that what’s important about these saved people is that they are from nations (236). Berg argues there are still nations and kings in the time of the New Heaven and New Earth, but these nations are “ordained by God” (236), and the kings are chosen by God (236).

At the end of the chapter, Berg speculates about what may come after the New Heaven and New Earth (245). He wonders whether God will send his Christians, his chosen, to “colonize other worlds” (245). The idea would be, essentially, that Christians would act as they did during the Millennium, rebuilding and leading, except on other planets in the universe (245).[1] Berg finishes with a thought that perhaps God never mentioned any further than the New Heaven and New Earth in the Bible and his prophecies, because we don’t need to know what happens after that yet (245). This coincides with what I was raised to believe: A mix of the idea that the New Heaven and New Earth signify an eternity of peace, but also the idea that Earth may only be the beginning.

[1] Fun Fact: Berg writes often in the Book of the Future about Science Fiction: there’s the idea of God and Heaven coming to Earth like an alien invasion, as well as many other aspects of stereotypical SciFi. We were also raised with many stories about aliens and other planets in TFI. There was a repeated focus on the extra-terrestrial.

There you have it! That’s it, the whole of the Endtime’s 16 stages broken down in a way that hopefully adds more clarity. If anything feels unclear, or perhaps if you feel there was a jump of the imagination to interpret something, then I probably agree with you. There are many things that I don’t understand now that I’m an adult and can ask questions. For the first time, I am able to consider the context of verses and notice how strange it is to act as though two verses from separate chapters belong together. Oftentimes Berg took verses completely out of context, and then I struggle to know how or why exactly he came to his version of meaning.

Regardless, the point of this overview was to elaborate on each of TFI’s stages of the Endtime. I wrote about the relevant verses from the MB2K and mentioned enlightening snippets from the Book of the Future. For the first six Endtime events, I was able to go into more detail and describe the events with examples from the novel Warriors: At the Edge of Time. The aim was to allow the reader a more profound understanding of TFI’s Endtime beliefs and how they influence the novel.

This appendix holds the full verses from the Endtime stages 7-16, The Great Tribulation to The New Heaven and the New Earth. For those interested in the full verses as they were written and presented in the MB2K, they all appear below. Note that these verses are specifically from the MB2K and not the King James Bible. While I was taught that they are one and the same, I have since discovered that TFI changed capitalisation and added small clarifications to some of the verses below.

The Great Tribulation

Mat.24:15,21

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (MB2K, 47)

Rev.12:6

And the woman [the Endtime Church] fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (MB2K, 48)

Rev.12:14

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. (MB2K, 48)

*Rev.13:5

And there was given unto him [the Antichrist] a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. (MB2K, 48)

Rev.13:7-8

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (MB2K, 48)

*Rev.13:15-18

And he [the false prophet] had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (MB2K, 48)

The Atomic War

Rev.18:2

And he [the angel] cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. (MB2K, 49)

Rev.18:8

Therefore shall her [Babylon’s] plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. (MB2K, 49)

*Rev.18:10

Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come. (MB2K, 49)

• During my research I found that while the MB2K shows this as the full verse of Revelation 18:10, the full verse is a bit longer: Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. (Biblegateway, a)

The Rapture

1Thes.4:16-17

For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (MB2K, 49)

Mat.24:29-31

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in Heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory.

And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (MB2K, 49-50)

*1Cor.15:51-52

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (MB2K, 50)

The Marriage Supper and Judgement Seat of Christ

Rev.19:7-9

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. (MB2K, 50)

*2Cor.5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (MB2K, 50)

Dan.12:2*-3

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. (MB2K, 50-51)

The Wrath of God

Rev.14:9b-10

If any man worship the Beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: (MB2K, 51)

The Battle of Armageddon

Rev.19:11,14

And I [John] saw Heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.

And the armies which were in Heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (MB2K, 51)

Rev.19:19-21

And I saw the Beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.

And the Beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the Beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. (MB2K, 51)

Rev.16:16

And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. (MB2K, 52)

The Millennium

Rev.20:4

And I [John] saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the Beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (MB2K, 52)

Isa.11:6

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. (MB2K, 52)

Isa.11:9

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (MB2K, 52)

*Dan.2:44a

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed. (MB2K, 52)

The Battle of God and Magog

Rev.20:7-9

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of Heaven, and devoured them. (MB2K, 52-53)

The Great White Throne Judgement

Rev.20:11-12

And 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. (MB2K, 53)

*Rev.20:15

     And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (MB2K, 53)

The New Heaven and New Earth

Rev.21:1-2

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (MB2K, 53)

*Rev.21:24

And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. (MB2K, 53)

Primary Sources

Heaven’s Library. (1999) Warriors: At the Edge of Time. As told by John Steinbeck. Thailand: The Family.

MB2K (?)

Secondary Sources

Berg, David. (1973) The Crash. ML #284. Retrieved from:

https://pubs.xfamily.org/text.php?t=284

Berg, David. (1983) The Book of the Future. The Family International.

BibleGateway, a. Revelation 18:10. Retrieved from:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelations+18%3A10&version=KJV

BibleGateway, b. Matthew 24:24. Retrieved from:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+24%3A24&version=KJV

BibleGateway, c. Revelation 18:8. Retrieved from:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+18%3A8&version=KJV

BibleGateway, d. 1 Timothy 4:1-2. Retrieved from:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+4%3A1-2&version=KJV

BibleGateway, e. Daniel 9:24. Retrieved from:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+9%3A24&version=KJV

Wikipedia, a. Prophecy of Seventy Weeks. Retrieved from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecy_of_Seventy_Weeks

Wikipedia, b. Daniel’s final vision. Retrieved from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel%27s_final_vision

Wikipedia, c. Hosea 3. Retrieved from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosea_3

Wikipedia, d. 2 Timothy 3. Retrieved from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Timothy_3

Wikipedia, e. First Epistle of John. Retrieved from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Epistle_of_John

Wikipedia, f. Murder of Kitty Genovese. Retrieved from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese

Wikipedia, g. First Epistle to the Thessalonians. Retrieved from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Epistle_to_the_Thessalonians

Wikipedia, h. Daniel 8. Retrieved from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_8

Wikipedia, i. Book of Revelation. Retrieved from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation

Further Reading

Berg, David. (1979). The Crash of ’79. Retrieved from:

https://pubs.xfamily.org/text.php?t=762

Berg, David. (1987). The Crash of ’87. Retrieved from:

https://pubs.xfamily.org/text.php?t=2379

Heaven’s Library. (1999) Blood and Freedom. No author. Thailand: The Family.

White, Lee. (1999) In Armageddon’s Wake. Switzerland: Aurora Production AG.