Additional Thoughts on Revelation Part One
REV 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
The shed blood is very important. Without it we could not be saved. He washed us from our sins in his own blood. The Bible tells us that life is in the blood. We also know that the wages of sin is death, and that God declared that without the shedding of blood is no remission. To have remission of sins Christ had to shed His blood. Dying in His sleep would not have sufficed. Death by hanging would not have worked. Jesus had to shed His blood. And on the cross Jesus poured His blood out. The solder thrust a spear thru His side and water and blood came out. The heart is encased in a sack of water. This cushions the heart. I believe that this is where the water came from. The spear punctured the water sack and the heart, and then water and blood ran out.
And this was precious blood.
1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, [as] silver and gold, from your vain conversation [received] by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
It was the precious blood of the very Son of God that was shed to wash us from our sins.
Too many people are ashamed of the shed blood of Christ. They take the songs about the blood out of their hymnals. Too many preachers have quit preaching about the blood. That is just plain wrong. We don’t need some watered down, modernized, sorry, no good, rotten religion without the blood. No Sir.
Give me a hymnal with the blood still in it. Give me a Bible with the blood still in it. Give me that old time religion. He washed us from our sins in his own blood. Amen
REV 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
This is the only book in the Bible that has a clear declaration of a blessing for reading it. There is a condition in the verse and that is that you keep those things that are written in it. The book of Revelation is mostly prophecy, but there are some very practical things for us to apply to our lives today. We should also be affected by all the prophecies that are foretold. They will all come to pass exactly how it is recorded in this book. Many of them are very terrible to be quite honest. The tribulation will be an incredibly terrible time to live thru. Reading this book should have the effect of getting us more concerned about and more active in getting people saved and thus sparing them from the terrible tribulation. And more importantly, saving them from the fires of hell. This book also has the most detailed description of what heaven will be like. We get a glimpse of the wonders that we have to look forward to. We see the ultimate victory of Jesus, we see that the devil and his wicked demons will all be thrown into the lake of fire never to bother us ever again. Revelation is a book that can impact your life. We need to read it and then let it affect us and God promises that we will be blessed for it.
REV 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Jesus is the beginning and the ending. Jesus was in eternity past, He is here in the present, and He will always be. He is eternal. Jesus never changes.
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
To change would mean that you are more perfect today or less perfect than yesterday. You cannot change perfection. God is the one great constant.
Verse 8 also tells us that Jesus is the Almighty. Too many people only look at Jesus as a good man or a good teacher. Some only see Him as a babe in a manger. They are all missing the truth of the matter. Jesus is the Almighty. He is God the Son co-equal with God the Father and God the Spirit. Jesus is one member of the one triune God. The Great 3 in 1. There is no power that Jesus does not have. There is no prayer that He does not hear. There is no situation that He cannot take care of if it is His will. Nothing is too hard for Jesus. He is the Almighty.
This truth should affect us in many ways. One, we should bow our knee before Him. Two, we should have total faith and confidence in Him. Three, we should also be obedient to His commands. Four, we should do all we can to serve Him.
Jesus is worthy – Amen and Amen.
REV 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
Jezebel was one of the wickedest women in the Old Testament. She was a Baal worshiper. It was a common thing for a worshiper of Baal to have bel incorporated somewhere in their name. Jezebel led many into worshiping her false god. The woman referred to in verse 20 is not the same woman but she has much in common with the Jezebel of the Old Testament. This Jezebel was also a false teacher and someone who seduced God’s people to worship false gods. These two Jezebels had more in common than just a name. They were both enemies of God working evil against His people. God is rebuking the church at Thyatira because they allowed this woman to teach her heresy. What this church should have done is kick the false teacher out. It is bad for a person to be involved in wickedness, but it is even worse to be actively dragging others into it.
REV 2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
Here we see an example of God’s longsuffering and that He is truly not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Even with all of Jezebel’s wicked teaching, God did not bring judgment right away. He gave even Jezebel time to repent. Some people wonder why judgment is not brought down immediately on some false teacher who is teaching some wickedness and doing great damage to God’s people. The answer is that God wants them to repent so that He does not have to bring judgment upon them. His waiting is a sign of His love and patience. God will send people into the false teacher’s life to rebuke them and try to warn them that they need to repent. Jezebel refused to repent. God is longsuffering and does give space to repent. But there is an end to His patience. The wheels of God’s justice are sometimes slow, but they never slip.
REV 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
REV 2:23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
This is not talking about her physical children. This is talking about her followers. Her spiritual children so to speak. You see John use the same kind of language in the book of 1st John. John called believers that he ministered to and wrote the letter to his children.
God says that not only will Jezebel receive judgment but her followers as well. The judgment will really be their choice because they were given space to repent and warnings to repent but they refused. They chose to receive judgment rather than forgiveness.
We have a merciful, loving, longsuffering, God. But never forget He is also a Holy, righteous, and just God and there is an end to His patience.
REV 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
REV 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
REV 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
There is much we can learn from these letters to these specific local churches. We can learn what pleases Christ and what does not. First He lets them know that He knows the good things that they are doing. He knows their works, their labor, and their patience. Those are all commendable things and the Lord is pleased with those. How much works, labor, and patience does your local church have?
Still in the good list He says, “how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:” We are to judge people. We need to not bear them which are evil. You cannot do that unless you look at them close enough to tell that they are evil. They are also commended for examining people who claimed to be apostles and were not. They examined their teaching to tell if it was false. They found them to be liars. God commended them for identifying false teachers. How is your local church doing on identifying and marking the false teachers today? There are plenty of them out there. You can find a multitude of them on “Christian TV”
REV 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Still in the good list, they borne. That speaks of carrying a load. And again patience is mentioned as well as laboring for His names sake. And finally hast not fainted. Has your local church fainted? Have they quit carrying the load? Have you lost patience waiting for results? God commends this church for not fainting. We need to do the same. No matter the results, just keep doing what is right. Keep getting the Word of God out and Keep the preaching true to the word.
Even with all that, they were lacking something.
REV 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
The first love is Jesus. They were doing all this good works without Him. Is your local church keeping close to Jesus? Jesus likes the good works, He notices them and is pleased with them. However, more importantly He wants your heart.
REV 2:25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
Time and again in these letters to the 7 churches you see what God thinks of false teachers. He shows His great displeasure of those who follow these false doctrines and we see that God is not too happy with those who allow it unopposed. They might not be following it themselves, but they allow others in their midst who do. We are to not follow false teachers and their wicked doctrines. We are also to stand up against them and not allow them in our local assembly.
We are to do right, and there is quite a list of right things that these churches were doing. We are to do all of those. However, these letters teach us that only doing right is not enough to please God. We also must oppose wrong teachers and their false doctrines. We are to do both and we are to hold fast until Jesus comes. Not just for a week or a month or a year, but continually. We can’t get soft and take the path of least resistance. There is a great need for more believers to stand their ground for the truth and hold fast.
REV 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
This verse is often used when trying to win people to Christ. And while it is true that Christ knocks at the sinner’s door so to speak and that He wants the sinner to let Him in, that is not what this verse is talking about. The context of the surrounding verses clearly shows that this verse is addressed to one of God’s churches.
It is a sad thing, but this verse is talking about Christ having to knock on the door of His own church trying to get in. There are many churches today in this condition. Instead of preaching Jesus’ gospel they preach a works gospel or a health and wealth gospel. Christ is not only left out of the preaching in some churches, He is also left out of the music. They play the devil’s rock-n-roll beat with some nice words put on top. They are what you call seeker sensitive churches. They are all about entertainment and making people feel good. Christ is knocking on the door of a church like that and no one answers the door. Jesus can’t get in. The church that Christ is in is a savior sensitive church. A church needs to be worried about pleasing the savior and not about pleasing the crowd.
There are also many churches that preach the right gospel and have the right music that is God honoring, and yet Jesus is still knocking on the door wanting in. The people are just going thru the motions. They will not let God burden their heart. They will not shed tears in prayer for the lost. They will not go out putting tracts on doors. They will spend more time watching TV commercials than reading their Bible. In short they are not hot nor cold. Jesus is not pleased with the state of being lukewarm.
REV 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
For Jesus to really be in the church and not knocking at the door, He needs to be first in the hearts of the people.
REV 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
These sayings are faithful and true. It does not matter what your opinion of them is. You can dislike them and even deny them, but they are still true. What comes next is hard to hear for many churches.
REV 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
REV 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
God cannot stand a lukewarm church. He says that He will spue them out of His mouth. That is some very strong language. God wants His churches to be on fire for Him and His work. We should be loving what God loves. God loves the souls of men. God left the glories of heaven and went to the cross for the souls of men. He has commanded that we seek the Lost, and not only in our back yard, but also unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Jesus also taught that if we love Him that we will obey Him. Any church that is not actively laboring to win the lost is a cold church. A church that is doing it somewhat, that is a lukewarm church. And lukewarm DOES NOT cut it with Jesus.
REV 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Many churches point to their numbers, their big buildings, and that new High school they built as evidence that God is happy with them. They say that they are rich. They have all the big screen TVs. They have the plush seating. The offerings are good. They say, look how God has increased us with all these blessings. But God says they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
God has some harsh things to say about Lukewarm churches. We cannot do anything about others. We each need to look at ourselves. Is our church hot, cold, or lukewarm. Then ask am I hot, cold, or lukewarm. Ask am I less on fire for God than I used to be. And since we have ups and downs, and because we can get easily distracted or off track, this is something we should ask ourselves on a regular basis.
REV 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
Time and again in these letters to the churches we see that Christ had something against them. He would note what they were doing right, but also reprimand them for what they were doing wrong and command them to repent. But you do not see that with this church. The church in Philadelphia received only praise from the Savior.
REV 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
A group of believers can live for Jesus and please Him. A church can put Jesus and His word first. Verse 8 says that they hast a little strength and yet they kept His word. That means that they not only believed it but lived it. They lived in an atmosphere of persecution and yet did not deny Jesus. How did they do this with a little strength? Their strength was not enough. The answer is obvious. They did it in His strength. They did it thru His grace. They got their hearts right and God gave them the strength to stand for Him.
REV 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
REV 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
REV 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
In the last few verses they are told that He loves them and wants others to know it. He promises to keep them from the hour of temptation. He also tells them to hold fast. They have done well but now is no time to quit.
The church of Philadelphia is a shining example to us.
REV 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Our Lord is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. Jesus is the almighty creator. He created all things. Jesus created the complexity of the cell, the diversity of animal and plant life. Jesus created all the planets and all the physical laws of the universe. Jesus created DNA and the 3 billion base pair human genome. And on and on the list could go. A study of the complexity of life will leave you in awe of our great creator.
We can look at all the wonderful things that God created and easily fall into a mindset of look what God created for us to enjoy. Do not get me wrong we are to enjoy His creation. However, the primary reason He created was for His pleasure. When was the last time that instead of praying a wish list to God you prayed and asked Him what you could do to please Him? For He created all things including you and everything was created for His pleasure.
REV 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
REV 4:9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
The four beasts rested not day nor night. They worship the Lord 24/7/365. They say Holy, holy, holy. God is the only one that this can be said about. In Him is no darkness at all. Some think that the reason that they say Holy 3 times is once for the Father once for the Son and once for the Holy Spirit. He is the great three in one. He is a thrice Holy God. There is also another set of three mentioned. He was, and is, and is to come. He always was, He is right now, and He will always be Holy forever and ever. The truth is that we don’t know for sure why they said holy 3 times. The fact is that He is Holy. And He is worthy to receive glory and honor from angels and for man. Everything was created for His honor and glory. The reason that we were created is to give honor to God. If you are not doing that, then you are not fulfilling your intended purpose.
And there was one more thing they gave, “and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever” They give us a good example. We should give God all the glory. We should take time to worship Him. We should acknowledge His greatness and His holiness. And we should never forget to tell Him thank you. Thank you for creating me, thank you for saving this sinner, thank you for all the blessings in my life and yes thank you for all the trials. And on and on the list should go.
REV 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
After writing the 7 letters to the Churches, John is now going to get shown many things which must be. John is going to see real things. The book of Revelation is not all spiritual and only symbolism after Chapter 4 as some falsely teach.
REV 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
John gets to see a real throne. It is a real physical throne set in a real physical heaven. And its beauty is beyond description. We don’t have the points of reference to properly describe it. John was really seeing it, but there is nothing comparable to it on earth. John could not find words that would exactly describe it. Look at the next verse and you will see what I mean.
REV 4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
Notice the language real close. There are terms that denote a real tangible object. It says there was a rainbow. There really was a real literal rainbow there. John says that this real rainbow was in sight like unto an emerald. Now we have symbolic language. The rainbow was not an emerald. It was like unto. The emerald was the closest thing John could think of to try to describe its beauty. Time and again in this book you will see John grappling with trying to describe the beauty of what He was seeing. Since there is nothing exactly like it on earth, John must use other objects and the words like as to try to describe it.
Some people really struggle with this concept. When the book of Revelation uses literal language then what it is talking about is literal. It is a real object or a real literal place. When the book of Revelation uses language such as like unto, then you know that the object being talked about is similar in some way. Like in verse 3 the rainbow is not an emerald. That real literal rainbow only looks kind of like an emerald.
So why do some false teachers try to spiritualize the whole book? Why do they try to take a simple like unto and read into it something that is not there? There are many reasons. One is pride. They want to discover something that all others have never seen. They want people to look at them and go wow he is so intelligent.
But there is another reason. The bible is a closed book to them. They simply cannot understand it.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.
To understand the Bible you must first get saved. The Holy Spirit must come into your heart. He is the one that teaches us the Bible. He gives the proper illumination. To a lost person the Bible is a closed book.
There are many puffed up false teachers that think they are all that today. They think they see stuff that no one else has ever seen. And they will not heed your warnings. But one day they will wake up in the flames of hell. They will hear the Lord say depart from me for I never knew you. It is sad to say, but for most false teachers it is only then that they will realize the truth and know the errors of their ways.
REV 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
After the tribulation we will return with Christ to the earth. Jesus will set up His 1,000 year reign. And we will reign with Him on the earth. Some might ask reign over what. There will be people who live thru the tribulation period. They will still have their natural bodies. They will continue to have children and the population will grow over the 1,000 years. There will be someone put in charge of each city. Jesus made mention of this.
Luk 19:17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
Luk 19:18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
Luk 19:19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
The children that are born during the 1,000 years will still have to be saved just like everyone else. They will have to accept or reject Christ out of a free will just like you and me. Out of this group is where Satan gets people to rise up against Jesus at the end of the 1,000 years.
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 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.
Rev 20:9 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.
And for the 1,000 years before Satan deceives the nations we will be reigning over them with Jesus. There will be many different positions in Christ’s kingdom. We do not know exactly what this reigning entails, but Jesus does indicate that the job you get is based upon your faithfulness in your life today. How you live your life is going to make a big difference to you then. And not just for a day or two, or a month, or a year, but your faithfulness today is going to make a difference in what you do for 1,000 years.
REV 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Only Jesus is worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof. These seals will let loose a tribulation upon the earth. He is worthy for He was slain and redeemed fallen man by His shed blood. And He did not shed His blood for only a few. He did not shed His blood for only one race. He shed His blood for people of every kindred and every language and every nation, and every race of man. He died for the Russian, for the Chinese, for the Arab, for the Eskimo. He did for all men everywhere. His love knows no bounds. His love extends to all men. His transforming power can and does change men from all cultures. We need to have the same kind of love for the souls of all men. There is absolutely zero room for prejudice in Christianity.
REV 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Some people want a bloodless religion. Oh they believe that there is a God. They even want to worship Him. What they don’t like is the shed blood. They don’t like the idea of being redeemed by the shed blood of Jesus. So they try to come to God their own way by their own works. People have tried it from the very beginning. Cain and Abel are a good example.
Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts:
Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and God declared him righteous. Abel brought a lamb for a sacrifice. Abel showed forth the picture of the true Lamb of God that would come. Abel’s sacrifice was a picture of the innocent dying for the guilty. It was a way to show that you believed that Jesus would come and shed His blood to save us. That someone else must die to pay for your sin because you cannot pay for it yourself.
Cain refused God’s way and went the works way.
Gen 4:2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Gen 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Gen 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
God rejected the works of Cain, just as He will reject your works. The only way to come to God is God’s way. The only way to be redeemed is thru the shed blood of Jesus. Able was saved by having faith that looked forward to the shed blood of Jesus. We get saved looking backward at the blood shed on the Cross.
God told Cain that he would be accepted if he would come the right way.
Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.
Cain still chose to refuse the blood. And you know what happened. Instead of getting right and coming to God thru the shed blood, Cain got angry and murdered Abel. Cain took out his anger upon Abel. Works religions have been attacking grace religion ever since. Cain gets cursed by God and Cain will still not repent. He went out and raised an ungodly line of children. Cain refused the gift of salvation. He never lived the life God would have for him and worse yet instead of the glories of Heaven Cain has the torment of hell for ever.
All because Cain refused to accept the shed blood as the only way of salvation.
Everyone is either in the camp of Cain or the camp of Abel. There are no exceptions. How about you?
REV 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Here is plain proof against soul sleep. Here is proof of what Paul said in 2 Cor 5:6-8.
2 Co 5:6 Therefore [we are] always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 2Co 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 2Co 5:8 We are confident, [I say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. These people were killed for their faith.
REV 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
And they are talking. They have voices. In fact they cried with a loud voice. They are reasoning. They are asking a question. They remember what happened to them and ask how long until the holy and true Lord will judge those on the earth. They want to see justice done. These souls are not sleeping. There is no such thing as soul sleep.
REV 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
They get an answer to their question. They are told to rest for a little season, it will not be long. Justice will be served. But some things must be fulfilled first. One of which is that more of their fellow believers will also be killed for their faith. It will be a common thing during the tribulation for people who get saved to be killed for it. To accept Christ then for most will mean a death sentence, and yet many will accept Him. They will realize that eternity with Christ is far better. And when they are killed they will immediately be with the Lord. There is no soul sleep.
The tribulation is now well underway. The sixth seal has now been opened and there is an earthquake the likes the world has never seen. They don’t even have a rating scale for a quake this powerful.
REV 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
This quake is a worldwide earthquake. Every mountain and every island will be moved. This will cause great fear and men will try to find places to hide.
REV 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
REV 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
This earthquake will be so bad and so unlike anything the world has ever seen that it will be obvious, even to all these lost people, that this quake is the Lord’s doing. They will know that it comes from the wrath of Jesus.
REV 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
The answer to this rhetorical question is of course no one. No one can stand against the Lord in His day of wrath.
Most today will not heed the warnings in the Bible. Turn to Him or experience His wrath. Those are the only two choices. God is a just God and sin demands that justice be meted out. Many will scoff at this. They love their sin and will continue in it. They think that they are getting away with it. That God will not bring the just punishment upon sin. The fact is that they are not getting away with anything. God’s wrath and justice has its appointed hour. In His time it will surely come. In this chapter we see His wrath being poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth. And at this point in the tribulation, He is only getting started.
I for one am very glad that I will not be there. I will not have to endure it, for all the redeemed will be taken up before these judgments fall. Will you be left? Will you have to suffer in the tribulation?
REV 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
A lot is said about the 144,000. Some people will try to claim that they are going to be the 144,000. Their claim is NOT biblical. Verse 4 tells us that they are going to be of the children of Israel. Verse 4 is not figurative language. The 144,000 will be all Jewish. Verses 5 thru 8 gives us more information on who the 144,000 are.
REV 7:5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
REV 7:6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
REV 7:7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
REV 7:8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
There will be 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, which gives a total of 144,000. Some will argue that this cannot be because we don’t know who the 12 tribes are. But, just because we don’t know which Jews are in the tribe of Gad or Asher, does not mean that God does not know. It is clear that God knows who is of the tribe of Gad and who is of the tribe of Simeon. We don’t need to know who they are for it to come true. It is enough that God knows. And rest assured that it will happen just exactly as God says. The 144,000 will not be gentiles. They will be 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
REV 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
Some will wonder, what will we do in Heaven for eternity. In these verses we are given some information on that. We see here that we will be with God. He shall dwell among us. That in itself will be amazing. We will be with the Almighty. The maker of the universe. And we will get to serve Him. We are not told all that this service involves. But it tells me that we will be busy. Heaven will not be a place of boredom. There will be amazing things to do and see and service enough for an eternity. That will all be Great!
Another Great thing will be what is missing there.
REV 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. REV 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
No more hunger. No more suffering. No more thirst. And no more tears. If you think about it, tears are a result of sin. We get hurt because of sin. Gossip, betrayal, lies, slander, hurt feelings. It is all because of sin. Our loved ones die because of sin. Pain, suffering, disease. All of our tears come from living with a bunch of sinners in a sin stained world. There will be NONE of that in Heaven, because there will be NO MORE SIN. AMEN AND AMEN.
REV 8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
REV 8:9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
A great mountain burning with fire being cast into the sea sounds a lot like an asteroid doesn’t it. A huge asteroid could easily cause tidal waves big enough to destroy 1/3 of all ships in the world.
REV 8:10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
REV 8:11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
This also sounds like it could be an asteroid or comet or part of an exploded star, or something else. This one hits land. I personally do not think that this is just a normal asteroid. It is called Wormwood and it poisons 1/3 of the waters on the land and the poisoned water kills many people.
You might be thinking that is interesting but how does that affect me? What difference is that going to make to me? I will not be here when that happens.
Thinking about just how awful this period is going to be should burden your heart to try to keep as many people as possible from having to go thru the tribulation. Proper reflection upon the judgments in Revelation should have the result in your life of doing more witnessing, of leaving more tracts on doors or where people can find them. It should have the result of you trying to win more souls.
If you study the Bible just so you can have more neat Bible facts in your head, then you have totally missed the point. The Bible was given to change our lives. The main purpose of Bible study is so that we can know the truth, but then we are to let that truth affect us. Bible study is to change our attitudes and our actions.
REV 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
The opening of the seals brought terrible things upon the earth. The wrath of God is being poured out, and it is not close to being done yet. The angel says Woe, woe, woe to the inhabiters of the earth. The reason is that many more judgments are coming. The wrath of God has been building and getting stored up, and it will be poured out. He is longsuffering toward us but He is not endless suffering.
With every baby that is slaughtered, with every atrocity, with every rejection of His dear Son, His wrath builds. And to those who reject His mercy, judgment will fall.
There is nothing we can do to stop the wrath of God from coming one day. He is just and justice must be done. But reading how bad it is going to be should make us want to spare as many people as possible from having to go thru it. It should motivate us to increase our efforts to reach the lost. It is a sad truth, but we often spend more time praying the saints into heaven than we do the sinners out of hell. Anyone that gets saved will be taken out of this world and will not have to endure the terrible tribulation.
In Hebrews Paul is bringing up the Tabernacle in the wilderness. It was to be made down to the smallest detail exactly like Moses was shown. The reason was that the Tabernacle in the wilderness was to be an example and a shadow of heavenly things.
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, [that] thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Later in Hebrews, when speaking of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, it says that that Tabernacle was figures of the true.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, [which are] the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
If you remember from studying the Tabernacle that there was a brazen altar of sacrifice by the door. And there was an altar of incense before the veil. They would take fire off of the altar of sacrifice to use at the altar of incense. Behind the veil was the mercy seat. The Bible tells us that all of that was a figure of the true. It was patterned off of Heaven. Now in this chapter we get a glimpse of not the pattern (Tabernacle) but of the true (in Heaven).
REV 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Just like the Old Testament Tabernacle pictured, there is an altar of incense in Heaven that is before the throne. It is a real altar with real fire.
REV 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
REV 8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Since the Tabernacle was made as a figure of heavenly things. Since it was made to be a pattern of the true. And since we now see a corresponding Altar of Incense and that it is positioned also before the throne. Then it stands to reason that more corresponding items of the Tabernacle will also be there. Items like the Laver, the Candlestick, or the Table of Shewbread. How about the Ark? We will have to wait until we get there to find out what is all there and how it is all laid out. It will be interesting that is for sure.
The important thing though is will you be there? Have you been washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Have you repented? Have you called upon Jesus to save you?
Luk 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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