Restoring the Holy of Holies

Revelation - A Seven Act Play

David Arthur Miller

Kindle Edition

Copyright 2012 David A. Miller

Restoring the Holy of Holies is available in print at most online retailers.

Other Books by David A. Miller:

Prophetic Secrets and the New World Order

Restoring Ta Hagia- Recreating the Image of God in His People

Omega Now: A Most Startling Heresy

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Dedication

Restoring the Holy of Holies is dedicated to all of God’s children and truth seekers determined to know His will for their lives in these last days.  Their desire above all else is to give glory to His name and honor Him through faith and obedience to all His wishes and commands.

*** About This Book ***

This book comes directly to the point concerning end-time events.  Christians need to know what is in their future and how last-day events will play out in their lives.  What is the next prophetic event to transpire?  Is it the rapture or something else?  Learn the prophetic time lines in both the books of Daniel and Revelation.  Restoring the Holy of Holies takes you through the prophetic book of Revelation step-by-step, from chapter 1:1 to 22:21.  God has ingeniously designed Revelation as a seven-act play with seven scenes to each act.  Superimposed on the seven acts is a literary form called a chiastic structure.  This mirroring outline makes Revelation exponentially easier to understand.

Revelation concerns much more than the ghoulish beast we usually hear about.  On the contrary, its message is the good news of God’s last-day blessing to His people.  Restoring the Holy of Holies will help you be prepared for the miracle of the end-time and help you avoid the evils of the age.  Know for yourself about the final scenes of this world’s history and be ready for the last days.

Restoring the Holy of Holies

Revelation - A Seven-Act Play

The Program

Introduction  --  You Must Be Born Again

Chapter 1 -- The Prophetic Keys of Revelation

The Prelude

Chapter 2   The Prelude - 1:1-9

Chapter 3 The Sanctuary Key

Act I

Chapter 4 Sanctuary Setting   Act I ---   1:10-20

Chapter 5  Act I   Seven Candlesticks

Scene 1 - Ephesus   ---   2:1-7

Scene 2 - Smyrna   ---   2:8-11

Scene 3 - Pergamos   ---   2:12-17

Scene 4 - Thyatira   ---   2:18-29

Chapter 6  That Which Remains

Scene 5 - Sardis   ---   3:1-6

Scene 6 - Philadelphia   ---   3:7-13

Scene 7 - Laodicea   ---   3:14-22

Chapter 7  The Disappointment Key – William Miller

Chapter 8  Seventy Weeks Until?

Chapter 9 The End of the 70 Weeks of Years

Chapter 10  The Last Week

Act II

Chapter 11  Sanctuary Setting Act II  ---   4:1 - 5:14

Chapter 12 Act II  Seven Seals

Scene 1 - White Horse ---  6:1-2

Scene 2 - Red Horse ---  6:3-4

Scene 3 - Black Horse ---  6:5-6

Scene 4 - Pale Horse ---  6:7-8

Scene 5 - Judgment of the Dead ---  6:9-11

Chapter 13 Act II, Scene 6 - Sealing of 144,000 ---  6:12-7:17

Scene 7 - Coming of Jesus Christ ---  8:1

Chapter 14 The Yearly Cycle Key  1

Chapter 15 The Yearly Cycle Key  2

Chapter 16 Plastic Sins  Cloth Temple

Act III

Chapter 17 Sanctuary Setting  Act III --- 8:2-6

Chapter 18 Act III  Seven Trumpets

Scene 1 - First Trumpet   ---   8:7

Scene 2 - Second Trumpet   ---   8:8-9

Scene 3 - Third Trumpet   ---   8:10-11

Scene 4 - Fourth Trumpet   ---   8:12-13

Chapter 19 First Two Woes

Scene 5 - Fifth Trumpet   ---   9:1-12

Scene 6 - Sixth Trumpet   ---   9:13-11:14

Chapter 20 Just Before the Last Woe

Chapter 21 Scene 6 - War on God=s Word

Chapter 22 Scene 7 - The Sealing   ---   11:15-18

Chapter 23 The Soul Temple

Act IV

Chapter 24 Sanctuary Setting - Act IV --- 11:19

Chapter 25 Act IV --- Scene 1 - Clothed With the Sun --- 12:1-17

Chapter 26  Babylon - A Key

Chapter 27 Daniel's Prophetic Keys

Chapter 28 Scene 2, Part 1 - A Beast Out of the Sea --- 13:1-10

Chapter 29 Scene 2, Part 2 - The Lamb-like Beast   ---   13:11-18

Chapter 30 Scene 2, Part 3 - The Seal of the Beast

Chapter 31 The Seal of God - A Key

Chapter 32 Scene 3 - The 144,000 at War   -   14:1-5

Chapter 33 Scene 4 - The Three Angels -Judgment ---   14:6-12

Chapter 34 Evolution/ Creation

Chapter 35 Scene 5 and 6 - The Harvest of Souls      14:13-20; 15:1-4

Act V

Chapter 36 Act V  Sanctuary Setting   --- 15:5-16:1

Chapter 37 Act V - The Seven Last Plagues

Scene 1 - Grievous Sores   --- 16:2

Scene 2 - Sea Becomes Blood ---   16:3

Scene 3 - Rivers Become Blood   ---   16:4-7

Scene 4 - Scorching Heat   ---   16:8-9

Scene 5 - Darkness   ---   16:10-11

Scene 6 - Armageddon   ---   16:12-16

Scene 7 - A Great Earthquake   ---   16:17-21

Act VI

Chapter 38  Act VI - Scene 1 - Fate of the Harlot   ---   17:1-18

Chapter 39 Scene 2 - The Fall of Babylon  ---   18:1-24

Chapter 40 Scene 3 -Called to the Marriage Supper ---   19:1-16

Scene 4 - Second Coming ---   19:11-21

Chapter 41 On Death and Dying

Chapter 42 Scene 5 - The Seventh Millennium   ---   20:1-10

Chapter 43 The Great Week

Chapter 44 Scene 6 - Things Written in the Books --- 20:11-15

Chapter 45 Scene 7 - Everything New --- 21:1-8

Act VII

Chapter 46 Act VII - The Bride – New Jerusalem ---21:9-22:5

1-  12 Gates---   21:12,21

2-  12 Angels --- 21:12

3-  12 Names --- 21:12

4-  12 Foundations ---   21:14

5-  4 Walls  ---   21:16

6-  144,000 Cubits  ---   21:14-17

7-  Streets of Gold --- 21:21

8-  No Temple---   21:22

9-  No Sun---   21:23-27

10- No Sin --- 21:24-27

11- River of Life --- 22:1, 2

12- Tree of Life --- 22:2-5

Chapter 47 - Things to Come – What to Look for in the Future

Chapter 48 - The Mystery of God

The Finale

Chapter 49 The Finale --- Rev. 22:6-21

Introduction -- You Must Be Born Again

If you have chosen to examine this book only to discover the things of the last days in order to avoid the threats and obtain the promises, but haven’t taken a decided stand on the side of following God, wherever He might lead, then all further study of God’s prophetic book of Revelation might possibly be in vain.

This prophetic book was not written for the casual, curious reader but for the people of God, His servants.  The very first verse of Revelation makes this statement, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass."  If you’re not a servant of God and aren’t willing to follow Him to the ends of the earth, then this book won’t only be difficult to understand and follow, but will likely be offensive to you.  Beware!

The Book of Revelation declares itself a "a revelation of Jesus Christ."  With a quick perusal, this might seem a misnomer.  So many readers have felt it more a revelation of how to avoid the mark of the beast, thereby avoiding destruction at the end of time.  Many have read Revelation in the hope of understanding this mysterious mark.  However, have they realized God's expectations for them?

Much more than an explanation of how to avoid an evil mark, Revelation is an illumination of how to obtain the benefits of eternal life and the blessings of the final acts of God's work in and for His true followers.  If summarized in the fewest of words, Revelation could be said to be the story of the restoration of the image of God in man, with the blessings far outweighing any curses.

The surface reader will see mostly gloom and doom in Revelation, but the born again Christian has been slated to see that God is Love and the One who reveals all truth, past and present.  The Bible is a book that requires change and character development.  Without this total life-long commitment, the ultimate purpose and methods of God will remain unfathomable, and the study of the Bible and its prophecies will be largely in vain.

The proper understanding of the message God has for His faithful in Revelation is revealed to the true believer only by God Himself, for the Scriptures say, “. . . the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.”  1 Corinthians 2:14

Again, Jesus said, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, be-cause thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. . .  All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and [he] to whomsoever the Son will reveal [Him].”  Matthew 11:25-27

Again, when Jesus was asked why He spoke in parables, He answered, “Because it is given unto you [God's true followers] to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them [those who would hear the word of God, but care not to follow it] it is not.”  Matthew 31:11.  In other words, dear reader, to understand all of God's plans for YOUR life and the warnings of Bible prophecy, you must be a true child of God, willing to go wherever He leads.  You must be born again.  It’s written about this new life, “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.  Restoring the Holy of Holies is about Jesus Christ, how He has worked for the salvation of souls in the past and is now mediating in heaven to procure a place in your heart for His love to live and a place for you in the hereafter.  The book of Revelation is one more chapter in the love story of how God loves his creation and is now untiringly working for the salvation of those who desire to be His people.

The Antichrist’s Mode of Operation

Imagine driving up to a house in broad daylight, riding in a shiny yellow Corvette and wearing brightly colored clothes.  You walk up to the door with bells on your ankles and a radio under your arm, blasting hard rock music.  You knock on the door and proclaim to the woman of the house that you’re a thief and have come to burglarize her home.  Would anyone expect success with such a bold, open approach?

No, for a thief to succeed he must use stealth and keep his purpose un-known.  Likewise, the antichrist won’t come openly and announce his identity or his real purpose.  He won’t come with fanfare and show himself for all to behold.  On the contrary, only stealth and concealment will gain him success.

Luther and most of the reformers believed the anti-Christ had already come in their day.  Were they correct?  Is the Man of Sin with us today?  If so, what would he try to do to keep it a secret?  Undoubtedly, he would do his best to convince us he either came in the distant past or is yet to come in the future.  He certainly wouldn’t be giving his name as Antichrist.

To know the truth is to know the Scriptures.  Where the antichrist is concerned, the books of Daniel and Revelation in particular are indispensable.  We must look to God in His Word and not to man.

To believe that the antichrist appeared and then passed off the scene long ago is the teaching of the preterists.  To believe that he existed in the time of Luther and is alive and well yet today is the belief of the historicists.  Believing that he’s yet in the future is the doctrine of the futurists.  The reformers were historicists.  However, the popular teaching today is a shift from the reformer=s view to that of futurism.  Is it a valid shift?  The futurists lean heavily on the teaching of the rapture.  If futurism and the rapture are authentic Bible doctrines, we need to embrace them.  If not, we must reject them.

Restoring the Holy of Holies deals with all three views, but supports only one.  If the antichrist (meaning one who is the place of Christ) is with us to-day, then he’s doing his best to conceal his existence by propagating misleading teachings about his whereabouts and the timing of his appearing.  After all, to succeed he must work in secret and hide his real purpose and identity.  He doesn’t hide behind a tree or appear only in the dark.  Instead, he conceals himself with false teachings and erroneous concepts about himself.  His real purpose must be hidden from the people.  He must convince as many as he can that he’s not who he truly is.

It must be pointed out here that neither this volume nor the book of Revelation have as their theme the appearing or existence of the antichrist.  Knowledge of and by itself concerning who this antichrist power is gains us nothing.  Knowledge doesn’t save, God does.  However, to know how God saves is doctrine, and the antichrist teaches false doctrines about salvation and last day events.  It’s the goal of the antichrist to mislead in terms of saving doctrines.  He doesn’t want us to find out what we must know to be prepared for the blessing of the last days.  This blessing is the theme of both Revelation and Restoring the Holy of Holies.  This gift from God is the restoration of the image of God in man.  Satan and his antichrist representative will do all they can to keep this precious gift from the minds and hearts of God=s people.

Why the Name Restoring the Holy of Holies?

When we look at the first two chapters of Genesis, we find our original parents were created perfect, in the image of God, and remained that way until sin entered.  “So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”  Genesis 1:27.  However, Adam and Eve didn’t remain so.  After sin, Adam fathered a son in his own image, not God’s.  “And Adam . . . begat [a son] in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth.”  Genesis 5:3.

From Eden to the earth made new, in the Bible we find stories of encouragement and admonition.  They teach God’s people how they can be restored to His image, redeemed from the curse of sin.  The first two chapters of Genesis and the last two chapters of Revelation tell us of perfection, that is, humankind in the image of God.  What was created perfect in Eden, but lost, is finally totally restored.  In Revelation, we find the earth made new and God’s people restored to His image.  What was lost in Eden is restored in the new earth.  Sin is eradicated.  Creation is recreated.  The image of God is restored in His people.  The entire Bible is the story of how God will recreate His character likeness in His people and return all things to as they were in Eden before sin entered.

The Holy of Holies comes into play as a part of the sanctuary, which is God’s teaching tool, revealing His plan of salvation.  How we are to be re-stored is shown in the many sacrifices and other instructional devices of the daily routines played out in the sanctuary services of ancient Israel.  The most prolific of these were the daily and yearly sacrifices that pointed to the eventual one-time-only sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  All the unfortunate, innocent animals that gave up their lives pointed to the time when innocent Jesus would die for the sins of humankind.

Of these sacrificial services, the one that’s primarily emphasized in Revelation is the one called Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  During this yearly festival, the people of God were sealed.  The book of Revelation deals with this in the numbering and sealing of the 144,000.  (Revelation 7, 14.)  Those who are not sealed will unfortunately receive the mark of the beast.

Restoring the Holy of Holies is an explanation of the restoration of the people of God to His image in the final atonement, the cleansing of the sanctuary, and the last judgment.  This restoration is a wonderful blessing for God’s chosen people, not to be feared or shunned.  This message of restoration is the good news of the Gospel.  In Revelation 14, the judgment is declared the everlasting gospel.  “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,  saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.”  Revelation 14:6, 7.  Therefore, the Gospel includes the judgment.

Every Verse of Revelation

There are at least two main methods of interpreting Bible truth.  One is with preconceived ideas of what one wants the Scriptures to say and then finding Bible texts to prove that teaching.  This is not the correct way.  For with this approach almost any whim of doctrine can be supported.  The other method is to read the Bible after prayer and ask God to reveal the truth, using other Bible quotations that help to explain the text in question.  This is especially necessary with prophecy.  We must read the words of the prophets and let the Bible explain itself.  In this volume, the second method is employed.

In Restoring the Holy of Holies every verse of Revelation is quoted in its order from verse one of chapter one to the last verse of chapter twenty-two.  However, not every verse is interpreted.  Of those that are not, some have an obvious meaning.  Others are not within the scope of this volume.  There are keys to understanding the Apocalypse (Revelation in Greek), and these keys for Bible interpretation are found within Revelation itself and the other sixty-five books of the Bible.  With these keys, the mysteries of Revelation are unlocked.

In this book, all the verses in Revelation can be quickly identified by their formatting.  All are in italics.  All quotations from Revelation are surrounded by quotation marks, and only the chapters and verses are given as reference at the end of the quotation.  An example: “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, pre-pared as a bride adorned for her husband.”  21:1-3.

May God bless you in your study.

Unless otherwise stated, The King James Version (KJV) of the Bible has been used throughout, sometimes with minor modifications to the thee's and thou's to reflect the English language as it is today.

*** Born of the Spirit ***

“Jesus answered and said to him, (Nicodemus) Truly, truly, I say to you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

“Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

“Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

“Marvel not that I said to you, you must be born again.

“The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but cannot tell from where it comes or where it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spir-it.”  John 3:3-8

Back to Program

Chapter 1 -- The Prophetic Keys of Revelation

On a lonely island in the Mediterranean, an angel came in vision to talk with John the Beloved, revealing the future of the world.  As tradition tells it, after John survived being cast into boiling oil, he was exiled on the Isle of Patmos.  On Patmos, he received the prophecies we find in the last book of the Bible, Revelation, which is the word Apocalypse in Greek.

How much of his book John himself understood isn’t known.  Revelation, although concerning the “things that must shortly come to pass,” wasn’t so much to be understood in John’s time, as it is at the end of the world.  Many still declare it a closed book with the interpretation still in the future, but since it concerns “things that must shortly come to pass,” we should rather conclude that the fulfillment of these prophecies commenced in John’s time.

Revelation is more than a book of telling the future.  It’s a living letter from God to His children, informing them of what’s needed to prepare for the “things that must shortly come to pass.”  This prophetic book continues to the final scenes of earth’s history, then finally beyond into eternity.

By its name, Revelation is an open book to those who would know God’s truth and His plan for the final events of our world’s history.  Although open, revealing the Christ of salvation, it’s hidden to those who would seek its meaning for selfish purposes or curiosity.  To understand fully, we must be born again.

In order to comprehend the secrets, we need certain keys or clues.  These are provided in the Bible, including Revelation.  It’s therefore not possible to interpret the hidden meaning without a comprehensive knowledge of the workings of God in His plan of salvation.

Of all the keys, the proper understanding of the form or structure of Revelation is essential to divide the various sections and chapters into a workable interpretation.  In addition, there are various contradictory teachings on the meaning of Revelation that need to be addressed.  False ideas are debunked with the proper understanding of Revelation’s structure.  One popular, modern day teaching that needs some study is the secret rapture.  The doctrine of the rapture will be commented on in the following chapters, when needed.

Although the prophecies of Revelation might appear disjointed and disoriented, the proper application of the structure eliminates all this apparent confusion.

A Seven-Act Play

The structure of Revelation is a seven-act play.  Each act has seven scenes.  Before the first act, there’s a prelude.  After Act VII, the play concludes with a finale.  In order to understand the Apocalypse, it’s necessary to understand the content of the rest of the books of the Bible.  The keys to unraveling the secrets hidden in the book of Revelation are all found in all sixty-six books, including Revelation itself.  This prophetic book is full of locked symbols.  However, Revelation is no longer a mystery when we know the keys.  As the secrets of the book unfold, the reader will see a mountain shaped structure as shown on the next page.  This form is used to demonstrate that Revelation is a seven-act play with seven scenes in each act, except for the final act.  Please notice that one side of the “mountain” balances and mirrors the other side.

The Chiastic Form

Also, notice that these seven acts are in the form of a chiasm.  This literary form can be most easily explained as a mirroring of one side of the form with the other.  Act I mirrors Act VII; Act II mirrors Act VI, and Act III mirrors Act V.  The left side of the chiasm mirrors the right.  See the mountain shaped chiastic structure of Revelation on the next page.

Act IV stands alone, but is itself a chiasm.  Then to take this chiastic literary form even farther, Scene 4 of Act IV stands alone from the other scenes and is another small, three-part chiasm within a chiasm.  The very pinnacle of this “mountain” is the turning point of Revelation, taking place at the fall of Mystic Babylon.  (Revelation 14:8; 18:1-21.)  When the cup of Babylon’s iniquity is full, God will send the judgment to seal His people.  Shortly thereafter, Jesus will appear in the clouds to rescue them.

The chiastic form of Revelation in this volume is found in two forms: the form of a mountain and the shape of an ‘X’.  (See the last page of this book.)  The chiastic form will be explained in more detail as we go along, but the shape of the mountain should be noted at this point, since Restoring the Holy of Holies moves from chapter to chapter as though climbing over a mountain, moving from act to act and scene to scene.  At the pinnacle of this chiastic mountain, you’ll find the pivotal point of Revelation, the second angel’s message of revelation 14.  When Mystic Babylon falls, the final, sudden acts of the controversy will commence.

Notice the fall of Babylon is the second angel’s message of Revelation 14 at the top of the mountain structure in the chart below.

The Three Angels’ Messages

First Angel

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

“Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Second Angel

“And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Third Angel

“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand. . .” Revelation 14:6-9

Back to Program

Chapter 2 -- The Prelude (Revelation 1:1-9)

The prelude or introduction to the book of Revelation starts with the prophet John revealing what the book is about and for whom it was written.  It reads:

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signi-fied it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bore record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.”  1:1, 2.

It’s important to notice that the prophecies start immediately after the time of John, after he received the prophecies.  They’re the “things which must shortly come to pass.”  John’s visions are a history of the world from the time of John to the end of this world.  They continue to the time all is restored to the condition of things as they were before Adam’s sin.  Prophecy is history written ahead of time, history in advance.  We can therefore expect the prophecies of the seven churches, the seven seals, the seven trumpets and the seven last plagues to be history, somewhere between the time of John and the end of the world, even to eternity.  As we progress in the following chapters, we’ll see just such a case.  Some things are past, some are yet to come and others are with us today.  This book takes the historicism approach to the prophecies. That is to say, not all is yet future to our time, which is the futurism view, nor is all in the past, finished even before our time, which is the preterism view.  How we place Revelation’s prophecies in time will greatly affect our interpretation of last day events.  John tells us clearly that it’s from his time onward.

Which view we take will color our understanding of the antichrist, the little horn of Daniel and the beast of Revelation 13.  If we take the preterism view, we’ll see the beast and little horn as a power or being that existed well back in history, without much significance for us today.  If we take the futurist view, then we’ll see the antichrist as an entity far yet into the future.  It’s interesting to note that Martin Luther and the vast majority of the Protestant reformers of the 16th century had no doubt as to who the beast of Revelation 13 was and still is.  It should be noted that if the anti-Christ is with us today, as the historicist view purports, then we would expect this power to want to hide this fact, placing himself either in the distant past or in the distant future; the preterist and futurist views would be very much to his advantage.

Its Truths Are Open and Blessed

When we read above in Revelation 1:1, 2 we found that Revelation was written for God’s servants, not for all the curious and disbelieving.  Those that read it are blessed, and John tells us the “time is at hand.”

“Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 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, And has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen.”  1:3-7.

One of the keys to the proper understanding of Revelation is given here in this verse.  We’re told that the message came from “him which is, and which was, and which is to come.”  This might seem like a phrase only to identify the eternal God, but it also will be used in a later chapter to help identify the beast of chapter 17.  There are many of these hidden keys within the verses of Revelation.  More such keys can be found in the remaining books of the Scriptures.  It’s not easy for a surface reader of the Bible to comprehend the deep things of God without a thorough knowledge of the Sacred Writings.  The understanding of Revelation is reserved for the servants of God who are students of the Word.

The above verses tell us who Jesus Christ is and of His eternal existence.  He’s the first fruits of the dead, but not the first to be raised from the dead.  While He yet lived, He raised Jarius’ daughter and Lazarus, but Jesus is the first fruits because He’s fulfilling one of the ceremonial teachings of the Jewish ceremonial year.  In Leviticus 23, we’ll find them listed from the Passover to the Feast of Tabernacles.  These feasts will be covered later in more detail.

Finally, in the above verses we’re also told that Jesus is the Savior, the Redeemer.  He washes us from our sins.  If this truth isn’t understood and accepted by the reader of the Apocalypse, there’s not much chance of prophetic understanding or for salvation itself.

We must accept Jesus as our Savior, and we must be born again, or we’ll never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.  (John 3:3-7) Jesus died the death that we should die and lived the life that we should live.  His perfect life is credited to us as though we had lived it in our own bodies, and His death is credited to us as though we had died an eternal death.  “With His stripes we are healed.”  Isaiah 53:5.  For a better understanding of His sacrifice for us, read the entire chapter of Isaiah 53.

Not Every Verse in Detail

As we continue verse by verse through the prophetic book of Revelation, we won’t be able to explain all of the verses in complete detail.  It’s not within the scope of this book to do so, but it’s clearly within the scope of this volume to expose the evil of the world today and explain just what it is we can expect in the future and how last day events will play out.

Restoring the Holy of Holies has been written to restore interest in the study of Revelation and to simplify its understanding.  Many books have been written that deal with only portions of chapters, so it’s quite impossible to write in this short volume that which will explain all passages and their deepest meanings.  We don’t want to be bogged down with fine, unrelated details.  We need to stay on a clear, continuous track.

More important than mere knowledge, the salvation of souls is para-mount.  If we have all knowledge of what the future holds, but aren’t connected with the King of Kings, we’ll lose all in the end.  Without exception, all must be born again.  All must study to serve God better.  Without this goal in our lives, we’ll likely disregard the message of this volume and put it aside.

The book of Revelation and prophecy in general aren’t just foretelling the future to give the curiosity seeker something to play with mentally.  Bible prophecy, as well as the rest of the Bible, has been written to help the reader prepare for things to come and to know that God is Love and the only one who can give life and salvation.

The prophets and all Bible writers prophesied and wrote having mostly one thought in mind, saving the sinner from destruction.  Understanding and incorporating the teachings of the Bible and Bible prophecy take a total commitment to God and His plan.  The outsider has no hope of understanding the mysteries of God fully without this total surrender to God and His ways.

Every Eye Shall See Him

“Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth will wail because of him.  Even so, Amen.”  1:7.

Please notice the coming of Jesus at the end of the world isn’t secret.  This Bible text says, “Every eye shall see him.”  Jesus Christ will come in the clouds where He can be clearly recognized.  There’s no secret appearing, but He will descend in the clouds as he ascended into the clouds.  (Acts 1:11)

Jesus warned us about believing He would come secretly.  “For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.  Behold, I have told you before.  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, [he is] in the secret chambers; believe [it] not.  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”  Matthew 24:24-27.

Christ’s teaching is clear.  He will come in the clouds of heaven, and as lighting can be seen, He will be seen.  He warns us about looking for Him in a secret place, whether it’s in a secret chamber or in the desert.

There are those today who say He’ll come secretly, in spite of His clearly stated mode of appearing.  John in Revelation says, “. . . every eye shall see Him.”  The angels said in Acts, “. . .  Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?  This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”  Acts 1:11.

With these clear statements, how can anyone circumvent them to say Jesus will come secretly?  Then too, we can’t simply add another coming, saying Jesus will come secretly one time and then in the clouds a third time.  Bible evidence doesn’t support a secret appearing.  As we’ll see later, the structure of Revelation also makes a secret rapture impossible.  Revelation’s chiastic structure doesn’t allow for any such third coming, as explained by the futurists.  There’s only one appearing, which is in the clouds, with every eye seeing Him.

The Spiritual Eye?

Someone told me “every eye” means ‘spiritual’ eyes, and that He came secretly many years ago.  I thought that if these were spiritual eyes, the clouds must also be spiritual clouds, but when I asked what a spiritual cloud was, I received no answer.

This is an important key to Bible prophecy and a basic rule for dealing with scripture.  We must take what’s said literally when it can be taken literally and figuratively when no literal meaning is possible, or when it’s obviously symbolism.  In other words, Jesus could come in the real clouds and be seen by everyone’s real eye, so we should take this literally to mean real clouds and every person’s actual eye.  It’s just plain and simple English.  On the other hand, when we see monsters with many heads and composites of many different beasts, we should conclude they’re symbolic or figurative, not literal.

It has long been a common false practice to turn things around and interpret the literal as being figurative and the figurative as being literal.  We need to keep the above key in mind when reading the Bible, or we could come up with many errant ideas.  Another important reason to believe in the literal clouds is that John was not yet in vision when he made the statement of “every eye.”  He was not yet in prophetic vision, he was not yet receiving prophecy, which is mostly symbolic in nature.

Jesus Is the Great I Am

“Even so, Amen.  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”  1:8, 9.

Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and omega is the last.  Jesus is the Beginning and the End, the Eternal God, and there was never a time when He didn’t exist as God.  In the above verse, He is Alpha and the Omega, the “Almighty.”  Isaiah foretold the birth of Jesus and called Him the “Mighty God” and the “Everlasting Father”.  (Isaiah 9:6)  On Mount Sinai, Moses asked the name of God, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”  Exodus 3:14.  Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I Am.”  John 8:58.  It’s not that He “was” or “will be,” but that His “IS.”  Christ Jesus “IS” in the state of eternal existence.

There’s a blessing pronounced on those who read the Apocalypse.  Some readers have said it’s closed, unfathomable.  However, the name itself declares it otherwise.  Revelation is a revelation of Jesus that was given to John by the Lord Himself.  He gave His life so that others can live.  He’s the Lamb of God that was pierced, and will come again in the clouds of heaven.  “Every eye shall see Him.”

I Am that I Am

“And Moses said unto God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Is-rael, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his name? “what shall I say unto them?

“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”  Genesis 3:13

Before Abraham was, I Am

“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw [it], and was glad.

“Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

“Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”  John 8:56-58.

The Mighty God

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”  Isaiah 9:6.

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Chapter 3 -- The Sanctuary Key

When constructing a building, an automobile or an airplane, we make models to show how they’ll look when completed.  A model is usually a smaller version of the larger.  It allows us to see the finished product before it’s completed.  Models can also be built to show us what something looks like that’s far away and can’t be transported to our location.  We look at photographs, which are models, to see what something looks like when we can’t be there in person.

In the days of Moses, there were no photographs to show us what the temple in heaven might look like.  It was ingenious for God to have Moses build a sanctuary that was a much smaller model of what’s in heaven.  As we’ll see, this sanctuary on the earth, which was a model of the one in heaven, was intended to have an all-important significance to the people of God.  The types and symbols used in the ceremonies connected with the sanctuary in Moses’ day and used later in the temple services were set up as a teaching tool.  God told Moses in the wilderness to build Him a sanctuary as a pattern:

“And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.  Ac-cording to all that I show thee, [after] the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make [it].”  Exodus 25:8, 9.

These services haven’t lost their meaning or importance.  We see in the New Testament that Jesus is now the High Priest in heaven’s sanctuary built by God, not Moses or man.  Christ is “a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”  Hebrews 8:2.

The earthly sanctuary was placed in the center of the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness as they were being led by Moses on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.  When a man sinned, he was to bring an offering to the tabernacle and slay it with His own hands.  This sacrifice presented an innocent victim that would die in the place of the guilty sinner.  To be more explicit, it typified the future death of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who would give His innocent life for the guilty life of all who would believe.  There were thousands of such sacrifices made from the time of the building of the sanctuary to the time of Christ.

Though the wilderness sanctuary was built by Moses hundreds of years after creation, the sacrificial services began hundreds of years before Moses with Adam and Eve.  Remember, Abel offered a blood sacrifice, representing the future death of Christ Jesus.

All the deaths of the innocence sacrifices represented the innocent Christ and His dying for guilty humanity.  The offering of these sacrifices was a model of what Jesus would live out “once for all” when He died.  In place of the word model, let’s exchange the word that’s more often used, the word type.  The innocent lambs were the type, and the innocent Jesus was the antitype, which was a one-time fulfillment of a type.

Many other sacrifices and festivals were attached to the sanctuary service, during a seven-month ceremonial yearly cycle starting with the Passover.  These types pointed to antitypes.  We’ll deal with these and other types and antitypes in later chapters.

All of these types and symbols are important to our understanding of Revelation, because as we’ll soon see, the motif of Revelation is built around the sanctuary and its feast and festival types.  The very first place we find Jesus in Revelation is in the sanctuary, walking among the candlesticks.

It’s imperative that we search out the various meanings of the types and symbols of Revelation.  We won’t be able to decipher the whole truth without the proper understanding of the sanctuary and without knowing God’s purpose in giving us this model or type.  Herein is God’s plan of salvation.  “Thy way, O God, [is] in the sanctuary . . .” Psalms 77:13.  In fact, the earthly was a type pointing to the sanctuary in heaven (antitype), which in turn was a type or model pointing to both Jesus Christ (antitype) and to His people (antitypes).

The meaning of the sanctuary didn’t end within itself as merely a place to offer sacrifices.  Instead, it was a means of showing God’s restoration of His image in His people.  This is a restoration back to where man stood before Adam’s sin, in God’s perfect image.  It’s God’s plan to restore man to sinless perfection, and all this is depicted in the types and symbols of the sanctuary.  It can’t be over-emphasized.  Understanding the sanctuary is essential to the understanding of the prophecies of Revelation.

The most important of these types met its antitype when Jesus came to live among men as the Lamb of God.  Jesus was called by John the Baptist “the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.”  John 1:29.  Six hundred years before Jesus was born, Isaiah had written, “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter . . .” Isaiah 53:7.  The lamb was the type; Jesus was the antitype.

The Soul Temple

Before we can proceed in our study, we must first recognize the meaning of the sanctuary.  Jesus said He was a sanctuary or temple.  (John 2:19-22)  We must also realize we are the temples of God.  “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”  1 Corinthians 3:16, 17.  What happens in the ceremonies of the sanctuary service is a teaching tool, which God has chosen to illustrate His plan for the forgiveness of sins and the restoration of man to God’s image.

The sanctuary has a two-fold application.  One refers to Jesus as a temple, the other to humankind as a temple.  The first illustrates Christ’s work of what He’s doing for us in Himself as a temple.  The sanctuary services with their rites and sacrifices are played out in Christ in symbolisms.  In every way, they represent Him.  He’s the candlestick; He’s the Light of the World.  He’s the showbread; He’s the Bread of Life.  The other application of the sanctuary is the work of God in His people.  We’re to receive the candlestick, the Light of the World.  We’re to eat the bread of life.  In the second application, we’re His living temples, and what happens in the temple in heaven typifies or represents what happens in and for us on earth.  Jesus forgives our sins, and then He empowers us through the Holy Spirit to have victory over sin.

The application of Christ as a temple shows us that Jesus is taking our sins upon Himself.  Our sins are symbolically transferred to the blood that’s then sprinkled onto the sanctuary, illustrating that our sins are transferred to Christ.

The shedding of blood shows the victim has died.  Not only was Jesus to die as depicted in the many slain lambs, but, as taught in the temple service, we are also to die.  Jesus tells us we must be born again.  (John 3:7)  To be born again, we must first die.  This death is a renunciation of our former lives and the admission we are sinners, unable to save ourselves.

This inward change is represented by the outward act of baptism, where we go down into the grave and come up with a new life.  Paul states it this way, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”  Galatians 2:20.  Therefore, we are to die as the lamb died.  Our old lives are to be consumed in the flames of the altar.

In the man-as-a-temple application, we see that our sins can be forgiven, as the blood symbolically shows a cleansing process.  When the blood is sprinkled, we are cleansed.  We can be forgiven and cleansed because Jesus died for us; He shed His blood.  (Revelation 1:5; 7:14)

Jesus died in our place, and because He died, we can be forgiven, but there’s much more.  Just being forgiven doesn’t solve the problem of sin.  It only provides forgiveness of sin; we also need to be clean, totally free of sin.  Along with being justified before God and having our sins forgiven, we must be sanctified by the power of God, so that sin will be completely done away within us.  Finally, in the end, we’ll need to have our bodies changed from mortal to immortal.

Salvation then, is a threefold process.  First, there’s forgiveness, which we call justification.  Next is sanctification, making the life holy and without sin.  Finally comes the returning of our bodies from a corruptible, mortal state to bodies that can live eternally.  The body is changed when Jesus comes, but when and how sin is removed completely from our lives is the all-encompassing emphasis of Restoring the Holy of Holies.  Daniel said it this way, “. . .  Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”  Daniel 8:14.  What are these 2300 days?

Some might think we are getting off the subject, but this verse in Daniel is the theme of both the books of Daniel and Revelation.  A better translation of “cleansed” in Daniel 8:14 is the phrase “returned to its rightful state.”  In other words, we could read Daniel 8:14 as, “Then shall the sanctuary be restored to its rightful state.”  RSV, ESV.* God has a plan to restore or cleanse the sanctuary, the temple, to its “rightful state,” both the temple of man and the temple of Christ.  Yes, Jesus, (a temple) is going to be restored to His rightful state.  The sinless state of God’s people (temples) is going to be restored as well.  This is the theme of both Daniel and Revelation.  Moses wrote of this cleansing, “For on that day shall [the priest] make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, [that] ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.”  Leviticus 16:30.

God’s Plan is Total Restoration

God’s plan has a greater purpose than just to build a temple or to cleanse or restore a building to its original condition.  God’s intention is much more far-reaching.  His goal reaches deep into the heart of man.  God wants to cleanse the temple of the human soul and return His people to the position Adam held before sin came into the world.  God is going to recreate His people into His own image.  At creation, Adam was “in the image of God.”  Genesis 1:27.  The 144,000 will be restored to His image.

The entire sanctuary service, yearly feasts and festivals, all point forward to this final cleansing on the Day of Atonement, the Day of Judgment, Yom Kippur.  This is the theme of both Daniel and Revelation.  It’s the restoration of the Holy of Holies.

God has something more important in mind than cleaning a dusty temple.  In the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14 God has revealed a much greater event, the cleansing and the restoration of His people.  How wonderful.  How profound.  More on Daniel 8:14 later.

Rehearsed Yearly by the Jews

The Jews observed the Passover year after year.  This yearly event pointed forward in time when Jesus would die as an innocent lamb on the cross.  The Jews also yearly celebrated the Day of Atonement to teach us that the actual event would someday take place.  Daniel whose name means “God will Judge” or “God is Judge” points us forward to an end-time event, the judgment.  (Daniel 7:10.)  This event was rehearsed yearly on the tenth day of the seventh month of the Jewish ceremonial year.  It was known as the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.  Just like the daily death of a lamb pointed to the death of Jesus, the Day of Atonement, acted out year after year, was also a rehearsal of things to come.  It was a teaching tool, a type.  It pointed forward to the final judgment at the end of the world, the antitype.

How will God’s people ever reach such a goal of total restoration to His image?  It seems impossible.  Daniel 8:14, the cleansing of the sanctuary or the returning it to its normal state, is not a threat or an impossible dream.  It’s a promise of God.  What God promises, He can accomplish.  (Matthew 19:26)  This restoration is the blessing of the judgment.  This occurs just prior to the second coming of Christ.  The Day of Atonement, the cleansing of the sanctuary, will be explained in much more detail later.

The Temple of Man

There’s no sanctuary or temple today on this earth.  If we want to find one, we must look elsewhere.  The sanctuary that was on the earth for many years was fashioned after the sanctuary in heaven.  The temple on earth was a copy of the one in heaven.  (Hebrews 8:2)  The first earthly sanctuary was a tent in the wilderness built by Moses under the command of God.  (Exodus 25:9)  Later the temple of Solomon was erected, followed by the temple known as Herod’s temple.  Herod’s Temple existed at the time of Christ.  It was later destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70.  For almost two thousand years, it has never been rebuilt.  The only one remaining today is in heaven.  Read the Book of Hebrews.

The Temple of Jesus and of Man

As mentioned earlier, the temple on earth represented both the temple of Jesus and the temple of man.  We must be aware of one more step in God’s meaning of the sanctuary as it’s used as a teaching tool, a type.  The earthly temple in type pointed to the work Jesus is doing now in heaven for His people.  At His ascension into heaven, Christ Jesus became Our Great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.  The book of Hebrews tells us:

“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such a high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”  Hebrews 8:1, 2.

Jesus is there standing between man and God as our representative, our lawyer.  He’s our High Priest and is receiving our confessions and presenting them to God the Father, asking for forgiveness on the merits of His death as the Lamb of God who died in our place.  His death is exchanged for our death.  The death that we deserve was suffered by Him, and the life that He deserves is given to us, if we are born again.  God the Father was willing to allow Jesus to come, suffer shame and abuse, and then die as a common criminal.  He’s now in the heavenly sanctuary presenting His shed blood as the only way to have our sins forgiven.

God is Love.  As our High Priest today, He’s working for us to forgive us our sins and to remove all sin from our lives.  He’s working to cleanse the temple (sanctuary) of the human heart.  (See Hebrews 7.)

The earthly sanctuaries or temples of the Old Testament pointed to or typified the work Jesus would one day do in heaven.  In turn, His work in the heavenly sanctuary points to or typifies His work in the sanctuary of the human soul.  Jesus, Our Great High Priest is, “A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”  Hebrews 8:1, 2.  Our High Priest is ministering to cleanse the soul temple. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”  1 Corinthians 3:16

Buildings Don’t Sin, People Do

Jesus’ work is the restoration of God’s image in His people.  He wants to clean hearts not buildings.  Daniel 8:14 tells us that a sanctuary is to be cleansed, but buildings don’t sin, people do.  God's eternal purpose is to create a group of people that are without sin.  Ultimately, the sanctuary to be cleansed is the human heart, not a building.  The Bible says: “That he [Jesus Christ] might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”  Ephesians 5:27.

What a revelation!  Jesus died for all of us, and now He’s Our High Priest, our lawyer in heaven.  He’s also a temple.  If we apply the cleansing of the temple to Him, how is He going to be cleansed or restored to His rightful state?  (Daniel 8:14.)

The answer is in the sanctuary motif.  Jesus is the creator of all.  He’s the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but He took upon Himself the form of a slave to serve humanity.  When on earth, He was a prophet, but is now Our High Priest.  When His work in the heavenly sanctuary is finished, He will take off His priestly robes, put on His kingly robes and come to this earth again as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  (Revelation 19:16)  His rightful state as king will be restored when sin has been destroyed and He’s once again ruling as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, His rightful state.

Before we can understand John’s prophetic book, it’s extremely important that we know how the sanctuary motif fits into the Book of Revelation.  Revelation is replete with sanctuary symbolism.  In the next chapter, we’ll study the sanctuary setting for Act I of Revelation.

* The Revised Standard Version and the English Standard Version both render Daniel 8:14 as, “. . . restored to its rightful state.”  The New American standard translates it, “. . . will be properly restored.”

The word in Hebrew as used in most of the rest of the Old Testament is rendered mostly, “cleansed,” as in the King James Version.  This is an acceptable translation as well, and goes well with the Bible text on the final atonement, explained to us in Leviticus 16:30.  Here the Scriptures are describing the Day of Atonement when it says, “For on that day shall [the priest] make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, [that] ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.”   The word “cleanse” is used in both Daniel and Leviticus, both referring to the Day of Atonement, the Day of Judgment.

However, this author prefers using the idea of restoration, which goes with the book title, Restoring the Holy of Holies, because the theme of Revelation, Daniel and the entire Bible deals with the restoring of God’s people to their rightful, or original state, as they were in Eden before sin.

Our High Priest

“Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

“A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

“For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore [it is] of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

“For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:

“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 showed to thee in the mount.

“But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

“For if that first [covenant] had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

“For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

“Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

“For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

“And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.”  Hebrews 8

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Chapter 4 -- Sanctuary Setting-Act I

The Seven Churches   (Revelation 1:10-1:20)

In the Holy Place of the wilderness sanctuary, there were seven lights or candles continually burning.  These represented Jesus who proclaimed Himself “the light of the world.”  John 8:12.  Hovering above the sanctuary was the very presence of God, existing in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  (Exodus 13:21, 22)

As mentioned earlier, the sanctuary is a key to understanding Revelation.  Its furnishings and related feasts and festivals are Revelation’s biggest and most important keys.  The sanctuary signifies the very presence of God.  For the Bible says, “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.”  Exodus 25:8.  Without understanding the sanctuary key, the book of Revelation and the rest of the Bible are impossible to piece together properly.

Acts I to IV of Revelation have settings where Jesus is somewhere in the sanctuary.  Before we can understand each act, we must look into the taber-nacle and learn where in time we are and what Jesus is doing for us there.  We interpret what He’s doing by understanding what went on in and around the sanctuary of old.  All this is according to the instructions God gave Moses on Mt. Sinai.  (Exodus 25:9; Numbers 8:4; Hebrews 8:5)

If we look into the sanctuary, we’ll see the outer court surrounded on all sides by walls of white linen.  Inside was another smaller structure that contained the holy places.  This second tent was divided into two apartments, one known as the Holy Place and the other the Most Holy.  A veil opened into the first apartment, or Holy Place.  Another veil opened into the second apartment or Holy of Holies.

In the Holy Place below, as you enter, you will find the table of showbread with twelve loaves of bread.  Just in front of the second veil was an altar known as the Altar of Incense.  On the left were the ever-burning seven candlesticks.

In Revelation Jesus walked among the candlesticks.  They represent Him, for He’s the Light of the World.  (John 8:12.)  He entered the Holy Place in heaven after he ascended to heaven in the early first century.  You can read about it in the book of Hebrews.  Christ is Our Great High Priest who has entered into the heavenly temple.  Hebrews 6:19, 20; 9:12; 9:23-25.   He’s there to apply His blood that represents His death as a payment for our sins.  We’ll see more of the sanctuary later.  Let’s move on to Revelation.

Below is the text of the setting of Act I of Revelation.  We know this takes place in the temple because the setting places us among the candlesticks of the Holy Place of the sanctuary.  The Lord Himself, the Alpha and Omega, is there conversing with John.

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What you see, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia; to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.  And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me.  And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes as a flame of fire; And his feet like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.  And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shines in his strength.

“And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.  Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.  The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which you saw are the seven churches.”  1:10-20.

The Bible is its own interpreter.  If within Revelation itself we can’t find the keys to understanding, then they can be found somewhere else in the Bible.  One example of such a key is in the text just quoted.  We can often see the key to the meaning just after what was seen in the vision.  The Bible says the seven candlesticks are the seven churches.  It tells us the seven stars are the seven angels of the seven churches.  Angels in the original Greek text of the New Testament are messengers.  The Greek word “angellos” (angel) means messenger.  These seven messengers have a message for each of the seven churches and for us who are alive today, probably even more so, since Revelation is for the time of the end.

What do the churches stand for?  They have the purpose of telling us the spiritual conditions of the seven churches in Asia at the time John saw this vision.  Using the conditions of the churches at the time of the writing of Revelation, the Lord applies their peculiar situations to the following eras of the church from John in the first century to the end of the world.  Ephesus represents the pure church at the time of the apostles before the “falling away” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) from the pure truth spoken of by Paul.  Paul wrote that the anti-Christ would come, causing the falling away and would sit in the temple of God, saying he’s God.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], ex-cept there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;    Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?  And now ye know what withholds that he might be revealed in his time.” 2 Thessalonians   2:3-6.

This time of the “falling away” is represented in the eras after Ephesus in the first century to the time of the end.  These churches take us through the Reformation era on to the final time and condition of God’s people called Laodicea.

Believing the seven churches represent time periods from the time of the apostles to the end of the world is not new.  It has been taught for well over two hundred years.  Notice the seventh church is the church of Laodicea.  The name of this church means, “Judging the people.”  The judgment is at the end of the world.  (Matthew 13:33-50)  In fact, Revelation is a book of the judgment.  The climax of this judgment is in Act IV.  However, please don’t be shocked or discouraged.  The judgment is good news.  It’s one of God’s many promises to His people.  In the judgment, God wants to bestow a most wonderful blessing.

The setting for Act I is in the sanctuary.  Act I follows.

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Chapter 5 -- Act I, Seven Candlesticks

Scene 1 (2:1-2:29) Ephesus - (Up to AD 100)

As mentioned earlier, the seven churches represent seven eras in the history of the Christian church.  They begin from the time of John the Revelator and continue to the time of the final church on earth, Laodicea, which means, “judging the people.”  In other words, the seven churches take us to the time of the judgment or final atonement; it’s the harvest, which is at the end of the world.  Jesus said, “. . . the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.”  Matthew 13:39, 49.  The judgment and its blessing for God’s people will be discussed in detail in later chapters.

Another reason to believe these seven churches are seven eras is that Jesus told John that what he was about to see was what “must shortly come to pass.”  Revelation 1:10.  When we view the seven churches in this vein, we see they work together very systematically, and have been fulfilled exactly according to history.  This teaching of the seven churches as seven eras is not original with this volume.  It has been taught for hundreds of years by many denominations.

The first church is Ephesus, which represents the early Christian Church.  In the first century, the church members were all together in their thinking and purpose.  No one had need of food or clothing.  They shared what God had given them and were happy to do so.  (Acts 2:1-5; Acts 4:34-37)

Scene 1 - Ephesus

“Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things says he that holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;  I know your works, and your labor, and your patience, and how you cannot bear them which are evil: and you have tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars:  And have borne, and have patience, and for my name's sake have labored, and have not fainted.  Nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first love.”  2:1-4.

Things soon began to change in the first century church as false teachings and practices came in.  Paul wrote about this when he said:  “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 opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4.

Paul is explaining that before Jesus comes, the man of sin will be revealed.  We’ll find him sitting in the temple of God, saying he’s God.  This man of sin will be exposed in this publication.

Though there is a “falling away”, there’s always hope with God.  He faithfully promises:

“Remember therefore from where you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto you quickly, and will remove your can-dlestick out of his place, except you repent.  But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” 2:5, 6.

The Nicolaitans were first century so-called Christians who practiced adultery and ate foods offered to idols, both forbidden to Christians and Jews.  They believed they were saved by faith and therefore didn’t need to be concerned about doing good works.  Such a teaching is still very much alive today.  They even went so far as to teach that by sinning, they were making use more of the forgiveness, and thereby the grace of God.   In other words, sinning was good because it brought out and spread forth the mercies of God.

God has a promise for us; continuing in Revelation, we read:

“He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”  2:7.

Some in the church fell away from total commitment and the love of fol-lowing Christ.  With that, it passed to the era of Smyrna, the second church.

Scene 2 - Smyrna (100-313) AD

“And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things says the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know your works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but you are rich) . . .” 2:8, 9.

The Christians of Smyrna were poor in the world’s goods, but rich in faith and obedience.  They were never condemned by the Lord Jesus Christ, but only commended.  However, there were liars among them.  Jesus who died and came to life again encourages them to be faithful unto death and He promised He would bring them to life again.

“. . .and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.  Fear none of those things which you will suffer: behold, the devil will cast [some] of you into prison, that you may be tried; and you will have tribulation ten days: be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life.  He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches; He that overcomes will not be hurt of the second death.”  2:9-11.

The ten days of tribulation likely refers to the ten years of sever persecu-tion of God’s people by the emperor Diocletian from his decree in 303 until 313 when his rule ended.  The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary states under the word Diocletian:

“Originally Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus.  A.D. 245?-313?  Emperor of Rome (284-305) who divided the empire into east and west (286) in an attempt to rule the territory more effectively.  His desire to revive the old religion of Rome led to the last major persecution of the Christians (303).”

The first and second deaths mentioned above will be covered when we get to Act VI.  We’ll also cover the first and a second resurrections.  See Acts 24:15 and in Revelation 20:5, 6.

The Christians in the early centuries mentioned here as the Church of Smyrna, went through a flood of persecution.  They were fed to the lions in Rome as entertainment, while their murderers joyously watched them die in horrendous ways.  Nevertheless, the reward of these martyrs will be eternal life, while their murderers will suffer the second death.  “God is not mocked for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.”  Galatians 6:7.  God and His people will win out in the end.

Scene 3 - Pergamos (313-538) A.D.

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things says he which has the sharp sword with two edges.  I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's seat is:’ 2:12, 13.

With Pergomos, we find Satan’s name and his seat because here is where he very actively starts to take over control of the church.  This is where the “falling away” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) from the purity of the periods of Ephesus and Smyrna starts.

“. . . and you hold fast my name, and have not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas, my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.”  2:13, 14.

Balaam was once a faithful prophet of God who was asked by God’s ene-mies to curse Israel.  Instead, he could only say what God put into his mouth, so no curses came from his lips, only blessings.  In spite of all the blessings, in the end, things were reversed when the enemies of God won the day on Balaam’s advice in which he taught Balak how to corrupt the Israelites from within.  At first, Midianitish women would steal into the camp of Israel and bring with them their idolatrous ways.  Later Balaam, being considered a prophet of God, invited them to a party where licentious practices took place.  It turned out the party was a celebration of false gods, and the people of God were drawn into apostasy.  From inside the camp the heathen insurgents corrupted the actions of the chosen of God to lead them astray by getting them to practice a religion, which was contrary to the worship of the True God.

The moral of this story is that we often have more to fear from within than from without.  It’s dangerous to associate too much with the heathen and non-believers.  This is what happened to the early Christian church.  By slowly allowing an evil outside influence into the church, it became corrupted from within rather than from without.  Where Satan couldn’t win by feeding the faithful to the lions, he conquered by inward, stealthy corruption.

This was the fate of the church of Pergamos (313-538AD).  The true wor-ship of God was corrupted by Paganism entering into Christianity and bringing in its heathen practices.  What Satan couldn’t corrupt from the outside using torture and death, he did so within the church by infiltrating it with heathen practices, slowly, little by little.

One good example is Halloween that comes from the heathen Druids of Europe, and before that, the Paganism of Rome.  Also, consider Christmas Day, which was worshiped for centuries as a pagan holiday.  We don’t know exactly what month or day Jesus was born, but we do know that Tammuz, the illegitimate son of Ishtar, the Goddess of Fertility was born on December 25.  Christmas is celebrated with Yule logs, trees and other such heathen practices.  It’s the worship of nature, of creation, not the Creator.  Easter is celebrated with its eggs and bunnies, both symbols of fertility.  Even the name of Easter comes from Ishtar the Goddess of Fertility, hence the association with eggs and rabbits.

“So have you also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.  Repent; or else I will come unto you quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”  2:15, 16.

The two-edged sword is the Word of God, the Bible.  (Hebrews 4:12)  Only with God’s word can we effectively deal with error.  It alone separates truth from apostasy.

“He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows except he that receives [it].  2:17.

Manna is a symbol of Jesus Christ (See John 6:31-35) who gives life.  Manna represents the end reward of eternal life to the redeemed.  The stone is a symbol of life.  When the accused was judged, a stone was placed in front of him, revealing his judgment, black for death, white for life.  The new name shows a change in life style due to a commitment to a new life, being born again.  Jacob received the new name of Israel after prevailing with God.

Scene 4 - Thyatira (538-1560) A.D.

“And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things says the Son of God, who has his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass; I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy pa-tience, and your works; and the last more than the first.  Notwithstanding I have a few things against you, because you suffer that woman Jezebel, which calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to com-mit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.”  2:18-20.

Jezebel was a wicked queen, and with her husband Ahab, ruled over God’s people around 800 B.C.  They sat on the throne as though they were the chosen prophets of God and ruled with a religion that was contrary to the true faith.  Here in Revelation, Jezebel stands for a church.  Churches are often symbolized by women.  (See Revelation chapters 12 and 17; Jeremiah 6:2.)

The people of God in Jezebel’s day unfortunately tolerated Jezebel and her worship of images, as did the church of God during the time of Thyatira.  They should have thrown out the wicked practices that were corrupting them, but didn’t.  Even today, the presence and worship of idols can be found in churches that call themselves Christian, but are instead errant in such practices.

“And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.  Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.”  2:21, 22.

As a prophet had prophesied, Jezebel died a violent death and was eaten by dogs.  Similarly, it will surely be with those who pervert the truths of God and worship in accordance with the false teachings of false gods.

“And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches will know that I am he which searches the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.  But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.  But that which ye have [already] hold fast till I come.”  2:23-25.

Jezebel’s children are the false churches that have failed to completely separate from Jezebel, the false church.  Later in Revelation the false church is called the “mother of harlots,” the harlots being the churches that haven’t entirely withdrawn themselves from the mother church and still worship using many of the mother’s doctrines and practices.  (See Revelation 17:5.)

“And he that overcomes, and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:  And he will rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter will they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.  And I will give him the morning star.  He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.”  2:26-29.

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Chapter 6 -- The Things which Remain (3:1-3:22)

Scene 5 -Sardis (1560-1798)

“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things says he that has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, and are dead.”  3:1.

This candle represents the time when the church had the name of Christ, but was not in connection with Him spiritually.  It was a church in name only.  It says, “You have a name that you are alive, and are dead.”  Very little of the truth was left to support the church.  Its base was mostly eroded.  A change was needed.  With little remaining of the original truths, God had to do something before all was completely lost.  The angel of the Church of Sardis called for a strengthening of what remained, in order that the true church wouldn’t die.

“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found your works perfect before God.  Remember there-fore how you have received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.  If there-fore you will not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you shalt not know what hour I will come upon you.  You have a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they will walk with me in white: for they are worthy.  He that overcomes, the same will be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.  He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches” 3:2-6.

During this time, an errant power was in control.  It was necessary for God to choose certain men who would break the control of the Man of Sin.  In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses on the door of Wittenberg.  Luther was a Roman Catholic priest who believed the church needed a reformation, and he concluded that certain of its doctrines were not Christian.  This movement called the Protestant Reformation greatly changed the courts and countries of Europe.  Luther determined that the Roman Catholic Church and the Bible greatly disagreed in some very important teachings.  These doctrinal errors had come in with the “falling away” mentioned earlier.

However, Luther and the Protestant Reformation didn’t weed out all the errors the church had absorbed when it became too familiar with Jezebel.  Even today, there are many children of Jezebel.  They’re the churches with false teachings that have failed to continue the work of reformation, a separation from the false mother church.  They’re the “mother of harlots” of Revelation 17:5.  They’re harlots of the ‘mother church.”

The “strengthening of that which remains” was clearly the Protestant Reformation under the time of the Church of Sardis.  Before this Protestant Reformation, a large number of Biblical truths were thought by Protestants to be corrupted or non-existent.  You can read about the Reformation in any encyclopedia, so we can move on here.

Scene 6 -Philadelphia (1790-1844) A.D.

The next church is the church at Philadelphia.  There’s a city in the United States by that name.  It’s known as the “City of Brotherly Love.”  At this time, the protestant churches grew, and The United States of America was formed.  It was the most free and non-controlling of all countries in the sense that it provided its citizens with freedoms very seldom before experienced.  In the time of this church there was a renewing, an opening up of the Bible and its understanding.  Bible societies grew and Bibles were distributed freely and in great quantities.  Missionaries went out to lands to a greater extent than ever before.  It was a tremendous time of church growth; it was a time of wonderful transition.

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things says he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens;” 3:7.

The key of David is really the key to the house of David.  Isaiah tells us about this key of David when he says, “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.”  Isaiah 22:22.  This house of David was the temple built after the wilderness tabernacle of Moses had been lost.  Although the temple was built and named after David’s son Solomon, David had made all the plans and preparations for its construction.  Isaiah refers to it as David’s house.

The holder of the key is Jesus Christ, the High Priest in the temple in heaven.  (Hebrews 9:11)  He opens a door that can’t be shut.  He shuts a door that can’t be opened.  As we saw earlier, the sanctuary had two doors or veils.  The first one separated the outer court from the holy places, leading into the Holy Place.  The two holy places (Holy and Most Holy) were separated by a second veil.  The priests went through the first veil or door on a daily basis, but through the second veil only once a year on Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, the Day of Judgment.  The sanctuary terminology runs throughout the entire book of Revelation and centers on this final judgment.  The final judgment of the world starts during the period represented by the Church of Philadelphia, when the door into the Most Holy is opened.

Here in the time of Philadelphia, the time of the sixth candlestick, Christ as the High Priest in heaven is moving his people from the daily service to the yearly service (Yom Kippur) or final atonement, but what door is closed?

Jesus in the era of Philadelphia is symbolically closing the first veil or door of the sanctuary leading into the Holy Place and opening the second door (veil) into the Holy of Holies.  Only Jesus Christ can do it.  Only He has the key of David.  (We’ll see in the next chapter that this judgment began in 1844.)  Closing the first door doesn’t exclude others from entering into the Most Holy Place with Jesus.  We don’t enter the sanctuary in heaven in fact but we enter by faith, by understanding what’s happening there.

The sanctuary of today is in heaven.  The sanctuary motif as a whole is a teaching tool.  For the time of Philadelphia, God wants us to understand that Jesus has changed the work He’s doing in the heavenly sanctuary from the daily to the yearly.  He has gone into a new phase of His work for His people.  Nevertheless, He hasn’t cut off any new believer.  The forgiveness of sins and all that was available to the sinner in the Holy Place is still available in the Most Holy.  But now, His work has expanded into the judgment phase.

The judgment that was held on the Day of Atonement will be more clearly explained when we reach Revelation 14:6, 7.  There it says, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, . . .Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come:”

Continuing to read the text under the Church of Philadelphia,

“I know thy works: behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it: for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name.  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 your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation, which will come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”  3:8-10.

There’s a great hour of temptation coming when “no man can buy or sell” unless he has the “mark of the beast.”  (Revelation 13:17.)  There will be a time when the seven last plagues will fall, (Revelation 15:1) and many will wish the rocks and mountains would fall on them.  (Revelation 6:16)  However, God will “keep you from the hour of temptation.”  He doesn’t remove His faithful from temptation, but protects them according to His will and strengthens them to go through it.  This mark of the beast (Revelation 13) is the great test of the judgment, the Day of Atonement mentioned earlier.

“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast  which you have, that no man take your crown. Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God: and [I will write upon him] my new name.  He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.”  3:11-13.

The New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven in Act VII, the final act of Revelation.  It’s necessary again to mention it here to keep our minds focused on the judgment, the Day of Atonement.  We need to understand that the investigative judgment is followed by the executive judgment or punishment of the wicked during the seven last plagues of Act V.  We’ll have more on that later.

On the other hand, the righteous will go through the time of trouble and be tested as Jacob was tested when he fought with the angel.  Shortly thereafter, Jesus will come.  The eventual reward of the righteous will be New Jerusalem, Act VII.  This investigative judgment, Yom Kippur, will be concluded before Jesus comes.  Until the judgment, at which time the mark of the beast test comes, the wicked and the righteous won’t be separated.  The mark of the beast test is the separating point of conflict.  The righteous will receive the seal of God; all others will be branded with the mark of the beast.

For some readers, much that’s mentioned here is new, a lot of unfamiliar ideas and concepts.  To many readers it will be overwhelming at first.  However, these subjects will all be made clearer as we delve more into the later chapters of the Apocalypse.

Scene 7 - Laodicea (1844-Today)

The last of the seven churches is Laodicea.  The word is thought to mean, “Judging the people.”  This is an appropriate name for this church, because this is the time of the judgment.  The door to the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary is opened under Philadelphia and the judgment continues under Laodicea where it says:

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God ; I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I would rather you were cold or hot.  So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue you out of my mouth.’”  3:14, 15.

Many people wonder why the world has lasted so long if the judgment began in 1844, explained in the next chapter.  What better reason can we find than in this verse?  The church has been neither hot nor cold.  It thinks it’s “rich and increased with goods”, but is unaware of its “wretched” condition.

The church and the world today when compared to times past have indeed become “increased with goods.”  We have more stuff, more material possessions than anyone did at any time in the past.  Yet we are in great need.  We need a change of heart that can come only from God.  We must recognize our condition and seek after Our Only Hope.  The next verses first tell us what we claim, and then inform us what will happen because of our condition.

“Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that you might see.  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”  3:16-19.

Those that are lukewarm and fail to repent will be spit (spued) out of God’s mouth.  This means He will no longer confess them as His.  However, God won’t leave the repentant sinner to die in his sins.  He’s standing at the door and knocking.

“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 dine with him, and he with me.”  3:20.

What door is this?  It has to be a different door than mentioned before because the people of God are to open it.  The door spoken of earlier into the Most Holy Place could only be opened by Jesus.

The Door of the Heart

Remember, the sanctuary motif has a double meaning.  The sanctuary that Moses built was a representation or type of the one in heaven.  It also typified the sanctuary of man.  Have you ever read where it says: “What?  Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”  1 Corinthians 6:19.  See also John 2:19-21.  Jesus is knocking at the door of the soul temple asking to come in to dwell in us and change lives.

“To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.  He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.”  3:21, 22.

God is asking His people in the time of the Day of Atonement, the Day of Judgment, to open the doors of their hearts to allow their final perfecting.  He wants to number the 144,000.  (We’ll see more on this group in Revelation 7 and 14.)

In Summary

The seven churches provide us with an overview of the condition of the church from the time Revelation was written, extending to the final Day of Judgment.  In the judgment, the Holy of Holies will be restored.  God took seven churches with seven different characteristics that existed in Asia in John’s time and used them to correspond with the seven eras of the Christian Church from John’s time to the end of the world.  More details of these seven churches could be written here, however excessive detail sometimes isn’t helpful but instead time consuming and unnecessary.

More of the details about these eras will be given when we study the seven trumpets, the seven seals, the dragon and much more.

The Judgment

“A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thou-sands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood be-fore him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:10

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlast-ing gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every na-tion, and kindred, and tongue, and people,  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”  Revelation 14:6, 7.

“He [Jesus] answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;  The field is the world; the good seed are the chil-dren of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one];  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”  Matthew 13:37-43.

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Chapter 7 -- The Disappointment Key William Miller

Very few today have heard the name of William Miller.  In the very early 1800's, Miller, a farmer, was not an active believer in the God of Heaven, even though he thought it would be wonderful to have an active faith.  He was a Deist who thought God created the world, and then abandoned it to its own fate.  Even so, Miller started to read the Bible to try to understand the prophecies, and when he got to the book of Daniel, he was very interested.  Unfortunately, he was in for what’s still called today the Great Disappointment.  It has to do with the central prophecy of Daniel, Daniel 8:14.

The 2300 Day/ Year Prophecy

In Daniel 8:14 it says, “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred [2300] days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”  Like everyone else in his time, Miller believed the sanctuary was the earth.  With that in mind, as he interpreted Daniel 8:14, he believed Jesus would return to the earth to cleanse it with fire at the end of the two-thousand three-hundred (2300) days.

Miller was wrong in what he interpreted to be the sanctuary.  It wasn’t the earth, but the temple in heaven where Jesus stands as a mediator for believers.  Jesus is our High Priest who is waiting to cleanse the sanctuary of the human heart, to restore it to its rightful state.  Miller’s mistake wasn’t in the timing of the prophecy but in his definition of the sanctuary.  Actually, God had hidden the true meaning from him.  We’ll see in Revelation 10 that God had known and foretold this disappointment.  This cover up will be explained later.

The Four Beasts of Daniel 7

To better understand Daniel 8:14, we must go to the previous chapter of Daniel.  In Daniel 7, we find four beasts coming up out of the sea.  The first one, Babylon, was shown as a lion with eagles’ wings.  The second was Medo-Persia and the third Greece.  The fourth was not identified in the text, but we know from history it was Rome.  This fourth beast (Rome) had ten horns.

Later, from among the ten horns, a Little Horn came up that uprooted three of the others.  This horn had the “eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies.”  Daniel 7:8; Revelation 13:5  This Little Horn remains until the day of judgment, when his power is taken away at the end of the world.  (Daniel 7:9-11)

After seeing the vision recorded in Daniel 7, Daniel was worried about this Little Horn.  He didn’t really understand what the vision meant, so God sent an angel in Daniel 8 to help him understand more.  In the Daniel 8 vision, we find animals of the sanctuary service that were used as sacrific-es.  Daniel explains them in the chapter.  The first one, the ram, was Medo-Persia, and the goat was Greece.  Then out of the four winds came the same Little Horn mentioned in chapter seven.*

The Little Horn became strong and “cast the truth to the ground.”  (Daniel 8:9-12)  Daniel asked how long this would continue, and was told it would take two-thousand, three-hundred (2300) days before the sanctuary would be cleansed, or restored to its natural state. (Daniel 8:14) (See chapter 3)

What sanctuary are we talking about?  Like most students of prophecy and Bible scholars of Miller’s time, Miller believed the earth was the sanctuary and Jesus would then come at the end of this 2300 day-year period to cleanse the earth with fire.  The date Miller came up with was October 22, 1844.  However, Jesus didn’t appear, and so it was a great disappointment.

Many Millerites, as they were called, were at first concerned over whether the calculations might be incorrect, but Miller and others rechecked everything closely.  Miller had based his predictions on the belief that one day in Bible prophecy is symbolic of one year.  (Ezekiel 4:6; Numbers 14:33, 34)  In fact, an actual twenty-three hundred (2300) days would be less than six and a half years.  Miller saw that if the 2300 days were literal days, there wouldn’t be enough time for everything to take place that was spoken about in this prophecy.  This day for a year principle was not new with Miller.  Many before had believed the same.  In the end, Miller never gave up on the accuracy of the calculations.  There had to be a different event that commenced on October 22, 1844.

The 2300 Years Begin Here

Miller started counting the 2300 years from the starting point mentioned later in Daniel where it tells us it’s from the “commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.”  Daniel 9:25.  This commandment was mentioned in Ezra.  There were actually three commands, but Miller started at the third given by King Artaxeres of Persia in 457 BC.

Why take the third date and not the other two?  There are other prophecies within Daniel 7, 8 and 9 that help us come to this date as the correct day of the three.  They help us pinpoint the exact year, month, day and hour that Jesus was crucified.

If we count from B.C.457 and add twenty-three hundred (2300) years, we come to the year 1844.**  Miller and others believed the earth’s cleansing was represented by the festival called Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement which comes in the fall of the year.  Therefore, he thought Jesus would come in the fall of 1844 on October 22.

After the disappointment, Miller checked the dates and the prophecies repeatedly and still believed his calculations were correct.  He didn’t know what went wrong.  We can read about this event in many encyclopedias under “The Great Disappointment Day.”  So where did Miller go wrong?

The Missing Key

Miller was missing an important key.  He believed the earth was the sanctuary.  So if the sanctuary or earth is cleansed, it must be cleansed when Jesus comes back to the earth with cleansing fire.  As we have learned, the sanctuary is in heaven; Jesus was translated there after His resurrection.  He’s our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.  (Hebrews 9:24-26)  The sanctuary that Jesus is going to cleanse is not the earth, but the one in heaven, ultimately the human heart.

So what happened in 1844?  Was that all in vain?  Not at all, it was all God’s plan.  We’ll see that in a later act.  The great disappointment is ex-plained there as a book that was sweet in the mouth but sour in the belly.  (Revelation 10:2; 10:8-11)  When Miller preached the soon coming of Jesus to cleanse the earth with fire, it was sweet in his mouth.  When Jesus didn’t come, the disappointment was sour in his belly.  (Revelation 10:9, 10)  The book was the book of Daniel, especially the part concerning this prophecy of Daniel 8:14, the cleansing of the sanctuary.

What happened in 1844?  We learned a little about it in Act I of this book.  There are two doors or veils of the sanctuary.  One door was shut and another opened.  Jesus as High Priest went from the Holy Place to the Holy of Holies.  He has started on the final judgment of those who call themselves His.  He closed the door of the first apartment of the sanctuary in heaven and opened the door of the second apartment.  We are now in the time of the judgment, the cleansing of the sanctuary.  Jesus is now in the Holy of Holies.  It was a once a year event in the Hebrew round of feasts.  Like the Passover being acted out yearly to represent a one-time-only event, Jesus death, the Day of Atonement at the end of the Jewish year was acted out only one time yearly to represent a one-time-only event at the end of the world.

How do we know for sure that the cleansing of the sanctuary is the same as the judgment?  A careful study of Daniel will show this to be true.  To understand this better, closely compare the kingdoms laid out in Daniel 7, 8 and 9.  You’ll see that the cleansing of the sanctuary of Daniel 8:14 and the judgment of Daniel 7:10 coincide and therefore must be the same event.  See the chart below.

The judgment of Daniel 7 and the cleansing of the sanctuary of Daniel 8 can clearly be seen as the same event when the two chapters are compared.

Notice the little horns of chapters 7 and 8 are the same power.

More of Daniel’s dreams and visions will be covered later.

*** The Little Horns of Daniel 7 and 8 ***

* Some expositors explain that the Little Horns of Daniel 7 and 8 are different.  By some, the Little Horn of both Daniel 7 and 8 is said to be Antiochus Epiphanes of Greece.  However, this is clearly not possible in chapter 7, since this Little Horn came up out of the fourth beast, which was Rome.  The Little Horn couldn’t have been Antiochus, since he was Greek and was already off the scene before Rome was established.  To make this Little Horn Antiochus is the true Little Horn’s attempt to hide his real identity.

Notice the Little Horn lasts until after the judgment (Daniel 7: 9, 10) and up to the time he is thrown into the “burning flame.”  (Daniel 7:11.)  More recently, it has been popular to explain that this Little Horn here in Daniel 7 is the antichrist, which appears during the seven years of the tribulation and comes up out of Rome yet in our future.  However, the fall of the Roman Empire today is far in the past.  To say that this Little Horn comes up out of Rome is undeniable, because of the scriptures.  However, to teach it can possibly come out of Rome in today’s world leaves its believers with much to explain.

Although the Little Horn of Daniel 7 is now more often put in the future, the Little Horn of Daniel 8 today is still being explained as Antiochus Epiphanes, because the Little Horn in Daniel 8 appears to come from one of the horns of the ram, Greece.  The text renders the “them” from “out of one of them” (8:9) as a feminine gender, which can only refer back to “four winds” which is also the feminine gender.  Therefore, the Little Horn came out of one of the “four winds” and not out of one of the horns, which is the neuter gender.  If the Little Horn comes from one of the “horns” then it is possible he could come from Greece and be Antiochus, but he does not.  Instead, he comes out one of the “four winds,” one of the four directions of the compass.

Because God uses the repeat and expand method of prophecy, we can see that by paralleling Daniel 7 with Daniel 8, the Little Horn comes out of Rome.  The pattern or time line is stated in Daniel 7 and then repeated and expanded in Daniel 8.

It’s the desire of the Little Horn, Antichrist power today, to hide his real identity, either in the past with Antiochus or in the future with a being yet to come onto the world scene.  Putting the antichrist in the past is called preterism; putting him in the future is called futurism.  This book puts him on the scene today, which is historicism.  Futurism is new.  Until the last hundred and fifty years it was little known or taught by the general Christian population.

** There’s no year zero.  Simple math won’t do.  We have to add one year to our answer.  457(BC) + 2300 = 1843 + 1 = 1844.  If we add all the years from 456 to 1 B.C. to all the years from 1 A.D. to 1843, we have 456 plus 1843 for a total of 2299 years.  The last year is made up of the fall and winter of 457 B.C. and the winter, spring and summer of 1844.  The 2300 years start in the fall and end in the fall.

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Chapter 8 -- Seventy Weeks Until?

Seventy Weeks are Determined (Cut Off)

The Prophet Daniel received a vision from God telling him about the time of judgment, namely Daniel 8:14, which deals with the cleansing of the sanctuary.  However, he was at a loss as to what to do.  He didn’t understand the meaning of the sanctuary’s cleansing, but what he did recognize bothered him, so much that he was “sick certain days.”  Only God could help him, and did so by giving him the vision recorded in Daniel 9.

What made him so sick?  Daniel was a captive in Persia at the time of this vision.  He was looking forward to the restoration of the temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians, and he believed and strongly hoped the cleansing of the sanctuary had something to do with the temple restoration back in his homeland.  He thought that maybe God was promising just that.  The word here used as “cleansed” can also be translated “restored to its rightful state.”  Daniel wanted his entire homeland and its temple to be restored, but he knew it couldn’t all happen within the short time of 2300 literal days, which is only six years and four months.  It was all very confusing to him.

Daniel must have seen the 2300 days as prophetic and therefore more than just 2300 literal days.  If he had thought the prophecy was only literal days, he surely wouldn’t have been sick but overjoyed that the restoration would be in less than seven years.  However, he saw the days were 2300 years, extending far into the future.  Only this would have sickened him.

The vision given in Daniel 9 is an anchor on which to hold and give cer-tainty to the 2300-day prophecy of chapter 8.  It shows without doubt that the 2300 days extended into the second millennium after Christ.  The vision of Daniel 9 predicted the very year Jesus would die as the Lamb of God on the cross.

Of course, we can’t fault Daniel for not knowing everything.  God hid it from him.  His vision was sealed up, to be revealed only at “the time of the end.”  (Daniel 12:9)  Although not revealing the exact meaning to Daniel, God saw fit to pass the message through him to the people of the last days.

Daniel Desires to Know the Meaning

The Prophet Jeremiah had prophesied that Jerusalem would be in a state of destruction for seventy years.  (Jeremiah 25:11, 12)  Daniel was looking to the end of that prophetic period.  He was hoping for the return of his people and the rebuilding of the temple.  It says in Daniel, “In the first year of his [Darius] reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.  And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:” Daniel 9:2-3.

Here in Daniel 9, Daniel is standing as an intercessor and pleading for the people of God.  He doesn’t accuse nor excuse them.  Instead, he associates himself with them and pleads as if he’s as much responsible for their backsliding as they.  He admits sin caused Israel to be in subjection to the Babylonians, and Daniel credits God for being faithful and true to His promises.

The fate of God’s people is in His hands, and Daniel pleads for mercy.  He looked first for the restoration of the temple that would give glory to God when His name would no longer be a reproach among the nations.  The Jews claimed that their God was the only God, yet they were captives, and their city and temple were in ruins.  Daniel wanted it all restored.

For Daniel, to serve God, give Him the glory and live to clear His name before the world and the universe was his ultimate goal.  We can read his prayer in the first half of Daniel 9.  (Daniel 9: 4-19).

God answered Daniel with a prophecy of seventy weeks that had been cut off from a larger piece.  It goes like this, “Seventy weeks [490 days/years] are determined [cut off]* upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”  Daniel 9:24.

70 Weeks of Time Cut Off

Daniel in his prayer to God was seeking to know the details of the 2300 days.  He was trying to coordinate the 2300 years with the seventy years of Jeremiah's prophecy.  In answer to Daniel's prayer, the angel Gabriel in-formed him of seventy weeks.  Daniel seemed baffled.  Seventy years, 2300 days, seventy weeks, it was all very bewildering.

These seventy weeks were “determined” (cut off), but from what?  Gabriel came to Daniel to give him “skill and understanding” He informed him that he was to “consider the vision.”  Daniel 9: 23.

What vision?  Gabriel was telling Daniel to consider the previous vision of Daniel 8.  It was from this vision of the 2300 days (Daniel 8: 14) that the seventy weeks were cut off.  Not understanding the 2300-day vision was what had sickened him, and it was that vision he was told to “consider.”

When the 490 Years and 2300 Years Begin

To understand what to expect at the end of this 490 year segment of the 2300 years, we must first understand when the 490 and 2300 years begin.  What significant date is at the head of the 2300 years of which the 490 years are cut off?  The answer is in the next verse:

“Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the com-mandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, [49 days/years] and threescore and two weeks [434 days/years]: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”  Daniel 9:25.

This verse gives us two more segments of time to consider, 7 weeks and 62 weeks.  These two segments add up to 69 weeks, leaving one last week to complete the 70 weeks.  We’ll deal with these later, but please note that the 69 weeks reach to the Messiah, the Prince – Jesus Christ.  These 70 weeks commence at the date of a decree, which inaugurates both the 2300 days and 70 weeks.

The decree to rebuild Jerusalem came in the year 457 BC.  This is when the King of Persia, Artaxerxes, permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem.  The decree allowed the taking of a freewill offering from Persia to use to rebuild the city and temple.  It proclaimed freedom to obey the God of Israel in all the area west of the Jordan River and relieved all Levites and ministers from paying tolls or tribute.

This starts the 2300 day/year prophecy of Daniel 8.  It also starts the 490-day prophecy of Daniel 9.  The 490 days were “cut off” from the 2300 days.  The walls were to be rebuilt.  The Jews could organize their government and choose their own officials.  This decree came in the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, B.C. 457.

70 Weeks of Years

Starting at the date of BC 457, we count the seventy weeks of days, (70 weeks x 7 days/week=490 days).  Using the day for a year principle for Bible prophecy, the 490 days become 490 years.  If we subtract 457 from 490, we come up with 33.  We might think that this means the prophecy ends in the year A.D. 33, but we have to remember one important point.  The decree went into effect in the autumn of B.C. 457, so in the era before Christ, it’s really only 456 years, plus the last three months of B.C. 457.  The entire year of 457 can’t be used.  Now, in the Christian era (A.D.) we have 33 years and 9 months, which take us though the first 33 years of the new era, then we continue for nine months to the autumn of A.D. 34.  The 70 weeks take us to the autumn of AD 34, while the 69 weeks bring us to the autumn of A.D. 27.  See the chart below.

Between A.D. 27 and A.D. 34, we find the one last week of the seventy weeks.  That last week will be explained in chapter 10, but let’s first look at what should be concluded at the end of this prophetic period in the next chapter.**

70 Weeks Are “Cut Off”

* The Hebrew word chathak occurs only here in the Bible.  In post-Biblical Hebrew, it has the meaning of “to cut” or “to cut off”; “to “determine” or “to decree.”

** If you do the math yourself, remember that there’s no year “zero" and you can’t count both the year 1844 and the year 457 BC, because only a part of each year is used.

***Rapture Alert!***

Those in Christianity today who teach the doctrine of the rapture as occurring before the tribulation have detached and moved the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy to the end of the world, applying it to literal Jews today.  However, where is the Biblical evidence for doing this?  If we chop off the seventieth week and put it at the end of the world, we grossly extend the seventy weeks or 490 years to well over 2,000 years.  Where is the evidence in Daniel for this shifting of the week and separating it from the other 69 weeks?  It’s just not there.  This is done using an incorrect method of Bible interpretation.  Instead of studying the Bible to see what it says, this is assuming a doctrine and then searching for Bible texts for support.  We must search to find the Bible text that gives credence to this displacement of the 70th week.  But it’s just not there.

We must be careful not to assume a popular Bible doctrine is true because the preacher or Bible teacher says so or because it’s a widespread popular teaching.  This teaching of the rapture is a cleverly devised fable to get Christians to look for the antichrist in the future, while all the time he’s already with us today, teaching his false doctrines throughout Christianity.  The antichrist is the Little Horn that came out of Rome.  Rome followed Greece, Persia and Babylon.  This sequence of world powers is found in Daniel 2, Daniel 7 and Daniel 8.  If we ignore this clearly delineated time line, we have to deny the clear teachings of Daniel and ultimately God.

The rapture doctrine gets Christians to look for a rapture that will never happen.  In the meantime, the antichrist will reign, while the judgment comes and goes, unbeknownst to a large portion of the Christian world.  Please study to know for yourself.

Secret Rapture Proof Texts

The teachers of the secret rapture use 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 to support their theory.  They claim Paul is writing about the rapture, not the second coming of Jesus.  After reading the text below, we need to ask ourselves how this can be.  In addition, we must see that it can’t be secret or secretive.  Jesus comes with a “shout” a “trumpet” blast and the “voice of the Archangel.”  The dead will rise.  There’s too much commotion and noise to be referring to a secret rapture.  Also, notice it’s called the “coming of the Lord.”

“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  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.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”  1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.

Read the next quotation and find the rapture.  This text is used by rapture adherents to refer to the secret rapture.

“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 show thee things which must be hereafter.”  Revelation 4:1.

Did you find it?  Does the above quotation refer to the rapture, when the church will be taken to heaven?  It does not.  John is told to “come up hither” to see the future.  Rapture adherents claim John represents the church, so his ascension into heaven is the church ascending.  This can only be true, if we can show that John represents the church, but he does not.  Instead, the church is represented by a woman, not a man and not John.  (See Revelation 12 and 17; Jeremiah 6:2)

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Chapter 9 -- End of the 70 Weeks of Years

The 70 weeks were probationary time given to the chosen people of God, the Jews.  They had become engrained in idol worship, so God allowed them to be held captive at the hands of the Babylonians and later the Persians.  Starting at the time of the decree to return to their land (457 B.C.), God gave them 70 weeks of years (490) to turn from their apostasy and serve Him faithfully.  Within this 490 year period they were: (1) “. . . to finish the transgression, and to make and end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and (2) to bring in everlasting righteousness, and (3) to seal up the vision and prophecy, and (4) to anoint the most Holy.”  Daniel 9: 24.

(1) Finish the Transgression

The prophecy of seventy weeks of years ending in AD 34 goes along well with what has happened in the history of the Jewish nation at the time of Jesus Christ.  They didn’t fulfill their destiny.  They didn’t (1) “finish the transgression.”  They were in Daniel's day captive in a foreign land with no temple and with Jerusalem in ruins, because they had failed to obey God.  Four hundred ninety years later, they rejected their Messiah, Jesus Christ.  After that, in A.D. 70 the city of Jerusalem and the temple were again destroyed.  The temple hasn’t been rebuilt in almost 2,000 years.  Jesus said, “Your house [God's temple] is left unto you desolate.”  Matthew 23: 38

During this almost 2,000 years from A.D. 70 to today, God hasn’t restored the Jewish nation to the privileged position she once held.  Today the Jews have a nation but no temple, no prophet and no Messiah.  It’s unfortunate, but they had 490 years from Daniel to Jesus.  They were warned with the 70 weeks of years of probationary time about the consequences of unfaithfulness.  Nevertheless, they didn’t “finish the transgression.”  They didn’t return to God, as they should have.  They learned the law and were zealous for it, but to them it was cold and exacting.  They hadn’t learned the love therein.  In the end, they rejected their Messiah.

(2) Bring in Everlasting Righteousness

The Jews were to be a light shining in a dark place.  God told them that if they obeyed Him, they would be blessed.  If they disobeyed, they would be cursed.  (Deuteronomy  28)  It was God’s purpose that the Jews would receive the greatest of all blessing in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the restoration of God’s perfect image in them.  They could have been a great blessing to the surrounding nations and a shining example, but failed to the point of rejecting their Messiah.  It was God’s plan to give them the final atonement.  Instead of receiving the promised blessing enacted in type in the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, they have suffered the curse lasting even to this day.  They didn’t “bring in everlasting righteousness,” but failed in their duty.  Their commission to share the light with others was given to the Gentiles as the Christian era began.  Those Gentiles, who accept Christ as their savior, are now the chosen of God.  They become the children of Israel, the seed of Abraham.  The Scriptures teach us:  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  Galatians 3:28, 29.

(3) Seal up the Vision

Within the seventy-weeks of years (490) the Jews were on probation to “seal up the vision and prophecy.”  To place a seal upon a letter or document is to assure its authenticity, to guarantee its private nature, and to keep the contents closed until the time it reaches the hands of its intended recipient.  As long as it’s sealed, its contents are unknown and any commands therein are not applicable.  To “seal up” a prophecy would mean that it’s not to be read, understood or acted upon until the appointed time.  The angel came to Daniel to make the meaning of the 2300-day vision understood, so we know it was this vision that was to be sealed.  God had sealed the 2300-day prophecy, and the Jews were to keep it sealed by making it unnecessary.  They could have done this by fulfilling God’s expectation for them by the end of the 490 years, their probationary time.  Unfortunately, for them, they didn’t.  Therefore, the vision was left intact to be unsealed at the time appointed, 1844.  This 2300-day prophecy would have been cancelled (sealed up eternally), if the Jews had been faithful.  Because they were not, it continued for many more years, even to 1844.

The major thrust of Jesus’ preaching was, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel.”  This present-ing of this gospel message, given by the Savior Himself, was based on the prophecy of Daniel.  The “time is fulfilled” refers to the period made known by Gabriel to Daniel.  “Seventy weeks,” said the angel, “are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.”  Daniel 9:24.

If the Jews had heeded the message of Jesus, their lives would have been much different over the past 2,000 years.  That which is yet to happen in these last days (Day of Atonement) would have been fulfilled shortly after the time of Jesus.  However, since the Jewish nation was ultimately rejected when the 490 years were completed, the 2300 years were not sealed up forever.  They remained yet to be unsealed in the future, even to 1844.

*** Rapture Alert! ***

The Jews were given 490 years (70 weeks of years), but they failed in their responsibility.  They rejected their Messiah.  Consequently, as a nation, they were cut off from the blessings of God.  Jesus wept when He saw this and predicted the destruction of Jerusalem that happened in AD 70.

The Jews today have no temple.  To conservative Jews this means they have no real nation with God, since God is to dwell with them in the temple or sanctuary.  They should be looking to Jesus in the temple in heaven, but they are still hoping for a temple on earth to be built.  The teachers of the rapture know this well and have in their end-time scheme the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem.

The teaching of the rapture takes this probationary 490 years of time and extends it by almost two thousand years to our day.  However, with the 70-week prophecy, we should be able to see that probationary time for the Jews as a nation of God ended in AD 34.  Even more important, we simply have no information in the text here in Daniel 7, 8 or 9 to merit a splitting off of the final week and placing it at the end of the world.

The Jews today no longer play a part in the collective blessings of God, so the promises to them that were promised in the past can’t now be applied to them collectively at the end of the world.  They have been cut off collectively as a nation.  As a nation, they have lost God’s special blessing and are no longer His chosen.  However, individually, they can still come to Christ to be saved.

In Deuteronomy 28, we can read the curses pronounced on them for infidelity to God.  These have all fallen on the Jewish nation since their rejection of the Messiah.  These curses started with a bang in AD 70 at the destruction of the temple and city.

What the rapture believers are doing is saying God gave them 490 years of probation and then, when they failed in their duty, He added on more time at the end of the world and all the hundreds of years in between.  This would certainly be generous on God’s part and not unlike His character, but where do the Scriptures indicate such a split?

The purpose of the rapture teaching is to negate or neutralize the judg-ment hour message, found both in Daniel and in Revelation.  (See Daniel 7:10 and Revelation 14:7.)  Satan is working hard to keep the minds of God’s people from the final blessing of the Day of Atonement, the judgment, the time that will finally bring in “everlasting righteous.”  This final atonement is the theme of both Daniel and Revelation and this book.  The doctrine of the rapture purports that God’s Christian people will be raptured suddenly and secretly away from the earth before the judgment commences.  This effectively teaches that Revelation 4 through 18 do not concern Christians and therefore are not important for them to study.  Is this not Satan hard at work here?

(4) Anoint the Most Holy

Finally, there was to be (4) the anointing of “the Most Holy.”  This is Jesus of Nazareth, the Chosen One, who was to come.  At the baptism of Christ at the Jordan River, the Spirit of God descended as a dove.  A voice declared, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”  John 1: 32; Mark 1: 11.  From that time, Jesus began His earthly ministry to amplify His eternal message of forgiveness, restoration and eternal life.

The word for most holy in the Hebrew text, kodesh, is translated in the Old Testament in different places to mean anything that’s indeed “most holy”, including the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary.

There are those who believe that the most holy, kodesh, is not here referring to Christ Jesus, but to the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary alone.  The Jews in Christ’s day believed the temple of that time had never been “anointed” because the Shekinah Presence of God (cloud by day and pillar of fire by night) had never rested on that temple as it had for the sanctuary in the wilderness and on the first temple built by King Solomon.

Rapture supporters teach this anointing of the Most Holy Place refers to a not yet built earthly temple yet in our future, when a new, third temple, is to be built in Jerusalem, when the Shekinah Presence of God will again visit that temple and anoint it with His presence.

We can agree with this only if we accept that God is interested in building and inhabiting another temple on this earth in which He will require sacrifices.  As we’ll see in a later chapter, the sacrifices of the temple are no longer required, as they merely were tools that pointed to the eventual death of Jesus, “once for all.”  Hebrews 10:10.  Now that Jesus has died as the sacrificial Lamb of God, it’s unnecessary to sacrifice more animals.  The shadow (type) of meaning of all those sacrificed has met its substance (antitype) in Jesus Christ.  To resume the sacrificing of animals on an earthly altar would be to make of none effect the death of Jesus, who died “once for all.”

Validity for the 2300 Days/ Years

The year 34 A.D. and the death of Jesus on schedule, according to Daniel's prophecy, give authoritative validity to the 2300 day/year vision.  It assures us that the rest of the prophetic years will be completed as prophesied.  It also establishes conclusively that when God speaks prophetically in days, they represent years.  The prophetic day for a year principle is valid.

Daniel 9 sets in concrete the interpretation of the prophecies of Daniel 8 and points us to the focal point of the ages, the death of Christ Jesus.  Daniel 9:25 tells us the “cut off” 490 years extend to the Messiah.  To emphasize this further, the angel told Daniel about a 434-year period (62 weeks) extending from the end of the first seven weeks to the Messiah.  “And after threescore and two weeks [434 years] shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: . .”  Daniel 9:26.

7 Weeks, 62 Weeks, One Last Week

The 490-year prophecy is made up of three smaller prophetic periods: 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and the last week.

“And after threescore and two weeks [434 years] shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince [Titus of Rome in A.D. 70] that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”  Daniel 9:26.

Starting at 457 B.C. and moving along 49 years we come to the time the walls would be rebuilt in Jerusalem.  Another 434 years bring us to 27 A.D.  One final seven years bring us to 34 A.D., a total of 490 years.

This last week (7 years) is found in Daniel 9:27 and will be explained in the next chapter.  First, let’s look at the seventy weeks of years on the chart on the following page.

The last week of the 490 day/year prophecy is very important because it sets all the prophecies of Daniel in the center of God's eternal agenda and authenticates the prophetic 2300 years.

“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week [7 years]: and in the midst of the week [3 ½ years] he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation [offering the sacrifice] to cease. . .”  Daniel 9:27.

He “.  .  .  shall confirm the covenant . . . and shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation [offering the sacrifice] to cease.”  This is talking about the Messiah who would “confirm the covenant” by offering Himself as the only true, effectual sacrifice.  At this time, the “sacrifice and the oblation” would cease in the earthly temple at Jerusalem.  It would cease because the meaning of all the sacrifices over the preceding ages would be fulfilled in the death of the Messiah – the Lamb of God.

The covenant that must be confirmed or ratified is the covenant God made to save all humankind from their sins and from the second death.* The Messiah was to suffer the second death in the place of humanity.  The plan was for God to send His Son to die in the place of all humanity, and this had been represented for years by the sacrifice of animals.  (Isaiah 53; John 3: 16)

The worshipers at the sanctuary observed these animal sacrifices year after year in the sanctuary service.  These daily and yearly sacrifices were only a symbol or type of what the Messiah was going to do when He came.  The Messiah is the “Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.”  John 1: 29.  None other than the Messiah, the Christ, can fulfill this role.  Isaiah wrote about this hundreds of years before Christ was born.  (Isaiah 53)

When Jesus died upon the cross in 31 AD, in the “middle of the week, He “. . . caused the sacrifice and the oblation [offering the sacrifice] to cease.”  When Christ died on the cross the veil of the temple was “rent from top to bottom.” Matthew 27: 51.  This signified the end of the earthy sacrificial system.  There were to be no more lambs sacrificed because Jesus Christ had fulfilled the meaning of the lamb sacrifices when he caused the sacrifices to cease, “but not for himself: . .”  (Daniel 9:26)  He died not for himself but for all humanity.

However, since the Jewish nation rejected Christ, the sacrificial system within the Jewish religion continued until the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70.  The continuation of the sacrifices was not in God’s plan as evidenced by the ripping of the veil in the temple, the very moment Jesus died.  (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38)

Forgive Seventy Times Seven

Remember when Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?”  Matthew 18:21.  Jesus answered saying, “I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Verse 22.

It’s interesting to note that in Daniel 9 God was giving the Jews 490 years of probationary time to get their house in order.  That time extended to the Messiah.  The Messiah was present there with Peter.  Was Jesus merely saying that there is no limit or that there is a limit of 490?  Is there a limit?   Likely not, so why did Jesus chose this number, 490?  Could He not have better used the number ten thousand, since that is the number often used in the orient to represent infinity?  How much more likely is it that Jesus was referring to the end of probationary time set forth in Daniel 9?

*** Rapture Alert! ***

The secret rapture doctrine is built greatly, if not entirely, on this prophecy in Daniel.  The rapture school of thought places the rapture just prior to a seven-year period of tribulation at the end of this world’s history.  The pre-tribulation rapture teaching claims that the church will be removed in the wink of an eye just before a seven-year tribulation.

This seven-year tribulation period is taken from the final or 70th week of Daniel 9 and is removed or detached from the 70-week prophecy here in Daniel.  This creates a long time span of almost 2,000 years in between the 69th and 70th weeks.  This is referred to as a parenthesis or gap between the first 69 weeks and the last or 70th week.  However, nothing in the context would indicate such a gap should exist.

There’s no reason to break off or separate this 70th week from the previous 69, except that it fits into the week of tribulation taught by the pre-tribulation rapture believers.  On the contrary, the 70th week must be contiguous, as it’s part of the 70 weeks that are “determined” upon the Jewish state.  It was 70 weeks, but the pre-tribulation rapture supporters extend it to almost 2,000 years.  They’re without any Biblical reason to do so, except for their already established ideas within their own teachings.

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, at the end of the 69 weeks and in the midst of the 70th week, the Messiah was “cut off” (Daniel 9:26) in the first century A.D.  The system of sacrifices ceased in the midst of the last week, and the temple was later destroyed in A.D. 70.  The ripping in two of the curtain in the temple at the very moment of Christ’s death should be indication enough that the system of sacrifices was at that time no longer valid.  We no longer need an earthly temple because we have one in heaven of which Jesus is the High Priest.  “Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;  A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”  Hebrews 8:1, 2.

The Jews today, along with all Christian should be looking to the Messiah in the temple in heaven, not hoping to build another temple on this earth.  He has risen and become our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.

* See Revelation 20 on the first and second death.

*** The Principle of Conditionality ***

This principle must be clearly understood in this world of end-time prophecy.  Does God make a promise and then change His mind?  Did He make a conditional promise to Israel to be with them and bless them?

In Deuteronomy 28, Moses used this principle showing that God’s blessing was provi-sional:  “. . . if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe [and] to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. . . But . . .if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:”  Deuteronomy 28:1, 15.

A prophet spoke to Eli, saying: “Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed [that] thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.  Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house.” 1 Samuel 2:30, 31.

God condemned the Ninevites , but later blessed them because they turned from disobedience to obeying the word of the Lord.  Jonah3:10; 4:1.    God promised Josiah he would die a peaceful death, but he disobeyed God and attacked Necho of Egypt, in spite of God’s clear warning not to do so.  2 Chronicles 35:21.  See also Jeremiah 18:7-10.

God gave Israel many chances, but the clearest was after their return to their land to re-build in 457 B.C..  it was the 70 weeks of years in Daniel 9:24.  These 490 years of probation lasted to the time of their Messiah.  But again they failed.  They got Him hung on a tree.  Jesus declared:  “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”  Matthew  23:38.  In Israel of today, there is no  temple, no house of God.  The provisional promise to the Jews met its end with the rejection of the Chosen One.  Consequently, who are the people of God today; who are the children of Abraham?  “And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  Galatians 3:29.  The Jews are not Christ’s.  They are not Abraham’s seed nor any more heirs of the promise.  They are left to reap the curses of Deuteronomy 28.

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Chapter 10 The Last Week

The thousands of lambs that were sacrificed for centuries in type met their fulfillment (anti-type) in the death of God's Holy Lamb.  Soon after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven, taking His place as our High Priest.  When Jesus died, it was possible for all to have eternal life.  Everything that’s important in life comes down to this event.  Without it, everyone would be lost forever, and no one could live beyond the grave; all humankind would be destined to eternal death, which is the second death. (Revelation 20:14; 21:8)

Anchoring the 2300 Year Prophecy

The seventieth and final week concludes the prophecy of the seventy weeks, the 490 years.  This prophecy being “determined’ “or “cut off” from the 2300 year prophecy anchors the 2300 day prophecy of Daniel 8:14.  This anchor is as strong and as solid as the death of Jesus Christ, the anti-typical Lamb of God.

God has connected the death of His Son Jesus to the prophecy of the 2300 years to solidify the prophecy and anchor it to a firm foundation.  Not only that, but God foretold the exact day and time of the death of His Son.  The students of the scriptures in the time of Jesus should have known when to expect their Savior.  The very year of Christ's death was written by Daniel in Bible prophecy about five-hundred years before.

Centuries before the birth of Jesus, not only the year and month, but also the exact day and hour had been rehearsed during the Feast of Passover.  Jesus died at the very hour the Passover lamb was sacrificed in the temple.  According to this 70-week prophecy, it was the Passover of A.D. 31.

The Sanctuary Destroyed

There was something else to happen after the 490 years ended.  Daniel wrote, “And after threescore and two weeks [434 years] shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince [Titus of Rome in A.D. 70] that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”  (Daniel 9:26)

Jesus died in AD 31 and shortly after a prince (Titus) came and destroyed the “city and the sanctuary.”  The Jews rejected their Messiah.  They were in turn finally rejected, as a nation.  They had been warned many times, but the warning that stands out most is a prophecy from Deuteronomy.  This warning was given through Moses as he stood at the entrance to the Promised Land about 1400 years earlier.  Moses told the people of the blessings they would receive, if they were faithful, and he foretold their curses, if unfaithful.  This warning is known as the Blessings and the Curses.  You can read about them in Deuteronomy 28, but the verses that deal with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies of Titus, the prince, are these:

“The LORD shall bring a nation [Rome] against you from far, from the end of the earth, [as swift] as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue you shall not understand;

“A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young:

“And he shall eat the fruit of your cattle, and the fruit of your land, until you be destroyed: which [also] shall not leave you [either] corn, wine, or oil, [or] the increase of your kine, or flocks of your sheep, until he has destroyed you.

“And he shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fenced walls come down, wherein you trust, throughout all your land: and he shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which the LORD your God has given you.

“And thou shalt eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, which the LORD your God has given you, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith your enemies shall distress you. . .

“So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he has nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith your enemies shall distress you in all your gates.  .  .

“And toward her young one that comes out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all [things] secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith your enemy shall distress you in your gates.”  Deuteronomy 28:49-57.

The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was accurately described by Mo-ses more than 1400 years earlier.  Such a fate was not necessary, because God had warned them repeatedly.  The details are correct down to the eating of their own children to stay alive.  What a sad ending for a nation that God had promised to elevate to the highest honor in the world, but they chose rather to disobey the commandments of God.

The Wise Men Knew

The wise men who visited Jesus as a baby knew the Messiah had come.  It wasn’t because of the star alone that they followed it.  They wouldn’t have followed a star if they hadn’t known what they were looking for or what they would find.  These wise men from the east knew it was time for the Messiah.  Daniel was known as a prophet, even to the people in the east where the wise men came from.  He had lived among them many years in his captivity, first in Babylon then in Persia.  The wise men had surely studied his prophecies and understood the time of the coming of the Messiah.  Knowing Daniel’s prophecies, they knew the time was near and went searching for the Son of God.

The 490 and 2300-year prophecies are fully established with the death of Christ.  They were validated as with the seal of God by the death of His Son.  Daniel has declared, “And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true.”  Daniel 8: 26.

The day for a year principle is very important.  The day for a year method for interpreting Bible prophecy should be clearly understood as a proper principle of prophetic Bible interpretation.  When the 2300 years are counted out starting in 457 B.C., they bring us to the year A.D. 1844.  What happened in that year?  According to Daniel, it was the judgment (Daniel 7:10), the cleansing of the sanctuary (Daniel 8:14).

A Day for a Year

The 2300 days of Daniel 8:14 and the 490 days of Daniel 9:24 translate into years with the day/year principle.  This principle can be found in Ezekiel 4:6 and Numbers 14:34.  We can’t deal with these prophecies of Daniel as literal days.  They must be a day for a year.  If they were merely days and not years, we would have to conclude the following impossibilities:

(1) The walls of Jerusalem were built in only 49 days.  This would be an impossible task even today with our modern machinery, especially “in trou-blous times.”

(2)  The Messiah came only one year and four months (490 days) after the decree to restore and build Jerusalem.  However, He actually came almost 490 years later.

(3) Since the vision of the 2300 days was for the “time of the end,” (Daniel 9:12) this time would have to be only six and a half years after 457 BC (450 BC).  Too much time has passed since then to call 450 B.C. the “time of the end.”

The Gap Theory

Since the Jewish nation didn’t “finish the transgression. . .make and end of sins . . . make reconciliation for iniquity. . . bring in everlasting righteousness. . .seal up the vision and prophecy. . .” and “anoint the most holy,” within the time of 490 years allotted them during their probation, the rapture advocates would have us believe the final week of the prophecy of 490 years was “postponed” to the end of the world.  This theory is often referred to as the Gap Theory.

This is denying the clear words of prophecy.  The Bible states clearly that there would be 70 weeks of years.  The Gap Theory makes it 70 weeks (490 years) plus an additional almost two thousand years in between the first sixty-nine weeks and the last one week.

There’s no reason to come to this conclusion except to accommodate a preconceived notion that the temple will someday be rebuilt in Jerusalem and the Jews will again have a temple complex in which to worship.  Another reason for this view is based on the assumption that the Jews will one day reverse their decision to reject Jesus as the Messiah and again worship the True God by accepting Jesus Christ.

The Gap Theory illogically concludes that God didn’t give the Jews only the 490 years, but extended the probationary time to the end of the world.  This is a big step in second-guessing God concerning this probationary time.  To accept this “postponement” is to refuse to believe God when He gives only the 490 years.  Along with denying the 490 years are only 490 years and no more, the Gap Theory also erroneously concludes the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament concerning the Jews still apply to the Jews as a nation and can never be negated.  The theory rejects the conditions God set forth in Deuteronomy 28 and denies the destruction of Jerusalem was a fulfillment of that prophecy.  (Deuteronomy 28:49-57)

Deuteronomy chapter 28 clearly shows that the Jews could be rejected, and Paul clearly states, “. . . if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  Galatians 3:29.  The Jews of the flesh are not “Christ’s” and were rejected as shown in the destruction of the temple and their scattering among the nations, an exact fulfillment of the curses in Deuteronomy 28.  Those who are now heirs of the promise to Abraham are those who accept Christ.  The earthly temple is no longer necessary, since Christ Jesus has ascended into the sanctuary in heaven to carry on the work of salvation for His people.  (Hebrews 8:1-6)

Paul tells us in Romans: “. . .For they [are] not all Israel, which are of Israel:  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, [are they] all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” Romans 9:6-8.  Even the Jews before Christ were not the children of God, unless they were children of faith.  Now they have been rejected as children of the flesh, but can still be children of faith, if they belong to Christ.  They can be grafted back into the vine, which is Christ.  Read the entire chapter of Romans 9.

The Gap Theory is an attempt to put the antichrist into the future and deny the truth that he’s with us today or existed previously in world history.  The Gap Theory is a combination of Preterism (putting the antichrist in the past) and futurism (putting the antichrist in the future).  Think this through carefully, the beast of Revelation who is also the Little Horn of Daniel, the antichrist, wants us to believe he has already come long ago, thousands of years in the past or hasn’t yet come onto the world scene.

Study Daniel 9 to see if the context gives any reason to split the sixty-nine weeks from the final one week.  Notice that after the sixty-nine weeks (three score and two weeks), Messiah would be cut off, but not for Himself.  Then in the middle of the week, He would confirm the covenant, or die for the people of God.  The biggest reason not to believe the last week is separated from the other sixty-nine is the lack of evidence for any such separation.  The last week of 7 years met its fulfillment almost 2,000 years ago with Jesus’ death.

*** Which Comes First? ***

Which comes first, the rapture or the Antichrist?  The rapture doctrine tells us the rapture comes first, then the Antichrist, but what does the Bible say?

“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.  . . . But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.  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.”  1 Thessalonians 4:14 – 5:3.

This should be easy enough to understand.  Paul clearly says that Jesus will come down from heaven with a shout, a voice, and the trumpet of God.  At that time, all of God’s people who are still alive along with the dead will be “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air.  This “Day of the Lord” will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night, and when is does, those who aren’t ready will be suddenly destroyed in the “destruction” and “shall not escape.”  Consequently, there are only two options here, either we are going to heaven with Jesus, or we are going to be destroyed at Christ’s appearing.  Contrary to what the rapture doctrine teaches, there is no one left to carry on after this event.

To clarify this, Paul had to write a second letter to those at Thessalonica. Please notice from the following that the Lord will come with his “mighty angels,” with “flaming fire,” and those who obey not the gospel will suffer “everlasting destruction.”

“And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:  Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”  2 Thessalonians 1:7-9.  Here again, the wicked are destroyed when Jesus comes, not left behind to carry on for a seven-year period.  They will not have a second chance.

Now read what Paul says next:

“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him,  . . . 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 opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.  . . . And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.”  2 Thessalonians 2:1-8.

There is a “falling away” first and the “man of sin” is revealed.  The antichrist is not mentioned by name as the antichrist, but following the flow from 1 Thessalonians through 2 Thessalonians, we can see that the “Man of Sin”, the “Son of Perdition” and “That Wicked” are none other than the Antichrist.  “He as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Therefore, the Man of Sin, the Antichrist, comes before the second coming of Jesus, not after, as is taught in the rapture doctrine.  When Jesus comes, the wicked are destroyed.  No one is left on earth to play out a seven-year scene taught by the proponents of the rapture.

Actually, there is no rapture.  The Antichrist has created this idea to keep the people of God from seeing and taking part in the blessing of the judgment, the final atonement.  At this time we receive either the seal of God or the mark of the beast.  If the Antichrist can get us to look for something that won’t come and trick us into ignoring what comes before the coming of Christ, then he will be successful.  By so doing, the Antichrist also gets us to look where he is not.  That is to say, in the future.  However, he is cleverly trying to hide the fact that he’s with us today.

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Chapter 11 -- Sanctuary Setting-Act II

The Final Conflict - A Preview   (Revelation 4:1-5:14)

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door opened in heaven:  and the first voice which I heard as it were of a trumpet talking with me;”   4:1.

If the sanctuary and its motif were not found throughout Revelation, we might wonder what door this could be.  However, considering the teaching of the sanctuary as our guide, we should consider it to be one of the doors or veils of the sanctuary.  We read about a door to the Most Holy Place earlier that was opened in 1844.  However, this is not that door.  Here we have a new act.  We are starting Act II of Revelation, and God is using the repeat and expand method throughout Revelation as He does in Daniel.   This act is taking us back to the first century where we will go through history from those days to the present, seeing things with a slightly different perspective, and with more information about the beginning of the Christian age.

If we are in the sanctuary, how do we know where?  Are we in the outer court or in one of the two holy places, either the Holy or Most Holy?  If you read ahead to verse 5, you will read, “there were seven lamps of fire burning.”  These were in the Holy Place, so we should know we are in the first apartment.

Reading on:

“Which [the voice] said, Come up here, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.  And immediately I [John] was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.”  4:1, 2.

John has progressed though the open door located between the outer court and Holy Place and sees the throne of God.  The holy places of the sanctuary in heaven were represented by the two apartments in the sanctuary on earth.  In vision, the apostle John was granted a view of the temple of God in heaven. He beheld there “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne.” Revelation 4:5. He saw an angel “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.” The golden altar was also in the Holy Place just before the second veil (door), which opened into the Most Holy.   Revelation 8:3.

Here John the Revelator was in the first apartment of the sanctuary in heaven; he saw there the “seven lamps of fire” and “the golden altar.”  Later in act IV, scene one of Revelation, we will see the second apartment, the Holy of Holies.  “The temple of God was opened” (Revelation 11:19), and he (John) looked within the inner veil, upon the Holy of Holies. Here he beheld “the ark of His testament,” represented by the sacred ark constructed by Moses, containing the law of God.  We will learn more of the second veil opening to the Holy of Holies starting from chapter 24 of this book.  Let us continue in Act II for now.

”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.  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.”  4:3, 4.

It was a privilege for John to see so much and be able to tell it to others.  It’s our privilege as well. We, too, are by faith to enter into the sanctuary in heaven with Jesus and progress all the way to the Most Holy to receive the blessings there.  Our progressive walk is to begin with Jesus in the outer court and progress through the Holy Place to the Holy of Holies where we are finally made priests and kings with God.  (Revelation 5:10)

From Prophet to Priest to King

In the chart on the following page, there are two lines with arrows.  The thinner and longer line starting at the top right is the path Jesus took when He left His throne in heaven and came to earth to live as a man.  He started from the Most Holy Place and took upon Himself the flesh of humanity.  This flesh was represented by the veil at the entrance to the second apartment.  (Hebrew 10:20)  In the outer court, Jesus was baptized, as represented by the laver.  Then He gave up His life for sinners when He died on the altar.  He continued on to the outer door of the sanctuary and, as it were, opened the door, inviting all to come with Him by faith into the sanctuary and follow Him in His work as High priest.  He moved back past the altar and laver, eventually entering the Most Holy Place in 1844.  We are to follow Him by faith, for we can’t actually be there.  We follow by faith by understanding what He is doing there for us.

The thicker, shorter line is the sinner’s route where we are to follow Jesus to the Holy of Holies, where we will find the throne of God.  It’s our privilege to follow Him as He moves from place to place.  We are first to die on the altar as we die to sin, indicating complete consecration to God.  Then we are baptized in the laver, showing our resurrection, our regeneration into a new life, coming forth from the water as a new creature in the faith, being born again.

Next, we enter the Holy Place and partake of the bread, the Word of God.  The Holy Spirit represented by the candlesticks gives us understanding, illuminating our path and imparting power to overcome sin.  We pray to God, and our prayers ascend to Him from the altar of incense.  This Holy Place represents the daily experience of the believer, and is called the “daily.”  The Most Holy experience is called the “yearly”, and was celebrated only once a year.  This corresponds to the once only final judgment at the end of the world.  At that time, by faith, we are to enter with Christ into the Holy of Holies, into the judgment.  The wonderful blessing of the judgment, the Day of Atonement, is yet to be explained.  We’ll deal with it when we explain the seal of God and the mark of the beast.

How do we enter with Him?  We can’t enter in actuality, but by faith.  We enter with Jesus by faith by knowing where He is.  We must first know He’s in the sanctuary in heaven.  We enter with Him by taking part in the plan of salvation, according to the procedure laid out in the sanctuary service.  As long as we are knowledgeable of His work there, we progress as He progresses, entering by faith where He enters in reality.

Before the Throne

“And out of the throne proceeded lightning and thunder and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the sev-en Spirits of God.  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.  “And the first beast was like a li-on, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast like a flying eagle.”  4:5-7.

Are there really such beasts in heaven?  The Bible says so, but the word beast here can also be translated as living creatures.  When the Israelites in the wilderness on their journey from Egypt to Canaan camped around the sanctuary before entering the Promised Land, the twelve tribes were situated around the sanctuary with three of the tribes on each of the four sides.  Each of these living creatures or beasts was pictured on the standard or flag of one of the three tribes on each of the four sides, all camped around the sanctuary.  (See also Ezekiel 1:10; 10:14)

Who Can Open the Book?

“And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.  And I saw a strong an-gel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?  And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, nei-ther to look thereon.  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah,” 5:1-5.

It’s Jesus Himself. (Genesis 49:9: Hosea 5:14.)  “The Root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb [Jesus] as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

“And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat up-on the throne.  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints.

“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou was slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thou-sand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.

“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, to him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever.  And the four beasts said, Amen.  And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped him that lives forever and ever.  And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.’”  5:5-6:1.

There’s a lot here, but not much will be explained. For instance, what are the seven spirits of God?  Just as it says, there are seven spirits of God, but no more is told us than that.  Not everything is revealed, especially things relating directly to God and His appearance.  We can know that God is Love, but His exact physical nature and his appearance are not known.  The Bible tells us, “No man has seen God at any time.”  John 1:18; I John 4:12.  “For now we see through a glass, darkly.”  1 Corinthians 13:11.  “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever.”  Deuteronomy 29:29

Concerning the introduction to the seven seals, we need to remember that we’re again in the setting of the sanctuary.  God wants us to learn from the sanctuary motif.  At this point in the book of Revelation, we are in the Holy Place.

Jesus is about to open the book. Only the Lamb of God, Jesus, can open the seals.  What is this book?

*** Rapture Alert! ***

The pre-tribulation rapture brethren use Revelation 4:1 to teach that the church will be caught up or raptured into heaven at this point in Revelation.  This view goes on to say the church (believers in Christ) takes no more part in the events on this earth until after Revelation chapter 18.

For the pre-tribulation rapture supporters to believe this, it’s necessary to take a literal explanation of the seals and the trumpets in the following chapters.  The rule they use states that we must take the Bible literally, unless there’s a reason to take it figuratively.  This is generally a good rule.

We know there’s no beast with seven heads and ten horns now or ever has been, so the beast of Revelation 13 can’t be thought of as an actual beast; it must be a symbol of something else.  Because it can’t be literal, it must be figurative.

With that in mind, let’s take Revelation 4:1 and apply this rule.  It states, “After this I looked, and, behold, a door opened in heaven:  and the first voice which I heard as it were of a trumpet talking with me; Which [the voice] said, Come up here, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.”  Revelation 4:1.  If we take a literal application, we see that the person told to come up was John the Revelator.  Since it’s possible for this person to be John, we must take it literally as John.  We can’t assign any spiritual or figurative meaning to John.  John is John.

The pre-tribulation rapture supporters teach a figurative approach and equate John with the Church, the people of Christ.  However, there’s no support anywhere in scripture for this.  John is a member of the church and a prophet of God and is not the church.  John was in heaven in vision, not the church.  In fact, the church is represented in Revelation 12 as a woman and is contrasted to the evil church also represented by a woman in Revelation 17.  We’ll study more about these two women in later chapters.  Jeremiah tells us, “I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate [woman].”  Jeremiah 6:2.

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Chapter 12 -- Act II – Seven Seals

Scene (Seal) 1 - A White Horse (6:1-11)

Imagine a huge globe as big as the earth.  You enter a door that opens into the upper half and find the lower half full of water.  Out in the middle of the water there’s an island with the water under the island glowing fiery red.  This is how the many ancients saw the earth.

Although many in those days traveled the oceans, most people still thought the world was flat.  In the ancient’s model of the universe, the flat earth was an island in the center of the sea.  On this island were trees, mountains and all forms of animals and vegetation.

The stars and the moon were painted on the inside ceiling of the globe.  Under the floating earth was a great fire that burned continuously, day and night and forever.  In the sea lived a monster, a dinosaur, a horrible, dreadful beast.

The people of long ago thought the sea was full of dragons.  In addition, before the discovery of the new world, many thought that if they were to go far enough out to sea, they would eventually fall off the earth into nothingness.  On many maps, you can still see dragons drawn as if living in the sea.  On the earth, there were four horsemen with their chariots on the four corners of the earth.  There was one at each corner.

These four horsemen were pulling in different directions.  As long as they pulled together with equal force, the world would be stable.  However, if they would release their hold on the world, the earth would turn upside down, falling into the fire that burns for eternity.  Earth’s inhabitants would then be swallowed up by the dragons in the sea and destroyed by the fire.

Upsetting the earth would also upset the heavens, dumping the stars from above onto the earth; the moon would be shaken.  This would be the end of the world.  These four horses are sometimes represented in the Scriptures by four winds (Jeremiah 49:36; Zechariah 2:6) which will have the same effect should they be let go.

These are the four winds, powers or horses of the first four seals of Revelation.  The four horses represent the four pervading influences within the world.  Zechariah in a vision saw these same four horses and learned that they were sent “to and fro through the earth.”  It says in Zechariah, “I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that [were] in the bottom; and behind him [were there] red horses, speckled, and white.

“Then said I, O my lord, what [are] these?  And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these be.

“And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These [are they] whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.”  Zechariah 1:8-10.  These four horses at the four corners of the earth are later released.

Act II presents to us the way the nations and the church in particular have dealt with this scroll.  What is the book, this scroll?  Let’s look to the Old Testament for answers.  Where do we find such a book there written on both sides?

The Ten Commandments were written on both sides, “And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony [were] in his hand: the tables [were] written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other [were] they written.”  Exodus 32:15.  The scroll that John saw was written on both sides. (Revelation 5:1.)

In Zechariah 5 we read of a “flying roll.”  The angel said the roll was a “curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth.”  How so a curse?   Following in the same verse it says: “for every one that steals shall be cut off [as] on this side according to it; and every one that swears shall be cut off [as] on that side according to it.  I will bring it forth, says the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that swears falsely by my name.” Two of the Ten Commandments are mentioned here, one from one of the two tablets given to Moses and one from the other.  We can’t expect the angel to quote all ten; two will suffice.  Therefore, this flying roll was the Ten Commandments.  The roll condemns those who break God’s law.

No one was found who could open the scroll.  Only One equal to the Law of God and only He who was victorious over sin could open the book, Jesus Christ the Righteous.

The First Seal is Opened

“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.  And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.”  6:2.

This horse and the ones to follow join each other and continue their work together until they’re no longer needed.  The rider of this white horse is Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:11) as He goes forth into the earth to present the message of the good news of eternal life through faith in Him.  This entire act is a focusing on the church, focusing on the time just after the death of Jesus.  The book or scroll is the law of God.  The riders and the seals represent how God’s eternal law is dealt with over the Christian centuries.  In the first century after Christ the people of God took the gospel, which cannot be separated from the law of God, and “went forth conquering, and to conquer.”  White represents Christ and His righteousness.  In the first century, the love of God and His righteousness were spread abroad, but things would change.  This first seal corresponds to the Church of Ephesus, the first of the seven churches.  The time was from the death of Jesus in 31 A.D. to about 100 A.D.

Scene (Seal) 2 - A Red Horse

“And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.  And there went out another horse [that was] red: and [pow-er] was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.”  6:3, 4.

This corresponds with the second church of Act I, Smyrna.  There were ten prophetic days of tribulation which refer to the ten years of sever persecution and killing (the great sword) of God’s people by the emperor Diocletian from his decree in 303 until 313 when his rule ended.  At that time, not only were Christians persecuted, but also the law of God was neglected and rejected.  The law reads, “You shall not kill.”

The Christians in the early centuries mentioned in the time of the red horse and the Church of Smyrna went through a flood of persecution.  They were fed to the lions in Rome as entertainment, while their murderers joyously watched them die in horrendous ways.  Peace was taken from the earth along with truth and righteousness.

Scene (Seal) 3 - A Black Horse

“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see.  And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of bar-ley for a penny; and [see] you hurt not the oil and the wine.”  6:5, 6.

The prices listed here are very high for the food being sold; they represent famine.  However, is this a famine of food or a famine of the Word of God, that is: a famine of preaching the law, the Ten Commandments?  One Bible writer tells us, “Behold, the days come, says the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:  And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find [it].”  Amos 8:11, 12.  This prophecy by Amos is primarily for the end times, but we need to see here that God sometimes equates a famine with His Word.

Along with the white and red horses, the black horse rides through the land doing a work that will bring the people of the world to a final, eternal decision.  That is, will they receive the mark of the beast or the seal of God?  Asking in another way: will they follow their own man-made course, or God’s?

The black horse represents the Dark Ages, when the truth of Christianity was hidden from the world.  There was a famine of the Word.  God’s law and doctrines were lost sight of.  This roughly corresponds to the churches of Pergamos and Thyatira.

Scene (Seal) 4 - A Pale Horse

“And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.  And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.  And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.’  6:7, 8.

With the previous horse, we found the Word of God was lacking.  False teachings came into the church.  In order to unite more easily the world with the church, Paganism was mixed with Christianity.  Unfortunately, it only united the church with the world.  This situation started years ago and can still very much be seen in the world today.  It will continue and worsen, as the death of truth will come from famine, the lack of the hearing of the Word of God.  Is it so necessary that such severe conditions be created?  God is Love, so why?  God is Love, but man is stubborn and rebellious.  Today, who reads the Bible?  Who is it that seeks after God?  Who is it that desires to do the will of God above all else?  Instead, we have movies that show every kind of sex and the most violent scenes of man’s imagination.  Is it condemned or tolerated?  Years ago, it was condemned.  Today such actions are almost universally accepted.

God’s name is carelessly used in movies and in everyday conversation.  There’s too little respect for the Creator of all good things.  Those who read the Bible and try to live a life of virtue are looked upon as some kind of freak, troublemaker or extremist fanatic.  Things that were once white are now looked upon as black.  What was once black is now called white.  Evil is said to be good, and good is treated as evil.

God has warned about this when he said, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!  Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”  Isaiah 5:20.

Through their own reasoning power, they have concluded the evil of the world as not so bad.  In their own eyes, they have judged evil good and good evil.  God has allowed the world to continue without much intervention.  Humankind has been allowed to go its own way and do its own thing — to judge itself and rule itself.  Today we can easily see the result.  We are dead, not of a literal death but of a spiritual death.

Scene (Seal) 5 - Judgment of the Dead

“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:  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?  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 fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they [were], should be fulfilled.”  6:9-11.

This is the judgment of the righteous dead.  Those who have died to date believing in Jesus as their only means of salvation are judged worthy to re-ceive “white robes” and to rest in their graves until the resurrection at the end of the world.  They must wait until the judgment of the living is complete, that is: the time when all still living receive either the seal of God or the mark of the beast.  This is the time since October 22, 1844, when the judgment began — when the beginning of the cleansing or restoration of the sanctuary began.  See Daniel 8:14; Revelation 13:17.  More on the judgment later.

The chart below shows the last three seals.  Seals 6 and 7 are explained in the next chapter.

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Chapter 13 -- Act II — Scene 6

The Sealing of the 144,000   (Revelation 6:12-8:1)

When Jesus’ disciples asked what the signs would be that would precede His second coming, He said, “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.” Matthew 24:29, 30.

Referring to the huge globe or cosmology of the ancients, we are reminded of the stars inside on the ceiling.  These stars will fall after the angels release the four winds at the four corners of the earth.  In Revelation under the sixth seal we read,

“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.”  6:12, 13.

This verse describes calamity, trouble and upheaval.  It continues from just before the judgment begins and carries through to the second coming.  This is very near the end of the world, before the Son of Man (Jesus Christ) appears in the clouds of heaven to resurrect His people and take them back to heaven with Him.  Those that remain on the earth after His appearing will be destroyed.  (2 Thessalonians 2:8)  We’ll see that more clearly as we read on:

“And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.  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;  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”  6:14-17.

This is the time of the release of the four winds.  When the winds are let loose, the time of trouble begins, commencing at the conclusion of the judgment. (Daniel 12:1)  At this time, all will have received the seal of God or the mark of the beast.  This time of Jacobs trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) finishes with the second coming of Jesus, the seventh seal.

From here, however, we revert to the time of the fifth seal.  We know this because the four winds of strife haven’t been released.  They are released at the sixth seal.  The above verses of the climactic times of the fifth seal are a preview of what will happen when the four winds are at last released.  It’s a time when the angels are still holding the four winds.  They’re holding the four horsemen of the Apocalypse until God’s servants are sealed with the seal of the Living God.  (Revelation 7:1.)  They are the living, which will be judged after the dead, which are mentioned in the fifth seal.  Those who are destroyed, asking for the rocks and mountains to fall on them, are those who receive the mark of the beast.  At the end of the judgment, all will either be sealed or marked.  God’s people will be sealed, Satan’s victims marked.

“And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.”  7:1.

The four winds (Jeremiah 49:36; Zechariah 2:6) at the four corners of the earth are held by four angels.  The earth, the sea and the trees are the people of God. (Revelation 7:3.)  The command is for the wind not to blow on the earth or any tree, God’s chosen.  The winds correspond to the four horses that the angels are holding back until God’s people are sealed.  The angels are holding back the earthquake, the moon becoming blood, and the stars that fall from heaven.  When released, the wicked will then desire to hide from the wrath of God, from the plagues that will be experienced, after the angels let loose the winds of strife.  We will read about these plagues when we reach Revelation 16.

God Numbers His People

“And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”  7:2, 3.

This is during the time of the fifth seal, not the sixth.  The winds of the sixth seal are mentioned here but are being held back so the sealing of God’s faithful can be finished.  This sealing is done before the earth, sea and everything else is destroyed.  The sealed are God’s people, while those who receive the mark of the beast suffer the wrath of God.

Because the seven last plagues fall only on those with the mark, (Revela-tion 14:11.) not on those with God’s seal, we know that the calamites mention above during the sixth seal don’t fall until the judgment is concluded, when all receive either the mark or the seal.  All must have the great, final test over the mark of the beast.  This is accomplished in the judgment of the living, which takes place just after the judgment of the dead (fifth seal).

Spiritual Israel

It’s spiritual Israel that’s sealed, the people of God of today.  The Scrip-tures say, “If you are Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  Galatians 3:29.  The Israel of today are those who belong to Christ, not the Israel of the Middle East who have rejected Him, not those who are looking for an earthly temple to be built in Jerusalem, while neglecting to see that Jesus is their High Priest in the temple in heaven.

God’s people are listed below.  This listing can’t be literally taken to mean the Israel of today, because most of the tribes were lost.  Ten were lost in Old Testament times and are known as the lost tribes of Israel. Therefore, they can’t represent literal tribes in the Middle East today.  There are not twelve, only two.  Satan would love us to think and look forward to the complete restoration of the Jewish state in Israel and to the reconstruction of the temple there.  Nevertheless, these events will not happen.  This works well in Satan’s hands.  He wants the judgment to come and go while many are waiting for something that will not take place.*

“And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed a hundred forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Of the tribe of Judah [were] sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Reuben [were] sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Gad [were] sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Asher [were] sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Naphtali [were] sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Manasseh [were] sealed twelve thousand.

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.

Of the tribe of Zebulon [were] sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Joseph [were] sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Benjamin [were] sealed twelve thousand.  7:2-8.

Numbering of the tribes was done in ancient times in the preparation for battle.  The 144,000 are God’s army.  They’re going into spiritual warfare for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  The battle is over the souls of men.  It’ll be God’s army against the army of Satan, and the battle will peak in the loud cry of the third angel of Revelation 14:9 and 18:1.  God and His people will win the war, and there will be many who will join the army of God in the closing scenes.  Here is what the Bible says about those who will join the army of God, after the initial sealing:

“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could num-ber, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”  7:9, 10.

The 144,000 are God’s initially sealed and will battle using the two-edged sword of truth, God’s Word.  The enemies are those opposing God’s holy covenant, His plan of salvation.  They will misinterpret God’s truth and mislead.  Nevertheless, this battle will result in many joining the ranks with the 144,000.  First, the 144,000 are sealed, being the first fruits chosen from the people of God (spiritual Israel); then they go out to battle and bring in a “great multitude” which are subsequently sealed from all the countries, races and tongues of the world.

This spiritual rather than physical battle will produce a number of believers who will turn away from the mark of the beast and choose instead to follow God and receive His seal.  It’ll be a “great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people and tongues.”  The 144,000 will come from those who have accepted Christ (spiritual Israel), who know the truth on this matter; they understand the sealing message.  They’ll know when the sealing or final atonement begins, what it is, and how to prepare for it.  Later the great multitude will understand the sealing message, obey God and join with the 144,000.  The Jews in the Middle East today cannot be the Israel mentioned in these verses.  They don’t accept the Messiah, nor do they read or understand the book of Revelation, even concerning the 144,000.

God’s people, the 144,000, will be joined by the great multitude.  Together they will become the people of God. They will be victorious over the beast, his image, and the mark of the beast.  We’ll discover much more about the beast and his image and his mark in Act IV.

“And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever.  Amen.”  7:11, 12.

There’s celebration here.  After all have received either the seal of God or the mark of the beast, which is the deciding factor for the final judgment, there will be great rejoicing in heaven.

“And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes?  and where did they come from?  And I said un-to him, Sir, you know.  And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, [Time of Jacob’s Trouble] and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sits on the throne shall dwell among them.  They shall hunger no more, nei-ther thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.  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.”  7:13-17; See also Jeremiah 30:7.

Time of Trouble - The Resurrection

Daniel 12:1 is appropriate here.  It tells us there will be a time of trouble followed by two resurrections, one to life and one to shame.  It reads, “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which stands for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.  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.”  Daniel 12:1, 2.

This is the time of Jacob’s trouble, (Jeremiah 30:7) and Michael is Christ.  Michael means in Hebrew,” One Who is Like God.”  After this time, there will be a resurrection of the dead, when those that sleep in the dust will arise, (Daniel 12:2) when Jesus comes.  This is the first resurrection.  (2 Thessalonians 4:16)  The second resurrection is at the end of the millennium.  (See Revelation 20)  We will discuss more later on the two resurrections.

It’s necessary to see here the proper sequence of three important last day events.  Mark them well.  First, Jesus (Michael) “stands up” for His people.  This is followed by a time of trouble, which in turn is followed by the resurrection.  The word “stand up” appears in Daniel 8:22, 23 and 25.  In each case there’s a king that “stands up” against the then ruling nation to fight against it for himself and his people.  Jesus leads the 144,000 in this fight.  See also Daniel 11:1-4, 7.

This standing up is Jesus finishing His work in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary and getting ready for His second coming to earth.  He exchanges His priestly robes for those of a king.  He comes in the clouds as King to reward His people.  As if in a war, the wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His coming.  (2 Thessalonians 2:8)  The second coming is Christ coming for His people to set up His kingdom that will never fall to another power.  (Daniel 2:44.)

Between the time of the finishing of the Day of Atonement in the Most Holy Place and the time of the second coming and resurrection, God’s people will go through a time of trouble known also as Jacob’s trouble.  (Jeremiah 30:7)  After that, the resurrection occurs.  The resurrection can’t be before the time of trouble or the tribulation as the believers in the rapture contend.  We’ll consider more on this later.  This is made clear by the sequence shown in Daniel 12:1: the judgment, the time of trouble and the second coming.

Scene 7 - Silence in Heaven

What would make it quiet in heaven?  For the seventh and last seal of Act II, it is written:

“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. ”  8:1.

Why and how would heaven be silent?  Consider the second coming of Jesus.  Heaven will be silent because it will be empty.  It’s empty because all have left it to come to the earth with Jesus to claim the faithful.  Jude said, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.”  (Jude 14)  The number 10,000 in the orient is often used to represent infinity, all.

It will be a great day when all those from heaven will come to witness the resurrection of God’s people.  Paul wrote about it like this, “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.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 2 Thessalonians 4:16-18.

This is the second coming, not a secret rapture.  The graves are opened here, and Daniel clearly tells us that the time of trouble, the tribulation, comes before the dead in Christ are raised at the last trumpet.  “. . . there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.  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.”  Daniel 12:1

The teaching of the rapture is that God’s people won’t go through the tribulation and that the above verse, 2 Thessalonians 4:16, is the rapture that occurs before the tribulation.  However, Daniel tells us the dead are raised after the time of trouble or tribulation. Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians that the resurrection is when Jesus comes.

*** Rapture Alert!***

God tells us in His Word that the judgment will come, fol-lowed by Jesus in the clouds.  In the rapture teaching, the enemy of souls tells us the rapture will come, then the judgment of the Jews and those who were rejected at the rapture.  After that, then Jesus will come again a third time.  This will leave people expecting and waiting for the rapture while missing the real judgment, which is a true blessing from God.  It’s one of God’s greatest gifts to His people, and it’s free.

Who is the Seed of Abraham, the Israel of God?  God made a promise to Abraham because he believed.  “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Galatians 3:16

The seed is not the seed of the flesh and never was.  Those who believe are the seed.

“Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they [are] not all Israel, which are of Israel:  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, [are they] all chil-dren: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” Romans 9:6-8.

God’s people are not divided by ethnicity.  "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.” Romans 10:12

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace [be] on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.” Galatians 6:14-16.

God’s people have faith in His promise.  They are the children of Abraham.  “And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29

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Chapter 14 -- The Yearly Cycle Key - 1

God's Plan and Outline

Have you ever wondered why there are 360 degrees in a circle?  Imagine the year as a circle.  It’s normal to think of it in this manner, because others long ago did just that.  The year was first thought to have 360 days.  The 360 degrees of a circle were patterned after the year of 360 days.  The Jewish ceremonial year within the 360 days of the calendar year was shorter, only seven months within the twelve.

During these seven months, there were holy convocations (assemblies).  We can find them listed in Leviticus 23.  Near the beginning of this seven-month year, there were three holy convocations named Pesach (Passover), Chag Matsah (Feast of Unleavened Bread) and Chag Shavu'ot (Pentecost).  Between the spring and autumn feasts, there were about four months with no holy convocations.  This period was then followed by the three fall holy assemblies near the end of the seven-month ceremonial year.  These were Rosh Hoshanna (the Blowing of Trumpets) Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and the Chag Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles).  We need to know about these, or we’ll be missing some very important clues to the understanding of Revelation.*

Seven is an important number to God.  The book of Revelation should establish this beyond any doubt with its seven acts.  God is simply continuing to use the same number He has used for centuries.  Although there were seven holy assemblies, so far only six have been mentioned.  The first one spoken of in Leviticus 23 is the weekly Sabbath.  You’ll find it today on any calendar where it’s marked every seventh day of the week.  God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh.  He has included it in the Ten Commandments, and He wrote it there with His own finger.  God’s number is seven, and it has never been changed.

Other than the weekly-celebrated Sabbath, the other six holy convocations were enacted yearly to rehearse for their eventual one-time-only fulfillment in actuality.  In other words, these acts (types) were to yearly stand before the people to point to one-time-only events (antitypes) sometime in the future.  To say it another way, they were yearly models of the real events that would come about sometime only once in the future.

These types (models) began to meet their antitypes in the year AD 31, when Jesus died as the Passover Lamb.  When He died, the yearly-rehearsed events began to change from being re-enacted yearly to one-time-only events.  We need to review two important words — type and antitype.  The yearly Passover celebration was the type, while the death of the Lamb Jesus was the antitype.

As we have studied in a previous chapter, the many Passover celebrations before Jesus died in AD 31 simply represented or modeled the fact Jesus was coming to die only once as the Passover Lamb.  The Passover was rehearsed yearly to point forward to the once only dying of Jesus, “once for all.” Hebrews 10:10.  The celebrations of the other six holy assemblies have a once only fulfillment some time after Jesus died.

This point must be clearly understood.  Each enacted convocation was a rehearsal of a future one-time-only event.  The yearly event was the type; the future one-time-only reality was its antitype.  The Bible calls the yearly rehearsal (type) the “shadow”; the reality (antitype) it calls the “body”.  “Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.”  Colossians 2:17

The Ceremonial Year — A Type

The year was also a type.  The beginning of the seven-month ceremonial year was a type of the time starting at the time Christ was sacrificed as the Passover Lamb, continuing through the Christian centuries to our day and the final judgment, Yom Kippur.  The beginning of each Jewish ceremonial year was a type of the Passover period in which Jesus died.  The end of every Jewish ceremonial year was a type of the end of the world.  Yearly, the people of God reenacted in miniature what God planned to do in future history, starting at the death of Christ and extending to the time of the end.

The Passover was the first festival at the start of the year.  The lamb that was to cover all the sins of all the believers was slain.  The Day of Atonement or judgment was near the end followed by the Feast of Tabernacles, or harvest of souls.  Jesus taught: “. . . the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.”  (Matthew 13:39)  The book of Revelation deals primarily with the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, which is the harvest.

The Passover

God instructed His people how to keep the first Passover.  The Israelite people were captives in Egypt at the time, and Pharaoh wouldn’t let them leave and return to the land of their fathers, so God sent ten plagues upon Pharaoh.  In the tenth plague, all of the first born of Egypt and Israel were to be slain by an angel of the Lord.  The people could avoid the death of their first-born if they would take a lamb without blemish, kill it and offer it as a sacrifice in place of their own firstborn son.

They were then to take the blood and place it on the side posts and lintel of their houses.  When the angel came to destroy the firstborn of every household, the angel would “pass over” the house on which there was blood on the doorpost.  (Exodus 12:23)  The first born of the house would be spared.

A Promise for All

The Passover was a very clear rehearsal of the sacrificial role that God’s firstborn, His only Son, was to carry out.  The blood of the many dead lambs did nothing for anyone.  Instead, they were to teach the people that someday there would be a Lamb that would die.  This would be the real sacrifice, not an act played out repeatedly year after year.  John the Baptist said of Jesus just before he baptized Him, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.”  John 1:29

The prophet Isaiah wrote many years before Christ: “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.”  Isaiah 53:7.

Paul said Christ is the Lamb of the Passover when he said in 1 Corinthians 5:7 “For even Christ our Passover, is sacrificed for us.”  Jesus died at three o'clock in the afternoon.  He was crucified on the sixth hour, and on the ninth hour, He died.  This is the very hour that the Passover lamb was yearly slain.  (Matthew 27:45, 46)  Today, since the true Passover Lamb has been slain, there’s no longer a need for the yearly Passover celebration.  Type has met antitype.  What the model pointed to has come to pass.  We no longer need to put blood on the doors of our houses or slay a lamb and consume its flesh.  We need only accept the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, who gave His life as an offering for the sins of the world.  But, what does this have to do with our study of Revelation?

Just as the yearly Passover began the Jewish typical ceremonial year in type, later being fulfilled in its antitype, the other convocations also at some future time were to be fulfilled in their one-time-only antitypes.  The spring assemblies following the Passover met their antitypes first in the celebration of the Feast of Weeks, then at Pentecost.  At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down in tongues of fire, converting thousands in a day, (Acts 2:1-11) representing the spring harvest, a harvest of souls.  Therefore, the first three holy convocations of Leviticus 23 met their antitypes with the death of Jesus and shortly thereafter.

We need to know that the book of Revelation is about the final Day of Atonement, the cleansing of the sanctuary, the judgment.  It concerns the restoration of the image of God in His people.  This will first be manifested in the 144,000.  The Jews call the final atonement or judgment Yom Kippur.  Most Christians have ignored this feast, believing it’s no longer relevant, but not so.  It’s as relevant today as the Passover was relevant in Jesus day.

The Blowing of Trumpets

After the day of Pentecost, which closely followed the Passover, there was a long period from the second Jewish month to the seventh.  This period in the yearly Jewish calendar roughly corresponds to the time of the early Christian centuries through the Dark Ages, continuing up to the time of the last three holy assemblies.  The Blowing of Trumpets came on the first day of the seventh month.  It was followed by the Day of Atonement on the tenth day.  During the ceremonial year, there were more than four of the seven months in between the first three spring feasts and last three autumn feasts.  Similarly, there are about 1,800 years between the Passover and the Blowing of Trumpets, which announce the one-time-only end of the world antitype.

When we get to the year 1834, the antitype of the Feasts of Trumpets be-gins.  This feast was carried out in type just ten days before the Day of Atonement.  Since the cleansing of the sanctuary or final atonement began in 1844, we should expect the Blowing of Trumpets to occur about ten days, or in prophetic days, ten years before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

A day in Bible prophecy is a year in actual time.  The preaching of the cleansing of the world by fire as taught by William Miller started at that time.  There were ten prophetic days or literal years before Christ started the final judgment in the heavenly sanctuary in 1844.

This is Yom Kippur, the Day of Judgment.  Most people are afraid of the judgment, but they need not fear it.  Like the rest of God’s plan of salvation, it’s good news.  We need to take it seriously and be concerned about our ac-tions and characters, but the judgment is not something from which we should shy away.  It’s a blessing for those who will believe, only a curse for those who steadfastly refuse to be led by the Spirit of God.  In Revelation, we read that the judgment is the Gospel.  “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come:” Revelation 14:6, 7. The judgment is not bad news.  On the contrary, we can see in this verse that the gospel includes the judgment.  The judgment is good news: it’s the gospel.

The Weekly Sabbath

The feast at the top of the list in Leviticus 23 is the weekly Sabbath.  Unlike the other six,** the Sabbath was not celebrated only once a year but every week.  It also points to a one-time only event in the future, however it hasn’t met its fulfillment yet.  (To be explained later.)  Understanding there’s a type and antitype for all the Sabbath feasts, we have here very good evidence for the celebrating of some of the holy convocations even today, since some of them have yet not reached their fulfillment in antitype.

However, the Apostle Paul seems to indicate that the types from his time no longer needed to be kept.  (Colossians 2:16, 17)  We are told that we are not to judge anyone concerning the observance of these ceremonial feasts, and that goes both ways.  That is, we are not to judge those who keep them or those who don’t.  We can keep them, if we like, but it’s not easy to do so as a nation or as one body, since the people of God are scattered around the world.

In addition, an animal sacrifice accompanied Passover and the Day of Atonement.  These sacrifices represented the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, which has already taken place.  Consequently, it’s not necessary to continue with a sacrifice because it has already been fulfilled in its antitype.  Jesus died “once for all.”  Hebrews 10:10.

If today we don’t need to keep the other Sabbath feasts in type, do we need to keep the seventh-day weekly Sabbath?  Yes.  Even if we don’t keep God’s holy day because of the ceremonial law, the weekly Sabbath is still in effect because it’s in the moral law of the Ten Commandments.  To His people, God gave a double command to keep the seventh-day Sabbath holy, once in the ceremonial Sabbaths of Leviticus 23 and again in the moral law of Ten Commandments.  Even if the obligation to keep the Sabbath were no longer a requirement in the ceremonial law, the entire world is still obligated to keep the seventh-day weekly Sabbath because it is written in stone and valid within the moral law of God, the Ten Commandments.  (Matthew 5:17–19)

Then what’s the ceremonial Sabbath’s antitype?  It points to the seventh millennium.  The world is about six thousand years old.  The seventh millennium is mentioned later in Revelation 20.  The Sabbath is God’s chosen day to represent and commemorate His perfect creation of the world in six days.  He rested on the seventh day to celebrate His perfect work.  The seventh millennium is a rest commemorating the world once again being created perfect in 6,000 years along with God’s people being restored to perfection.  We’ll have much more on this later.

*** Rapture Alert! ***

*Pre-tribulation rapture advocates tell us the feasts of the Old Testament are for the Jews and their dispensation.  They teach that since we are in the Christian dispensation we are therefore not bound in any way by the holy convocations and temple practices of the Old Testament Jewish dispensation.  However, one only has to read Revelation and Hebrews to find the “Jewish” symbolism.  In addition, Jesus is now in the heavenly sanctuary as our High Priest.  The sanctuary motif is still very much with us today.  We must understand the “Jewish” sanctuary services and apply the holy convocations to the Christian era.  Revelation can’t be comprehended without this understanding.

** Although Bible scholars don’t agree on how to number the seven feasts or convocations of Leviticus 23, they generally agree there are seven.

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Chapter 15 -- The Yearly Cycle Key - 2

The Day of Atonement -Yom Kippur

The Day of Judgment, still celebrated by the Jews today as Yom Kippur, was the most solemn day in the Jewish yearly cycle of events.  Attendance was mandatory for the people of God.  All must attend.  The Scriptures say of this Day of Atonement:   “For whatsoever soul [it be] that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.”  Leviticus 23:29.

With an event so important, no one should take this subject lightly.  We all should be eagerly searching for the knowledge necessary to participate in and reap the benefits of this last judgment.  However, where can we find this in the Bible?

It’s an atonement for all the people of God.  Speaking of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Leviticus states:   “For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord . . . And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.”  Leviticus 16:30, 34.

It’s God's desire to rid His people of all their selfishness and destroy all sin from their lives.  He wants to restore His image within the hearts of His people.  The judgment is a day of cleansing.  It always has been God’s purpose to return man to the sinless state of Adam and Eve before their fall in the garden.  Since sin causes death, (Romans 6:23) the only way to restore life is to destroy all sin.  Eternal life and sin can’t coexist.

Only a Type: The Real Was Yet to Come

Those who took part in the Day of Atonement yearly in type were only forgiven and cleansed in type, not in reality.  They were only rehearsing the scene of the final judgment that was to take place at the end of the world.  The blood of animals couldn’t forgive men of sins.  (Hebrews 10:1-4)  As mentioned earlier, a fact we must not forget is that it was necessary for the Son of God to come and die as the Passover Lamb.  One created being such as an angel could possibly die for one other created being.  However, in order for many sinners to be saved, one equal to the broken law had to die.  Jesus Christ as God is the author of the law, and any lesser being is not an acceptable sacrifice.

When the Jews sacrificed animals, day after day and year after year, they were merely acting out an object lesson.  The lesson to be learned was that Jesus would someday die on the cross at Calvary.  The professed believers of God in Jesus’ day didn’t understand this point, as simple as it seems to be.  They thought God was finding favor with them because of their willingness to give money and make the effort to sacrifice a lamb to Him.  However, they had it backwards.  It was not their work of giving and doing that was saving them but the work of Jesus the Lamb of God dying on the cross.

The people of Jesus’ day missed that point, but Christians today seem to have it correct.  However, most Christians today don’t see the type/antitype relationship of the remaining holy assemblies.  In other words, they’re una-ware of what Jesus is doing in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary or that He’s even there.  Most are still back at the cross only recognizing the existence of the Passover antitype.

We need to move on to the other holy convocations at the end of the Jewish ceremonial year and see their antitypical fulfillment.  The work of God saving man didn’t end at the cross any more than the Jewish ceremonial year ended with the Passover.  There was more.  At the cross, Christ provided the sacrifice.  Since then, this sacrifice needs to be applied in the remaining ceremonies, which will eventually prepare a people for Christ’s second coming.

On the Day of Atonement, when the high priest took the blood of the sacrifice into the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary, he was representing Jesus who is our High Priest who has entered with His own blood into the sanctuary in heaven to perform the work of final cleansing of His people.  (Hebrews 6:20, 7:26, 8:1, 2)

The high priest of the sanctuary service not only represented Christ, but the blood was also a type of Jesus’ own blood.  (Hebrews 9:12)  Jesus is now in the Most Holy of the heavenly sanctuary making the final atonement.  All need to know this.  The final atonement or judgment, the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, deals ultimately with the hearts of God’s people and is the main thrust of the book of Revelation.  It’s the sealing of the 144,000.

The Feast of Tabernacles

Five days after the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles was cele-brated.  This was the seventh and last holy assembly in the yearly round of services in the seven-month Jewish ceremonial year.  It began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.  The Lord required all the men to attend this assembly also.  Each brought a thank offering to the Lord.

This holy convocation was a celebration of the actual harvest at the end of each typical year.  These yearly celebrations were types.  Of course, there’s an antitype at the end of the world.  In type, this assembly celebrated the harvest of edible fruit, but in antitype in the last days of earth’s history.  It won’t be a harvest of fruit, but of people.

During the time of the Day of Atonement and before the Feast of Taber-nacles in antitype, there will be a worldwide spreading of the final judgment hour message.  This will bring in a harvest of souls who will join with the original group and await the coming of Jesus to share in God’s everlasting kingdom.  This harvest of souls is the ripe fruit.  (See Revelation 14:14-20.)

During the final feast of the seven-month ceremonial year, during the Feast of Tabernacles, the people lived in tents to show their living there was only temporary, and they would soon be moving on.  In the antitype, after God’s final harvest of souls at the end of the world, there will be little time remaining on this earth.  Jesus will soon come in the clouds to take them to their temporary home in heaven.  Their permanent and final home will be on the new earth.  (See Revelation 20, 21.)

Before Jesus comes, there will be a time of trouble.  (See Daniel 12:1.)  During this time, God’s people will be forced from their homes to flee to the mountains, (Matthew 24:16) to live in tents, as it were.  Immediately following the time of trouble, King Jesus will come, and the dead will be raised.  God will then collect His people for translation.  Therefore, the yearly or typical celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles was to typify the antitypical celebrating of the harvest of people as they flee to the mountains.  This happens once in antitype, in reality, after the one-time-only Day of Atonement.  We’ll see this important sequence more clearly later in our study.  Nevertheless, let’s review it once more now.  There’s a Day of Atonement, the harvesting of souls, followed by the time of trouble, a living in tents and in the mountains.  Finally, Jesus will come in the clouds of heaven to gather his faithful to Him.  Se again, Daniel 12:1.

The antitypical Feast of Tabernacles will be a day of rejoicing because God will have accepted the blood of Jesus applied on the Day of Atonement.  At that time, God will have forgiven His people’s sins and cleansed them completely of all sin.  They’ll then rejoice in His full and complete restoration from sin and sinning.  God will have restored them completely to His image, and they’ll be sealed with the seal of the Living God, having rejected the mark of the beast.

God's people at the time of the harvest will make up a group called in Revelation the 144,000 first fruits.  They’ll have the seal of God, the Father's name written in their foreheads.  (Revelation 14:1)  Remember the 144,000 are first fruits sealed to battle to bring in the great multitude.  (Revelation 7:9)

This ripe harvest in type symbolized the perfection or ripening of the crop.  The antitype of the harvest is the celebration of the harvest of souls.  Jesus tells us about this final harvest of souls in the parable of the wheat and the tares.  He taught us, “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.”  Matthew 13:30, 39.

It Follows the Judgment

On the Day of Atonement (the final judgment), all will either have decided in God's favor, receiving the seal of God, or for Satan, receiving the mark of the beast.  (Both the mark and the seal will be explained later.)  After the judgment is completed, there will be no more forgiveness of sin.  (Revelation 22:11)  Jesus will have completed His work, and the judgment will be final.  Just like those who didn’t participate in the judgment in type, (Leviticus 23:29) those who are not aware of and fail to participate in the antitype at the end of the world will be cut off from the people of God.

At the conclusion of the judgment, Our Great High Priest, Jesus, will take off His priestly robes of white linen and replace them with His kingly garments.  He will come as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to meet the faithful living and resurrect the faithful dead.  (I Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14)

The Jubilee

The Jubilee was not a yearly event.  It came after seven cycles of seven years.  The people were to plant their fields for six years, and every seventh year the land was to be left fallow to rest.  This seventh year was a Sabbath year.  This cycle of resting every seventh year was to go on for seven cycles.  Then, the fiftieth year was to be a Year of Jubilee.  (Leviticus 25:8-17)

The Jubilee was a type for the end of the world, in fact, it’s the seventh millennium (Revelation 20) at the time after all things are restored to the way they were before Adam and Eve sinned.  In the jubilee, all lands lost through unfortunate mishap or otherwise during the forty-nine years were to be restored to their original owners.  (Leviticus 25:10)  This restoration of land was a type of the restoration of all blessings to the people of God at the end of time.  This is when God in antitype sets up His everlasting kingdom.  It’s a time when there will be “a new heaven and a new earth” mentioned in Act VII.  (Revelation 21:1)  The antitypical Jubilee will be a time of great rejoicing forever.  We’ll discuss the millennium more when we deal with Revelation 20.

Type Yet to Be Fulfilled

The acting out of these festivals once each year was only an object lesson.  Because of this, it was necessary the following year to go through the entire process again.  It continued year after year after year.  In other words, if the sacrifices of those days were the final reality, there would have only been need for one offering and one year of festivals.  It wouldn’t have been necessary to repeat them year after year.  (Hebrews 10:1-3)

Since Jesus died, there is no more need for lambs to die.  After the true Day of Atonement, there will be no need for another judgment of God’s people.  After the final harvest at the end of the world, there will be no more harvests.  After the antitypical Jubilee, there will be no more to follow.  All of God’s people will be free, with all things restored to as they were at the beginning, as they were before sin entered our world.

Today we are in the time of the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.  We are in the time of the world's history when the professed people of God are soon to be judged with the test being the mark of the beast.  The Passover and the Day of Pentecost were fulfilled in the time of Christ.  In like manner, the antitypical Day of Atonement is being fulfilled now.

We learned this judgment started in 1844, and is the time known as the Day of Atonement, the cleansing of the sanctuary.  (Daniel 8:14)  It’s the re-storing of the human sanctuaries to their rightful state of perfection in Jesus Christ.  It’s the restoration of the image of God in man.  This is the theme of the entire Bible and emphasized greatly in Revelation.

The Three Angels' Messages of Revelation 14

The trumpet is to be sounded today by God's people.  All must be called to judgment.  Revelation 14 calls us to judgment, telling us the beast, Mystery Babylon, has lost the war and we are not to receive the mark of the beast.  It calls us out of the false teachings and practices of Babylon and into the light.  The angels said to John, “. . .  Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come . . .  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand . . . ” Revelation 14:7-9.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied and proclaimed, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.”  Isaiah 58:1.  More on the three angels later.

Note: God has used these holy convocations, especially the Passover, to keep before the eyes of the people their release from Egyptian bondage and their journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land of Canaan.  This journey is also a type of the journey God’s people will travel to the True Promised (anti-type), the earth made new.  Paul talked about this:

“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;   And did all eat the same spiritual meat;  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.  But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.  Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.  Neither be you idolaters, as [were] some of them; . . . Neither murmur, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.  Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”  1Corrinthians 10:1-11.  (Italics supplied.)

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Chapter 16 -- Plastic Sins - Cloth Temple

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption [for us].  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh:   How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”  Hebrews 9:12-14.

Jesus offers His own blood for our sins, not the blood of animals.  Yet does He have some sort of container full of blood there with Him in heaven in the Holy of Holies?  What do our sins look like?  What color and how large are they?  Are they made of plastic, or what?  Does Jesus then take our sins and dip them into the container of blood and thereby wash them to make us clean?

It seems ridiculous even to suggest such a scene, because washing our sins with blood obviously means something else.  Sins are not something you can touch or see.  Sins are behavior and attitudes.  What all this means is that because Jesus died as the Lamb of God to save us from the penalty as well as the curse of sin, our sins can be forgiven and overcome.

Nobody would question this, but there are cases when we fail to see the obvious.  One such case is the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven.  (Daniel 8:14)  Many have questioned whether there can be anything polluted in heaven such as the sanctuary that needs cleansing.  Think of it this way, God is not trying to clean a temple made of cloth or stone.  He’s trying to inform us that the entire symbolism of the sanctuary service is a teaching tool for us to learn what God is going to do for His people.

Not a Building

We have dealt with this before.  The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is a teaching tool representing the cleansing of the soul temple of man.  The sanctuary that was built near the foot of Mount Sinai was fashioned after the temple in heaven.  Of course, it couldn’t have been built to the exact size, for the one in heaven must be so much larger.  It could easily be the size of a universe.  Regardless of size, the parts of the one on earth have counterparts in the heavenly temple.

What was done on earth in the earthly sanctuary was just a teaching tool to help us understand what Jesus would someday do in the heavenly sanctuary.  The animals that were sacrificed in the earthly were also teaching tools to help us know what would someday take place in the heavenly.

The blood of those animals couldn’t forgive anybody’s sins.  Only the blood of Jesus could do that.  (Hebrews 9:12)  In fact, not even the actual physical blood of Jesus can save man.  Instead, the blood shows His death in place of ours and makes forgiveness possible.  The shedding of blood shows that Jesus has died for humankind.  Because He died the death that we deserve to die, we can be forgiven and credited with a perfect life that He lived for us.  The blood simply means Jesus has given up His life.

Carrying the symbolism farther, when the high priest went into the Holy Place daily, he was showing that someday Jesus would go into the Holy Place in heaven.  There He would do what the priests in type did daily.  Later in the year, once a year, the high priest went into the Most Holy Place.  He was showing that Jesus as Our Great High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies in heaven just once and do something only once for us.  (Hebrews 9:12; 10)

The Most Holy or Holy of Holies concerns the judgment and a work of cleansing, but what’s the difference between what Jesus was doing in the Holy and what He’s now doing in the Most Holy as it relates to humanity.  Is man’s experience any different in the two holy places?  If the cleansing of the sanctuary, the heart of man being restored to the image of God, is the theme of the sanctuary, then what, if any, is the difference in the human experiences between the two apartments, the Holy and Most Holy?

Actually, this difference is very important in order to understanding the theme of Revelation.  It’s an essential act of God’s redemption.  It’s the work of God saving us completely from not only the condemnation of sin, but also the corruption of sin.  The outcome of the great controversy written within Revelation establishes for eternity the proper connection between God and His people and reestablishes all things to where they were before Adam’s sin.  The theme of Revelation is paradise restored.  It concerns not only material things, more importantly; it’s a cleansing of spiritual things.

What I’m getting at here is this; we can’t put sins in our pockets nor tie them to our clothing.  Jesus doesn’t actually take our sins, put them into a bucket of His blood and wash them.  In the same way, the cleansing of the sanctuary mentioned in Daniel 8:14, which is the judgment or final atone-ment, is not a cleansing of a cloth tent.  The present day sanctuary to be cleansed is in heaven, but is it contaminated with sins?  Has someone taken all our sins as if they were made of something tangible and placed them there to be cleansed someday?  No, there’s a very important and profound symbolic meaning in all this.

A Temple of Flesh

The sanctuary has more than one meaning.  First, Jesus said He was a sanctuary or temple when He said to the Jews,

“ . . .  ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.  Then said the Jews, Forty and six years were this temple in building, and will you rear it up in three days?  But he spoke of the temple of his body.”  John 2:20.  Jesus called His body a temple.

Concerning everyone being a temple of God, Paul wrote, “What?  Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?”  1 Corinthians 6:19

As we have studied earlier, Jesus is a temple, and His people are temples.  God has used the temple motif, both in heaven and on earth, to show us just what He plans to do in His restoration of His people to His image.  Therefore, when God says He’s going to cleanse the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14, He’s actually planning to cleanse man of all his sins, completely and forever, and return him to his rightful and original state.  (See Daniel 8:14.)

God is not interested in cleansing a building or washing plastic sins, or cleaning cloth tents.  He’s interested in man being forgiven of his sins and changing his life perfectly and permanently.  The restoration of man is the point here, not the restoration of a building.

At this point, the reader might be thinking that this idea of the sanctuary has already been mentioned an adequate number of times.  But it’s being mentioned so often because there are virtually no Christian religions in the world that teach God’s given way of understanding the plan of salvation, that is, with the sanctuary motif.  The sanctuary symbolism has been assigned by almost all Christian groups to the Jewish trash heap as outdated and obsolete.  However, the Jewish yearly cycle in antitype didn’t end at the cross at the Passover, but extends to the end of the world and beyond.

Even though Christians should use the sanctuary and its symbols to ex-plain Revelation today, the literal Jewish nation of Israel as a nation is no longer a part of God’s plan concerning them as His chosen nation.  The Bible tells us, “. . . if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  Galatians 3:29.  Abraham is the Father of the Jews, and the conservative Jews of today still believe the promises to Abraham are God’s promises to them.  Most of the Christian community believes the same.

However, these promises of the Old Testament are now transferred to spiritual Israel, consisting of those who are believers in Christ.  Please also read Romans, which tells us the true Israel consists of those who have the faith of Abraham, and not those who are only his descendants in the flesh.

“Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they [are] not all Israel, which are of Israel:  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, [are they] all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.”  Roman 9:6-8

Jesus said that even some of the supposed children of Abraham in His day, the Jews, were not really his children.  John wrote, “They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father.  Jesus said unto them, If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.”  John 8:39.

As we continue in later chapters, we’ll see that the sanctuary and yearly cycle motif both work together extremely well, and bring the final acts of God together in a very clear and important way.  We will see even more that the sanctuary and its true understanding are not Jewish, but apply to God’s people even today.

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Chapter 17 --- Sanctuary Setting - Act III

The Seven Trumpets   (Revelation 8:2-6)

“And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.”  8:2.

These trumpets in Act III are in preparation for the Day of Judgment, the Day of Atonement.  A trumpet was blown at the beginning of every month of the seven Jewish months of the ceremonial year.  (Numbers 10:10; Psalms 81:3)  Each month started on a new moon with a trumpet announcing the beginning of a new moon feast.  Each feast was a small reminder of the coming Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the seventh month, Yom Kippur.  Then on the first day of the seventh and last month, trumpets sounded for ten days straight, leading up to the Day of Atonement.

We can see a similar pattern for this in the judgment upon the city of Jericho.  The Israelites marched silently around the city for seven days, each day the seven priests with the seven trumpets blew the trumpets once only.  On the seventh day, they marched around seven times and blew their trumpets for a longer time than the other six days, the people shouted and the walls came down.  (Joshua 6.)

We’ll see in Act IV that the judgment involves a decision over the seal of God and the mark of the beast.  William Miller figuratively blew the trumpet as he warned of the coming of the judgment for ten years (ten prophetic days) before 1844.  As at Jericho, the walls will come down in judgment, which is a blessing for the people of God, for God will judge His people according to His loving kindness with grace and forgiveness.  However, the wicked will soon be destroyed as at Jericho.  These walls fall when Babylon falls.  (Revelation 14:8; 18; 2)

William Miller didn’t know October 22, 1844 was the start of the judg-ment.  He thought it was the end of the world.  Nevertheless, the mistake helped to get the people interested and focused attention on 1844.  God knew it would happen this way.  As mentioned before, we’ll see how He prophesied the Great Disappointment in Act IV.  (Revelation 10:1-11:1)

One Trumpet - One Month - One Period of Time

If the yearly Passover was a rehearsal or type, and the dying of Jesus on the cross was the antitype, then the seven months of the Jewish ceremonial year with the seven trumpets are a type with an antitype fulfillment later in time.

As we have studied earlier and it bears repeating, the true one-time-only antitype of the Passover was fulfilled at the death of Jesus.  It was in the first month, and there were six months after that, continuing up to the Day of Atonement in the seventh and final month.  These periods are represented by the seven trumpets here in Act III.  They begin at the time of the Passover of Jesus’ death and continue to the end of this evil age.

The first of the seven trumpets of Revelation corresponds to the early Christian centuries.  In the first ceremonial month of the Jewish economy, the Passover was celebrated.  In the first century A.D. Jesus was sacrificed, our Passover Lamb.  This first century roughly corresponds to the first month of the Jewish ceremonial year.  In type, it was the Passover on a yearly basis.  In antitype, it was the death of Jesus on a one-time basis at the beginning of the Christian era.

Jesus died on the cross as the one-time-only fulfillment of the Passover.  The seventh month of the ceremonial year typified the end of the world, the judgment at the time of the seventh trumpet when, “. . . the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15.  This happens when the judgment is finished and the kingdom of this world is returned to God.  It was usurped by Satan from God in the Garden of Eden.  The kingdom is returned legally at the cross and physically at the second coming.

In summary, the seven months of the Jewish ceremonial year roughly correspond to the seven trumpets of Revelation, starting from the time of Christ on earth and extending to His second coming in the clouds.  These seven trumpets announce the judgment is coming, both for the faithful and for the wicked.

Seven Trumpets Foreshadow Seven Last Plagues

These seven trumpets are a foretaste of what God will do to those who fail in the Day of Atonement.  They’re a foreshadowing of the seven last plagues of Act V.  If you look at them closely, you’ll see they’re very similar, but not the same.  Although not the seven last plagues, they’re called plagues.  If we try to make them the same, we lose the continuity of the seven acts of Revelation.  The first five trumpets are plagues against those who were given power to rule, but failed in their duty.  This will be seen more clearly as we move on.

Act III is a prefiguring for Act IV, which contains the judgment, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.

“And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.  And another angel came and stood at the altar, hav-ing 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.  And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.  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 thunder, and lightning, and an earthquake.  And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.”  8:2-6.

The above verses are the setting for the trumpets.  This setting is a quick preview of the following seven angels, each with one trumpet.  The angel at the altar is Jesus Christ, Our Great High Priest.  (Hebrews 4:14)  These seven trumpets of this introduction are a synopsis of what’s soon to come.  They carry us from the time the High Priest takes the coals from the altar in the Holy Place, offers prayers for the saints and then finally finishes the Day of Atonement in the Most Holy by casting down the golden censer.  It’s thrown down because it’s no longer needed after the final atonement, when the judgment is finished.

Our High Priest began His work when He ascended to heaven shortly after his death in the year A.D. 31.  Jesus started His work in the Holy of Holies in 1844.  He’s now standing before the ark in the Most Holy Place pleading for us.  This is shown by the fact that He has the golden censer, the coals from the altar and much incense.  The golden censor was an article of the Holy of Holies, used only on the Day of Atonement.  The sequence begins in the Holy Place.  This is evidenced by the altar, which was in the Holy Place.  Jesus started His work there in 31 A.D. and proceeded to the altar to pick up the censer and then move on into the Most Holy.  Eventually He throws down the censer at the conclusion of the Day of Atonement.  We know the angel spoken of here is Jesus, because He’s the only one who has been commissioned to do the work of the high priest in the heavenly sanctuary.  (Hebrews 8:1.)

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Chapter 18 -- Act III - Seven Trumpets

Scene 1 - The First Trumpet

Act III concerns the history of how God has worked with the church and the world over the past two thousand years.  In scene 1, God punishes His own chosen people (Jewish Nation) who have rebelled against Him.  Then He works to try to turn others from their apostasy.  Through the years He intervenes to keep His truth from collapsing, and in the end, He will have a people who will overcome the evil of the world.  They’ll reflect the image of Jesus fully, being transformed into the image of God.

The First Trumpet Sounds

“The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.”  8:7.

These seven trumpets began to sound in the first century, shortly after the days of the apostles.  This is not so obvious with the first trumpet alone, but will clearly be substantiated with the history of the latter trumpets.

First, let’s consider the greenery of the earth as the favored people of God.  (See Revelation 9:4)  We’ll then see the first trumpet as evil upon the Jews, God’s chosen people.  God’s elected nation was to share the light and their Messiah with others, but they failed to do so, and finally even rejected Jesus, the Christ.

In A.D. 70, Jerusalem was surrounded by the Roman armies of Titus.  The Jews remained inside the city walls even until their food and water were gone, still believing they wouldn’t perish.  The armies of Titus stormed the city, burned the temple and killed most of those who hadn’t already died of starvation.  It was a sad ending for those who had been so wonderfully blessed.  This event in itself should make every Jew today wonder if indeed their Messiah was rejected by their ancestors and crucified in the first century.  For almost two thousand years, their nation had been non-existent, dispersed among the nations and without a temple.

The Lesson of the First Trumpet

There’s a lesson to be learned from this first warning trumpet, as it warns us of things to come.  God is warning us not to feel so snug in our churches, as if there will never come a time when He will abandon those who turn from Him.  The Jews at the time of Christ were God’s people and thought they would never fall from His favor, but they were sadly mistaken.  God allowed the Romans to destroy their city and temple, as He had allowed the Babylonians to do the same six hundred years previous.  They had had 490 years to get things right with God, but sadly failed.

Scene Two - The Second Trumpet

“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; 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.”  8:8, 9.

Babylon was called a “destroying mountain.”  (Jeremiah 51:24, 25)  God’s people are also called a “mountain.”  (Daniel 2:35, 44, 45)  The sea is a sea of people.  (Revelation 17:15)  Mountains are therefore countries or powers.  This mountain destroys people and their ships (material possessions.  In days past, shipping was the lifeblood of commerce.)

The destruction mentioned in scene 2 happened with the invaders surrounding Pagan Rome, most of which came across the mountains into Italy and then on to Rome.  These invasions took place from 378 to 476 as the Vandals and others sacked the Roman capital, seizing its material possessions as booty.  This plague was on another nation (Pagan Rome) that knew about Christ and His sacrifice but refused to be converted.  Paul had spoken directly to an emperor, yet Nero refused the Gift.

The Lesson of the Second Trumpet

Jesus was born within the Roman Empire.  He showed Himself to be the Son of the Only True God.  However, Rome rejected the Messiah, as did the Jews.  Because Christianity continued to grow in spite of Roman persecution, the Emperor Constantine feigned conversion to Christ.  The Roman Empire from that time claimed to be Christian.  Christianity was declared the official religion of Rome, but it was superficial.  Rome’s brand of Christianity is a cloak of words and ideas that hides Roman Paganism beneath.  This new amalgamation was nothing more than the religion of Babylon.  God was not fooled by this and allowed the Vandals and others to complete the destruction of the Roman Empire.

Scene Three - The Third Trumpet

“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; 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.”  Revelation 8:10, 11.

Wormwood is a bitter plant.  The star that fell from heaven is Satan who once lived there as a high leader of all Heaven, second only to Christ.  (Isaiah 14:12-16, Ezekiel 28:12-19)  Since his fall, he has deceived many.  During the time of the medieval church, he seduced the church and corrupted the doctrines of God to the extent that the truth almost died.  Paganism was brought in and disguised under the cloak of Christianity.  This period parallels the time of the Church of Pergamos in Act I.  There was a falling away from the truths of God’s Word.  The people (waters) were made bitter in the sense that they were transformed into servants of Satan and taught his doctrines, not those of God.

Therefore, it can be said that Satan fell to the earth like a star when he took over the church of God, corrupted the church’s doctrines and replaced them with those fashioned by Satan himself.  This is what the reformers of the sixteenth century believed and taught.  This is why the Reformation was needed.

The Lesson of the Third Trumpet

The continual refusal to learn the truth and follow it will plunge us into darkness.  During the time of the third trumpet the morally decaying church thought to change the laws of God, set up a false day of worship, brought in images, killed those who spoke against this errant church, and destroyed the true image of God in the minds of men.  To them God was not a God of love but a god of vengeance and hatred, one who was looking for a reason to cast sinners into the fires of Hell.  It was left to the Protestant reformers to return the reality of a loving God who died for the sins of humanity, a God who has made it possible to overcome sin, to live a holy life.  A correct perception of the loving character of God compels us to obey out of love, not law.  Following truth and obedience shouldn’t be a matter of fear, but our great desire within.  Love should radiate from our natures, replaced by God’s divine, loving nature.

Scene Four - The Fourth Trumpet

“And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.”  8:12.

The sun, moon and stars give us light, yet were darkened.  Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness, and the stars are His angels.  The light of truth was almost wholly extinguished during this time, which parallels the Church of Thyatira.  It was a time of darkness overdue for revival and reformation.

The Lesson of the Fourth Trumpet

The lesson here is like that of the third trumpet, but more fully developed.  The light of truth had been cast to the ground.  Where was the light that was needed?  In the next three trumpets or woes, God allows yet one more power to work against and destroy the false church.  This power helps in preparing for a reformation or restoration of the truths of God.

God has been more than generous in His allowing us freedom of thought and choice.  He doesn’t force the conscience.  Instead, He wishes to earn man’s love and obedience by His own acts of love.  The death of Jesus on the cross to save man is what God wants us to see.  He wants us to be drawn to Him through love, for God is Love.  If the will is forced, as was done in the time of the fourth trumpet, not love but fear leads a person to follow God.  It shouldn’t be that way.  The apostle Paul said it this way, “For the love of Christ constrains us.” 2 Corinthians 5:14.  Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”  John 14:15.

The Last Three Trumpets Are Called Woes

“And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!”  8:13.

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Chapter 19 -- Act III, Scenes 5 and 6

First Two Woes   (Revelation 9:1-11:14)

“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.”  9:1.

The star that fell from heaven is later identified as Abbadon or Apollyon, which means the “Destroyer.”  It can be none other than Satan.  We know this is not a literal star or a meteor, because of the pronoun used.  It says, “And to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.”  This star is a living being.  Jesus said he saw Satan as lightening fall from heaven.  (Luke 10:18)  Here in Revelation we have Satan disguised, doing his work using a man.  He works through and destroys using any human being or organization in his control.

We can see even more clearly how Satan uses people and controls them for his purposes when we see how God talked to Satan through the King of Tyre.  Ezekiel wrote, “Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; . . .You have been in Eden the garden of God . . . You were upon the holy mountain of God; . . . You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, till iniquity was found in you.”  Ezekiel 28:12-20

The King of Tyre was never in the Garden of Eden, but Satan was and was in heaven before he was cast out.  The King of Tyre was under Satan’s control, and God was addressing him though the king.  God recognizes Satan working through certain men and addresses him through human form.

This fifth trumpet is the rise of Islam.  Mohammed was the leader of this religion, speaking as if he knew God and was His prophet.  Islam was a great power in the past and has fought holy wars trying to extend its borders to include much of the land held by Christian nations.  We should expect such an important historical power to be mentioned in Bible prophecy.  Even today, Islam is active and in our daily political life.  We continue reading:

“And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.”  9:2, 3.

To understand this scene, we have to try to look at it through the eyes of John, when he had these visions back in the first century.  If John had seen a Jumbo 747, he would have likely called it a very large silver bird with many eyes along the side, referring to the windows.  He might have said the wings were on fire, referring to the engines.

What we have in Revelation is smoke, locusts and scorpions.  The hoards of Islamic conquerors at this time in history are well known.  They deserve a place in Bible prophecy.  Like locusts, known for their swarming, the Islamic hoards raced from country to city conquering all in their path.

Gunpowder was a recent invention that helped the Islamic powers, espe-cially notable is the destruction of Constantinople.  When large armies stood in formation firing round after round, it soon became difficult to see even a few yards in any direction.  The black smoke was overwhelming.  Later in this verse, we read about “fire and smoke and brimstone.”  Rev. 9:17.  Brimstone is sulfur, an important ingredient in gunpowder.

The scorpion attacks with its tail, pointing forward over its head.  These Islamic armies used horses as they attacked using a new tactic.  They attacked and retreated, attacked and retreated as they reloaded their guns.  Viewing the guns they carried as they rode firing as they went, John could have easily thought they were the stinging tails of scorpions.

“And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.”  9:4.

They were not to hurt God’s people who had the seal, only those who were not His.  Those within the walls of Constantinople, although not completely orthodox in their Christian beliefs, were still more the children of God than were the Islamic forces outside the walls.

“And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he strikes a man.”  9:5.

A scorpion bite is not strong enough usually to kill a man, but the sting makes life rather uncomfortable, because of the pain.  God was allowing this torture so that those within the walls might see that God was not happy with their spiritual condition, and that they might repent.

This continued five months.  Five prophetic months are 150 literal years.  A Jewish month has 30 days: five times thirty equals 150 prophetic days or 150 literal years.  To defeat a nation, you must take its capital city.  Constantinople was the seat of the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic tribes tried for 150 years from 674 to 823 to take the city, but failed.  The inhabitants were tortured but not consumed.  It was not until 1453 that Constantinople fell to Islam with cannon and gunpowder.

“And in those days will men seek death, and will not find it; and will de-sire to die, and death will flee from them.  And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.”  9:6, 7.

Here we see just what these locusts were, men with heads, crowns and “faces of men.”  The Moslems, especially of Arabia, are still well known for their horsemanship.  They wore their hair long and were crowned with tur-bans of bright colors.  They had the faces of men, because they were men.

“And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses [they were horses] running to battle.  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months [150 years].  And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue has his name Apollyon.  One woe is past; behold, there come two woes more hereafter.”  9:8-12.

Satan is the angel from the bottomless pit.  He worked through these Is-lamic hoards as they travelled the earth bringing pain and death.  Like a smoke that came from a pit, like locusts swarming, Islam spread throughout the lands, forcing converts as they grew in size and power.

Scene (Trumpet) 6

The wording of Revelation is sometimes in highly symbolic language, but with it comes its interpretation.  The next woe has an interesting story that goes with it.

“And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, “Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Eu-phrates.  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.”  9:13-15.

If we use the prophetic day for a year principle to calculate this period, “an hour, and a day, and a month and a year” comes to 391 literal years plus 15 days.  What if someone were to take this prophecy and make a prediction as to its fulfillment and then have it come true to the very day.  It would give great evidence that the person making the prediction knew how to interpret Bible prophecy, especially the day for a year principle.

In 1838, Josiah Litch made a remarkable prediction concerning this hour, day, and month and year prophecy.  Litch believed the previous (fifth) trumpet began with the Battle of Bapheum and ended on July 27, 1449.  It was on this date that the Ottoman Empire proved it had control of Eastern Europe.

How did it prove that?  We must understand that most of these dates concerning prophecy begin and end with a decree, just as the twenty-three hundred (2300) day prophecy of Daniel 8:14, the cleansing of the sanctuary started with the decree to build and restore Jerusalem.

A Remarkable Prediction

Josiah Litch used a decree at both ends of his interpretation.  He actually boldly predicted the end of the Ottoman Empire a full two years before it ended.  He foretold the exact date to the very day.

He applied the day for a year principle of Bible prophecy and concluded that a year, a month a day and an hour would be 391 years and 15 days.  That’s 360 prophetic days or literal years plus 30 prophetic days or 30 literal years, plus 1 prophetic day or 1 literal year, plus 1 prophetic hour or 15 literal days.  [One year in prophecy equals 360 prophetic days or 360 literal years.  One month equals 30 prophetic days or 30 literal years.]  When he added 391 years and 15 days to July 27, 1449, he came to the year August 11, 1840.  This is in the history books today, and Litch foretold it would be the end of the Ottoman Empire.  His prediction was noted in various journals of the day, and of course, many doubters were waiting for the day to laugh him to scorn.  He predicted this time to the day.  It was very bold, but Litch was sure enough to write it down on paper.  Here are the exact words of the prediction,

“Allowing the first period, 150 years, to have been exactly fulfilled before Deacozes ascended the throne by permission [a decree] of the Turks, and that the 391 years, fifteen days, commenced at the close of the first period, it will end on the 11th of August 1840, when the Ottoman power in Constantinople may be expected to be broken.  And this, I believe, will be found to be the case.”  (Bracketed words supplied)  Josiah Litch, in Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, Aug. 1, 1840.

On August 11, 1840, the London Morning Herald reported, “The Sultan has been reduced to the rank of a puppet.”  Litch’s forecast had come true.  The sultans ruled the Ottoman Empire and were in control for almost 400 years.  This ended in a similar manner in which it had started, with a proclamation, a decree.

It started in 1449 when Constantine XI was crowned king of Constantinople only after the Sultan gave him permission, showing the Sultan was the man in charge.  It ended 391 years and 15 days later on August 11, 1840 when the leaders of four Christian nations gave their permission for the Sultan to continue control of his dwindling area against the wishes of Egypt, which was then at its doors to completely destroy it.  This showed that the Sultan was no longer the man in charge and had “been reduced to the rank of a puppet.”

Trumpet 6 Continued

“And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thou-sand thousand: and I heard the number of them.  And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of li-ons; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.  By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.  For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.’  9:16-19.

God’s hand was in all this.  It was during this trumpet that the Refor-mation began in Europe.  For more than a century, God allowed the sultans to check the influence of the apostate church.  The Roman Catholic Church, not God’s true people, was the enemy of the Sultans,.  If the Roman Church hadn’t had its troubles with Islam from the East, it might have become so strong that the Reformation wouldn’t have succeeded.  There were times when the power of the Roman Catholic Church was weakened in its fight against the Protestant Reformers because it had to use its armies to fight the Islamic invasions.

Worshipers of Idols of Gold and Silver

“And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues [Islam tormenting the Roman Church] yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”  9:20, 21.

The Roman Church creates idols of gold, silver and wood.  Its members clearly bow before and worship these images.  The Ten Commandments for-bid even the making of such images.  The Catholic Church became the syna-gogue of Satan when it adopted Pagan practices, hiding them within the church by giving them Christian names.  God sent reformers like Luther, Zwingli and Huss, but the Roman Catholic Church refused to repent as stated in the verse above.

The Roman Catholic Church (recently renamed the Catholic Church) is unrepentant even today and is regaining strength while maintaining the same course that led to the Reformation.  Later in Revelation, we’ll see her more clearly revealed to be the power that she is, and we’ll see her eventual destruction.

This sounds harsh concerning Roman Catholics, but it’s not the people individually.  It’s a system of false beliefs that’s the adversary here.  Remember that Luther and the other reformers of the Protestant Reformation were Roman Catholics who were not satisfied with the doctrines and practices of the Roman Church.  The Roman Catholic Church always has consisted of good, sincere people who, if properly informed, would gladly leave her false teachings.  In the last days, many will be called out of Babylon and from her harlots.  (Revelation 18:4.)

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Chapter 20 -- Act III - Scene 6, Continued

Just Before the Last Woe

The sixth trumpet is a particularly long one because it sets the scene and leads up to the judgment, which we have studied, is the theme of Revelation.  We are actually still in the time of the sixth trumpet, but the seventh is about to sound.  What we are about to witness happens just before the seventh trumpet sounds.  At the sounding of the seventh trumpet, we’ll be in the brief time after the judgment is concluded and just before the second coming of Jesus.  This is known as the time of trouble.  (Daniel 12:1.)  Shortly before the seventh trumpet sounds, the mystery of God will be finished.  The finishing of the mystery of God will be more clearly explained as we continue, but first, we have some history to consider.

“And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.”  10:1.

We have to remember where this mighty angel is in history.  The sixth trumpet starts in 1449.  The hour, and a day, and a month, and a year then take us to 1840.  The judgment began in 1844.  With this period of around 1840-1844 in mind, consider a little book open in the hand of the angel.  The book is mentioned in the next text:

The Little Book

“And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, And cried with a loud voice, as  a lion roars: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.”  10:2, 3.

What little book was closed but is now open? The opening of this book is sometime around 1840-1844, and the meaning of the angel standing on both the land and the sea shows that it encompasses all of humanity.  The land or earth is God’s people and the sea is the multitudes of nations.  (Revelation 17:15.)  This angel has a message for the entire world.  Jesus Christ has this special message in the book to be opened around 1840.  Remember 1844 was the time of the Great Disappointment with Miller and the Millerites.

Seal Up the Seven Thunders

“And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.”  10:4.

The Seven Thunders contain something that God didn’t want His people to know at this point.  Because the Millerites didn’t know what the seven thunders spoke, they made a mistake in the understanding of what was to come next on October 22, 1844.  We’ll soon see that God had His hand in it, causing this misunderstanding.

Miller didn’t understand the meaning of the seven thunders, because they were not written.  It was in God’s wisdom to keep them hidden until the proper time.  God’s purpose was to let the believers (Millerites) think Jesus would come in 1844.  We’ll soon see the reason for this.

“And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And swore by him that lives for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer.”  10:5, 6.

This “time no longer” is not the end of the world.  This is still in the time of the sixth trumpet, and there’s one more trumpet to come, there’s more world time.  This is the end of prophetic time, not world time.  After this time, there will be no more visions dependent on prophetic time, that is, a day for a year prophecy that starts and ends at a definite date, such as October 22, 1844, which started with a decree in 457 B.C.

In the book of Daniel, we find certain of Daniel’s prophecies sealed, (Daniel 12:8) but here in Revelation they’re unsealed, open in the hand of the angel.  This will become clearer when we find out it’s a book of prophecy.  The sealed book is the part of Daniel dealing with the judgment.  Daniel means, “God is Judge.”

But let’s first read the next verse and see that there still is time in the world’s history, because the seventh angel with the seventh trumpet is only about to sound, but doesn’t sound yet until we have some more very im-portant history.

The Mystery of God

“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he will begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”  10:7.

The mystery of God is finished just before the seventh angel sounds the last trumpet, but what’s this mystery?  The Bible says, “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery . . .   which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27.

God’s plan of salvation didn’t finish at the cross.  We might think so if the Jewish ceremonial year ended at Passover.  However, it didn’t end there, but included six more Sabbath feasts within the seven-month Jewish ceremonial year.  The death of Jesus on the cross fulfilled the antitype of the Passover, but the Day of Atonement is just as important.  All Jews who failed to attend the day of Yom Kippur were cut off, even if they had taken part in the Passover.  The final acts of the atonement didn’t end at the death of Jesus any more than the ceremonial year ended at Passover.

The Day of Atonement is the day when the mystery of God is completely fulfilled in His people, and this completion of the mystery of God is the em-phasis of the book of Revelation.  The pure 144,000 will be a perfected people without any sin and are the result of this final atonement.  The complete image of God will be restored in God’s faithful.  The mystery of God will be fulfilled when God’s image is restored to His people, “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Let’s read what happens to the little book:

“And the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again, and said, Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which stands upon the sea and upon the earth.  And I went to the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book.  And he said to me, Take it, and eat it up; and it will make thy belly bitter, but it will be in your mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.”  10:8, 9.

The sixth trumpet ended in 1840.  What happened around 1840 that was a bitter experience that first tasted sweet, later to become sour?  William Miller preached the second coming from about 1834 to 1844, believing it was the cleansing of the sanctuary talked about in Daniel 8:14.  He thought this cleansing was the purifying of the earth by fire at Jesus’ second coming.  However, the experience that was so sweet at first as he preached it (sweet in his mouth) became very bitter when Jesus didn’t come.  It was a very great disappointment and is known by that name to this day.  It was bitter in their stomachs.

Prophesy Again

The prophecy failed them because God hid the correct interpretation from their eyes.  The Seven Thunders would have explained the situation very clearly, but John was told not to write them.  If the Millerites had understood the Seven Thunders, they would have known it was not the time for Jesus to come.  God was behind this disappointment when He ordered the seven thunders not to be written.

The date of October 22, 1844 is still known today as the Great Disap-pointment Day of 1844.  The prophecy seemed to fail, and John was told to prophesy again.  The date of October 22, 1844 was really the one time only beginning of the antitypical Day of Atonement, the day Jesus went from the Holy Place into the Holy of Holies to make a final atonement.  If God had allowed the Millerites to know this beforehand, they wouldn’t have been very interested.  They were ignorant of the truth concerning the sanctuary; they didn’t know how any cleansing related to Daniel 8:14.  Of course God could have revealed that to them, but He has His purposes and reasons, not always clear to us.

We need to see how all these different Bible verses keep going over the same points.  Saying them in a little different way gives us important events in different scenes to help us connect Revelation and the rest of the Bible into one consistent truth for the end of time, the perfecting of the 144,000.

“And he said unto me, you must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.  And there was given me a reed like un-to a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.”  10:11-11:1.

This verse is full of more of what was just said.  John was given a reed to measure.  When we measure something, we try to understand what we have.  The temple and the people who worship there must be measured or judged.  The little book that was bitter in the belly was a prophecy about the judgment, a prophesy about the temple or sanctuary.  Daniel deals with the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14.  Daniel is a “little book” of prophecy with only twelve chapters.

God’s people are not to judge the temple but to understand the meaning of the temple and its services.  This teaching had been lost over the years because most Christian leaders and teachers ignore it even today, teaching that it’s Jewish and not applicable to the Christian era.  This rejecting of the sanctuary motif is prevalent with those who teach Dispensationalism.  Before the Great Disappointment, no one was teaching a judgment in the way the Bible teaches it.  Today, too many people think the judgment is at the pearly gates of heaven, officiated by Peter upon death.  Rapture advocates believe Christians don’t go through a judgment.  Consequently, the teaching of the sanctuary needs an important and hardy emphasis here, now, today.

Yet there need not be such a widespread misconception of the judgment, because there’s a clear and well-explained description of the Day of Atone-ment in the Bible.  Unfortunately, Christians don’t teach there will one day be a one-time, end-of-the-world Blowing of Trumpets, a Day of Atonement or a Feast of Tabernacles.  This is because there has been too much anti-Jewish sentiment, causing us to ignore essential parts of the Old Testament.

After the Great Disappointment of 1844, it was time for God’s people to “measure the temple.”  By doing so, they would understand the lost meaning of the sanctuary and know why the book in the hand of the angel was so bitter in John’s stomach.

We Are the Temples of the Holy Spirit

As explained before, we are all the temples of God and are all measured or judged by Him.  This open book in the angel’s hand is about the judgment as explained in Daniel in his book that’s sealed.  Daniel was told:  “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.”  Daniel 12:4.

To Daniel the book was sealed to the time of the end.  Here in the time of the sixth trumpet it’s open, because it’s the time of the end where the angel declared there would be no more prophetic time, (Revelation 10:6) no more long expanses of history such as the 2300 year prophecy.  Daniel was told, “. . . knowledge shall be increased”, and has been, as the knowledge of Daniel’s prophecies have become more and more clear to those who care to investigate them.

“But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles.”  11:2.

The Gentiles are the non-worshipers or nonbelievers.  The only temple that existed in 1844 was the temple in heaven.  Nevertheless, that in itself loses meaning unless we see that each of us is a temple of God and that the different parts of the sanctuary correspond to different aspects of our being.  The physical nature of man corresponds with the outer court, which is left to the Gentiles.  During the period of forty-two months from 538 to 1798, the Gentiles (those who are not God’s people) could control the outer court, which is the physical nature of man, his body.

Through control of governments and the church, the physical nature could be touched; the body could be killed, but the spiritual nature and man’s faith and beliefs, which are represented by the inner parts of the temple, the Gentiles couldn’t touch.

The only temples on earth are the temples of the Holy Spirit, we ourselves, the people of God.  The corresponding aspects of the Holy Places in reference to man will be taken up later.  Right now, we need to continue in the time of the sixth trumpet, when the mystery of God will be finished, just before the seventh trumpet sounds.

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Chapter 21 -- Act III - Scene 6, Continued

War on God’s Word

“And the holy city will they tread under foot forty-two months.  And I will give strength to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand two-hundred threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”  11:2, 3.

With thirty days to a ceremonial month, we have 30 x 42 or 1260 days.  These days are prophetic days and therefore 1260 literal years.  This period is also mentioned in the book of Daniel as a “time, times and a dividing of times.”  One time was one year or 360 days.  Adding one time (360) to times (720) and a half of time (180), we come up with 1260 days, which translates into 1260 literal years.  The holy city represents the people of God.

This period started with a decree in 538 A.D., when by decree of Roman Emperor Justinian, the Bishop of Rome, after being declared ruler of the Roman Empire, uprooted the Church’s last three political-religious enemies.  The 1260 years ended in 1798 when the pope was taken prisoner by one of Napoleon’s generals.  The “thousand two hundred threescore days” mentioned in verse 3 are the same 1260 years.  (More about the 1260 years later.)

“These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.”  11:4-6.

“Thy word,” said the Psalmist “is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”  Psalm 119:105.  The two witnesses are the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments.  Both teach the law of God and are witnesses for or against us — to justify or condemn us in the judgment.  “They shall prophecy a thousand two hundred and three-score days, clothed in sackcloth.”  Revelation 12:3.  Sackcloth was used for storing things, and it is a metaphor for being humbled.

For 1260 years, God’s witnesses remained hidden.  The papacy tried to hide the truth, and replace it with false witnesses.  The Bible was banned by authority of the Papacy, and its testimony was perverted.  Any who tried to return to its truths were hunted, tortured and often killed for their faith.  Some had to flee to the mountains.  In this way, the faithful witnesses prophesied in sackcloth.  Yet they continued their testimony throughout the entire period of forty-two prophetic months, 1260 literal years from 538 to 1798.This period of 1260 years is found in several places, both in the book of Daniel and in Revelation.  This is well planned.  God inserts these way marks or anchoring points to help us pull all these prophetic verses together and set up a time line throughout history, from the time of Daniel to the end of all things.  This 1260-year period helps us tie together the prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation as well as the prophetic time lines within Revelation.

Next, God warns us what will happen if we try to work against His Word.

“And if any man will hurt them [two witnesses], fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, [Old and New Testaments] he must in this manner be killed.”  11: 5.

We can’t get away with trampling upon the two witnesses, God’s Word.  It was done as the Bible was effectively kept in sackcloth for 1260 years.  Those that worked against Scripture will meet their just reward in the end in the lake of fire.  From their mouths will come the truth, God’s Word, and it will slay their enemies.

Another Power Wars with God’s Word

“When they shall have finished [are finishing] their testimony.”  11:7.

The two witnesses were finishing their testimony clothed in sackcloth in 1798, at the end of the 1260 years.  As they were approaching the end of this 1260 years in hiding, war was to be made upon them by the power represented as,

“The beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit.”  11:7.

In many of the nations of Europe, the powers that ruled in church and state for centuries had been controlled by Satan through the papacy.  However, here we have a new form of satanic control, war on the Bible from a power other than Papal.

Rome’s policy was to keep the Bible hidden away from the people.  Under the papacy, the witnesses prophesied, “Clothed in sackcloth.”  However, an-other power, controlled by Satan from the bottomless pit, was to arise near the end of the 1260 years to make open war upon the Word of God.  This power was also controlled by Satan.

This would be near the year 1798, since the 1260 years ended in 1798.  It was in “the great city” (Revelation 11:8) in whose streets the witnesses are slain, and where their dead bodies lie.  This city was spiritually called Egypt. It was Egypt that most boldly denied the existence of the True God.  When the message was brought to Pharaoh by Moses, in the name of Jehovah, Pharaoh defiantly answered: “Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto His voice to let Israel go?  I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”  Exodus 5:2.  This is atheism, the denial of the existence of the True God.  The entity mentioned here, represented by Egypt, would also deny the living God and speak in a spirit of unbelief and rebellion in about the year 1798.

“The great city” is also compared spiritually to Sodom.  The sins of Sodom were especially revealed in self-indulgence, and this sin was to be seen in the nation that would fulfill this prophecy.

According to the words of Revelation, shortly before the year 1798, some power of satanic origin would arise to make war openly upon the Bible.  In this land, the testimony of God’s two witnesses would be silenced, and there would be the atheism of Pharaoh and the immoral practices of Sodom, but who fits the bill?

France in Prophecy

France fits this prophecy.  Just five years before the end of the 1260 years, in 1793 the French government dared to deny the existence of God.  France is the only country to that time in the history of the world, which, by the decree of her legislative assembly, declared, “THERE IS NO GOD.”  Individual blasphemers and infidels have done the same around the world for centuries, but no nation up to that time other than Pharaoh had ever made such a declaration, only France.  Later Communism would spring up from the roots of the French Revolution.

The statement, “. . . where also our Lord was crucified “was also fulfilled by France.  The hatred of Christ had not been more clearly shown anywhere else.  In the persecution of God’s people France crucified Christ.  Jesus said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”  Matthew 25:40

For years, the Albigenses of France in the days of the Reformation were put to death with horrible tortures.  Frenchmen watched the agonies of the martyrs of Jesus.  The brave Huguenots who only wanted to be free to believe as they thought right were killed for their faith.  The Protestants were counted as outlaws and were hunted as if they were mere animals.

How in the world did all that get started?  It didn’t happen overnight.  No, about a hundred years before the French Revolution at the St. Bartholomew Massacre in Paris, the king of France, urged on by papal representatives, had a bell rung in the middle of the night as a signal for the slaughter.  Protestants were arrested without warning, dragged from their homes and murdered in cold blood.  The murders continued for two months.  Seventy thousand perished.

When the news reached Rome, the Cardinal of Lorraine rewarded the messenger with a thousand crowns.  Pope Gregory XIII, attended by the car-dinals and other ecclesiastical dignitaries, went in long procession to the church of St. Louis.  A medal was minted to commemorate the massacre, and in the Vatican, you can still see three frescoes, one describing the attack, another with the king in council plotting the massacre, and the third, the massacre itself.

A hundred years later in the French Revolution, the effects of the St. Bartholomew Day’s Massacre were seen.  “The beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them [God’s Word].”  The atheistic power of France waged a war against God and His Word, the Old and New Testaments, His Two Witnesses.

The worship of the Deity was abolished by the national assembly; Bibles were collected and publicly burned, and the law of God was ignored.  Baptism and communion were prohibited, and all religious worship was forbidden.  This was greatly influenced by the actions of the so-called Christians of Rome, the Roman Catholic Church.  The Papacy had left in the minds of the Frenchmen a misconception of the love and mercy of God.  Instead, they left a vengeful, satanic hatred.

“And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tor-mented them that dwelt on the earth.”  11:10.

The Reformation was primarily over the Bible as the source of truth, in-stead of the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.  God’s Word is His means of communicating to His people.  One important result of the Refor-mation was the putting of Scriptures in the hands of all Christians and in their own language.  There were other important doctrines as well, and the Reformation declared the Papacy to be Paganism but with Christian names, having little or no resemblance to Christ.  Protestants protested the idea of the Roman Catholic Church calling itself Christian and reserving all questions on doctrine for itself.

The two witnesses, the Old and New Testaments, lay dead in the streets of France, but they would live again after three and a half days (years).

After Three and a Half Days

“And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell on them which saw them.”  11:11.

God's two witnesses were killed by the power that “ascends out of the bottomless pit,” Revelation 11:7, but were not long silent.  It was in 1793 that the decrees to abolish the Christian religion and set aside the Bible passed the French Assembly.  Three years and a half (three and a half prophetic days) later a resolution negating these decrees, granting toleration to the Scriptures was adopted by the same French Assembly.

“And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up here.  And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.”  11:12.

Remember this is still the time of the sixth trumpet near the time of the judgment just before the last trumpet sounds.  After the judgment is concluded, the two witnesses are taken from the earth to heaven.  The Prophet Amos talked about a time when the absence of the Word of God would be like a famine.  He said, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.”  Amos  8:11,12

There will come a time known as the close of probation when all people will have their destinies decided over the mark of the beast and the seal of God.  All will stand on one side or the other.  The Word of God will be of no use to those who make the wrong decision.  The fate of all will have been decided, so the Word of God will no more save.  It will in effect, have been withdrawn by God into heaven; there will be a famine for the “Word of the Lord.”  After this, Jesus will come in the clouds.

When Jesus comes, there will be a great earthquake,

“And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.  The se-cond woe is past; behold, the third woe cometh quickly.” 11:12, 13.

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Chapter 22 -- Scene 7 - The Seventh Trumpet

The Sealing - Revelation 11:15-18.

Jesus is not still walking this earth, nor is He in the grave.  He has risen and has become the first fruits of those that sleep in the dust of the earth.  (1 Corinthians 15:20)  His death was signified by the Passover lamb and the many lambs that died over hundreds of years.  The dying of Jesus was the sacrifice being made.  It was not the atonement.  It was the sacrificial part of the atonement.

Christ is no longer on the cross, but is in heaven applying His blood in the final atonement.  Passover was at the beginning of the seven-month ceremonial year, not at its end.  The plan of salvation and the atonement didn’t end at Passover, but began there.  In Leviticus we read of the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur, “For on that day shall [the priest] make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, [that] ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.”  Leviticus 16:30.  This was the typical, final atonement for Israel, and there’s an antitypical, final atonement at the end of the antitypical ceremonial year at the end of the world.  The complete atonement couldn’t have been finished at the cross any more than Yom Kippur could have been finished at Passover.

Christ’s death was not the atonement; it was the sacrificial element of the atonement.  The atonement can’t be finished without the blood of the sacrifice.  Jesus provided that blood when He died.  Yet, without the final atonement, no one will be fit for heaven.

The Day of Atonement was at the end of the Jewish ceremonial year, not at the beginning.  If the atonement was completed at the cross, then there’s no Day of Atonement.  The Jewish ceremonial year didn’t end with the Passover, and the final atonement didn’t end with Jesus dying on the cross any more than the Jewish ceremonial year ended at Passover.  This is being said repeatedly here because it needs emphasis and because it’s not spoken of in the Christian world today.

Satan would have us believe that the atonement was finished at the cross.  If we believe this, then we won’t look for it being fulfilled today as Jesus stands in the Most Holy Place, carrying on the final work of the atonement.  It’s Satan’s goal to prevent this final work of total cleansing.  There’s no better way to do that than to say the atonement was finished at the cross.

We must know that the Day of Atonement is something that’s still real and going on in heaven at this very moment.  If we don’t know it’s going on, how can we be a part of it?  Moreover, if God didn’t want us to know about it, why did He tell us about it in the first place and have the Jews rehearse it repeatedly, year after year?

Many good Christians in the churches around the world teach the atonement was finished at the cross.  These people know a lot about what Jesus has done for them, and they have turned their lives over to Him, but they need to be looking into heaven where He’s now making the final atonement.

We need to look at what the high priest of old Israel did on the Judgment Day.  Let’s read again what the Bible says.  Speaking of the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16:30, the Scriptures say,

“For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.  And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.”  Leviticus 16:30, 34.

It needs to be said here once more, the atonement was not finished at the cross any more than the Passover was the last day in the Jewish ceremonial year.  There was more.  The Passover was the beginning, not the end.

The Daily and Yearly Experiences

The daily work for man in the holy places is the work of forgiving and changing man daily, continuously, year after year.  This experience is called sanctification.  However, the high priest once a year went into the Holy of Holies behind the second veil to do a work there, a work of the Day of Atonement.

As we have learned, there are two apartments of the heavenly sanctuary.  We are all temples of God.  Then should it not follow that each person has an inner sanctuary within as well.  That is to say, every man and woman has two apartments, the Holy and Most Holy.  Within the Holy and Most Holy Place, God desires to dwell, fully and completely.  Neither apartment is holy unless we allow God to make them so.  Nothing is holy unless God is there.

The first apartment or Holy Place was a daily experience where the priest took blood from the slain lamb and placed it before the second veil that separated the Holy from the Holy of Holies.  The tent hadn’t sinned, nor anything in it.  Instead, the sinner was being forgiven and cleansed.  This was a daily experience.

As we confess our sins, they’re forgiven, and we’re given the Holy Spirit to overcome sin.  This is the daily experience, which happens in the holy places of our minds.  We’re conscious of these sins, because we have confessed them.  We can’t confess sins of which we are not conscious.  As we become aware of more sins, we go through the same daily experience repeatedly – even daily.  Therefore, the Holy Place represents this daily work of sanctification.  It’s the work of eradicating the sins of which we are aware.

The Most Holy Place

The second apartment corresponds to the cleansing of our inner most heart of hearts.  It was performed yearly on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.  Practiced once yearly, the Day of Atonement meets its one-time-only antitypical fulfillment at the end of the world on the final Day of Judgment.

We have what we might call the known sins apartment and the unknown sins apartment of the mind.  In the daily or Holy Place experience, the sinner grows in Christ.  As he’s made conscious of his sins, he confesses them, and they’re forgiven.  But there will be a time when God will deal with all our sins, known sins and those not yet come to light,  unknown sins.  The unknown sins will be dealt with during the final atonement, when the law will be placed fully into the hearts of God’s people.  These cleansed souls will obey the law perfectly and completely because it will be in their natures to do so.

God Made this Promise when He Said,

“Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. . . After those days, says the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”  Jeremiah 31:31-34

God’s Laws in Our Hearts

Just as the Ten Commandments are within the innermost Holy of Holies of the sanctuary, they’ll be written on the flesh of our innermost heart of hearts.  The Bible tells us, “And I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh.”  Ezekiel 11:19.

The next chapter of Revelation shows the blessing God has in store for His people in the judgment.  It has to do with the sealing, the final atonement, the last judgment that’s decided in favor of God’s true people.  It’s the mystery of God fulfilled in man.  (Revelation 10:7.)  Just before the seventh and final trumpet, the mystery of God will be finished.  “To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”    Colossians 1:27  The mystery is Christ in you, perfect and complete, the final fulfillment of the new covenant promise, the law written on the heart, the establishing and numbering of the 144,000.  After the mystery is complete, the seventh trumpet will sound.

“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”  Revelation 10:7.  Italics supplied.

“To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”  Colossians 1:7.  Italics supplied.

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become [the kingdoms] of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.”  Revelation 11:15.

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Chapter 23 -- The Soul Temple

One day some people were asking Jesus about the temple that was the pride of the Jewish nation.  This temple was the center of all the festivals and ceremonies, especially of the seven-month ceremonial year.  It was their firm belief that God was with them and dwelt with them in the temple.  However, if they had no temple, God was not with them.  (Exodus 25:7)

Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”  They thought He was referring to the temple built with hands, the temple that stood in the city of Jerusalem.  They answered, “Forty and six years was this temple in the building, and will you rear it up in three days?”  They though He was talking about a temple made with hands, “But he spoke of the temple of his body.”  John 2:19-21.

The Temple's Meaning

Here Jesus tried to show His disciples the true meaning of the temple.  In spite of all the illustrations taught in the sanctuary service, they hadn’t seen the temple with its ceremonies and festivals as representing the sanctuary-temple of the human soul.  They had missed the point.  They failed to get the message.  However, the apostle Paul was not ignorant concerning the true meaning.  He wrote: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple is holy, which temple ye are.”  1 Corinthians 3:16-17.  “‘What?  Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God . . . ” 1 Corinthians 6:19  “And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? for you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” 2 Corinthians 6:16.

The theologians and people of Jesus’ day had missed the connection of the temple with man.  They didn’t see themselves as temples for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  They missed the connection back then; can we also miss it today?

In fact, the temple has two meanings.  The temple at Jerusalem represented both Christ and the sinner.  In representing Christ, the services showed how He was perfect and holy as God is perfect and holy.  In representing man, the daily and yearly services showed how the sinner, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, could be restored to the image of God and reach a state of perfection equal to that of Christ as a man.  However, humanity will never equal Christ as God.

Complete restoration to the perfection Adam and Eve had in Eden before their sin is the goal God has for every person in the world.  This complete restoration is possible, especially so in the experience God is waiting to bestow in the final atonement, the day of Yom Kippur.

The Sanctuary Illustrated

If the sanctuary is indeed a symbol of human beings, we must ask our-selves what part of the sanctuary represented what part of man.  That is, what did the court represent, and what are the holy places supposed to teach us concerning our humanity?  What’s each a symbol of?  Below is a rough sketch (bird’s eye view) of the sanctuary with the outer court and holy places.  It’s not drawn to scale, and when placed on a map, it faces the opposite direction.  The door faced the east so as the rising sun would be at the worshiper’s back.

The outer court was surrounded by a curtain, and the side of the curtain facing outward was covered with the skins of animals.  If we take the position that the skins represent the outermost portion of man; that is: the physical nature of man, (arms, legs, internal organs, brain, etc.) then we must take the inner places, Holy and Most Holy, to stand for humankind’s spiritual nature – his mind.

Inner Court - Two Parts

Notice the spiritual nature is divided into two parts.  Can the mind, or heart of man contain two compartments as the separation of the Holy and Most Holy seems to indicate?  If the holy places represent the human heart or mind, what’s the condition of man's moral faculties?

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”  Jeremiah 17:9.  “I do not understand my own actions . . .  my conscious mind wholeheartedly endorses the Law, yet I observe an entirely different principle at work in my nature.  This is in continual conflict with my conscious attitude . . .” Romans 7:15 RSV, 22-23 Phillips

The seventh chapter of Romans tells us of Paul's struggle with himself.  His conscious mind understands his sinfulness but is often powerless against it.  He determines to do right, but fails.  He promises himself he won’t do wrong but is unsuccessful here as well.  He ends up blaming it all on the sin that’s within him, his subconscious mind, his heart that’s “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”  Like Paul, we don’t understand to what depth our selfishness goes.  Our hearts fool us into believing we’re good.  Jeremiah tells us we’re deceived, and instead of good, desperately wicked.  Paul tells us our minds are “enmity against God,” and are “not subject to the laws of God.”  (Romans 8:7)  We have a certain amount of consciousness concerning our sins, but many are hidden within, still unknown.

Two Apartments of the Mind

So then, we have two divisions, our conscious and our non-conscious, both being represented in the two apartments of the sanctuary.  In the sanctuary of old, the daily service dealt with the known sins of the penitent from his conscious mind.  He asked for forgiveness only as any sin became known to him.  He couldn’t confess his unknown sins, from his non-conscious mind, because he was not aware of them.  Those sins that were dealt with on a daily basis were “known sins” and were forgiven within the first apartment as the priest sprinkled the blood before the veil.

However, it was necessary for all his unknown sins also to be dealt with before the yearly round of feasts and services could be complete.  They needed to be dealt with, because it was not permissible to finish the Jewish ceremonial year with any sins, known or unknown, still not atoned for.  So also, it will be at the end of the world, when the final atonement is complete.

The seven-month Jewish ceremonial year was a type of the history of the world, from the Passover when Jesus died to the end of the world.  With this in mind, and knowing that no sins will be taken to heaven, (Galatians 5:21) we can know that God’s people will never complete all the antitypes of the feasts of Leviticus 23 and enter heaven until all their known and unknown sins are dealt with in the final atonement, the Day of Judgment, Yom Kippur.

The Day of Judgment

In the antitype of the Day of Atonement at the end of the world, it’s necessary to blot out or put an end to all the unknown sins within God's people.  This must be carried out before the Day of Atonement can be complete and the Feast of Harvest (Tabernacles) can commence.  All this will be followed by the second coming of Christ, and then the Jubilee.  All sins must be dealt with before Jesus comes because there will be no sin in heaven.  This atonement is for both the dead and the living.

We need to see that the first apartment represents the conscious level of the human mind, while the second apartment represents the hidden mind.  This hidden mind contains sinful thoughts that haven’t been revealed nor dealt with in the daily experience.  A portion of the sins of the non-conscious mind is revealed daily as the believer progresses in his Christian experience.  However, there’s a time factor of many years, even a lifetime.  We can’t be sure that even the patriarchs in the Old Testament who lived hundreds of years, ever reached perfection through the daily experience.  The writer of Hebrews alludes to this: “And these all, [patriarchs listed in verses 17-32] having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:39, 40)  God has provided the final atonement to make His people “perfect.”

Man Created Perfect - Restored Perfect

With all that has been said, let’s look at the sanctuary and see how it provides a lesson for us.  The following series of illustrations shows the plan of salvation, starting from the time Adam was created in God’s image.  They continue with man’s fall into sin, through the time of Christ and then on to the end of the judgment, when God’s people are restored to perfection.  At that time, they will be restored to the spiritual image of God in the final atonement.  Finally, they will be recreated into His physical image at His second coming, when the body is changed.

Note: In the following diagrams of the sanctuary, the dark areas represent the imperfection or sinfulness of the spiritual nature of man.  The shaded areas depict degeneracy of the physical nature.  The white areas represent perfection.

Perfect Adam (Sanctuary)

Before Adam made his unfortunate decision to eat the forbidden fruit, he was in the state of perfection, both physically and spiritually.  Since there was no degeneracy of his body, the outer court is white.  His spiritual nature (holy places) was formed in the image of God and is also white.

Adam (Sanctuary) the Sinner

After Adam’s sin, he was condemned to death.  Although he didn’t die immediately, he finally succumbed at the age of 930.  Immediately after the fall, his mind was corrupt and his body began to degenerate.  The holy places (spiritual nature) are therefore black* and the outer court (body) is shaded.  Because of Adam’s sin, all have become sinners and all have sinned.  (Romans 5:14, 1 Corinthians 15:22)  The diagram below of the sanctuary shows not only Adam but also all who are born in this world before they’re born again into the spiritual life.

God's People (Sanctuary) When Converted

When we decide to follow the teachings of the Bible and experience the new birth, (John 3:3) we start on a journey toward the ultimate goal of perfection.  Known sins are confessed and the blood to atone for them is brought by Jesus the High Priest before the Father into the Holy Place or first apartment.  These sins are taken from the sinner and placed upon Christ (a sanctuary).  He then bears them until the Day of Atonement, when the sanctuary is cleansed, restored.  (Daniel 8:14)

The converted Christian is represented in the following diagram with one important difference from the unconverted.  His known sins are confessed, placed upon Christ, and he receives the Holy Spirit to enable him to walk in the steps of Christ.  He still has unknown and therefore un-confessed sins in his heart.  His body is not changed, nor will it be until Jesus comes.  (1 Corinthians 15:51-55)  It’s necessary for him to continue his walk with God daily, confess his sins daily, receive forgiveness daily, partake of the divine nature daily and come closer and closer to God's ideal for him daily.  This is why the first apartment (Holy Place) experience is called the daily.

Christ (Sanctuary) on Earth

When Jesus came to this earth in human form and in the fallen physical nature of man, He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3) and after the likeness of Abraham (Hebrews 2:16), imperfect in His physical nature.

However, His mind or spiritual nature was pure, free from any sins, and He didn’t yield to temptation, although tempted as we are.  Jesus had no known or unknown sins.  He was perfect spiritually, while retaining a body like that of Abraham and being tempted the same as we are.  (Hebrews 4:15; 2:16)  His spiritual nature was perfect and reflected the image of the Father, without sin.  (Hebrews 4:15)  The above chart (Christ on this Earth as a Prophet) depicts this with a shaded area for His flesh (physical nature) which was corrupted.  The white area represents His sinless spiritual human nature.

Christ (Sanctuary) Raised from the Dead

Upon His resurrection, His body was changed and He appeared with a glorious body.  (Philippians 3:21)  The proper way to illustrate this condition with the sanctuary diagram is with white for both the physical as well as the spiritual.  Notice that this is the same as Adam had before his sin in Eden:

The converted man coming into the judgment has confessed all his known sins and is walking with Jesus in the daily experience.  There are still sins in his life of which he’s not aware.  Although he knows they surely exist, he’s not aware of exactly what they are.  He would be very pleased to have them all removed and is looking forward to this blessed event.  All his confessed and forsaken sins have been placed on Christ in the daily.

He’s very much aware that the forgiveness of sins is due entirely to the fact that Jesus is the Lamb, his Substitute.  He also knows that all the power to overcome has come from the Holy Spirit, as a gift.  He’s therefore steadfastly waiting the blotting out of all sins, both those that have been placed on Christ (the Sanctuary) and those yet remaining in his own life, yet unknown to him.  He’s awaiting the Day of Atonement when, “. . . on that day shall [the priest] make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, [that] ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.”  Leviticus 16:30

In the antitypical judgment, Christ acts as the High Priest to cleanse the sinner from all remaining, unknown sins.  When the final atonement is concluded, the forgiven sinner is numbered among the 144,000 and takes on the form of the sanctuary as shown below.

Notice the similarity of the totally cleansed sinner as compared with Jesus as He walked this earth as a Prophet and Servant.  Jesus is our Perfect Example that we can equal, if we are willing to submit our lives to Christ as He submitted Himself to His Father.  Jesus came to show that we can live without sin as a human as He did as a human.  We’ll never equal Him as God in His divine nature.

God's People When Jesus Comes

When Jesus comes the second time, he will raise the dead.  They’ll come forth in newness of life with bodies fashioned after Jesus’ glorious body.  (Philippians 3:21)  Those raised will be in the same form as Adam was before the fall and as Jesus was at His resurrection.  All of God’s people will have been redeemed and totally restored.  They’ll have perfect hearts and bodies.  The plan of salvation will have been completed with Satan the vanquished loser.  The sanctuary of the human soul will again be pure, both physically and spiritually:

The Seventh Trumpet Sounds

This seventh trumpet corresponds to the time when Michael, Jesus Christ, stands up, takes off His priestly garments and prepares to come to earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  (Daniel 12:1; Revelation 17:14; 19:16)  At this time, six of the seven Sabbath feasts of the Jewish ceremonial year will have met their antitypes.

The Seventh Trumpet

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become [the kingdoms] of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he will reign for ever and ever.  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshiped God, Saying, We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which are, and were, and are to come; because you have taken to yourself your great power, and have reigned.  And the nations were angry, and your wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth.”  11:16-18.

Soon after, Jesus will come to take His people to heaven and into the millennium.

***Additional Note: Perfectionism/ Timing - When?***

Some readers might here bring up the question of perfectionism and deny that perfect obedience to God’s will is possible on this earth.  Perfectionism as defined by many scholars teaches that man through his own power can become perfect.  Its critics say that perfectionism should be eradicated from the thoughts of Christians.  If we take this definition, then this author heartily agrees.  However, nowhere in this volume will the reader find a sentence saying perfection, or even Christian growth, for that matter, can be accomplished without the work of the Holy Spirit within.  We must be born again.  We must be a partaker of the divine nature.

We all know that perfection will be accomplished in the life of the true Christian before being taken to heaven, so, the question is, when will perfection of character be achieved?  Most believe we can’t reach a state of absolute perfection until Jesus comes, when He changes our sinful bodies.  Do our bodies need to be changed before perfection of character can be achieved?  What about Jesus?  He lived a perfect life in a body like ours, yet He successfully resisted all sin.  To say that Jesus was not like us in the flesh is the spirit of antichrist.  (I John 4:3)  Jesus overcame in a body like ours.  His physical nature was just like ours, yet He was in the image of God spiritually, in His spiritual nature.

When we partake of the divine nature as He did, we, too, can be totally victorious Christians.  Is this not the state of the 144,000?  Yes, and God has a plan to restore His people while they’re still on this earth, that is, to recreate in them His image.  This is the message of the Bible.  Revelation reveals to us more of when and how it will be accomplished.

Revelation’s message is not Armageddon, the mark of the beast or many other horrible scenes yet to come.  No, it’s total restoration of His people, first spiritually, then physically.  God has communicated His true meaning within the twenty-two chapters of the Apocalypse and has reserved this final blessing for His people.  God is Love.

* Even though the scriptures say, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?”  Jeremiah 17:9, black was not chosen to indicate that the heart of man is totally corrupt, that is, not performing any good acts.  It was chosen to show that we are not perfect.

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Chapter 24 -- Sanctuary Setting - Act IV

The Focal Point of Revelation (Revelation 11:19)

“And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightning, and voices, and thunder, and an earthquake, and great hail.”  11:19.

In the chiastic chart in the introduction of this volume, please notice Act IV has many entries, nine in all.  The other acts only have one entry for the entire act.  In Act IV, there are many important and detailed descriptions for us to consider.  This act is the focal point of the book of Revelation, the Day of Atonement.

What’s the standard for the judgment, on what are we judged?  It’s the perfect law of liberty. (James 1:23)  God is telling us in this introduction to Act IV just what He will use to judge us.  We are led to look into the Most Holy, into the ark of His testament that was in the Most Holy Place.  In 1844 when Jesus went behind the second veil that separates the Holy from the Most Holy, He saw the Ark of the Covenant (the ark of His testament) covered with gold.  The top of the ark contained the mercy seat, and above were two golden angels with outstretched wings shading the mercy seat.  Inside the ark were the Ten Commandments.  All ten were written by the finger of God on tables of stone.  (Exodus 31:18)  Stone shows the enduring nature of God’s law.  God wrote them with His own finger and wrote them for all humanity for all eternity.  The Ten Commandments are still valid today and forever.  They’re not arbitrary, but moral and eternal.  Morality doesn’t change.  This is reflected in the law of God being written in stone.

This scene in Revelation takes place long after Jesus died and rose again.  The ark of His testament is seen in heaven.  The Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai were a copy of those in heaven, and God didn’t change them when Jesus died.  Jesus told us He didn’t come to destroy the law, when He said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.  For truly I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” Matthew  5:17,18.

The temple at Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70, but the temple in heaven remains with Jesus as its High Priest.  (Hebrews 4:14)  The Ten Commandments are still there, unchanged and still valid today.  Later in the first scene of this act, we’ll see that a very important characteristic of the final remnant of God’s people on earth will keep the commandments of God. (Revelation 12:17)

God’s Measuring Stick

The Ten Commandments are in the ark, which is mentioned here just before the judgment.  The ark of His testament containing the Ten Commandments was revealed to John in the heavenly sanctuary here in Revelation to teach us that the Laws of God are still in effect, and we are still judged by them.  If there’s no law, there’s no sin, for sin is the transgression of the law.  (I John 3:4)  If there’s no law, we don’t know what sin is.  For by law is the knowledge of sin.  (Romans 7:7)

Here in this sanctuary setting of Act IV, God is trying to tell us the law is still valid.  He has kept the original copy of the law in the ark of the testament in the heavenly sanctuary.  He opens up the ark just before the judgment, revealing the Ten Commandments and announcing their eternal existence with lightning, thunder, hail and an earthquake.  In the judgment, we’ll be judged by the perfect law of liberty, the Ten Commandments.

Satan in Heaven

The Ten Commandments are an important part of the great contro¬versy between Christ and Satan.  In the beginning of this controversy, Satan stood in the presence of God, holding a high position.  Because of his great pride and desire to rule above all, he was cast down.  Isaiah wrote, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  How art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations!  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north . . . I will be like the most High.  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”  Isaiah 14:12.

Yet again God spoke to Satan.  This verse was mentioned before when we read how God spoke addressing Satan through the King of Tyre.  We can easily see that no earthly king can fit the description.  God said to Satan through the king:

“. . .  Thus says the Lord GOD; You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering . . . You are the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set you so: you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.   You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, till iniquity was found in you.  By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned: therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.  Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I will cast you to the ground, I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you.”  Ezekiel 28:11

Satan was in the Garden of Eden, not the King of Tyre.  Before that, he was in heaven.  Jesus saw him fall.  He said, “. . .  I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”  Luke 10:18.  Unbelievably, there was a war in heaven.  Satan, the dragon, was thrown out with many of the angels.  In the next scene in Revelation 12, we’ll see the number of angels that fell with Satan was one third.

A Roaring Lion seeking to Destroy

Satan is not satisfied to be lost for eternity.  He’s like a roaring lion seeking whom he may destroy.  (I Peter 5:8)  He’s the accuser of God’s people, (Revelation 12:10) looking for any reason to claim them as his subjects.  His argument is that since we are sinners, we should be lost with him.  However, Jesus was not happy with such a situation so has provided a way of escape.

Jesus died the death that we deserve so that we can live the life that He deserves.  He lived a perfect life, and that life is credited to us, so we can be considered perfect.  All we have to do is confess our sins, and He will forgive us.  Any Christian knows that.  (I John 1:9)  We must also turn from our sins; He will give us the power to do so.  As we partake of Jesus’ divine nature, we’ll obey.  (II Peter 1:4)

God’s act of forgiveness is not new in Revelation or in Act IV.  It’s what Christ Jesus has been doing since He entered the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary, shortly after His ascension into heaven.  Now He’s in the Most Holy Place.  As I have written repeatedly, the central point of the entire book of Revelation is the judgment, which is the final atonement, also known as the cleansing of the sanctuary.  It takes place in the Holy of Holies.  It’s the perfecting of the saints, the sealing of the 144,000, which is followed by the sealing of the great multitude.  (Revelation 7:9; 19:6)  It’s the restoring of the Holy of Holies, the restoration of the image of God in His people.

We have dealt with these concepts before and will deal with them again, but to put it simply now, God is planning to restore His true followers perfectly to the state in which Adam and Eve lived before they sinned in the Garden of Eden.  To simplify it even more, this whole issue and the controversy between Christ and Satan is over character.

God’s perfecting of His people is illustrated in the sanctuary motif and will be dealt with more in Act IV.  In this judgment, we have a great test.  Those who pass will be blessed with the seal of God.  Those that fail will be cursed with the mark of the beast.  In the sanctuary setting for this act, God wants us to know the standard by which we are to be judged.  In this act, the temple is opened where we can view the ark of the testament.  Inside are the Ten Commandments.  Satan would like to get us to ignore or change the Ten Commandments, but they’re as solid as the stones they’re written on and have been safely kept in heaven from eternity.

We’ll see next that God’s final church on earth, “the remnant of her seed,” will “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

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Chapter 25 -- Act IV - Scene 1

Clothed with the Sun, 12:1-17

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.’  12:1, 2.

This woman is a pure woman, the church of God.  “I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate [woman]. Jeremiah 6:2)  “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present [you as] a chaste virgin to Christ.”  2 Corinthians 11:2.  The twelve stars in her crown are the twelve tribes of Israel that were represented in Jesus’ day by the twelve disciples.  The woman gave birth to the child Jesus who had his life threatened soon after His birth.  (Matthew 2:16)

“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, [Satan] having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.”  12:3.

The dragon is identified as Satan, (Revelation 12:9; 20:2) and the seven heads and ten horns will reappear in a later scene.  (Revelation 13 and 17)

“And his tail drew the third part of the stars [angels] of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.  And she brought forth a man child [Jesus Christ], who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.”  12:4, 5.

This woman is not Mary the mother of Jesus, although Roman Catholics are taught this.  In fact, their words are conflicting on this subject.  The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was conceived without original sin.  They claim that because of her sinless nature, she conceived Jesus without pain or sorrow.  However, the woman standing on the moon “cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.”  In addition, Mary has never been known to have “fled into the wilderness.” as is mentioned next.  This woman is symbolic.

1260 Days or Years

“And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three-score [1260] days.”  12:6.

As we have studied before, a day in prophecy represents a year.  (Ezekiel 4:6; Numbers 14:33, 34.)  With one prophetic day equaling one literal year, we have 1260 prophetic days or 1260 literal years.  The wilderness here illustrates the idea of being almost nonexistent yet still alive and hidden.

This period coincides with the period of the Church of Thyatira and Sardis from 538 to 1798.  (See Act I, Scene 4.)  The truths of God at this time in history were almost wholly unknown.  The Protestant Reformation brought back to life much of what was lost, for very little remained of the original truths.  (Revelation 3:2)

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.”  12:7, 8.

It’s hard to believe there was really a war in heaven, but as mentioned earlier, Satan was once in heaven and a most favored angel there.  He was called the Covering Cherub that was undoubtedly a high position.  However, because of his desire to be as God and take over the control of the universe, he was cast down with those angels he deceived.  (Ezekiel 28:16.)

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”  12:9.

Act IV of Revelation deals with the judgment, the test over the mark of the beast and the seal of God.  However, this judgment is more than simply taking on a mark or refusing one.  The meaning is more hidden and more profound.  It deals with character and change within human nature.  God’s people in the end are winners in the character game.  Satan’s players will eventually be the unfortunate losers:

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.  Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them.”  12:10-12.

Since the days of Christ, there has been turmoil and persecution.  There are more very severe days ahead, but God’s true people will be rescued.  The ultimate time of trial will be what Daniel called, “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”  Daniel 12:1.

Speaking of times past and continuing even until today, chapter 12 warns us:

“Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.  And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman [the church] which brought forth the man child.”  12:12-13.

1260 Years Again - Time, Times and a Half of Time

“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.”  12:14.

Here again, 1260 years are mentioned.  This 1260-year period refers to the persecution of the woman in hiding.  One time was one year (Daniel 4:16, 23, 25, 32) and one year was considered 360 days as in a circle, 360 degrees.  One time around the circle is 360.  Therefore, we have one year (time) plus two years (times) plus half of a year (half of time).  Three and a half years of 360 days equals 1260 prophetic days or 1260 literal years.  This is the same time mentioned earlier as the time of the Church of Thyatira from 538 to 1798.  God is using this 1260-year period as an anchoring point in history, to link His prophecies together in one easy-to-follow time line.  These 1260 years are found in both Daniel and Revelation in several places.

“And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.’”  12:15.

The water represents people (Revelation 17:15) who Satan used to attempt a complete destruction of God’s people.  Nevertheless, God rescues His faithful by sending the Protestant Reformation, which swallowed up the lies of Satan who was working through the apostate church.  The earth represents God’s faithful.  In this case, the reformers saved the day by using the Word of God to combat apostasy; they swallowed up the flood of lies.

“And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the rem-nant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testi-mony of Jesus Christ.’”  12:16, 17.

The church has her seed or children, which are the people of God from generation to generation.  Each generation gives birth to the next.  The seed continues, but at some point ends.  The “remnant” or last remaining seed of God’s faithful people are mentioned here as having two significant characteristics.  First, they keep the Commandments of God, and second, they have the testimony of Jesus.

As mentioned earlier in the sanctuary setting of this act, the Ten Com-mandments are the eternal laws of God set in stone and contained in the ark of the testament in the Most Holy of the temple in heaven.  God’s remnant people, with the Holy Spirit working in their lives, keep all ten of God’s Ten Commandments, not nine or fewer.

The Remnant Church is said to have “the testimony of Jesus.”  The Bible gives us a key to the meaning of the testimony of Jesus when it links it for us saying, “The testimony of Jesus . . .  for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  Revelation 19:10  And when we compare Revelation 22:9 with Revelation 19:9,10, we see that the angel speaking to John compared the ‘brethren” having the spirit of prophecy in 19:10 to the same “brethren” in Revelation 22:9 as being prophets.  Therefore, to have the “testimony of Jesus” or the “spirit of prophecy” is to have a prophet with the prophetic gift.

We can expect then, that the last church, “the remnant of her seed,” will have the understanding of prophecy and the prophetic gift among her.  Even with all the religions and Christian denominations in the world, we can identify God’s final church on this earth as the one who teaches us to keep all of God’s commandments.  We’ll also know the remnant because she has the spirit of prophecy.  In addition, God’s people of the last days know in a special way those things that pertain to the prophetic gift, the understanding of Revelation for example.

A Prophet in the Last Days?  Really?

Jesus said, “For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Matthew 24:24.  And again in Mark, “For false christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if [it were] possible, even the elect.” Mark 13:22.

If we are warned about false christs and false prophets, shouldn’t we be wary of all those claiming to be Christ or a prophet?  Yes, but we must test them.  We know how Jesus is coming, “in the clouds and every eye shall see Him. . .”  Revelation 1:10.  He is coming in the same way He went into heaven.  An angel said at Jesus’ ascension, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”   Acts 1:11.

In spite of the clear words of Scripture, some will be deceived concerning the second coming. The rapture doctrine teaches that Jesus will not appear openly, but concealed.  They teach we won’t see Him coming or going.

False prophets will appear, but false prophets do not preclude true proph-ets.  Malachi prophesied, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” Malachi 4:5.  In Jesus’ day, this was fulfilled by John the Baptist.  John was sent to prepare the way before Jesus’ first appearing.  It should follow that God will also send a prophet before His second coming.  A way for His second appearing should also be prepared.

What we need to do is test the prophets, not reject all because they claim to be God’s special envoy.  John wrote, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”  John 4:1.  We are told to “try the spirits” to see if they are from God.  If God has no plan to send another prophet, then why would Jesus tell us to “try the spirits”?  Many false prophets are gone out into the world, and we must find out which are false, but just as important, which are true.

Remember, the remnant of her seed keep the Commandments of God and have the spirit of prophecy.  (Revelation 12:17, 19:10; 22:9.)  If you find these two characteristic in a congregation, you will be much closer to the true people of God for these last days.

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Chapter 26 -- Babylon - A Key

About 1900 B.C. on a plain in the country of Babylon, there was a ziggurat that the builders hoped would reach to heaven.  It’s known today as the Tower of Babel.  It was built soon enough after the flood of Noah that the people were well aware of the waters that had destroyed the earth.

God had promised that after the flood He would never destroy the earth by water again.  However, many of the people had separated from Him.  The rejection of God and His promise led them to build a tower to protect them from any future flood.  This action represents their rejection of God’s way to save them, replacing God’s laws and methods with their own attempts at saving themselves.

This theme of rejecting God’s way and replacing it with man’s is the foundation of every false religion, going back even to the time Cain disobeyed God, attempting to do it his way by sacrificing fruits and vegetables instead of a lamb.  This concept of “doing your own thing” continues today and will reach a climax when men set up the mark of the beast for all to accept or reject.

This final test over the mark of the beast and the seal of God indicates which teaching a person will follow, God’s way or man’s way.  The question is: will God save us through His efforts of dying on the cross or will man save himself in his own efforts through a religion that was fabricated by people, with Satan at the helm?

The entire Bible, especially Revelation, shows the conflict between Baby-lon and God’s true people.  The religion of Babylon is the basis for all false religions throughout the history of the world: that is, humankind working to save itself through a man-made religion.

“Mystery Babylon the Great” is revealed in later chapters of Revelation.  The woman of Revelation 17 is called the “Mother of Harlots.”  The false apostate church is drunk with the blood of God’s people along with false doctrines and abominations.  (Revelation 17:5)  The book of Revelation contains history and the prophetic future of this false system of beliefs, which has led man into so much theological error.  This false power has long been destroying those who would try to oppose its authority and teachings.

The seven trumpets studied earlier are warnings of things to come.  These seven plagues are very similar to the seven last plagues that will be poured out on those who receive the mark of the beast.  In a sense, the trumpets are warning plagues that are telling the people to learn a lesson.  If we learn the history lessons taught in the trumpets, we’ll be aided in passing the final test and not have to suffer the seven last plagues.

The biggest difference between the two systems, Babylonian and God’s, is the method of man’s salvation or acceptance by God.  In God’s religion, man can’t save himself through his own works, but needs the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus.  In true Christianity, God sent His Son to die as a sacrifice for the sins of man.  Because of sin, man must die.  (Romans 6:23)  Nevertheless, Jesus as the sacrificial lamb has died in the place of all sinners.  Christ’s death on the believer’s behalf can be received when we ask for forgiveness and repents of our sins.  We can’t save ourselves by attempting to do righteous deeds.  Only God’s way is acceptable.  Babylon teaches that through ceremonies, good deeds, and complete obedience to a religious organization, seekers of salvation can make themselves acceptable to God and thereby save themselves.

God the Creator

God is the Creator; humanity is the created.  The Bible is extremely clear that the earth and all it contains were created in six literal days.  God then rested on the seventh day to commemorate His perfect act of creation.

The seventh-day Sabbath is a sign of God’s perfect creative power.  God created Adam without sin or sinfulness.  The Sabbath is also a sign that God can re-create, that is, restore humankind to His image.  Doing so is called sanctification, the process of making man perfect before God.

The prophet Ezekiel tells us that the Sabbath is God’s sign of His sanctifying power.  He wrote, “Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.”  Ezekiel 20:12; 20:20; Exodus 31:13.  The Sabbath is a sign that God’s people are His people, and He has made them holy, but the day of Babylon is the day of the sun, Sunday.  Many today believe that merely attending church on Sunday is enough to find acceptance with God and get them through the pearly gates.  They are sadly mistaken.

The remnant of God’s children keeps God’s commandments, but not in order to be acceptable to Him.  We obey God because we love Him.  The death of Jesus is our only means of being just or justified before Him, and the Sabbath is a sign that we have rested from attempting to save ourselves by works.  We must trust in Christ Jesus’ work for us, not our own.  Motive is the problem here.  We must obey out of love, not in order to be acceptable to God.  Jesus has taken care of acceptance by His death.  “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.”  Ephesians 2:8,9.

However, “faith without works is dead.”  James 2:20, 26.  Obedience to God’s law must be natural, not a straining to obey.  It must become part of our nature, built into our hearts.  It must be written on our hearts.  Keeping the Sabbath is a sign that we have allowed the righteousness of Jesus to justify us before God, and that we have allowed the Spirit of God to live in our hearts, changing us to reflect the image of Jesus fully.

The Sun Day

Nimrod of ancient Babylon was a hunter who stood up and opposed God.  It was believed that after he died, he went to the sun, the beginning of sun worship.  From the sun, he’s said to have miraculously impregnated Ishtar the Goddess of Fertility with a son named Tammuz, born on December 25.

From the name Ishtar, we get the word for Easter, celebrated with objects known to represent fertility, such as rabbits (Easter bunnies) and eggs.  Many of these practices were unwittingly and without malice brought into Christianity for reasons such as to bring more converts in from Paganism.

As holidays, both Easter and Christmas have a Pagan or Babylonian source.  The Christmas tree, the Yule log, Santa Claus and many other so-called Christian practices came from the teachings of Babylon and have nothing to do with Christianity, except as they have been interwoven within the Christian churches and practiced down through the ages.  The Babylonian day of the sun, Sunday, has largely replaced God’s holy day.  For much more on the similarities of the apostate church with Babylon, see Hislop’s book, The Two Babylons.

The Numbers Game in Babylon

The chart below was on an amulet worn by the priest of ancient Babylon.  No numbers are repeated.  Add the horizontal lines and place the sums on the right side in the blank spaces.  Then, add the vertical rows and place the sums at the bottom in the spaces.  Finally, add up all the spaces on the right and then on the bottom.

When we add the numbers from 1 to 36, we get 666.  36 is 6 times 6.  Notice the numbers that actually correspond to the position in the chart where they would fall if they were all numbered in order from 1 to 36.  These numbers are darkened in the chart and form a cross.  Before the cross was adopted by “Christianity,” it was a symbol of ancient Babylon.  Babylon’s number is 6.  God’s number is 7.

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Chapter 27 -- Daniel’s Prophetic Keys

While still a very young man, Daniel was taken captive to Babylon that was ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar.  The King had a dream (Daniel 2) that troubled him, but no one could tell him the dream or its interpretation.  In this dream, the king saw a great image made of various metals.  It was a dream that created a time line reaching to the end of the world.

This great image of the king’s dream was an outline of world history.  Here is the gist of it.  The head of gold represented the Kingdom of Babylon with King Nebuchadnezzar as its king.  After Babylon, the Medo-Persian Empire rose up, followed by Greece and finally Rome.  After Rome, there were to be no more secular world kingdoms but a mixture of nations that were sometimes strong and sometimes weak.  This is the condition indicated by the feet of iron and clay.

The great stone that destroyed the image and carried it away was “cut out without hands.”  (Daniel 2:34.)  This is the second coming of Jesus followed by the kingdom of God that God sets up at the end of the world.  It will last forever.  If you aren’t familiar with the prophecy, please read Daniel 2.

We are studying Daniel here because we need certain information in order to interpret the next scene in Revelation.  It concerns the infamous beast and its mark.  The books of Daniel and Revelation go hand in hand, explaining what will happen in the end of the world’s history.  We are in the time of the judgment.  Daniel’s name means God Will Judge.

In Daniel 7, Daniel saw a lion, then a bear followed by a leopard.  Most interesting of all was a most horrible looking beast, the likes of which Daniel had never seen.  His dream of the four beasts builds on the foundation and puts meat on the bones of the skeleton of history presented in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great image.  The image with the head of gold is a skeletal view or outline of world history and puts Babylon as the first world kingdom, followed by Medo-Persia, Greece and then Rome.

From Rome to the end of the world, there would be no one-nation world empire until God sets up His Everlasting Kingdom.  As does the head of gold in chapter 2, the lion in chapter 7 stands for Babylon.  The bear is Medo-Persia, and the leopard represents Greece.

It’s explained as such in Daniel 7.  God is here trying to connect the dream of Nebuchadnezzar with the other visions of Daniel.  Then He adds more, a Little Horn.  We need to compare the Little Horn mentioned in Daniel 7 and 8 and see where these two chapters come in time and how they parallel each other.  God uses this Repeat and Expand method to explain prophecy.  Daniel 2 sets a time line, and then Daniel 7, 8 and 9 repeat this time line, expanding the information by filling in details.  Daniel 2 gives us the fundamental time line for both the books of Daniel and Revelation.

Flesh on the Bones

There was a most interesting and deadly power that followed the dreadful, terrible beast.  A Little Horn came out of the horrific beast of chapter 7.  If we know our history, most of Daniel's dream is easy to understand.  We can see these animals represent important historic periods, kingdoms and powers.  The first three are explained in the chapter itself.  The lion was Babylon; the bear, Medo-Persia; and the leopard, Greece.  We know from history the fourth and most terrible was the Roman Empire.  Finally, out of Rome came a Little Horn.  This Little Horn power came up after the terrible beast and came out of it.  It’s important to note that it wasn’t a new beast, but was part of the terrible beast.  We need to understand who or what this dreadful beast is before we can discern the Little Horn.

The Dreadful Beast with the Little Horn

“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast . . . different from all the beasts that [were] before it, and it had ten horns.  I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots.  And there, in this horn, [were] eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great words [pompous words].”  Daniel 7:7.8.

Fourth Kingdom Well Described

The fourth beast, Pagan Rome, was the world power when Jesus walked the earth.  Rome had taken over this role in B.C. 168 and near the end of Roman reign became ten horns that “are ten kings.”  Daniel 7:24.  At that time, Barbarians from Europe overran the Roman Empire between the years 351 and 483 AD.  The empire was then divided into ten parts.  Three of these kings were “plucked up.”  (Daniel 7:8)  The last of which was the Ostrogoths in 538 A.D.

Next, the Little Horn dominated the world scene.  It eventually came more powerful and dreadful than all the others before it, and it was to be in the world until it’s destroyed at the end of time.  Although at one point it would receive a deadly wound, it would survive yet a while longer, when “. . . its deadly wound was healed.”  (Revelation 13:3.)

The Beast Is Destroyed After the Judgment

The Little Horn exists up to the judgment, 1844, and beyond.  The next verses tell of the books of judgment being opened:

“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit . . . A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

“I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.”  Daniel 7:9-11.

This is the scene of the executive judgment (verse 10), not the Day of Atonement.  The beast is judged and later cast into the burning flames.  The beast didn’t die when the Little Horn took over.  It simply continued with a different leader, the Little Horn.  The Little Horn came out of the beast and both continue to the end of time when they are cast into the burning flames.

After the judgment, Day of Atonement, Jesus returns to this earth.  Finally, God's Everlasting Kingdom is set up.  Notice the order: the judgment comes before people are taken to heaven to inhabit God's Everlasting Kingdom.  The judgment comes before the end of the world, and judgment takes place before the Son of Man is “given dominion, and glory and a kingdom.”  Daniel 7:14.  If these scenes of Daniel’s prophecy are not familiar, please review Daniel 7.

This is an important point.  Mark it well.  According to this text in Daniel, an individual judgment doesn’t occur individually for each person at death.  Instead, it’s a one-time event near the end of the world.  Jesus explained this to His disciples in a parable concerning the judgment and the harvest at the end of the world.  (Matthew 13:16-40.)  From our study so far, we’ve learned that the judgment began in 1844.  This is often referred to as the Investigative Judgment.  This harvest is not the Lake of Fire at the end of the millennium.  (Revelation 20)  The millennium will be studied later.

In Summary

Four world kingdoms rule followed by a Little Horn power that rules until the end of the world and is destroyed after the judgment is completed.  The most dreadful beast along with the Little Horn are destroyed when thrown into the flames at the end of the world.

The Little Horn is represented as a horn and not another beast, because the Little Horn came out of the beast and is really part of it.  That’s why it’s said the terrible beast is at last thrown into the flames.  What else can this Little Horn be other than the Papacy?  The Papacy and the Roman Empire are essentially the same.  Papal Rome was only a continuation of Pagan Rome, with a different leader, a pope instead of a Caesar.  Only the terminology is different; Pagan Rome is a metamorphosis into Papal Rome.  Another beast didn’t come after Pagan Rome, because it didn’t gain control by war of nation against nation but developed within a nation, Rome, the terrible beast.  Pagan Rome was not entirely a secular power.  The Caesars claimed to be gods and demanded worship.  They were entitled Pontifex Maximus which is also one of the titles the Papacy has taken.  This title has been shortened to his well-known name of Pontiff.  When Pagan Rome changed from Paganism to “Christianity” it only changed from a Caesar to a pope.  The religion was not changed, only the names of the gods within.  The Pagan gods were renamed after the saints.

Here is what the Bible says about this Little Horn in the Daniel 7.  “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be different from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.  And he [Little Horn] shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.  But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.”  Daniel 7:24-26.

The Little Horn Speaks Against God

This Little Horn speaks words against God; he thinks to change times and laws, and he rules for a time, times and a dividing of times.  As we know, these 1260 days are 1260 years in Bible prophecy.  This 1260-year period was discussed in a previous scene when we talked about the pure woman – God’s true church.  The woman was in hiding for 1260 years.  (Revelation 12:6)  She fled into the wilderness while the Little Horn reigned.

This is all reinforced as we look back to the seven churches of Act I.  During the time of the church of Thyatira the church was in deep apostasy.  The people of Sardis were told to “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die.”  Revelation 3:2.  This Little Horn was in control of the world during the time of Thyatira and Sardis, and the true church was about to die because of deep apostasy.  However, the Protestant Reformation rescued the church from this death.  The Little Horn is one more indication that the power to be reckoned with is the Roman Catholic Church led by the Papacy.

How well does it fit?  The Little Horn came out of Rome; it was long called Roman.  Only recently did it remove “Roman” from its name, the Roman Catholic Church.  The Little Horn has the “eyes of a man,” and the pope is a man.  The Papacy ruled the earth for 1260 years starting in 538 when it subdued the last of the three horns.  (Daniel 7:8)  The reign of the popes ended in 1798 when the pope was taken prisoner by one of Napoleon’s generals.  The Papacy received a “deadly wound” which is now being healed.  (Revelation 13:3, 12)

However, this is not all the proof we have.  We are just preparing for the next scene where we’ll see evidence that’s much more convincing.  Let’s move on and learn of the beast of Revelation 13 and its mark.

***Note: Antiochus Epiphanes***

The question here concerns the little horns in Daniel 7 and 8.  Are they the same or different?  There’s little doubt about the little horn in chapter 7; it comes out of Rome, but in 8, some want to make that little horn Antiochus Epiphanes.  If we use the Repeat and Expand principle of Bible prophecy to interpret the two horns, we have to say they are the same.   Daniel 8 is the repeating and expanding of Daniel 7; the Little Horn is the same power in both.  However, the Roman Empire seems to be omitted in Daniel 8.  In spite of this, the repeat and expand principle should be used to determine the meaning of the horn in Daniel 8.  Here are some more reasons:

1. Daniel 8 says the ram, Medo-Persia, was “very great.”  The little horn was “exceed-ingly great.”  Yet, Antiochus was not greater than the Persian Empire.

2. The lands under Antiochus’s control didn’t grow in the direction Daniel said the Lit-tle Horn would grow.

3. Antiochus didn’t destroy the temple in Jerusalem, as was prophesied of the little horn.

4. Antiochus didn’t desecrate the sanctuary for 2300 days or even 1150 days.

5. The end of time didn’t come after Antiochus’s storming of Jerusalem in 168 B.C. when he sacrificed a pig on the Hebrew altar.

6. Antiochus doesn’t fit the overall scheme of things in Daniel.  He was a very small man in history, much smaller than the kingdoms and powers mentioned in the other chapters.

Some interpretations make the horn of chapters 7 an antichrist that’s yet to come at the end of the world.  The other Little Horn in chapter 8 is interpreted as Antiochus.  This separation into two doesn’t fit into God’s way of giving us a basic view, as in the image of Daniel 2, and then expanding on it in later visions and dreams.  Both in Daniel and in Revelation, God presents to us a skeletal view and then adds to it as visions and dreams are added.  This is the Repeat and Expand technique mentioned earlier, repeating the basic skeleton of a time line, and then putting meat on the bones.

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Chapter 28 -- Act IV - Scene 2 - Part 1

A Beast Out of the Sea - Revelation 13:1-10.

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”  13:1, 2.

Let’s recall what we just learned in the prophetic book of Daniel.  There was a lion, a bear, a leopard and a ferocious beast beyond description.  Here in Revelation 13, the beast has the body parts of the four beasts Daniel saw.*  It’s not within the scope of this book to study the entire book of Daniel.  What we need to know is that the first beast, the lion, is clearly identified in Daniel as the Neo-Babylonian Empire of King Nebuchadnezzar.  (Daniel 2:38)  The bear is Medo-Persia, and then Greece is represented by the leopard, and finally Rome, the terrible fourth beast.  Pagan Rome was followed by a Little Horn which worked to destroy God’s truth and people, thinking to change times and laws.  (Daniel 7:25.)

The Little Horn is part of the terrible beast of Daniel and not the beast itself.  Here with this beast of Revelation 13 we find a composite of Babylon, Medo-Persian Greece and Rome.  We should understand that this beast is a composite of the four in Daniel.  Whenever possible, this beast uses the previous kingdom’s false teachings (Paganism) to corrupt and destroy God’s truth and His people.  The theology of the Little Horn is a false religion created by man through the influence and guidance of Satan.  Its purpose is to replace the true worship of the Only True God.

Babylon's religion and philosophies are with us to such a degree that in Rev¬elation the false church is called “Mystery Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots.”  Revelation 17:5.  Babylonian practices are everywhere in the nominal churches, the harlots.

The most notable are the worship of East¬er (from the name of Ishtar, the Goddess of Fertility) and Christmas with the Yule log and the Christmas tree.  There’s also Halloween and others too numerous to mention here.**  This beast of Rev¬elation 13 received its power from the dragon (Revelation 13:4) and can’t, as some contend, be the dragon itself, Satan.  (Revelation 12:9)  However, Satan is very much in control behind the scenes.

In Daniel, the same beasts were mentioned in the reverse order of the body parts mentioned here in Revelation 13.  In Daniel, the lion was first while the leopard was last.  Daniel was looking into the future while John in Revelation looked back into history in the reverse of Daniel.

The seven heads and ten horns are not explained in detail here, but they are in Revelation 17.  The beast here is almost identical to the one mentioned in Daniel.  (Daniel 7:7)  In Daniel, the terrible beast was Pagan Rome.  Here in Revelation 13 it has changed into Papal Rome, changing only the leader and name of the religion.  Its persecuting, totalitarian nature remains.  Having the name of blasphemy on its heads clearly points to the fact that this is an evil power.  Revelation 17 is an amplification of Chapter 13 and will be detailed later.

One Head Wounded

“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.’  13:3.

This beast is especially dangerous because he’s not feared or recognized as an evil presence.  Instead of trying to destroy him, the people worship him.  Only the Word of God reveals his true character, and without the Bible, we would easily fall prey to his influence.  On the surface, he seems pious, pure and deserving of our worship, but when compared to the truth of God’s word, we understand he’s the enemy.  He will deceive many.

Unfortunately, this beast of Revelation is only wounded and seems dead.  He comes to life again.  As he regains all that he lost and more, the whole world wonders at his power and widespread influence.  We must be on our guard.

In order to escape, we must know who or what we are dealing with.  What power was once very strong, and then wounded and now in the state of recovery?  It would have to be the power in Daniel, the Little Horn that came out of Rome and ruled the world for so many years.  It has to be the Roman Catholic Church, the Papacy.

The reformers who inflicted the wound during the Reformation would find it hard to believe the beast would survive, let alone gain its power back, and more.  However, that’s what’s happening today in this twenty-first century.  The beast that received a deadly wound has almost been completely healed.  The whole world is wondering after this beast.  Nevertheless, in the end he will be destroyed.

The Beast Has Great Popularity

“And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast?  Who is able to make war with him?”  13:4.

Imagine a religious leader traveling around the world with millions flocking to see him.  People look on him as someone to worship.  Few suspect he’s really the representative of an evil power.  To almost all, he looks like the good guy with the white hat, but under his pretended holy facade, he’s the antithesis of God, the antichrist.  He only wears a white hat in order to deceive and gain time to work out his agenda against the truth of God.  Even the Devil himself in the Garden of Eden disguised his true appearance and intentions in order to deceive Eve.  He knows a frontal attack will never work.

“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blas-phemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.”  13:5.

Forty-two literal months is a rather short time to reign.  It’s only three and a half years, not a very long time to be mentioned so often in the prophetic books.  Instead, we know it to be 1260 years, not days.  This is the time of the Little Horn.  It’s the time of the woman’s flight into the wilderness.  Only one religious power governed the world for that long a time.

“And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.”  13:6.

Revelation speaks of blasphemy concerning the beast.  Daniel mentioned blasphemy concerning the Little Horn.  It’s the act of claiming to be God.  The Jews in Jesus day knew this when they said they wanted to stone Jesus because He claimed to be God.  (John 10:33)  They called it blasphemy.  The pope of Rome boldly claims to be God, Jesus Christ in the flesh.  He’s called the Vicar of Christ, meaning the one in His place.  One name long attributed to the papal head is Vicarius Filii Dei.  This blasphemous phrase translated from Latin means “In place of the Son of God.”

In Daniel, we read about the Little Horn and the tabernacle: “Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.’  (Daniel 9:11)  Here this Little Horn not only lifts himself up to claim equality with the Son of God, the prince of the host, but also attacks the sanctuary service.  In order for the Little Horn to destroy the truth of God, the sanctuary must be destroyed; it represents the entire plan of salvation, explained in its types and symbols.

“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.”  13:7.

The world has almost forgotten the atrocities carried out in the name of religion during the history of the world, and they won’t be known fully until they’re brought up in the judgment.  This beast ruled the world for a period of 1260 years.  During that time, it persecuted those who would dare worship God contrary to its prescribed manner.  Remember the Inquisition.  That’s what Daniel is talking about when he said, “And he shall say great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High . . .” Daniel 7:25.

“All. . .  Shall Worship Him. . .”

“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.  “If any man have an ear, let him hear.  He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity: he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword.  Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”  13:8-10.

Is it Rome?

Can it be any other?  It has to be the system of religion supported by Rome and its leader.  The Roman church came out of the beast of Rome as Daniel’s prophecy explains, and she even long used Rome as part of her name – the Roman Catholic Church.  The papacy was in charge of most of the Christian world for many years, even 1260, 538 - 1798.  It was wounded and seemed dead until not many years ago.  Today, many in the world, not just Roman Catholics, are following the papal leader as if he were a god.  He claims to be the representative of Jesus Christ on this earth, even Christ in the flesh.

We’ll soon find more evidence in the next scene and in Revelation 17.  There’s no reason to doubt that the Papacy represented by a “man” is the antichrist, the Man of Sin.  Paul tells us about him in his second letter to the Thessalonians where he says:

“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 opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.  Don’t you remember, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?  . . . And then shall that Wicked [one] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,  And with all deception of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 1:12

If Not Rome, Who?

If it’s not the Roman Catholic Church and the Papacy, then what could it possibly be?  The rapture supporters place the antichrist either in the far distant past or in the future.  This teaching is as the real antichrist would want it to be.  Some will deny the explanation in this book, while having no explanation of their own, having no entity that fits the above criteria.

Unfortunately, in the very end of time, there will be false signs and won-ders, and many will be deceived.  Even Satan will be transformed into an angel of light.  (2 Corinthians 11:13)  At that time the good guys will refuse to believe these false signs while the bad guys claim the good guys are the antichrists refusing to believe that Christ has come, when in reality Satan is impersonating Jesus and His second coming.  It won’t be the first time God’s people are accused of being workers of Satan.  Even Jesus was said to have a devil in Him.  (Luke 11:15)  Elijah was called a troubler of Israel.  (I Kings 18:13)

Nevertheless, if we are walking daily with Jesus and have a valid Christian experience, we’ll know the scriptures for ourselves and won’t be deceived.  Our enemies will use quotes from the Bible to prove their points, but as Satan did with Jesus in the wilderness temptation, they’ll be misapplying the Word of God.  (Matthew 4:4-11)  As Jesus was prepared at His temptation, God’s true people will also be prepared at the final hour.

The deceived have only a superficial understanding because they don’t want to take the time to study and learn.  This surface reader knowledge is going to get them into trouble, giving them a false sense of security.  We must be properly informed.

* In Daniel 7, the terrible beast has 10 horns, which are ten kings.  We know this beast is Rome because it appears after Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece.  In Revelation 12, we have a dragon with seven heads, ten horns and ten crowns.  This is explained as Satan (Revelation 12:9), but there’s no explanation given for the heads, horns and crowns.  In Revelation 13 the beast also has seven heads, ten horns and ten crowns.  The only expla-nation given here is that one head was wounded, and then later healed.  Finally, in Reve-lation 17, the beast has seven heads and ten horns, which are explained in much more detail.  So, we have Rome in Daniel 7, Satan in Revelation 12, the Papacy in Revelation 13, and finally the beast in Revelation 17, which will be explained later.  What’s God trying to do here?  Surely he’s trying to show that Satan is very much involved in all this and that the final, human enemy will work closely with Satan to bring about the final scenes in this worlds history.  We should see there’s little difference between Satan and the or-ganizations, powers and kingdoms he controls.  God is also making it difficult to under-stand.  It’s confusing for those who are not His people.  Yet it will be comprehended by those who are willing to persist in the study of Bible prophecy.

** See The Two Babylons, by Hislop.

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Chapter 29 -- Act IV, Scene 2 (Part 2)

The Lamb-like Beast (Revelation 13:11-18)

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.  And he exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”  Revelation 13:11, 12.

It’s scary when you’re not sure who your friends are.  The lamb-like beast eventually speaks as a dragon, which is quite a change.  The terrible first beast ruled the world for 1260 years, was wounded and will completely revive to rule again.  The second, lamb-like beast at first is the friend of God and His true people, but it finally supports the dreadful first beast by causing all to worship it.

Who or what is the lamb-like beast?  Let’s look for keys.  While the first composite beast comes up out of the sea, the lamb-like beast comes out of the earth.  The seas are “peoples and multitudes.”  Revelation 17:15.  Before the time of this lamb-like beast, new powers came about through revolutions within already existing countries, from “peoples and multitudes,” So when we see that the lamb-like beast comes up out of the earth, we might expect the location to be a mostly uninhabited area.  Symbolically the earth represents God’s people, (Revelation 9: 4) so we might expect this beast to have a religious background, sympathetic with and made up of many of God’s people.

At first, the second beast is lamb-like, displaying the characteristics of the Lamb of God.  I would like to suggest one of the two horns is Republicanism, the other Protestantism.  Horns symbolize power.  A beast without its horns is powerless against its enemies.

Republicanism is a form of government that’s democratic because it has an elected government, but it also has a constitution that guarantees certain rights to all people, regardless of what the majority believe.  In a democracy, the majority rule: not completely so in a republic.  In a republic, any new laws are restricted to comply with the constitution, which guarantees certain rights regardless of the will of the majority.  The United States Constitution, for instance, gives the people certain rights that it recognizes are God-given.

This second beast is lamb-like because it allows freedom of religion to all, with no restrictions on beliefs or controls on freedom of propagation.  Roman Catholicism traditionally hasn’t given such a right to its followers.  To obtain this right, the founders of the United States left their home countries, mostly in Europe, to find such freedom for their religious beliefs.

Nevertheless, this second beast in the end will no longer be lamb-like, but dragon-like when it speaks as a dragon, (Revelation 13:11) which we have identified as Satan.  (Revelation 20:2)  There’s more:

“And he does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.  And he 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 causes 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.”  13:13-18.

What’s the Second Beast?

(1) It came up out of the earth rather than the sea.  It came up out of relatively unpopulated area and was not one power simply overtaking and destroying another power to gain control of the land.  It was a new land with a new concept of freedom of choice for all men.  It was a form of government based on the separation of church and state.  Neither the government nor any religious power was to have power over the people.  Instead, the people were to be the ones in power.

(2) It appears to be a lamb but later acts and speaks as a dragon.  That is, it seems to be doing the work of Jesus (Lamb of God – John 1:29) but eventually does the work of Satan (Dragon – Revelation 12:9).

(3) Horns represent power or authority, (Jeremiah 48:25; Psalms 75:4, 5, 10) so this beast can be looked upon as having two powers or types of authority.

(4) Since it’s a second beast, then it must come after or near the end of the 1260-year reign of the first, which was 1798.  It was coming to life as the first beast was receiving its deadly wound.  It acted as the first when “it exercised all the power of the first.” It coexisted with the first when it “causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast.”  This second beast rose up from the earth around the time of the wounding of the first beast, 1798.  Later, it aids in the healing of the first beast's wound and continues after the healing process begins.

The first beast rules the world for a time, was wounded and then is revived to rule again.  The second gives aid to the first beast by setting up an image of the first.  Then the second beast causes all to worship the first.  What or who is this second beast?

The Lamb-like Beast Is.  .  .

What power or government fits such a description?  Consider the United States of America.  The United States is today playing a huge role in international affairs.  Would God leave it out of Bible prophecy?  This second beast is the United States of America for the following reasons.

(1) America was settled in a new part of the world by peoples who moved from the old world to the new.  It was formed by many fleeing religious persecution.  America didn’t evolve from war between nations but arose for the most part in a previously uninhabited area.  In this sense America came “up out of the earth.”  The papacy and the other beasts all came up through overtaking existing governments and powers, out of the sea – peoples and multitudes  (Revelation 17:15).

(2) The United States was formed by and for those who wanted freedom to choose their own way of life and religion.  This freedom is guaranteed in The Constitution of the United States of America and is a lamb-like characteristic.  In the United States, religion is not to be forced on people.  All have a right to choose freely.  This was a new concept just coming forth in the world when the United States was coming into existence.  In previous nations, the king or a god was worshiped as a state religion and not optional.

On the other hand, when the mark of the beast is forced on all, this free-dom will be lost.  It’s hard to think of such a thing happening.  However, we only have to look at the progress the Papacy has made in gaining the sympa-thy of the most recent United States presidential administrations.

The world is being led into a one-world government.  Consider the words of a former president.  Here we clearly see that the second beast supports the one-world government as the United States gives support to the New World Order.  President George H. W. Bush said that only the United States was able to “back up” the new world order.*

(3) The two horns represent the separate powers of Protestantism and Republicanism.  Protestantism forms the basis for the freedoms granted by the United States Constitution.  Such freedoms can’t be granted under Catholicism because the Roman Catholic system is a totalitarian, hierarchical form of government, and she grants no such freedoms to the peoples of the world.

Republicanism is a form of government where the people are to have complete control, and it’s guaranteed by a constitution.  The government is not a power exclusive or separate from the people; the government IS the people and the people ARE the government.  In the United States, church and state were set up as separate with no totalitarian king and no totalitarian pope.

Religion and politics will again become united when the second beast (U.S.A.) exercises all the power of the first beast (Papacy).  The Papacy has in the past and will in the future cause all those who fail to follow its dictates to suffer punishment or even death.  Presently this is not possible in many countries, but it’s nearing.

(4)  The United States fits into the fourth item in that it was being estab-lished (1776) just as the terrible first beast was being wounded (1798).  God’s blessing has been with the United States for more than two-hundred years, but the lamb-like beast is now using its military might to speak as a dragon.

An Evil Power Working Miracles

Here is something else that will surprise many.  Not all “miracles” come from God.  We continue in Revelation,

“And deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast;” 13:14.

It’s very common to believe only God can work miracles, but the Bible tells us here and elsewhere that it’s not so.  We must be careful to test all miracles with the truth.  We should never test truth by the existence of miracles.  This will lead to deception.  The Bible says we need to compare all doctrine and miracles with the Bible itself, the Word of God.  (Isaiah 28:10)

In the world today, there’s already a very distinct religious revival.  To most, it seems to be the working of the Holy Spirit.  Some churches seem to be working “miracles” to make what they teach appear to be light and truth.  To them, feeling and emotional evidence is primary, with the Word of God holding a lesser position.  To be sure, such miracles will increase as the mark of the beast nears.

When false “miracles” are performed, the Bible is often quoted in conjunction with the miracles, completely out of context and thereby misleading.  Merely associating miracles with the Word of God is no evidence that what’s being taught is correct.  Satan quoted the Word to Eve in Eden (Genesis 3:1-5) and to Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:6).  We must check everything with the Scriptures so we don’t err.

There are many good people in all religions of the world.  These faithful souls are doing the best they can and are living up to all the light they have.  The false churches represented by a mother with harlots (Revelation 17:5), will eventually join hands to proclaim a one world government.  One primary doctrine that will be presented is that of a millennium of peace on the earth.  If we are not properly informed of what the Bible teaches on this subject, we will be deceived as to when the true millennium of Revelation 20 begins and ends and just where it will take place.  We could all be terribly deceived.  The millennium will be covered later.

How does the mark of the beast fit in here?  All these miracles and the false millennium are means to deceive the whole world into accepting the mark of the beast.  The mark is next.

* “It's a big idea: a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause...only the United States has both the moral standing and the means to back it up.”  President George Bush, in his State of the Union address, Los Angeles Times February 18, 1991.

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Chapter 30 -- Act IV, Scene Two (Part 3)

The Seal of the Beast

Many teach that the mark of the beast is a mark on our hands that never comes off or a computer microchip placed under the skin.  Is that really the case?  Think of it this way.  God is interested in morality.  The mark of the beast is in contrast with the seal of God.  In the judgment, everyone will re-ceive one or the other.  Is there anything moral about whether we accept a mark on our foreheads or a chip in our hands?

This mark is not a mark that can be seen.  God told Moses the commandments should be as “frontlets,” a small pouch placed on the forehead and on the hand.  He was talking about morality, not just putting something on the forehead.  God told Moses, “And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.”  Deuteronomy 6:8.  The Jews in Jesus time actually made such “frontlets” calling them phylacteries.  They thought that writing the commandments on pieces of paper and placing them on their foreheads and hands would constitute righteousness.  However, true righteousness and proper behavior is the keeping of the law in thought, represented by the forehead.  The law is sealed in our hands by what we do.  When we obey the law as a part of our nature, it’s because we are sealed in our foreheads and in our hands.  The sealing, therefore, is a sealing in of morality, the law of God.

The Mark of the Beast

The greatest part of the world will believe and support the previously mentioned false religious revival and new world order.  A reaction to the liberalism that has contributed greatly to immorality is at the heart of the reason for the mark to come about.  This second beast (USA), seeking to reverse the present trend toward crime, violence, immorality and natural disasters will set up an image to the first beast (Papacy).

The claim will be made by the religious community that God is unhappy with our moral behavior and wants us to reverence Him.  They claim He’s sending disasters to punish us.  The setting up of this image to the beast will be an attempt to get God, so to speak, back on our side – to appease Him, and thereby stay the natural disasters and poor economy.

In order to create an image of something we must make it into the likeness of the original.  If we accept the United States as the second beast, as previously explained, then this country will create something that resembles the Papacy in some very important way.  In the past, the Papacy has done and claimed much that can be imitated, but what will it be?

Is it possible that all the false teachings and practices held by Catholicism can be summed up in one teaching or act?  If so, then setting up this act of worship would be the setting up of an image to the beast.  This will be done, and at that time, it will become the mark of the beast.  The books of Daniel and Revelation are centered in the judgment.  The stories of Daniel are types of similar scenarios that occur in the last days.  This image to the beast in Revelation corresponds to the image of Daniel 3.  The test Daniel goes through in Daniel 6 also is a type for the test over the mark of the beast.

In the story about Daniel in the lion’s den, Daniel was tested by a man-made law concerning whom he would worship.  The enemy lay in wait to catch him at his routine worship time.  (Daniel 6)  Ultimately, this man-made law concerned WHO was worshiped, but the method used to catch him concerned where Daniel was at a certain TIME.  The mark of the beast will also concern WHO is worshiped and at what TIME.  Please read Daniel 6.

By accepting the mark of the beast, we show that we are worshiping the beast in his prescribed time and manner.  By refusing the mark, we show we are worshiping God in His prescribed time and manner.  It’s important to note that the mark of the beast, as in Daniel 6, concerns worship of WHO and WHEN.  It’s not the simple accepting or rejecting of a microchip.

The Image to the Beast

The last “Hitler” didn’t die with Adolph Hitler, nor was he the first.  There are others just like him who would stop at nothing to rule the world.  This beast is no different.  The Papacy pretends it has changed, but the Bible prophecies give no indication of that.  Rome has never changed any of her doctrines, except as it pleases her.  She is now reviving the practice of “indulgences” which so upset Martin Luther and helped precipitate the Protestant Reformation.  Instead of the Papacy making any changes, this is what happens:

“And he 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.”  13:15.

Here religious liberty is threatened, and those who don’t comply with the image will possibly lose their lives.  Those who don’t “worship,” as dictated by the United States, and by obeying a law that enforces some Papal established practice or doctrine, will be sentenced to death.  That’s very hard to swallow for many people.  The United States has always been a land of freedom and toleration.

Nevertheless, if we just keep tuned to world events, we’ll see it happen.  Just watch; The United States at the will of its apostate religions will form this image and will itself become the primary supporter of the beast and its mark.  However, until it comes, this is going to be hard for many to believe.

In Their Foreheads and In Their Hands

No one will like the idea of someone putting a mark on his or her hand or forehead.  Here is what the Bible says:

“And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.”  13:16.

This is a well known, often quoted text of scripture that many know, some fear, but few understand.  When confronted with this passage, most declare they’ll never allow such a mark to be placed ON their foreheads or ON their right hands.  We talked about this mark earlier, but what was said needs to be repeated and expanded.  It’s so much misunderstood.

The mistake most people make is to think it says ON not IN.  Actually, it could be translated either way, but IN makes more sense morally.  What could it mean to have a mark IN our hands and IN our foreheads?  It’s simply what we DO and what we THINK, what we PRACTICE and what we BELIEVE.  The mark of the beast has to do with doctrines, morality and worship.

Consider a microchip.  Could one be put IN our hands or foreheads?  Of course, it’s possible, but the real issue here is whether we’ll worship the beast in his prescribed time and manner, or will we worship God in His prescribed time and manner.  There’s no sin in having a microchip implanted just under the skin.  Ultimately, the controversy over the mark and the seal is about whether we accept God or man; God's way or man's way; God's religion or man's religion.

Implanting a microchip in our hands just under the skin is not the mark of the beast.  An implant is a possibility, but more likely, a Smart Card will be used to monitor compliance to the command to receive the mark of the beast.  Whatever is used, such things are not the mark itself, only the means to enforce the decree that forbids buying and selling.  It has been proposed that in the near future we will be given a medical card with all our important information easily accessible on it.  In addition, prepaid debit cards are gaining ground.

The Mark Represents Morality

God and Satan are not interested in whether or not we allow a microchip implant.  The controversy between Christ and Satan concerns which one will rule, which one will command the worship of humankind.  The idea of an implant being the mark of the beast reduces the meaning of the mark to nothing important.  It belittles the need for morality, doctrine and a complete surrender to the sovereignty of God.  So, in what way can we worship the beast and have the beast’s mark?  The answer is coming up shortly.

We must be informed.  God wants us to know through the study of the Bible what’s going to come upon us in the last days.  On the other hand, Satan hopes we’ll ignore the whole controversy, getting us to look for a microchip implant, at which time we will simple refuse it, thinking we are rejecting the mark of the beast.  This will make it possible for us to be finally tricked into believing a lie.  He wants ignorance of the Bible and its doctrines in order to keep everyone in darkness.  Nevertheless, God’s people will be studying.

Can’t Buy or Sell

The times ahead will be hard.  There’s a strong penalty for refusing the mark.

“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.”  13:17.

It might be difficult for us to imagine this could happen in the world where so many countries are preaching democracy.  How could any secular or religious entity cause all, either to submit to the law or to be cut off from making everyday purchases?  Yet, the Bible says it will happen.  It can all be enforced with a Smart Card or medical card envisioned in the United States and other countries.  It’s within the reach of most governments.  Such a concept has long been under discussion, and in some places is already in use.  The debit card that so many already use is a good example.

Cash might disappear from our hands.  Japan, Singapore and other coun-tries have experimented with a cashless society.  This in itself is harmless.  However, the results can be used to aid in enforcing the no-buy-or-sell edict.  With no cash, we’ll most likely have to have frequent validations of the Smart Card.  Without validation, we won’t be able to “buy or sell.”

When the Social Security system came out years ago, some said the social security number was the mark of the beast.  It’s not the mark, but these numbers, if used in all transactions, could easily be used in conjunction with Smart Cards or other currently available debit or health insurance cards.  Our lives could be controlled by these cards and numbers, and those who don’t comply with the beast's prescribed form of worship could easily be denied the right to “buy or sell.”

The Number of a Man

“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.”  13:18.

Verse 17 states that the number of the beast is “the number of his name.”  In verse 18, we find it’s not the number of Satan, a fallen angel, but the “number of a man.”

A score is twenty, so three score is sixty.  It all totals 666.  The pope fits the description of being a man.  Does he have a name that totals 666?  If so, how would we count such a name?

One of the names the bishop of Rome took in the early centuries is VICARIUS FILII DEI, meaning in place of God's Son.  A well-known Catholic publication in America states:

“The title of the Pope of Rome is Vicarius Filii Dei.”  -- Our Sunday Visitor, Nov. 15, 1914, p. 3.

“The letters inscribed in the pope's mitre are these: Vicarius Filii Dei, which is Latin for the Vicar of the Son of God.”  -- Our Sunday Visitor, (Catholic Weekly) April 18, 1915, p. 3.

By using the value of the Roman letters known as Roman Numerals we can calculate the number of this name.  When we do, we come up with the number 666.

As some have taught, the number 666 is the mark of the beast, but the Bible doesn’t support this.  The number 666 is the “number of his name.” The mark is a mark.  They’re not the same.

The reason some believe the number and the mark to be the same believe so because of the version of the Bible they use.  The New International Version (NIV) says, “so that no man might buy or sell, unless he had the mark, WHICH IS the name of the beast or the number of the name.”  Revelation 13:18.  However, the King James Version (KJV) says, “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, OR the name of the beast, OR the number of the name.”  (Capitalization supplied)

That makes a big difference.  The NIV tells us the mark is his name or number, but the KJV clearly shows the name, number and mark are all different.  Which is correct?

The word translated “which is” in the NIV and the word translated “or” in the KJV come from the Greek word that can be found in Strong’s Analytical Concordance, word number 2228.  It’s the same word translated in the same verse two times in the NIV as the “or” in “buy or sell” and as “or” in “or the number of his name.”  The third time “or” comes up in the same verse in the Greek, the NIV translates it “which is” instead of “or’.  Yet it’s the same word in Greek.  The NIV is not consistent here.  We can only guess why the translators of the NIV changed the third “or” to “which is.”  Surely, the beast of Revelation, the Little Horn of Daniel, has had some input into certain Bible translations.  On the other hand, the KJV is consistent because it correctly translates it “or” all three times.  The mark is yet to be defined.

“. . . count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.”  Revelation 13:18.

When Revelation was written, the “U” and “V” were the same in writing.  The World Book Encyclopedia tells us, “The Romans . . . used it (V) for the vowel sound u and v at the beginning of the word and u in the middle . . . During the Renaissance, people began using the letter v for the consonant and u for the vowel . . .” World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 20, p. 279.  The other letters, A, R, S, F and E have no numeric value.  Therefore, U and V both count as 5.

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Chapter 31 -- The Seal of God - A Key

The United States presidential seal tells us the president’s title is the PRESIDENT and his dominion is THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.  It reads, “The Seal of the President of the United States of America.”

The mark of the beast is contrasted in Revelation with the seal of God.  If we understand what a seal is, we can find out more about the mark of the beast.  Since God has a seal, we would expect it to have the same two items, one that identifies God by His title, the other His dominion.

Before the seal of God and the mark of the beast are revealed, we need to understand one important point.  We can’t just avoid the mark of the beast.  Instead, we must have the seal of God.  We have to do more than know about God and the beast intellectually.  We must be born again and know Him personally in our everyday experiences.  The judgment concerns more than just refusing the mark of the beast.  We must be sealed with the seal of God.  Having God’s seal means we have been accepted by Him and have eternal life.

God’s people receive the seal, while the deceived of Satan receive the mark of the beast.  The seal of God is in the forehead.  On the other hand, the mark of the beast is in the forehead or in the hand or both.  The mark is a condemnation leading to the reception of the seven last plagues and eternal loss, the second death.  (Revelation 2:11; 20:14; 20:6; 21:8)  We’ll deal with the second death later.

What is a Seal?

When God seals His people, He’s not going to place hot wax on them and then press it with a sealing ring.  The real seal is a moral condition, not just a physical mark.  The seal and mark are outward signs of an inward condition.  God’s outward seal shows us that we are His people.  It’s an external sign of character.  Seals are used to show approval of the contents.  In this case, it’s the contents of the heart.  God’s people will be sealed with His approval, never to be defiled again, and this seal is an eternal stamp on the character of man that can’t be changed.  We don’t receive the seal on a one-time test, but it’s a slowly settling into the heart the truths and loving principles of God.  When God’s people are sealed, it will be as a result of living the Christian life over years.  It won’t be received because of one decision, but it’s a result of many right decisions to follow God over time.

In opposition to God’s seal, the mark of the beast will come mixed with other good things, but it’s poison just the same.  This one unifying practice of worship can unite all the religions of the world.  We have studied in this volume that the beast of Revelation is the Papacy.  The Roman Catholic Church tells us what her mark is.

“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change [of the Sabbath to Sunday] was her act.  It could not have been otherwise, as none in those days would have dreamed of doing anything in matters spiritual and ecclesiastical and religious without her.  And THE ACT IS A MARK of ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.”  James Cardinal Gibbons, in a letter to J.F. Snyder of Bloomington, Illinois, dated November 11, 1895, and signed by H.F. Thomas, Chancellor for the Cardinal.  (Emphasis supplied).

The Roman Catholic Church has much more to say about the change of the day from Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday.

“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be de-fended only on Catholic principles . . . From beginning to end of scripture there’s not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public wor-ship from the last day of the week to the first.”  Catholic Press, Sydney, Aus-tralia, August 1900.

“It is well to remind the Presbyterians, the Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible doesn’t support them anywhere in their ob-servance of Sunday.  Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church.”  Priest Bradley, (Catholic) in an address, reported in The Elizabeth, N.J. “News” of March 18, 1903.

A Quotation from a Catholic Catechism

“Question: Have you any other way of proving that the [Catholic] Church has power to institute festivals of precept [to command holy days]?”

“Answer:  Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her: She could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week for Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there’s no Scripture authority."  Stephan Keenan, “A Doctrinal Catechism,"(Catholic); p. 176.

“Protestants . . . accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change . . . But the Protestant’s mind doesn’t seem to realize that in rejecting the Bible, in observing the Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope.”  Our Sunday Visitor, (Catholic); February 5, 1950.

Christians and all Americans should be interested in what happens in the political arena.  Today we have a swing to the left to liberalism.  But what comes out of this movement toward the left will be a switch so far to the right that it will trample on the rights of conscience and take religious freedom from the true people of God.  The existence of this idea is not new, and was predicted over one hundred years ago [1888] in the book, E.G. White, The Great Controversy.  In it, the writer states this:

“Yet this very class [leaders in the Christian world] put forth the claim that the fast-spreading corruption is largely attributable to the desecration of the so-called ‘Christian sabbath,’ and that the enforcement of Sunday observance would greatly improve the morals of society.  This claim is especially urged in America, where the doctrine of the true Sabbath has been most widely preached.  Here the temperance work, one of the most prominent and important of moral reforms, is often combined with the Sunday movement, and the advocates of the latter represent themselves as laboring to promote the highest interest of society; and those who refuse to unite with them are denounced as the enemies of temperance and reform.”  The Great Controversy,  587.

The Sunday movement is not new.  There has been a movement for more than a hundred years to make Sunday a national day of worship in the United States.  It’s the one unifying act of worship that can unify the world under one banner, and Sunday is already a work-free day in most countries of the world.

Few today believe that such a thing as a National Sunday Law could ever be a reality in the United States.  We have constitutional rights concerning the passage of any law dealing with the establishment or restriction of religion.

Many today doubt that such a Sunday movement could succeed in America with its guaranteed freedoms.  Nevertheless, extreme times will demand extreme solutions.  Earthquake, fires, floods, famine and war will put people into situations where they’ll be willing to change laws to benefit the majority at the expense of the minority.  Today, democracy is preached throughout the world.  However, The United States is not a democracy but a constitutional republic, built not only on the will of the majority as with a democracy, but also on certain rights recognized and guaranteed by the Constitution.  These constitutional rights can’t even be taken away by a majority.  The majority rules, as long as it stays within the guaranteed rights of the Constitution.

In spite of the Constitution’s guarantees, The United States will lead the way in this Sunday movement, attempting to unite all under this man-made banner.  When this happens, God's true and faithful people won’t go along.  To those who follow the Sunday observance law it will seem to be the right thing to do, and Sunday observance will likely be coupled with something good, such as temperance or the environment.  However, poison mixed with wholesome food is poison just the same.

Those people refusing to go along with this Sunday law will eventually be subjected to the death decree.  Nevertheless, they’ll have the seal of God (Revelation 7:2-4, 14:1), while those who knowingly go along with Sunday observance will have the mark of the beast.

Those who are keeping Sunday today don’t have the mark of the beast.  Only after it’s declared a day of worship does it become the beast’s mark, only after it’s decreed a holy day.  This is only after the United States makes it a law of the land, after whose example the rest of the countries of the world will follow, one after another.

A Sign or Seal or Mark of Character

Both the mark and the seal are ultimately conditions of character.  Sunday keeping will be an outward form of worship showing what leader and life style has been chosen.  God offers the inward seal of His character, which is represented by an outward seal or sign that shows who God is along with His dominion.  The Sabbath, like baptism, is an outward sign of an inward commitment to God.

In the Sabbath commandment, we read that God is the CREATOR, which is His title.  He’s the Creator of the HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, which is His dominion.  The third angel’s message of Revelation 14 (scene four of this act) deals with the mark of the beast and is preceded by the first and second angels.  The first angel declares,

“ . . .  Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”  Revelation 14:6-7.

The judgment here is coupled with the worship of the CREATOR who made the HEAVENS AND THE EARTH in six days and rested on the Sabbath day to commemorate His perfect creation.  The Sabbath commandment shows who God is, the CREATOR.  It shows His dominion, HEAVEN and EARTH.  It’s no accident that God inserted the text about heaven and the earth at this time of the judgment.  His seal is the Sabbath that shows He is the Creator of Heaven and Earth.  It shows the importance of the Sabbath commandment at the end of the world.

On the other hand, Satan has set up his false seal.  It’s called a mark, and it shows him to be the Babylonian sun god, with the sun as his sign and Sunday as his mark.  With the forced observance of Sunday, he tries to make men his subjects.  In these last days at the close of history, all must choose one or the other.

***God’s Sign to His People***

“Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it [is] a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that [ye] may know that I [am] the LORD that doth sanctify you.”  Exo-dus 31:13.

“Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I [am] the LORD that sanctify them.”  Ezekiel 20:12.

“And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign be-tween me and you, that ye may know that I [am] the LORD your God.” Ezekiel 20:20.

The Sabbath is not Jewish; it was established before there was a Jew, of whom Abraham was the first.  The Sabbath was instituted at creation when God rested on the seventh day and sanctified it.

“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

“And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: be-cause that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”  Genesis 2:2, 3.

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Chapter 32 -- Act IV, Scene 3

The 144,000 at War (Revelation 14:1-5)

God has an army, the 144,000.  This army will be in perfect unison and will go to war against Satan over the hearts of men.  There are twelve divi-sions; each represents one of the twelve tribes of Israel, God’s people.

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty [and] four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many wa-ters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand, which were re-deemed from the earth.

“These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.  These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes.  These were redeemed from among men, [being] the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God” 14:1-5.

This is a very special group of people; they’re not the only people of God, because there’s a group that follows, a “great multitude that no man can number.”  Revelation 7:9.

However, these 144,000 are the “first fruits”, and are perfect – fully rip-ened and harvested.  They’re the first fruits of those who will be perfected by the final atonement.  These first fruits of a human harvest are the antitype of the first perfect sheaves of grain presented before God, which were a type of the yearly autumn harvest.

The last generation of God’s people on this earth will be a peculiar lot.  They’ll be the product of the final atonement, the restoration of man spiritually to the image of God.  Adam and Eve were perfect at their creation, before they disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden.  In the same way, the 144,000 will be perfect.  The final generation will be restored to the image of God in character.  The Sabbath is the sign of this re-creative work.  God created Adam and Eve in His image and rested the Sabbath day to commemorate His perfect work.  The 144,000 will be recreated into God’s image, with the Sabbath a sign of God’s perfect re-creation.

With man, this perfection is quite impossible, but with God, it will be a fact.  It’s all a gift.  God wants to give total sanctification to His people.  He has been planning to do so since before the world began.  God will fill His faithful with His Holy Spirit, and all will walk together as one, the 144,000.

The 144,000 are numbered because it was a custom to number the army when preparing for war.  This group is the “first fruits” who receive the seal of God.  After being numbered and sealed, they go out to war on evil by spreading the message of what Jesus is doing for them in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary on the Day of Atonement.  Their work will result in the harvest of the “great multitude which no man can number.”  Revelation 7:9.

A Truth for Our Time

We need to understand that most of these thoughts on Revelation were not known in the past; it was not their time.  Now, at the end of the world, it’s time to know, and the 144,000 have been chosen to take the final message to the world.  The 144,000 who come from God’s people at the time of the sealing are sealed first, followed by the great multitude that’s without number.  This second group comes from God’s faithful in the other churches and the world.  They come out of Mystery Babylon (Revelation 18:4) who is the mother of harlots. (Revelation 17:5)  They join with God’s people as they obey the good news of the final atonement, the Day of Judgment.

At this point in our study, we are at the pinnacle of the book of Revelation; this is the very center where we find the climax or turning point in the structure.  This is an extremely important event.  It’s the central theme of Revelation.  The death of Jesus on the cross to forgive us our sins is central to all things and will be the talk of all future ages, but without the final atonement, all else will be in vain.  Unless the followers of God are cleansed and returned to their “rightful” state, they won’t be allowed into heaven where nothing of a sinful nature will exist to corrupt.

The Three Angels’ Messages

We are about to study Act IV, Scene 4, which brings us to the three angel’s messages of Revelation 14.  This is the very center of our chiastic mountain-shaped structure.  See the Introduction of this book to review the structure.  You’ll see that within the overall chiastic configuration is the smaller chiastic structure of Act IV.  Within Act IV’s chiastic structure, we find yet another small, three-part configuration of the three angels.

The three angels’ messages are:

One: “. . . Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. . .”

Two: “. . . And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. . .”

Three: “. . .And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 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, . . .” Revelation 14:6-9.

Please notice the three angels are connected in spreading the news of the judgment.  The first angel tells us the judgment has come.  What happens in the judgment?  We are told to worship the Creator who created the world in six days and rested on the seventh-day Sabbath.  This rest commemorated His perfect work in humankind.  Adam and Eve along with God rested to honor God’s creation.  Of the three, only God was present during the first six days.  Our first parents had no part in obtaining their perfect, sinless characters.  God had done everything for them.  It was a gift.  Salvation is God’s gift to us.  “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God.”  Ephesians 2:8.  Perfection and a perfect character were God’s gift to us in Eden, and they are God’s gifts to us in the Day of Atonement.  We can’t earn salvation; we can only cooperate with Him and receive what He wants to give us.

The Sabbath is a sign of God’s sanctifying power.  “Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I [am] the LORD that sanctify them.”  Ezekiel 20:12.  “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it [is] a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that [ye] may know that I [am] the LORD that doth sanctify you.”  Ezekiel 31:13.

How do we know we are God’s people?  What is the sign that we might know that God is our God?  “And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I [am] the LORD your God.”  Exodus 20:20.  The Sabbath is God’s sign that we are His, while the day of the sun is the sign that our allegiance is elsewhere.

The second angel speaks of Babylon falling.  The fall of Babylon relates to the three angel’s messages because when the promise of a restored perfection is preached and obeyed, then the errors of this false worship will be cast down.  At this time, all the eternal truths of God will be finally brought before the world, all that deals with salvation of character will be revealed.  All moral power will be given to God’s people through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, the third angel tells us not to accept the mark of Satan; instead, we must receive God’s sign of His re-perfecting work in us.  What was lost in Eden will be restored.  The image of God will be perfected in the 144,000, followed by the great multitude.  Thereafter, the second coming will be very near.

Armageddon

This war with the numbered 144,000 is part of the Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty.  (Revelation 16:14.)  This battle is more commonly known as the Battle of Armageddon, but is misnamed.  It has been going on since before the world was made, and it will be finished under the sixth of the seven last plagues.  We will learn more about Armageddon and the plagues later.  A review of the three angels’ messages is next.

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Chapter 33 -- Act IV, Scene 4

The Three Angels - Judgment   14:6-12

The First Angel

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlast-ing gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, fear god, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” 14:6,7.

This angel proclaims the everlasting gospel.  We only have to read what message this angel is proclaiming, and we’ll see that the gospel is more than forgiveness, more than justification.  The angel declares, “The hour of his judgment is come.”  This judgment is part of the gospel; it’s very much a part of the good news.  By now, you must know this judgment message is what’s being presented extensively in this book and is its theme.

The final atonement, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur is part of the good news of the gospel.  In the judgment, God is going to complete the restoration of His image in His people.  As it has been said before, this is the central theme of Revelation.  The first angel’s message clearly shows that the people of God don’t elude or escape the judgment.  They’re not raptured away before the judgment begins.  On the contrary, it’s a time that all the faithful of God should be eagerly awaiting.  God’s people desire above all things to receive the complete restoration of righteousness.  Their desire is to reflect the image of Jesus perfectly.  Sin is not welcome in their lives.  For them the judgment is good news, the “everlasting gospel.”  Unfortunately, it’s bad news for those who reject such a great and complete salvation.

The Creator

Why is the Creator mentioned here?  In our world today so many people believe humans and the entire system of planets, sun and stars magically evolved through their own power.  This widespread belief in Evolution gives us one important reason to mention the Creator.

God’s seal is God’s sign, the Sabbath.  It tells us He’s the Creator and that He’s the ruler of heaven and earth.  The fourth commandment of the ten tells us to: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God . . .” Exodus 20:8-10.

Why must we remember the seventh-day Sabbath?  ”For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”  Exodus 20:11.  It’s to remember the Creator and His power to create.  Adam and Eve were created perfect in Eden; the 144,000 will be recreated perfect at the end of time.  We need to remember that only God can create and recreate.  Thus, the Creator is remembered with the judgment hour message, because the judgment is a re-creation message.

The world is full of the Theory of Evolution, but the Sabbath points us to God and His creative power.  It’s His memorial of creation and reveals His power to create.  If we remember the Sabbath, as God has told us, we won’t believe in Evolution.  The work of the Creator, who sanctified the Sabbath, is mentioned here in Revelation and the first angel’s message because of its part in the final Sabbath/ Sunday test.  The final judgment will be over the creator’s power to create.  It’s the memorial of His creation and His creative power.  He created all things perfect in Eden; He has immortalized the Sabbath as the sign of this perfect work.  He will recreate the image of God in His people in the judgment, and again the Sabbath will be the sign of His re-perfected re-creation.

The Second Angel

“And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”  14:8.

Babylon is a false system of worship that has been set up since the Garden of Eden.  As mentioned earlier, it has been carried on for millennia under different names, but is the same false religion.  It’s a philosophy promoting man in the place of God, man’s efforts as a means of salvation rather than God’s gift of His Son.

In reality, it’s the opposite of God’s plan of salvation, which is His never-ending gift of grace to us.  The religion of Babylon has for its basis the idea that man can save himself, but God’s truth is based on God’s work of Jesus dying on the cross and the work of the Spirit of God in us.

The Sabbath is a sign that the sinner is resting from his work and letting the work of God save him.  This work includes Jesus dying for us for justification and the Holy Spirit working in us for sanctification.  Our part is to believe and cooperate with God in His work.

The mark of the beast will be an attempt to find favor and appease God by attempting to keep a fabricated holy day.  In the final conflict, waged by the 144,000 under the direction of the Creator, Babylon will be exposed and destroyed – “Babylon is fallen.”

The Third Angel

“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 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: And the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name.” 14:9-11.

The next verse is very important, pinpointing one of the characteristics of the God’s true people.  It says,

“Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the com-mandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”  Revelation 14:12.

The saints are clearly shown to be those who keep God’s commandments.  They keep all ten, just the way they’re written.  They observe the Sabbath commandment to keep holy the seventh-day Sabbath.  We are told to “remember” the Sabbath Day.  This is because it has mostly been forgotten.  It’s no coincidence the Ten Commandments are mentioned here just after the three angels give their messages.  At the end of the time, the entire Ten Commandments are to be lifted up, especially the fourth.

The Sabbath is God’s seal, because it shows His title and dominion.  Some people say the day has been changed to Sunday, but with all the sevens in Revelation, it’s hard to believe God would change the keeping of His holy day from the seventh day to the first.

Sevens are everywhere in the Bible.  There are seven days in every week.  There are seven feasts, seven yearly cycles and seven cycles of seven years to each jubilee.  There are seven months to every ceremonial year, seven candlesticks, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven thunders, the seven last plagues and seven acts in Revelation.  Seven is obviously God’s special number, why would He change the seventh-day Sabbath to the first day of the week?  Of course, He didn’t change it, but Satan through the Little Horn, the antichrist has claimed to.  (Daniel 7:25.)

“Repairers of the Breach”

Although the Little Horn didn’t actually change the sanctity of the Sab-bath, he caused a break in the knowledge and the keeping of God’s true rest day.  This breach needed to be repaired.  Isaiah talked about the time of the end when this breach would be repaired.  He said “And they that shall be of you shall build the old waste places: you will raise up the foundations of many generations; and you will be called, The repairer of the breach; the restorer of paths to dwell in.”  Isaiah 58:12

This breach is the Sabbath, where in the next verse it says, “If you turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable . . .” Isaiah 58:13, 14

The Sabbath was breached when the Papacy set up Sunday as the day of worship in the place of the seventh-day Sabbath.  God’s people in these last days are called to restore the Sabbath to its rightful place, and the keeping or rejection of God’s holy day will be the test for the judgment.  The Sabbath test will separate those who will follow God and His true day from those who instead worship the beast and obey a command to keep Sunday.  this command has no basis in the Bible.  Search as you might, you won’t find any sanctity placed on the first day of the week.

A Great Test

Yes, the Sabbath is going to be a test.  Being the outward seal of God, those who receive it will also have the inward seal.  Those who don’t accept the seal of God will receive the mark of the beast.  However, most of those who accept the mark won’t know when they have it, because they haven’t taken the time to investigate Bible truths.  They just go along with the popular trend, believing that the majority can’t be wrong.  They think they’re doing the will of God.  Where do they go wrong?  They just don’t care enough to find out.  They’re afflicted with apathy and unconcern.

Those Who Die in the Lord

There’s one more thing here that finishes out this scene in Revelation.  John was told to write something, and he wrote,

“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed [are] the dead which die in the Lord from this time onward: Yea, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.”  14:13.

Those who die during the time of these three angels messages of Revela-tion 14 have a special blessing, which is the privilege to be among the faithful ones in the last days.  They’re either part of the 144,000 or the great multitude and have the special Day of Atonement experience.

Even though the faithful might be martyred during the time of the sealing, their works attest to the victory they have gained in the Lord.  They’re overcomers of all sin and perfect as though they had never sinned.  Their works are not a cause of their acceptance with God, but a result of it.  They are those who have obtained the final judgment, the final atonement, the gift of the Holy Spirit without measure.

The Three Angels in Time

The first angel blew his trumpet ten days/years before the judgment, Yom Kippur.  In antitype, this was approximately 1833 when William Miller started preaching on the 2300-day prophecy, continuing to 1844.  The second angel blew his trumpet during the time of the ten years before 1844 as the false teachings of Babylon were being revealed progressively.

The third angel blew his trumpet on October 22, 1844 when Jesus went from the Holy Place to the Most Holy Place to carry out the final atonement.  These three angels unite and proclaim their messages until the close of probation, when all will have received either the seal of God or the mark of the beast.  Before that time, there will be a law concerning time and manner.  This law will cause all who don’t have the seal of God to receive the mark of the beast.  This starts the judgment of the living, the judgment of the dead having commenced in 1844.

After probation closes, all will have received either the seal or the mark.  This is the conclusion of the judgment, and the seven last plagues fall on those who don’t have the seal of God.  Finally, the second coming takes the faithful to heaven, while the marked ones are destroyed by the brightness of His coming.  We’ll see more on this later.

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Chapter 34 -- Evolution/ Creation

The judgment and the second coming of Jesus are generally thought of as bad news events.  On the contrary, they’re very good news for those who will allow God to make it so.  In fact, many will scoff at the mention of His appearing or the judgment.  Peter wrote about this when he said, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.”2 Peter 3:3

Doubters won’t believe nor want to believe in the coming of Jesus, because they’re living lives of sin “walking after their own lusts.”  They’ll be saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?” 2 Peter 3:4   Doubters will be adding some very interesting dialog to their disbelief by saying: “for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” 2 Peter 3:4

The scoffers deny that God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh-day Sabbath to commemorate a perfect creation; they deny Noah’s flood.  How do they deny the flood?  Contrary to what the scoffers are saying, not all things have continued in the same way since creation.  There was a great flood in Noah’s day that completely changed the earth.  The fountains of the deep were broken up and the whole surface of the earth changed.  However, the evolutionists say the activity of nature has been the same for millions of years, with no great changes in the speed of change.  This is the Theory of Uniformity, which states in essence, “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”  Today, with the most recent evidence, many are abandoning the Theory of Uniformity while still clinging to Evolution.

We know that Peter is talking about creation in contrast to evolution because of the next verse where he says, “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old . . .”2 Peter 3:5   Doubters are willingly wrong, because they refuse to believe the Word of God.  They “willingly are ignorant.” When it says “and the earth standing out of the water and in the water,” they refuse to believe God made the earth within a vapor envelope that kept the earth a constant temperature throughout.

The Vapor Envelope Theory

The Bible states that God, “. . . made the firmament, and divided the wa-ters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.  And God called the firmament Heaven.”  Genesis 1:6.  Here we read that there was water in the sky, and Adam and Eve lived in the space (firmament) between the waters in far more ideal environmental conditions than what we have today.

Some have theorized that the atmospheric pressure was as much as twice that of today.  This allows the body to heal faster and grow stronger and larger.  However, this is only speculation.  What we need to remember is that things were different before the big flood that changed things significantly.  The quotation continues.

“Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, per-ished:”2 Peter 3:6   Peter is talking about the flood, but God is keeping the heavens as they are now for another great judgment.  “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:7

How does the judgment fit into this account of the flood?  That’s an ex-tremely important question.  The answer is what we are dealing with foremost in this book and in Revelation, the judgment.  The flood in Noah’s day was a judgment.  The people of the earth had become too wicked for God to allow them to live any longer, so He destroyed them with the flood.  In the end of the world, He will destroy them with fire.

Continuing with the same text, we read what will happen to the doubters: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:8-10

Why are some “willingly ignorant” and refuse to follow our loving God?  It’s because of sin; they’re “walking after their own lusts.”  They won’t have God rule over them.  They don’t want Him to tell them what to do or to de-clare to them what’s moral or immoral.  In order to disobey God with a clear conscience, they must destroy God and His laws in their own minds.  If they remove God and His Word from their hearts, they’ll no longer believe in the creation and the flood.

If No Creation, then No Flood, and No Judgment

The fact is; the doubters work at it the other way around.  They deny creation and try to prove evolution true.  By this, they think they show the Bible is not true.  What follows logically is the belief there was no creation.  If the is no creation, then there’s no flood.  Taken to its logical end, there’s no God, no Judge and no judgment.  Ultimately, in their own minds, they can do as they like, because there’s no right or wrong except what comes from their own imaginations.  This brings us back to the Garden of Eden when Satan told Eve she could be as God.  That is, she could know or determine within herself what is good and what is evil.  (Genesis 2:17)

This controversy concerning evolution and creation is not new.  It’s as old as the world.  It says in the Bible, “there is no new thing under the sun.”  Ecclesiastes 1:9.  There’s very little that’s new, including the attempt to deny the judgment.  Before the flood, they scoffed at Noah and claimed there would be no flood, no judgment, but it came.  No matter how hard people try today to deny a judgment and the end of the world, both are coming, and sooner than most think.

Then, in place of God as the Creator, they present man as creating himself, which is what Evolution claims, man came about on his own, therefore, in a sense, he created himself.  Then man sets up his own day, Sunday, as the day to worship.  Sunday puts man at the beginning of creation week as though he had been there to have some part in creation.

Worship on Sabbath acknowledges man’s creation at the end of the crea-tion week, Friday.  It shows that man had no part in creating himself or anything else.  The Sabbath is God’s memorial of creation and a memorial of His perfecting power.  It gives the glory to God, not to humankind.  It recognizes humanity as the creature, not the creator.  It puts him where he belongs, in the dust.  “And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”  Genesis 2:7.

God created and therefore has the right to make rules to govern His creation.  He destroyed in a flood, those who broke His laws.  The flood was a judgment.  At the end of time, He will judge again.  The special sign of His right to rule and judge is the Sabbath, the memorial of His creation.

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Chapter 35 -- Act IV, Scenes 5 and 6

The Harvest of Souls   - 14:13-20

Jesus taught us:  “The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.”  Matthew 13:39.  The prophetic book of Revelation is not as disjointed and secretive as many people have said.  There’s an ingenious pattern here.  God is a being of order, and His ways are beyond understanding without His help.  The Bible says, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”  Romans 11:33.  Jesus said to Peter, “For flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven.”  Matthew 16:17.

Scene Five

“And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.”  14:14.

What else would he use a sickle for except to harvest?  The Son of man is none other than Jesus.

“And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for you to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.  And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.”  14:15, 16.

The angel came out of the temple, which is always the center of all that goes on in God’s plan of salvation.  This is where Jesus went and remained even after 1844 when He moved into the Most Holy Place of the temple.  This is where the faithful enter by faith and receive the benefits of God’s forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit.  The temple is where God’s people should be in thought and understanding.

The harvest is twofold.  The son of man on the cloud harvests the faithful and true.  This is scene five, “The Harvest of the Righteous.”  On the other hand, the angel that comes out from the altar of the temple harvests the wicked that are thrown into the wine press of the wrath of God to be destroyed.

Scene Six — Wicked Destroyed

“And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.”  14:17

This angel also comes from the temple to announce the decision made there.  Then, he turns the work of slaying over to the next angel, which is waiting at the altar.

“And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

“And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

“And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.”  14:18-20.

The angel that comes from the altar comes to destroy the wicked.  In the sanctuary service, the offering to the Lord was burned on the altar to show man’s rightful destruction due to sin.  However, the righteous need not suffer this fate of destruction by fire.  They have their trust and faith in the sacrifice of God’s Lamb, Jesus Christ.

Since Jesus suffered this fate for them, the believers need not do so.  Un-fortunately, the wicked who don’t have their faith in God’s sacrifice must suffer their own punishment.  They’ll be given to the destructive flames of the altar.  That’s why, in this scene, the angel of the altar, not from the temple, comes to claim them.  This signifies the end of the world, when the guilty will be thrown into the lake of fire, (Revelation 20:15) but God’s people will be reaped in a harvest that leads to eternal life.

The Seven Last Plagues

The seven last plagues are described in more detail in Act V, but prepara-tion for them is mentioned here in Act IV, Scene 6.  The angels with the seven plagues don’t come yet, they’re only shown in heaven as an omen of their soon arrival.  This gathering of the grapes and putting them through the winepress is the punishment the rejecters of God’s mercy will go through during the seven last plagues.

“And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.’  15:1.

These seven last plagues are only for those who have received the mark of the beast.  God’s people won’t have to endure them, although both the righteous and the wicked will exist on the earth at this time.  This is the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7); a time like there has never been before.

We also can find the time of trouble in the book of Daniel, “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which stands for the children of your people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.  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.”  Daniel 12:1, 2.

Michael is Jesus, and His name means One Who is Like God.  He’s sitting in judgment, (See previous chapters on Daniel 7 and 8.) and when He finishes, He will stand up and take on the role of king.  This is followed by the time of trouble, the time of the seven last plagues.  Next, Jesus will come to resurrect His people and take them back to heaven.

The Sea of Glass

In heaven, God’s people will stand on a sea of glass.  This is the final scene of Act IV.  This is the reward of God’s children.

“And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

“And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are your ways, you King of saints.  Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name?  for you only are holy: for all nations will come and worship before you; for your judgments are made manifest.”  15:2-4.

Just as we saw in Acts II and III, we see that the seventh scene takes us to the end of the struggles of man over sin.  But why a sea of glass?  Is there something significant here?

As we studied earlier, the sea is where the dragon and all evil dwell.  It’s the great unknown; it represents death.  Jesus walked on the water to show that He had the power over death and evil.  The Israelites walked through the Red Sea signifying their victory over bondage and death.  Baptism shows that we are buried in death in the grave, but come up, being raised to a new life, victors over the grave and all evil.  The Israelites passed through the River Jordan, symbolically through death to the symbolic Promised Land.  In this scene God’s people are on the sea of glass, which shows they have overcome sin and death.

That’s why the victorious sing the song of Moses and the Lamb.  Moses and the Israelites sang a song after passing through the Red Sea.  It was a song of victory over bondage and the beginning of a new life of freedom on their way to the Promised Land.  The sea of glass refers to the time when there’s no more turmoil in life, no sickness, pain or dying.  All is freedom and happiness.

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Chapter 36 -- Act V, Sanctuary Setting

The Fate of God’s Enemies (Revelation 15:5-16:1)

Many, who read the prophetic Bible books, do so only to know the future.  Unfortunately, these curiosity seekers want to know what the future holds but care not to change their lives to obey God’s word.

They talk about the end of the world and its destruction.  Some enjoy the excitement of the possibility of a cataclysmic event.  Unfortunately, that’s where their interest stops.  Many would believe the entire Word of God, but when it tells them they’re sinners and in need of repentance, they balk.

Revelation 15 deals with the destruction of those who have spurned God’s warnings and received the mark of the beast.  They’re called the wicked, and their reward is the seven last plagues.  Many are the doom’s day types mentioned above.  They’re thrilled when they can talk gloom and doom, yet they’re not aware they’re likely to be on the wrong side when the plagues fall.

A Bible verse should be quoted here.  It tells about the real hopes and desires of God.  God has no desire to see anyone lost, and His true people are not doom’s day thrill seekers.  It’s God’s desire and the desire of His people that all should be saved.  The Bible reads, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:8.

God wants us all to be saved, but He will someday find it necessary to destroy all sin.  If the sinner refuses to give up his sins, then he will be destroyed with them.  That’s their choice, and their final destruction breaks God’s heart.

It seems very foolish for a person to keep his sins and reject the saving work of God.  Yet it happens all the time.  There are two great mysteries be-yond our comprehension.  One is how God could love us so much that He would allow His own Son to suffer such terrible persecution and humiliation and then die for us.  The other is how anyone could ever refuse the great salvation that’s a result of this loving act of His sacrifice.

Those curiosity seekers who are reading the Bible prophesies to fulfill a desire for entertainment can easily be distinguished and weeded out from the true believers.  All that needs to be done is to tell them what they don’t want to hear.  To many, we simply have to tell them to repent and be born again.  Unfortunately, many just want the excitement of prophecy, but not the changed, renewed life.

Again in His Temple

“And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: . . .”  Revelation 15:5.

We are again in the temple of God in heaven.  God does all His work there, so it must be very large.  How large could the temple in heaven be?  Some have taught God as sitting in a building about the size of a high school auditorium, but the temple must be much bigger.  The universe is gigantic.  Why couldn’t God’s temple be as large as our solar system, or even larger?  Many people imagine God and make Him too small.

How can God remember everything we do and think?  Is there a limit to how big God or heaven could be?  If His memory capacity were only as big as our earth, He could easily store all the thoughts of every man who has ever lived.  We shouldn’t limit God.

“And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.

“And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.  And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.”  15:6-16:1.

Like God, His followers aren’t interested in the destruction of anyone; instead, they desire eternal life for everyone.  However, knowledge is very important.  God has warned us with prophecy, in the hope we’ll repent and be converted, and in turn warn others.  Too many are busy doing other things.

God’s Warning Before the Great Flood

“By the word of God . . . the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:5-7.

Another storm is coming.  The earth will again be visited by the wrath of God.  Sin and sinners will be destroyed.  The sins that existed during the pre-flood world are with us yet today.  The fear of God is missing from the hearts of men, and God’s law is disregarded.  Jesus said, “As in the days that were before the Flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”’  Matthew 24:38, 39.

God didn’t condemn the people in Noah’s day for eating and drinking.  Their sin was in taking these gifts without knowing the Giver, and corrupting themselves by indulging appetite without reserve.  Marriage was God’s plan, but it was out of control and perverted by divorce and re-marriage.  This is all very true, even today.  Marriage by some today is being redefined.  Nevertheless, the Scriptures are clear concerning this.

Before the Flood, God sent Noah to warn the world, so that the people might be led to repentance and escape destruction.  As the time of Christ's second coming nears, the Lord is sending His servants with a warning to prepare for the end of time.  Many have been living in violation of God's law, and God now calls them to return to Him.

Any who are willing to put away their sins by repentance toward God and faith in Christ will be pardoned.  Unfortunately, far too many feel it requires giving up too much.  Their lives don’t harmonize with the pure principles of God's moral government, and they reject His warnings.

In Noah’s day, only eight believed and obeyed God’s call.  For a hundred and twenty years, Noah warned the world of the coming destruction, but his message was disbelieved.  It will be so again.  Before Jesus comes again to punish the disobedient and reward the righteous, all will be warned to repent, and return to Him.  Unfortunately, with the majority, these warnings will be fruitless.

Peter states, “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming?  For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning.”  (II Peter 3:3, 4)  Today we hear these same words repeated, not only by atheists, but also by many who claim to be Christ’s disciples.  They declare.  “Before Christ comes, all the world is to be converted, and we’ll have a time of unity for a thousand years.  Peace, peace,” they cry, “All things continue as they were from the beginning.”  They say, “Let no one be overly excited by the doom’s day message of the alarmists.”

However, their doctrine of the millennium of peace doesn’t harmonize with the teachings of Jesus and the Word of God.  Jesus has declared the condition of the world at His second coming to be as it was in the days of Noah.  Paul warns us that we may look for wickedness to increase as the end draws near, “The Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”  I Timothy 4:1.

Noah’s Day Repeated

While God's servants are giving the message that the end of all things is at hand, the world is preoccupied in amusements. The greatest of these are sports and the movies.  This continual excitement causes indifference to God and prevents the people from being impressed by the truths that alone can save them from the coming destruction, the seven last plagues.  How many hours are given to the watching of sports events, compared to the time set aside for Bible study?

The door to Noah’s ark was closed after those outside had for one-hundred twenty years ignored the pleading of God.  As it was in the days of Noah, it will be in the time just before the second coming of Jesus.  The door of the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary will be forever closed when Jesus has finished His work there of pleading for those still outside His kingdom.  Unfortunately, those who refuse His offer of hope will be left outside the ark to suffer the wrath of the seven last plagues, just as those of Noah’s day during the great flood were left to the destruction by the waves and rushing waters.  In the end of time, it won’t be a flood, but the seven last plagues followed eventually by fire.

You must be born again.  God loves you and wants your heart and life.  He wants to live with you and walk with you as He did with Adam and Eve in the garden.  If you haven’t already, won’t you answer His call?

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Chapter 37 -- Act V, Scene 1

The Seven Last Plagues - 16:2-21

After the final atonement is finished, after the last soul has had his case judged, the plagues will fall.  They fall only on those who have the mark of the beast, not on those with the seal of God.

Scene 1 - Plague 1

“And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image.”  16:2.

This volume won’t deal with all the plagues and explain them in detail.  What they are exactly is not important to know at this time.  When they fall, we’ll recognize them clearly.  However, being properly warned is important.  We need to know where they occur in the time line of history and that they’re coming.  The plagues fall only on those with the mark of the beast and come after the judgment or final atonement is concluded.

After the plagues are poured out, everyone will know exactly where they stand in respect to the final atonement, because when they’re falling, it will be too late to change.  All will have been judged, and the plagues will fall only on those who are worthy of the mark of the beast. (See Revelation 16:2 above.) However, we’ll deal with some detail on the sixth plague, on which there has been so much speculation, Armageddon.

Hopefully, the thought of the plagues will deter some from a life of serving self and make them desire a life of serving God.  However, this is a selfish reason to follow God.  Nevertheless, after people give themselves to God, such self-centered motives can be changed into unselfish love.

Scene 2 - Plague 2

“And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead [man]: and every living soul died in the sea.”  16:3.

Scene 3 - Plague 3

“And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.  And I heard the angel of the waters say, You are righteous, O Lord, which are, and was, and will be, because you have judged thus.  For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.  And I heard an-other out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.”  16:4-7.

Scene 4 - Plague 4

“And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which has power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.”  16:8, 9.

Scene 5 - Plague 5

“And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.”  16:10, 11.

Scene 6 - Plague 6

“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.  Behold, I come as a thief.  Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, so that he not walk naked, and they see his shame.  And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”  16:12-16.

The popular belief for the Battle of Armageddon is that it’s a battle in the Middle East over control of the world.  However, when we think about it a bit, we find that even the name of the battle is incorrect.  The Bible calls it the Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty, not the Battle of Armageddon.

In addition, there’s no mountain, nor ever has been one called Megiddo, although there’s a plain in Palestine by that name.  Nevertheless, a plain is not a mountain, which is what “har” means in Hebrew.  In other words, it’s the Mountain of Megiddo.  Those that promote the rapture doctrine have to have it be in Palestine in order to fit it into their scheme.

The River Euphrates is a long way from the plain of Megiddo in Palestine where most people say this battle will take place.  Moreover, today a river doesn’t need to be dried up for modern armies to pass over or drop precisely accurate bombs.  We have helicopters and airplanes, and the capability of building bridges in a very short time.  In addition, who is going to win this battle, the United States, Russia, Israel or Iraq?  It’s a battle between God and Satan, not the armies of the world.  It’s the Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty.

How can any country or united power win against a God they can’t see?  How will all the Russian, American, Chinese and European soldiers get into such a small place as the Valley of Megiddo?  It’s Impossible.

We have to look somewhere else.  We must look to the Bible to see what’s happening, but where should we look?  The whole book of Revelation has to do with the sanctuary or temple.  Shouldn’t we look there?

The sacrifice of Jesus was shown in the Passover: soon following, Pente-cost showed us the harvest of souls.  The blowing of trumpets foretold the coming judgment, and the final judgment was depicted in the Day of Atone-ment, Yom Kippur.  The seven last plagues fall on those who receive the mark of the beast.  This battle is one of the plagues, so the Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty must be after the Day of Atonement, after the judgment concludes.

The Scapegoat

At the time of the final atonement, Yom Kippur, the high priest had two goats brought to the sanctuary.  One was the Lord’s goat and the other was the scapegoat.  The Lord’s goat was sacrificed, but the other was sent into the wilderness by the hand of a fit man.  (Leviticus 16:9, 10)  It was not to be released until it reached a certain place in the wilderness.  This is the time of trouble mentioned in the book of Daniel.  Here is what it says, “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Everyone who is found written in the book.  And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.”  Daniel 12:1:2.

Notice that Michael stands up.  If we read the rest of Daniel’s book, we’ll find this phrase used to signify someone taking authority or power into his hands.  Michael, Jesus Christ, will take the power of a king as he takes off His priestly robes and prepares to come to earth as a king.  This is shown to be the case as we see that after this time of trouble, God’s people who are still alive are delivered.  The graves will open and those that sleep will come forth to life.  (Daniel 12:2.)

Armageddon and the time of trouble are at the same time.  In Revelation, Armageddon comes during the sixth plague that falls only on the wicked, only after the judgment is concluded.  When Michael stands up, it’s after the judgment is concluded.  Please remember, the seven last plagues, including Armageddon, are only for those judged as having the mark of the beast. (Revelation 16:2)  The plagues fall not on God’s sealed people.

We must also ask what the prize of the battle will be.  Over what is this battle being fought?  With what we have learned about the scapegoat and the time of trouble, we can add what we read under the sixth plague.  Here is what we have,

“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”  16:13, 14.

The time of trouble is a battle that God fights against the kings of the earth.  How does that fit into the scapegoat motif?

The Fit Man Holds On

The scapegoat is Satan, who is held tightly by the fit man.  (Leviticus 16:20-22)  If he escapes or is released before he goes into the wilderness for the thousand years of the millennium (explained in Act VI), the scapegoat, Satan, wins the battle, and God’s people lose.  The fit man represents God’s people who hold Satan, keeping him from escaping.  They’re in control only as long as they’re faithful to God, as long as they don’t sin.

They don’t actually lay hold of him physically.  Instead, by resisting his temptations through the time of trouble, they hold on him in a spiritual sense.  Satan’s victory can be accomplished if God’s people should sin and give in to the lies and deception of the three frogs during Jacob’s Trouble.  It’s a great testing time for the people of God.  As Jesus was tempted by the words of Satan, the 144,000 will be tempted by the words of the three frogs, as they originate with Satan.

This is a battle with words.  Frogs catch their prey with their tongues.  The unclean spirits like frogs come from the mouths of the dragon (Satan) speaking lies.  The three frogs are three agencies used by the devil to entrap and destroy God’s people.  Space doesn’t allow us to explain them in detail, but just suffice it to say, they’re Satan’s unholy trinity.

The Battle of Armageddon is really the Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty and is over whether God’s people can be faithful through the time of trouble mentioned in Daniel.  This was all depicted by the fit man needing to hold tightly the scapegoat, Satan.  They must hold him until he’s delivered to the wilderness for a thousand years, the millennium.  (See Revelation 20)

The River Euphrates flowed through the city of Babylon.  The night the city fell to the Persians, hundreds of years before Christ, the river had been diverted and therefore was dried up around the city.  Babylon fell in one night.  As we have studied, Babylon is a symbol of Satan’s power on earth and is contained in the second angel’s message of Revelation 14 “Babylon is fallen.”  We’ll study the fall of Babylon again in Act VI.

In the Hebrew Tongue

In the word Armageddon the prefix “Ar” means mountain.  The word “Armageddon” is explained as being in the Hebrew language, so we can expect the word itself to have an important meaning and not just the name of a place.  For instance, Daniel means, “God is Judge” or “God will judge,” and Michael means “One who is like God.”

If it were the plain of Megiddo or another existing locale, a Hebrew word wouldn’t be needed, since there are Greek words for all those places.  Re-member, Revelation was written in Greek, not in Hebrew, as was the Old Testament.  The answer must be in the Hebrew language, in the Old Testament.  It must be a word that’s found in Hebrew but not in Greek.  It’s transliterated into Greek from Hebrew.

When we look for a mountain in Hebrew having a similar pronunciation, we find the word, “Har Mo’ed.”  This word is found in Isaiah (Isaiah 14:13) where it’s translated the “Mount of the Congregation.”  In the book of Isaiah, Satan is described as in rebellion against God.  Consequently, he was cast out of heaven as he tried to take God’s holy mountain.

The apostrophe in “Mo’ed” calls for a guttural sound similar to the English “g”.  The “on” on the end of the word Armageddon is only the Greek language accusative case ending that’s added as a necessary part of Greek grammar.  This all leaves us with a word very similar to “Har Mo’ed.”  This battle of Armageddon, God’s battle is over the mountain of God.  Satan attacked God’s holy mountain when he sinned in heaven.  He was later cast out.  The Battle of Armageddon is the culmination of the war started before this world began.  This final battle is the final phase of the war that was started in heaven (Revelation 12:7-9; Isaiah 14:13-16).

It’s the battle of God with his people fighting against Satan the scapegoat.  If Satan can again win control over God’s people by leading them into sin during this “time of trouble,” he will be the victor in the great controversy over good and evil.  It’s God’s battle with Satan, and God’s people are His army.

The sixth plague really should be called the Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty but is misnamed the battle of Armageddon.  It’s a test for God’s people as Adam and Eve were tested in Eden.  They failed the test, so Jesus came to show that God’s law could be kept.  He passed His test when tempted by Satan.

The 144,000 and the great multitude will be tested.  They pass the test as they keep hold of the scapegoat, Satan.  Satan tries with the lies of the three frogs to get the people of God to lose their faith and thereby sin, but they do not.  This episode with the scapegoat occurs after the judgment is completed, during the time of the sixth plague.

When we read this passage about Armageddon, we might think one verse is out of place, but it’s not.  It’s this one, “Behold, I come as a thief.  Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walks naked, and they see his shame.”  Verse 16.  God’s people are admonished to keep themselves pure, without sin.  This way they defeat Satan, that is, they keep their hold on the scapegoat until they escort him into the wilderness, that is, into the millennium.  Also, notice in the above verse that Jesus will soon come the second time.

If Satan, the scapegoat, gets God’s people to sin after the end of the judg-ment, during the time of trouble, what does he win?  For one, he wins an argument.  Satan has been accusing God’s people for years.  He’s the Accuser of the Brethren “and accuses them before God day and night.”  (Revelation 12:10)  He’s cast down in the judgment but goes out during the time of trouble for one last try to ensnare the people of God.  He does it with words as he did with Jesus in the wilderness of temptation.  Satan even quoted the Word of God, but Jesus was not fooled.  He answered with “It is written.”  The 144,000 in their hour of temptation will surely also answer with the Scriptures, because they know them well.

As God gave Satan the chance to tempt and deceive sinless Adam and Eve, Satan is again given the opportunity to tempt and deceive the perfected people of God, the 144,000 and the great multitude.  However, this time he will fail.  Yes, the sealed of God will overcome him through the power of the Holy Spirit living in their hearts.  They’ll be completely restored to the image of God, showing Satan and the angels, both fallen and un-fallen, that such a thing is indeed possible.  By His people living this perfect life, God’s way will be vindicated.

Scene 7 - Plague 7

“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightning; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.”  16:17, 18.

This is the second coming of Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven.  All things will be moved out of their places.  They’ll fall before the Son of Man, coming with ten thousands of His saints.  “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”  Revelation 6:17.

The falling of the seven last plagues on those who have received the mark of the beast along with the eventual destruction of the wicked is very tragic.  Nevertheless, it need not be this way.  God has made all the preparations needed for their eternal life.  Regrettably, they make their choice saying, “We will not have this man to reign over us.”  Luke 19:14.  Their destruction is not God’s will, for He has said, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn  from your evil ways; for why will you die?”  Ezekiel 33:11.

Back to Program

Chapter 38 -- Act VI, Scene 1

The Fate of the Harlot - 17:1-18

Entrance into the paradise of God, is not automatic, nor can it even be thought of as easy.  So many people believe their afterlife is sure, merely be-cause they have lived up to what they consider proper qualifications, namely being a good person in their own eyes.  A simple perusal of Scripture will soon dispel such a notion.  Jesus taught it’s the opposite of easy; heaven is obtained in a more difficult manner.

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  Matthew 7:13, 14.

Act VI is an amplification of what came about in Act IV.  Here we read about a false movement leading many down the wide path to destruction without their knowing it.

Seven Angels with Seven Vials

“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come here; I will show you the judgment of the great whore that sits upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”  17:1, 2.

The sanctuary setting for this scene is not as obvious as the others are, but we can assume it’s the same as in the preceding act.  This is because one of the angels that came from the temple creating the setting for the previous act comes to talk to John at the beginning of this act as well.  We know where the seven scenes of the previous act end, the seven last plagues.  One of the angels that announce the seven last plagues also announces Act VI.

Yet another of the angels that had one of the seven vials containing a plague also announces Act VII.  (Revelation 21:9)  So all we have to do to find the seven scenes that make up Act VI is to consider the text between those two angels of 17:1 and 21:9.

They’re not so hard to find.  We only need to look carefully and see where there’s an obvious change from one scene to another.  Scenes 2 and 3 start with the words, “And after these things.”  In scene 4, John says he “saw heaven open.”  We’ll understand better as we go along.

“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”  17:3.

This woman is in contrast to the woman of Act IV who stood on the moon wearing a crown of twelve stars.  (Revelation 12)  That woman clothed with the sun is God's pure church.  “I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate [woman].” Jeremiah 6:2.  However, this woman in this scene is a whore, a false religion or corrupt church.  (See also Hosea 1:2; Ezekiel 16:26-28.)

“The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.  And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.  I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.  And when I saw her, I marveled with great admiration.”  17:4-6.

Most of the world is going down the wide path and are unaware of their plight.  This woman is greatly admired, and people marvel at her power and influence.  In too many cases, lost souls are willfully blind and following the sound of her voice.  They fail to read or study for themselves, and let others tell them what to believe.  Unknown to them, Mystery Babylon has them completely in her control.

The Beast of the Bottomless Pit

“But the angel said to me, ‘Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mys-tery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.  The beast that you saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not and yet is.”  17:7, 8.

This beast is Satan.  He “was” in the sense he was a glorious angel before he was cast from heaven.  He “is not” because he has been staying behind the scenes working out his evil agenda.  He “yet is” in the sense that he hasn’t yet been destroyed and is still to take part in things to come.  Near the end of time he will “ascend out of the bottomless pit.”  This will happen when he once more makes himself visible as he tries to impersonate Christ and His second coming.  He will “go into perdition” when he’s destroyed with all the wicked at the second death.

Jesus is the Great I Am.  Knowing this is the key to understanding who or what the beast is.  Satan fits the phrase “was, is not, and yet is.”  Jesus, on the other hand, “was, and is and is to come.”  Revelation 1:8.  He’s the Eternal God, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last.  This beast of chapter 17 is Christ's antithesis.  This beast is the Great Red Dragon of chapter 12.  Both have seven heads and ten horns.  However, Satan here in Revelation 17 has no crowns on his horns.  We’ll see why later.

“And here is the mind which hath wisdom.  The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits.”  17:9.

Rome sits on seven mountains.  The Seven Hills of Rome are well known.  Any encyclopedia, when referring to Rome, is likely to mention the Seven Hills of Rome.

“And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a short space."  17:10.

As we turn back to Daniel, we see four kingdoms represented there.  These four were all state governments with enforced national religions that oversaw God's people and greatly restricted or took away their religious freedom.  They were Babylon, Persia, Greece and Pagan Rome.  These four are four of the five that are fallen.

What came out of Pagan Rome was the fifth king, Papal Rome, lasting longer than any of the others.  The Papacy totally eradicated religious liberty in law and practice.  This religious intolerance continued until 1798 when it received its “deadly wound” (Revelation 13), when the pope was taken captive by one of Napoleon’s generals, Berthier.

The United States has given the world a form of government with the unique principle of religious freedom for all.  This form of government has spread to other countries, but for how much longer these countries of the world will be able to enjoy this religious liberty, we don’t know.

Today, the first five kings have fallen, one is and one is yet to come.  We are now in the time of the sixth king.  This sixth king is the United States of America, which has of late taken a prominent role in world affairs and is the watchdog and policeman of the world, involving itself in the affairs of all na-tions.  The United States is depicted as the second beast of Revelation 13, which makes an image to the first beast.

The United States of America began its history by appearing as a lamb, Christ-like in its role as a nation with unheard of religious freedoms, but it ends up speaking like the dragon, Satan.  (See Act IV, Scene 2.)

Lamb-like in character and mostly Protestant, America has been the champion of religious freedom and individual rights.  Nevertheless, when she makes a law no longer protecting the freedom of religion, she will play the part of a dragon, eventually establishing Papal Rome as the head of the New World Order, the seventh king.  The Papal deadly wound is about to be completely healed.  Still not back to full power, Rome is gaining strength daily.  After the Papacy is completely restored, it will become the seventh king and continue a “short space.”  The eighth king is explained below.

When are We?

How do we know where we are today in this scenario?  How do we know John viewed this five-are-fallen scene from our day?  Would it not make more sense to think that John was viewing the five fallen kings at the time he was given the vision on Revelation, about AD 66?  There are those that think so, and it would seem logical, except that John has given us clues that he was seeing the five fallen in vision from a later date.  Could we be living in the time of the sixth king?  Is John seeing this vision from our time frame?

We can say we are living today in the time of the sixth king only if John was viewing this vision in his future, not at the time he wrote Revelation.  If we believe the first six kings are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Pagan Rome, Papal Rome and the United States, then John was viewing this vision from our day, the time when the United States is the predominant world power.  (Revelation 13: 3, 12)  Only at this time can we say the first five are fallen and the sixth is now with us.

What evidence do we have for this?  First, it makes sense to believe that the five fallen kings are kings or kingdoms, which God has or will reveal to us.  God revealed these kingdoms in Daniel 2, 7 and 8.  They were reiterated in the physical features of the beast of Revelation 13; the beast that came up out of the sea.  In all four places, the first four were Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.  History also tells us what came after Rome.

Both Daniel and John use the Repeat and Expand mechanism.  This method of teaching states a truth in one vision and then repeats and expands on it in another vision or dream.  In other words, the first vision creates a basic form, and then the subsequent visions put the meat on the bones.

It Is the Judgment of the Whore

In addition, the beginning of Revelation 17 tells us we are seeing “the judgment of the great whore.”  Revelation 17:1.  The whore is a system of religion that teaches we can earn salvation through our works.  This and other self-made doctrines directly oppose Bible truth, leading people to a false understanding of the process of salvation and the character of God.  The Bible clearly points out the Roman Catholic Church to be this system, and all her harlots are those churches that have failed to come out from her and give up her theological errors and practices.  (Revelation 17:5)  The Papacy is the Little Horn of Daniel 7, the Antichrist of 2 Thessalonians 2 and the first beast of Revelation 13.

The key to the understanding of the correct point in time is the judgment or cleansing of the sanctuary that began in 1844.  This is a judgment to investigate the professed people of God, including the Papacy.  At this time, all the cumulative truths of the Holy Scriptures and the lies of the whore will be brought out and clearly contrasted in the messages of the three angels of Revelation 14.  Later, there will be an executive judgment, that is, the seven last plagues that will carry out the decisions made during the investigative judgment.

When the judgment began in 1844, the Papacy had been in its wounded condition with the United States coming to life around 1776, just as the Papacy received its wound in 1798.  John saw these five kings as fallen at the time of the beginning of the investigative judgment, 1844.

The wound of Rome (Revelation 13:3) won’t be entirely healed until it regains complete control, which hasn’t happened.  This will happen when the pope takes charge of The New World Order, as the United States (sixth king) forms an image to the beast (Revelation 13) and then hands over power to the Papacy.  Therefore, we are still within the time of the sixth king.

John is viewing this vision from the time of wounded Rome, when the United States is dominant.  This is the time of the judgment, 1844, and the angel was sent to him to show him the judgment of the whore.  (Revelation 17:1)  Yes, a key to understanding what time in world history John was viewing this vision is the word “judgment.”  Another important word here is “wilderness.”  The woman is in the wilderness.

In the Wilderness

The key to knowing that this period is around the end of the eighteenth century is to put the woman where John found her, in the wilderness.  (Revelation 17:3)  God’s woman, the church in Revelation 12, spent 1260 years in the wilderness clothed in sackcloth.  She came out of sackcloth in 1798 at the end of the 1260 years.  This whore, Satan’s church, began to spend time in the wilderness starting in 1798 when the pope was taken captive.  The whore is in the wilderness, even now, and the sixth king (United States) is now reigning as the whore is preparing her return from the wilderness.  Rome, the woman, will completely emerge when the “deadly wound” is completely healed, which is now well on its way.  She will then become the seventh king, as the powers of the earth will once again give her power over the earth’s inhabitants.

When will she be destroyed?  Her deadly wound will be completely healed after her mark is urged upon the peoples of the earth.  This will begin the judgment of the living, when all will be confronted with accepting or rejecting her mark.  Only at this time will the mark officially become the mark of the beast.  The mark will be used to hold sway over the whole world.  It is then the seventh king will be installed, which will be the Papacy restored.

At this time another angel (Revelation 18:1) will join in the preaching of truth to expose the woman (Babylon the Great) and her lies.  The appearance of this angel will proclaim the total fall and destruction of the woman, Babylon.  As a result, God’s truth will be seen, understood and acknowledged by those who are honest in heart.

The Judgment of the Dead

The judgment of the whore must coincide with the judgment at the end of the world.  This is when the kingdom is taken away from its previous rulers and returned to God.  Satan’s false world rule is defeated as God sets up His everlasting kingdom.

The judgment is taking place today.  It began on October 22, 1844 at the end of the 2,300-year prophecy, at the cleansing of the sanctuary.  At present, the dead are being judged.*   The judgment of the living begins when all receive either the seal of God (Revelation 7:2) or the mark of the beast.

The seventh king, “not yet come,” will be in charge when the deadly wound is completely healed, that is, the Papacy returned to its previous state of world domination.

The Eighth King

“And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition.”  17:11.

Why is there an eighth king?  There are only seven heads, not eight.  This eighth king must be some power that’s similar in some way to the others to be called a king.  Yet this eighth king is different enough not to be listed with the other seven heads.  If the beast is Satan and the eighth king is the beast, then the eighth king is Satan.

Yes, this fits Satan perfectly.  He’s not a pope, an organized religion, a sovereign state or a church.  Yet he has been the influence behind Babylon and takes over after the seventh king.  He’s “of the seven”, meaning he has had a part in all seven.  After the power of the Papacy is fully restored, the Papacy again will be in complete control.  Upon becoming the seventh king, the Papacy will once again be in charge of the world.  Nevertheless, his reign won’t last long.  He will “continue for a short space.”

The eighth king, Satan, takes over from the seventh, but we can be sure he won’t announce himself as Satan.  If he were to do that, most everyone would know and refuse to follow or worship him.  Surely, Satan won’t expose himself, as himself.  Instead, he will make his appearance imitating Christ and gaining full control of the world.**  The popes for centuries have said they’re on this earth in place of Christ and are the rightful leaders of the church.  Satan, claiming to be Christ, will simply take over the position as ‘”leader of the church.”  This will make him the eighth king.

It will be an overwhelming deception.  Only those who know the Bible and have allowed God to lead them will know the truth.  If possible, Satan will deceive the “very elect,” the chosen people of God.  (Matthew 24:24)]  However, God’s people won’t be deceived by a counterfeit.  They study the Word of God and know the real thing.  They’re on the narrow path that leads to the city.

Ten More Kings

“And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.  These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”  17:12,13.

The interpretation of the ten kings (horns) presents us with a problem.  That is, until these ten “kings” come on the scene, it makes it difficult to say without a doubt who they are.

In the past, some Bible students have said these ten kings are ten king-doms of Europe.  That is, the same ten kings as the ten horns of the terrible beast in Daniel 7, and the same ten kings as the ten toes of the image of Daniel 2.  However, we must bear in mind that as of the time of the five fallen kings, the ten “have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.”  Because they haven’t received power yet, they’re depicted on the beast as having ten horns, but without ten crowns as in Revelation 12 and 13.  When the ten kings receive their power, Satan, the beast, will be at full strength as depicted in Revelation 12, the Great Red Dragon.  The Papacy is depicted in Revelation 13 as having 10 crowns, because at the peak of her power, she had complete control over the kings of the earth, represented by the ten horns with crowns.

Recent events have begun to make many think that these ten kings take on a wider worldview, not only the European scene.  It’s entirely possible for the world to be divided into ten areas ruled by a representative of the members of each area.  These would be like kingdoms with one leader, one king.

Contrary to what some have long believed, Europe and the European Community may not be all the kings, but only one of ten economic-political areas.  The United States, Canada and Mexico have signed such an economic-political cooperative agreement (NAFTA).  They have created an economic cooperation zone.  This economic cooperation is necessary to enforce the “‘buy or sell” restriction worldwide.

The world is quickly coming together, creating ties that are forming the countries of the entire world into a concept known as economic interdependence, a term used by the New World Order.  Even if this is not the correct interpretation of the ten kings, we can expect ten economic and/ or political unions to give their power to the beast for a short time.  (Revelation 17:12, 13)  At this time, the wound of the Papacy will be completely healed as it returns to world domination and control.  She becomes the seventh king.  All this would go under what former President George H. W. Bush and many others have named the New World Order, with the United States providing the muscle.

These ten worldly powers receive their strength at the time the beast re-gains its full strength.  These kings act as a coalition to enforce the eighth king's (Satan) demands.  As stated in the following verse, they “make war with the Lamb . . .” (Christ with His chosen and faithful).  This war is the war the 144,000 were numbered to fight.  From the battle for souls, the “Great Multitude” will be chosen and sealed.  No matter how hard the ten kings try, their fate is that of the loser.

“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen and faithful.”  17:14.

The Ten Kings Are Deceived

The ten kingdoms at first join hands with the Papal “church” with Satan (beast) as its head.  The entire world stands behind Satan, enforcing Rome's desires, believing her ways are the ways to truth and prosperity.  They un-knowingly “make war with the Lamb.”  Total world domination in the name of God is their hope, but they have been deceived by the power in which they put their trust.  If they had only known and understood that Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world, (John 18:36) they wouldn’t have been beguiled by the beast’s promise of peace on earth.

The Ten Kings Fall

Eventually these ten kings discover their spiritual blindness and turn their hatred toward the power they formerly supported.  In the end, they bring about her destruction.  As God’s true people are persecuted in the war made on them, the truth is revealed.  As those who support the whore see their mistake, they turn their wrath upon her.

“And he said to me, the waters which you saw, where the woman sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.  And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.  For God has put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.”  17:15-17.

Deceived for a time, the ten kings awaken to the deception.  They see that contrary to their hope, the world dilemma is not improving but vastly deteriorating, as prophesied in the Word of God.  The last part of this scene tells us who this woman is.

“And the woman which you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”  17:18.

At the time Revelation was written, and for most of the centuries since, it was “that great city” of Rome that ruled over the kings of the earth.  Pagan Rome changed into Papal Rome.  The Papacy today is not what it once was but is in a state of recovery and gaining strength every passing day.  How soon will it be until the wound is completely healed?  How soon will Rome again be in charge of the world?  When will the pope rule with his kingdom of this world?  To know should be a constant concern.

Daniel tells us of God's judgment.  Satan is setting the groundwork for a false judgment.  He has his own laws and his own test.  It’s the mark of the beast.  Those who pass his test will continue to “buy and sell” while those that refuse the mark, are left to his wrath.

Nevertheless, we need not fear.  God has promised never to leave or for-sake us.  He and His angels will abide with the faithful who will be saved out of this time of trouble.  (Hebrews 13:5; Daniel 2:1)

This final test is also God’s final judgment.  His laws are the Ten Com-mandments that most people of the world have replaced by their own laws, reasoned out with their finite minds.  God’s people will refuse the mark of the beast, the human institution of Sunday as a day of worship.  Instead, they keep all ten of the commandments of God and receive the seal of God.

The vast majority of the world’s people will take the wrong path to the city and won’t know until they reach the great abyss.  Then it will be too late.  Where will they have failed?  It’s “because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”  2 Thessalonians 2:10.

* “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”  Revelation 20:12.

** “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Corin-thians 11:14.

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Chapter 39 -- Act VI, Scene 2

The Fall of Babylon   18:1-19:21

“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.  And he 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.  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.”  18:1-3.

In the above text we read about “Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots” and her fall.  This is not her final destruction, but the point where she has become completely corrupt and beyond help.  Her apostasy has exceeded the limit, even though she has been clearly warned.  Babylon falls completely when she enforces a law against God, a law that has no support in Scripture.  That law is the mark of the beast.

This false religion of Babylon with its beginning many centuries before Christ is used by God in Scripture to show a false church wrapped in Christian clothing.  This imitation church is really a simple modification of the old doctrines and practices held by ancient Babylon.  The inside is still Paganism, while the outside is garbed in Christian nomenclature.  The worship of the many gods of Greece and Rome are replaced by the worship of the apostles, saints and popes.  Only the names have been changed.

In this scene, the false church is depicted as Babylon as she was in the previous scene, Revelation 17.  We also need to remember the beast received support from the ten kings for one hour, (Revelation 17:11).  This one hour could just mean a short time, or it could mean one prophetic hour, which is fifteen literal days.

The woman falls in one hour, fifteen days.  This apostate church rises to power for fifteen days and then falls in fifteen days.  (See Revelation 18:10)  The harlot mother has dealt with the kings of the earth and has grown rich in the things of the world, yet Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world.  (John 18:36.)

In the end, Babylon will be destroyed.  The angel of Revelation 18 brings a message declaring the final and complete spiritual fall of Babylon, starting at the end of the first fifteen days.  It takes another fifteen days to complete the fall.  This second fifteen-day period (one hour) is in a few verses later.  (Revelation 18:10.)

Come Out of Her My People

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”  18:4.

At this point, we need to understand the judgment isn’t over, and the plagues haven’t fallen.  There’s still time to repent and to be saved, but it’s the last call.  The beast of the last days represented by the ancient kingdom of Babylon will soon fall and take with her all those who refuse the invitation to leave her errors and give up her sins.  God cares not to destroy anyone.  He knows there are sincere followers still united with Babylon.  This is a call to come out.  At this time, the message is clear, revealing the true nature of the apostate church.  Christ’s sheep hear His voice and follow.

Nevertheless, those who persist in holding on to their sins will be de-stroyed along with sin, without exception.  God has made ample provision in the death of His Son and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  If we reject the Holy Spirit in its desire to rule over us and change our lives, then we commit the unpardonable sin, (Luke 12:9) which removes all hope for salvation.

“For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she has filled fill to her double.  How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning,  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city!  For in one hour is your judgment come.”  18:5, 10.

Here is the one hour in which she falls.  There’s also the one hour men-tioned earlier.  In that hour, she grows strong with the aid of the 10 kings of the earth.  The 10 kings give their power and strength to the beast.  The beast and the woman are inseparable.  If one hour is converted into prophetic time, it will be fifteen days.  If we add the two fifteen-day periods, we come up with thirty days.

If we’re correct in thinking the one hour is thirty days, then for fifteen days the Papacy will be restored and rise to the peak of her power, but will make a complete fall within the next fifteen days.  This total of thirty days is thought by some to be the thirty-day difference between the 1260 and 1290 days of Daniel 12.  This interpretation still needs study.  It’s not within the scope of this book to define these prophecies to a positive degree of certainty.

Previously we discussed the seven thunders.  If the 1290 and 1335 days of Daniel 12 are part of the seven thunders, then their interpretation might not be known until the thunders sound.  Remember, the seven thunders were not written down by John; he was told not to write them.  What we can say, though, is that the 10 kings first support the beast.  Later, they destroy the woman, the errant church.  More study is needed.  It’s possible that God won’t reveal everything to His people until that time when the answers are needed.

The following verses extensively describe the degree to which the whore has indulged her corruption with the world leaders.  They lament her fall, because it leaves them devastated in the wake of her destruction.

“And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buys their merchandise any more:  The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,  And cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.  And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and you shalt find them no more at all.

“The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,  And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every ship’s master, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!  And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.  Rejoice over her, you heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

”And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it in-to the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.  And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in you; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in you: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.  And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”  18:11-24.

The above verses show the woman, Babylon, in control of the vast wealth of the world before she falls.  This should give us insight into who or what owns most of the world’s wealth today.  Is it not the antichrist, the beast of Revelation 13, the Little Horn of Daniel?

Verses 18:11-24 reveal the horrible end to Babylon the Great, headquar-tered in the city of Rome.  This Roman church and those who choose to stay with her will be destroyed in the end.  On the other hand, God is calling for His true people to ‘”Come out of her” and out of the other false churches which have joined her in certain teachings and practices.

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Chapter 40 -- Act VI - Scene 3

Called to the Marriage Supper – 19:1-16.

“And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God:  For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

“And again they said, Alleluia.  And her smoke rose up forever and ever.  And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.”  19:1-4.

Scene 3 praises God for His righteous judgment and calls His people to the marriage supper of the Lamb.  The judgment is complete; it says, “For true and righteous are his judgments.”  The people of God are now awaiting the arrival of Jesus in the clouds, the bridegroom.  We are called to the marriage supper:

“And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunder, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigns.

“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor 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.”  19:5-9.

Who is getting married?  The bride is New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2) and God’s people are the guests.  (Matthew 22:10)  The guests, God’s sealed people, will adorn the city of God with their presence and their righteousness, all made possible through the blood of Jesus.  God’s people depicted here are not the bride, but the guests of the marriage.  Let’s look at the parable Jesus told about the wedding feast and what preparation was required before the guests were allowed into the wedding:

“So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:   And he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here not having a wedding garment?  And he was speechless.  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Matthew 22:10-13.

The wedding garment is the righteousness of God, covering the sinner’s sinfulness.  It’s given to those who accept the sacrifice of Jesus and His righteousness.  This final act of redemption is before the end of the world and before the marriage supper.  It takes place during the judgment, Yom Kippur.  It’s the final atonement, the judgment, the cleansing of the sanctuary.  God’s people receive the righteousness of Christ as a result of the declaration, “For on that day shall [the priest] make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, [that] ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.”  Leviticus 16:30.  On the Day of Atonement God’s people will put on the wedding garments of righteousness.  They’ll be totally and completely transformed, filled to the full, restored to the image of God.  They’ll be numbered among the 144,000.

God’s people are also represented by Joshua the high priest: their right-eousness is as their clothing in the book of Zechariah:

“And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.  And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke you, O Satan; even the LORD that has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you: [is] not this a brand plucked out of the fire?  Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.  And he answered and spoke to those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him.  And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with change of raiment.”  Zechariah 4:1-4.

Jesus is the bridegroom.  The marriage is in heaven between Jesus and New Jerusalem.  God’s people, the guests, are still on the earth.  They don’t see the actual marriage in heaven, but enter into the marriage by faith, by understanding the work of Jesus in the Holy Place.  They understand the meaning of the restoration of the Holy of Holies.  Jesus then comes to earth to meet and take His guests back to heaven to the marriage feast.  The people of God are the bridal guests.  They return with Jesus to His home in heaven to have the wedding feast, in New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2).

This meeting of the groom and His guests takes place at the second coming of Christ.  However, before there’s the call to the feast, there’s a putting on of the wedding garment, which happens during the final atonement.

From the parable that Jesus told in Matthew about the wedding feast, it’s very important for us to see that the Investigative Judgment (Yom Kippur) takes place before the marriage supper.  In the parable, before the wedding, the king came to see if all the quests were wearing a wedding garment, the spotless robe of a character made white in the blood of Jesus.  (Matthew 22:11; Revelation 7:14)  Those who didn’t have this garment were cast “into outer darkness,” the abyss.  The judgment is held to see if the guests are ready, and takes place before the wedding supper.

It’s a judgment over the mark of the beast and the seal of God.  All must have on the wedding garment, which is the perfect righteousness of Christ, provided by High Priest Jesus Himself.  However, this scene in Act VI is nei-ther the marriage nor the coming of Jesus to pick up the guests.  It’s the call to the marriage supper.  It’s a call to those who are to don the wedding garment.  This garment is to be obtained during the judgment, the Day of Atonement.  It’s the perfect righteousness of God living in them – the mystery of God completed.

God’s Last Church

The next verse identifies a special characteristic of the last church on earth.  It tells us the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.  Remember, the final church of God has two important characteristics.  One: They keep the commandments of God.  (Revelation 12:17)  That is, all ten commandments, including the forth commandment about the Sabbath.  Two: They have the testimony of Jesus, which is here explained as the spirit of prophecy.  (Revelation 19:10)  God’s people in the end of time know the true interpretation of the prophecies.  The prophetic gift is among them.

“And I fell at his feet to worship him.  And he said unto me, See you do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  19:10.

The last church of God will be persecuted by Satan.  Two of its characteristics are mentioned next: “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”  Revelation 12:17.  This is the remnant people of God in the last days.  God’s last-day people will be teaching that God’s laws, the Ten Commandments, are still valid, and they keep them.  They’ll know the prophecies of the Bible concerning the end of all things.  They’ll work to call God’s people out of Babylon and into the message of the last days.  They’re vigilant, active and alert.  Their interest is in the salvation of souls and the honor of God’s name.  They’ll be eagerly seeking the seal of God.  Their desire above all things is to reflect the image of Jesus fully and show the on-looking universe that God is Love.

Scene 4 - The Second Coming

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat up-on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

“And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.  And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Al-mighty God.  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”  18:11-16.

Jesus, the man on the white horse, comes to earth as a king after He has taken off His priestly garments and put on the robes of a king.  His work as a priest in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary is finished, because the judgment is complete.  He’s coming to pick up the wedding guests who have on the wedding garments.  He will take them with Him to meet the bride, New Jerusalem in heaven.

An Invitation and Announcement

“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;  That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.”  19:17, 18.

God’s people won’t literally be eating these people.  They’ll be eaten in the sense they’ll be devoured, leaving no one to deceive or destroy.  This is a livid description of the final destruction of the wicked, when they’ll be cast into the Lake of Fire at the end of the millennium.  (Revelation 20:15)  This final scene of the war between good and evil takes place after New Jerusalem comes down from Heaven.  The lake of fire is the end of evil.  In this concluding battle of the war between Christ and Satan, the beast and the false prophet are taken and cast into the lake of fire.

“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gath-ered 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 worshiped 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.”  19:19-21.

We might think this war is at the end of the world when Jesus comes, but it’s really after the thousand years of the millennium, which is explained, in a later scene.  The key words are “lake of fire.”’  We wouldn’t know this from this verse alone or in this part of Act VI, but when we study scene 7, we’ll clearly see the “lake of fire” comes after the millennium, which is after Jesus’ second coming, not before.  This verse is simply an overlapping of prophetic history in order to continue the theme of the destruction of the wicked.  The wicked are cast into the lake of fire after the millennium.  (See Revelation 19:20, 20:10, 14, 15.)

When does the lake burn with fire and brimstone?  Is it burning now?  We’ll find that out in scene 5, the next scene here in Act VI.  Scene 5 is the thousand years of peace that we hear so much about today.  It’s called the millennium.

Certain religious denominations believed the millennium of peace talked about in Revelation 20 would inaugurate a jubilee in the year 2000 or shortly after.  As we know, it didn’t.  When will it come?  We’ll study that in a later chapter, but first we need to know what happens when a person dies.

In the chart on the previous page, we have progressed to the end of scene 3, the second coming.  We’ll study scenes 4, 5, 6 and 7 later when we deal with the Millennium of Revelation 20.

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Chapter 41 -- On Death and Dying

The existence of angels, as taught in the Scriptures, is a truth we can’t deny.  Nevertheless, the correct teaching on this subject has been replaced by the errors of the popular churches.  The teaching of immediate life after death was borrowed from pagan philosophy, and during the 1260 years, when the pure woman of Revelation 12 was in the wilderness, it was absorbed into the Christian faith.

The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us, “. . . the dead know not anything.”  Ec-clesiastes 9:5.  Almost the entire world has come to believe that the disembodied souls of their dead friends are the “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.”  Hebrews 1:14.  However, these “spirits” are those who were in heaven long before the first man died and even before the existence of the first human being.  This is clearly taught in Scripture.

It’s not scriptural to believe a human being doesn’t die in death but enters a spirit world to occasionally come back to this world and interact with the living.  This false teaching about death has prepared the way for error to be introduced into the church and the world.  Humans have a tendency to believe what they see, and to see the “spirit” of their departed friend or loved one can open the door for misrepresenting the truth.  If they were truly the spirits of the dead, and those spirits were sent by God, there might be reasons for rejoicing.  However, the Bible is clear; the dead are dead.

“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.  Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in any [thing] that is done under the sun.”  Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6.  “His breath goeth forth, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”  Psalms 146:4.

Some might ask who these spirits are that people sometimes communicate with.  Surely, they must be from God, for all supernatural power is of God, is it not?  Paul warned us to be careful when he said, “Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;” I Timothy 4:1.  John in Revelation tells us, “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”  Revelation 16:14.  Not only does Satan use evil spirits to teach dangerous doctrines, these “spirits” can also work miracles.

Satan has the power to bring forth spirits with the appearance of our dead friends.  He has no trouble in presenting an overwhelming counterfeit.  By a familiar look, or word, a tone of voice, we can be seduced into a misguided trust.  It’s so convincing, and we’re willing to listen to anything they say and thereby put trust into these “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”  This need not be, if only we knew the Scriptures.

Possibly the most misleading in all this is the inference that the dearly departed soul is now in heaven with God and enjoying all the benefits of Paradise, yet while on earth that same person did nothing in the way of following God and His Bible truths.  Satan would have us believe that heaven is attainable with little or no effort and that all but the most perverse criminals go there at death.  Satan declares that they went into the grave with little or no preparation, yet they’re good enough to be in Heaven.  What a deception, a total antithesis to Bible teaching.  Most know not even that they need to be born again.

Lies Mixed with Truth

It’s also a mistake to believe that the father of lies tells lies and lies alone.  In order to deceive and poison us with his lies, he must give some good food in order to get us to eat.  However, within the good, he mixes just enough poison, and the only way we can know the poison is there is to do an analysis on it.  Scripture is our analytical tool, “To the law and to the testimony.”  Isaiah 28:10.

The satanic spirits sometimes caution and warn us.  Their words seem prophetic.  Their predictions turn out to be correct, but serve to give us a false confidence, after which is followed by false doctrines that are contrary to the truths in the Scriptures.  While showing a great concern for the welfare of their so-called friends, they bring in the most dangerous errors.  Even though they’re correct in some of the doctrines they present, and are sometimes correct in the predictions they make of the future, that doesn’t mean they’re of God.  Again, we must know the Bible, and test all spirits, whether they’re of God or of Satan.  Using the above-mentioned tactic, Satan brings in doctrines that only true, sincere, well-studied Bible believers can discern as false.

Not All False, Not All Trickery

It has often been said these spiritual manifestations are wholly a fraud and sleight of hand on the part of the medium.  It’s true that the results of trickery have often been represented as genuine; some are even done by supernatural power.  In recent years, we have seen many such films and television programs dealing with the supernatural.  The preponderance of these programs has been to introduce us to the spirits of other worlds, some good and some bad.

We have been trained to see bad spirits by ugly, hateful forms and actions.  Other spirits have been portrayed as good and loving.  We think we can tell the difference by simple trusting our sight and reason.  On the contrary, without the Bible to guide us, we’ll be deceived, as Satan simply uses the loving manifestation as the vessel to deceive.  We can’t believe our eyes or our ability to reason.  We must trust the Bible only, the only true revelation from God.

Paul warned us that before the coming of the Lord we would see, “the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness.”  2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10.  And the apostle John wrote, “He doeth great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do.”  Revelation 13:13, 14.  Men are deceived by the miracles, which Satan and his agents perform, as they manifest supernatural power.

What’s Death?

She’ol is the Hebrew word translated in the Old Testament 31 times as “grave” (e.g. Job 17:13) or “pit” (Numbers 16:30, 33; Job 17:16) or “hell.”   Young’s Analytical Concordance translates it as a dark, hollow, subterranean place, used simply in reference to the abode of the dead.

There’s no love, no hate, no sound, no warmth.  There are no thoughts down there.  The place is also called Death.  Solomon wrote,   “Whatsoever thy hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, [SHEOL] where you are going.”  Ecclesiastes 9:10.”

We have all read about Eve and the “apple,” and we know how she took the forbidden fruit, ate it and caused sin to fall on all humankind.  That’s the surface story.  The reasons and implications are much more profound.  We remember she took the fruit and ate it, but do we know why?  It was more than just hunger, or curiosity.

Let’s remember what it was God said.  He said if she ate the fruit, she would “surely die.”  Then Satan spoke directly contrary to God when he told her that if she touched it or ate it, she would NOT die.  Satan was saying she could be immortal and have eternal life.  God had said she would lose her life and die.  As we well know, she died.

Satan Promised Eternal Life

Satan promised Eve eternal life.  He was saying she could live forever, even if she disobeyed God and His laws.  He was saying there was something magical in the forbidden fruit that would change her.  He was implying that he, a serpent, could be in the tree and survive.  He not only could survive living and eating the fruit of the tree, but also reach a state where he could talk.  Therefore, he was obviously suggesting there was some magical property in the fruit.

Satan insinuated that God was trying to keep something good from Eve, and if she partook of the forbidden fruit, she would be brought up to God’s level; she could be as God.  The words of Satan were, “You will not surely die:  For God knows that in the day you eat it, then your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods, knowing good and evil.”  Genesis 3:5,    Eve believed him.  She was deceived.  “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”  I Timothy 2:14.

There was no excuse for it.  God had provided Eve with all her needs, and she needed nothing more.  Let’s look at it this way.  It sounded reasonable.  The serpent was alive.  It was talking, and serpents don’t talk.  He seemed to be in possession of something that serpents don’t normally have, some blessing he received from eating the fruit.

Eve didn’t know what God knew.  God knew far more than she did, so she should have trusted Him and obeyed because of what she already knew of Him.  Instead, she disobeyed because doubt was presented.  She knew better than to put herself near the tree, but she ignored God’s warning and became too self confident in her own logic and mental strength.  We must know the Word of God for ourselves and follow it.  Only in God’s Word can we find the truth to expose Satan and his lies.  Like Jesus in the desert, we need to answer as He did.  We need to know the Scriptures.  We need to be able to say, “It is written.”

Knowing Good and Evil

What did Eve possibly think when Satan said she would have the knowledge of good and evil?  God is good; Satan is evil.  Eve knew that.  She didn’t know it was Satan.  All she saw was a serpent.  So she didn’t know what Satan was speaking was a lie, except that it was contrary to what God had said.  This should have tipped her off, but she was not on her guard.

What Satan was actually saying to Eve was that she could know good and evil within herself and decide what’s good and evil by herself.  He was insinuating Eve could be a law unto herself and could make up her own rules of right and wrong.  She could be the judge of her own behavior.

This is a common philosophy today.  Satan misrepresented the meaning of having the knowledge of good and evil.  What God was saying was that if Eve sinned against Him, she would have the living knowledge of good and evil within her person, her nature.  Until that time, Eve had known and experienced only good.  Sin brings the knowledge of evil.  In the Bible, the word “to know” often carries the meaning “to have an experience in.”  The knowledge of evil is more than an intellectual understanding; it’s a living experience of participating in and seeing the results of evil.

The result of Satan’s lie and Eve’s sin was more insidious than most think.  Satan didn’t stop in Eden with these two great lies.  He continues to tell them everywhere today, both in the non-Christian world as well as in the Christian churches.  First, he tells us that we “shall not surely die.”  He lies to the people of the world just as he lied to Eve in the garden.  He tells us that even though we sin, we won’t die, but only change forms and enter the spirit world.  Believing we are not dead when we die opens the way for Satan to communicate with the living through his own agencies, evil angels pretending to be our dead friends and relatives.  Through all of this, he reaps a great benefit.  The greatest evil in this lie is that he convinces people they’re immortal and that this life is not the end of life, but there’s immediate life beyond death.  What he hides from the minds of men is the fact that this life is the only chance that we’ll have to be restored into the image of God, back to the condition of Adam and Eve before sin.  Teaching us that we are immortal, takes away the teaching that the “wages of sin [is] death.”  Romans 6:23

Death is a Sleep

Death is just like a sleep.  Let’s remember the story of the death of Jesus’ friend Lazarus.  Jesus said, “He sleeps.”  His disciples answered, “If he sleeps, then he will be fine.”  Jesus then clarified it by saying, “Lazarus is dead.”  The Bible comments: “How is it Jesus spoke of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking a rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead.”  John 11; 12-14.  Death is like a sleep.  We are unconscious, but when we are resurrected, it’s like waking in the morning from our nightly sleep.  We are not aware that time has passed.

What happened to the kings of Israel when they died?  They slept.  “So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.”  I Kings 2:10 “. . .”  “And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father. . .  “1 Kings 11:43    “And the days which Jeroboam reigned [were] two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers. . .”  I Kings 14:20   “And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David.”  I Kings 14:31 “And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David. . .”  I Kings 15:8   “And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father . . .” I Kings 15:24.  The list goes on, to be exact, there are thirty-six kings who died and slept with their fathers.  Death is a sleep.  When we die, we fall asleep.  When Jesus comes, we’ll be resurrected out of sleep.

Daniel said very clearly, “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.”  Daniel 12:2.  In addition, it is written, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”  Ecclesiastes 12:7.  What’s the body, and what’s the spirit?  The first book of the Bible clearly establishes the composition of man, where it says, “And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”  Genesis 2:7.  When man dies, his body returns to the dust and the breath of life returns to God.  The soul is dead, because it no longer exists.  The breath of life is the “spirit” that returns to God.  James says it this way, “For as the body without the spirit is dead. . .” James 2:26.  Without a body, we can hear nothing, see nothing and smell nothing.

Why a Resurrection?

Why would we need a resurrection if we don’t really die, just pass off to some other world?  Consider the raising of Lazarus, when Jesus brought him forth from the grave.  If he had gone to heaven at his death, why did Jesus do him such a disservice as to bring him back from heaven?  Surely, he would have been happier in Heaven rather than having to come back to live and die again on this earth.  Moreover, why were there mourners?  They should have been happy for him, if he were truly in heaven.

Without a resurrection, we’ll perish forever.  Paul the Apostle comments on it like this: “For if the dead rise not, then Christ is not raised:  And if Christ is not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins.  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.”  1 Corinthians 15:16-18.

The Bible also says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Romans 6:23.  If we believe we go to heaven or hell when we die, we’ll surely have to change this Bible verse to say, “The wages of sin is HELL and the gift of God is HEAVEN.”

After His resurrection, Jesus said to Mary outside His tomb, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and [to] my God, and your God.”  John 20:17.  If anyone deserved to go to heaven directly after he died, it was Jesus.  He didn’t go to heaven until after His resurrection.  He’s the first fruits of them that sleep.  “But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept.”  1 Corinthians 15:20.

The Dead Shall Be Raised

In the New Testament, we find that Jesus said He came to give life and that He’s the “Resurrection and the Life.”  John 11:25.  The Bible also talks of two resurrections, “And [the dead] shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”  John 5:29.  Then in Revelation 20 we read that the two resurrections are a thousand years apart (Revelation 20:5).  Evidently, there are dead people that are not alive today, but the popular teaching of the day is that we don’t really die, just change forms and go either to heaven or to hell immediately at death.

There’s good news about the dead.  The Bible promise is that the dead are waiting to be brought back to life.  When Jesus comes at His second coming, the dead, not just their bodies, will be raised. (1 Corinthians 15:51)  Paul tells us, “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.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”  1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.  These are comforting words.  If the dead are already in heaven, how are these words comforting?  They’re comforting, because at the resurrection, the dead are brought back to life, eternal life.  This is the hope of many, to be resurrected soon when Jesus comes.  Until then, Eve and all others who have died trusting in God will sleep in the dust of the earth.

Remember Daniel’s words, “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.’”  Daniel 12:2.  If the wicked are condemned and sent to be in “shame and everlasting contempt” upon their resurrection, then how could they have been in Hell from the time of their death?  What sense does it make for God to resurrect those who are alive and living in Hell and then put them back?  No, they’re judged while they sleep and receive their reward, good or bad, upon their resurrection.

It’s very important what we believe on the state of man in death, but there are going to be many good people who have believed the erroneous teachings of death, and these will be resurrected and taken to heaven when Jesus comes, even though when they died they thought they would be transported to heaven immediately.  If this is true, why does it matter what we believe?

What happens to those people will make no difference to them.  They lived in accordance with the knowledge of truth that was available to them at that time.  They died trusting in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  They’ll come forth from the graves when Jesus comes at His second coming.  An important point needs to be made here.  We are not saved because we hold one belief over another.  Knowledge of truth doesn’t save.  Nevertheless, we can be lost by not knowing certain things.  The Bible says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee . . .” Hosea 4:6.

Satan’s Longstanding Tricks

The two greatest lies and tricks of Satan were spoken to Eve on that fateful day in Eden.  With those two lies, Satan has been able to deceive and destroy millions.  Here is how it works.  Satan told Eve she was immortal, that she wouldn’t die.  He has been telling the same lie ever since, that the soul really doesn’t die, but changes into a higher form of life and continues on a higher plane in a more perfect state, either in heaven or in a reincarnated state.  However, God declared to Eve that the result would be death, separation from life – the grave.

Satan’s lie takes away the fear of death and thereby takes away a need to find out how to obtain eternal life.  If we believe we already have eternal life, then the soul is immortal, and we won’t feel much of a need to obtain life.

The other lie Satan told Eve was that we can know good and evil and thereby we can decide what’s good and what’s evil.  With this tool, we most certainly judge ourselves good enough to enter heaven.  With this error, God’s laws are no longer the standard righteousness, but ours are.  The concern over whether we have come up to the glory of God and have qualified for heaven is in our hands to judge, according to our own laws.  This idea can be summed up with the words that come to us from the Hippie movement, “Do your own thing.”

Today we are living in a society in which too many have declared there are no absolutes, no entity outside themselves that has the right to prescribe their behavior.  Everyone has his own set of rules and changes them at will.  For them, truth comes from within rather than from without.  They don’t fear death and don’t seek eternal life, because they believe they already have everlasting life; neither do they seek to know God, because they’re a god unto themselves.

The first sin was over the Word of God.  God spoke His Word to Adam and Eve, but they failed to obey.  Eve sinned after she failed to trust the words of God.  Instead, she believed what seemed right and logical within her own mind.  She used her own powers of reason, apart from what God had revealed.

Can the Dead Speak to Us?

In the last conflict, the word of God and His laws will be the center of the issue.  Satan will use the immortality of the soul falsehood to deceive by causing spirits in the form of our dead relatives and friends to appear.  If we reject God’s truth on this subject, we’ll be deceived by the evil spirits who will claim to be friends and relatives back from the dead.  They’ll mislead by telling us God’s laws have been changed.  Many of these so-called saints had no interest in God or His law when they lived on this earth, but they’ll claim they’re living in heaven in spite of their disinterest in God when they were alive.  Such an idea cheapens God, His laws and the gospel message.  Many upon the earth will be deceived.

Our only hope for survival is the Word of God.  Eve failed to trust God’s Word, even though it came directly from His mouth.  Jesus met the three temptations in the wilderness with the words, “It is written.”  Christ didn’t know it was Satan who was talking to Him, not until Satan spoke contrary to the Word of God.  Jesus met each temptation with words from the Scriptures.  We must do it Jesus’ way, trusting in God’s word, not Eve’s way of trusting in logic and emotion.

Eve is dead.  If she is now in heaven enjoying the blissful life of happiness and tranquility, then she is doing so knowing about the millions who died during World War II.  If she is in heaven, then there’s no judgment at the end of the world over the mark and the seal, and no judgment of the dead, for she has already been judged.  If Eve is now in Heaven, then the dead are not judged, as stated in this verse.  “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou should give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth.”  Revelation 11:18.  Also see 1 Peter 4:6; Revelation 20:12, 13.  How could God bring judgment on those who are supposedly already roasting in the fires of Hell, and have been there, some for thousands of years?

Eve is dead.  She can tell us nothing about her life or experiences.  The Bible tells us: “Whatsoever thy hand finds to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where you are going.”  Ecclesiastes 9:10.  Again, “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.  Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.”  Ecclesiastes 9:5.

Present Truth

We need to know what’s necessary for the times in which we live.  We call it present truth.  Present truth today is in addition to, but doesn’t supersede the truth revealed in times past.  God is preparing a people to stand for Him in the judgment at the end of the world.  We need to know what present truth is for our time.  This view on the state of the dead is important, not only here but also throughout the entire Bible.

If we go to heaven or hell at death, then we’ve already been judged.  Con-sequently, this book about the judgment and Revelation and the final atonement are negated.  If we are judged at death, then there is no judgment at the end of the world, no Yom Kippur, no final atonement.  If Satan can get us to accept this lie, then he has destroyed Present Truth, which is the complete restoration of the image of God in His faithful people.

Next, we will study the seventh Millennium.

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Chapter 42 -- Act VI, Scene 5

The Seventh Millennium - 20:1-10

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bot-tomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.”  20:1, 2.

Some predicated the Bible millennium would begin in the year 2000, ushering in the Jubilee, but this didn’t happen.  We need to know what the Bible says about when and how it begins.  There’s a false millennium and there’s a false Jubilee.

We know who the dragon is.  He’s identified in this chapter as Satan.  The bottomless pit is the abyss, “abyssos” in the original Greek text.  This is the word translated in Genesis in the Greek Old Testament as “without form, and void” where it says, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”  Genesis 1:2.  It’s a state of emptiness.  During the millennium, Satan will be in the world that will be in this state.

Satan is chained by circumstance, not by literal chains.  What he has had the freedom to do in the past, he can no longer do.  He’s chained and a prisoner because he has nowhere to go and nothing to do.  Jeremiah wrote about this time on the earth when he said, “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.  I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.  I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.  I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.  For thus hath the LORD said, the whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.”  Jeremiah 4:23-27.  The earth will be void of life, yet won’t be ended.  Revelation tells us the earth will be repopulated after the thousand years.

Being in this world having everything on earth to yourself, but nobody to talk to for a thousand years will be a kind of hell on earth.  Satan will have only his thoughts; he will be left to think about his rebellion.  After the thousand years, he will be freed again.

“And cast him [Satan] into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”  20:3.

Satan is confined by circumstance, because he can no longer deceive the nations.  That is, until the end of the thousand years.  He’s by himself with nothing but his thoughts, and a thousand years to review his selfish deeds.  Satan will certainly feel he’s chained in a prison.

On the other hand, the people of God at this time will be in heaven with God, because they’ll have been resurrected at Jesus’ second coming.  The Day of Atonement was in their favor, because they had been faithful to Him and refused to accept the mark of the beast.

The First Resurrection – Jesus’ Second Coming

“And I 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 worshiped 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.”  20:4.

Where are the others, those who have worshiped the beast and received his mark?  What happens to them when Jesus comes?  We find the answer in the next sentence,

“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.  This is the first resurrection.”  20:5.

This is the first resurrection.  It takes place when Jesus comes.  Remember what we have read before where the apostle Paul says, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God take with Him.  For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep.  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.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”  1 Thessalonians 4:16.

God’s people have a part in the first resurrection.  They’ll never die the second death.  It has no power over them.  They’ll be translated to heaven for a thousand years.

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.’  20:6.

During the millennium, the enemies of God are sleeping in their graves.  They don’t live again until the end of the thousand years, when they’re raised in the second resurrection.  They experience the first death when Jesus comes.  “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:8.  The wicked are dead during the thousand years, and Satan has no one to deceive.  So he’s chained by circumstance.

The millennium is quite simple.  It starts when Jesus comes to resurrect His people.  God’s faithful dead are raised from their graves, and along with those faithful still alive at Jesus’ second coming are taken to heaven.  God’s enemies are slain by the brightness of Jesus’ appearing and sleep in their graves for a thousand years.  Satan is alone during this time and is without anyone to deceive, because his people are dead and God’s people are in heav-en.  He has only himself, chained to his thoughts and this barren earth for a thousand years.

Millennium Ends – Second Resurrection

“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 . . .” 20:7-9.

God’s people are in heaven for the thousand years while the wicked that were slain are in their graves.  When Satan is loosed at the end of the 1,000 years, he once again has subjects to deceive.  Where did they come from?  It’s the second resurrection.

The beloved city that comes down out of heaven can be found later in Act VI, Scene 7 and all of Act VII, (Revelation 21:10.)

“. . . and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”  20:9, 10.

This is the end of the wicked.  They come to life at the end of the thousand years and try to take the city of God, New Jerusalem, but are instead cast into the lake of fire.

The Second Death

“And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell deliv-ered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man ac-cording to their works.  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.’ 20:13.

The second death is the lake of fire, eternal destruction.  It’s God’s plan.  He’s going to execute judgment on all the wicked.  This judgment is the eternal Second Death and is the final destruction of the God’s enemies.

Those who pass the final test on the Day of Atonement and receive the seal of God will have life, just as Adam and Eve possessed before their sin, before they were cursed with death.  Those who received the mark of the beast will have death.  God tells us: “the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Romans 6:23.  “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”  Revelation 20:13.  They’ll be burned up completely.

God has given us an example of eternal fire in the book of Jude, where He says, “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”  Jude 7.  Sodom and Gomorrah are not still burning, but have been eternally destroyed.  Eternal fire burns everything completely until it burns itself out.  It’s eternal because it has eternal consequences.  Malachi put it this way: “And you will tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I will do this, says the LORD of hosts.”  Malachi 4:3.  The destruction of the wicked is not God’s hope.  He prefers all should live, but the wicked make their choice and will have to die with it.

* Gog and Magog are mentioned here as well as in Ezekiel 38.  Gog was the “chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.”  [38:2.] Since these countries and Prince Gog don’t exist today, we must conclude a figurative meaning.  Some theologians teach this battle is a soon coming war in the Middle East between Israel and the nations of Islam over the temple mount at Jerusalem.  Gog is portrayed in Ezekiel as the leader of a people who would attack the restored Jewish state.

Nevertheless, clearly, Revelation 20 puts this war with Gog and Magog after the first resurrection, with the saints reigning with God in heaven.  It must be seen as after the mark of the beast has done its work and after Jesus comes.  (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.)

This war is at the end of the millennium when the second resurrection occurs.  At this time those of the second resurrection, who will be gathered from all the tribes of the earth and of all of ages, past and present, will attempt to destroy God, His heavenly temple and His people.  They’ll fail, as fire comes down from heaven to destroy them.  (Revelation 20:8, 9.)

Placing this war in the Middle East today or in the very near future is to say that God didn’t reject Israel almost two thousand years ago, shortly thereafter allowing the temple to be destroyed.  On the contrary, the Jews are no longer a favored nation, and the blessings of God have been given over to the faithful who have embraced the Messiah whom the Jews rejected.  Paul puts it this way:  “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  Galatians 3:29.  The promise to Abraham that his seed would inherit the earth was transferred to the faithful who belong to Christ Jesus.  The Jews as a nation have been rejected, but not on an individual basis.  Even to the Jew, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  I John 1:9.  (As to who are the favored people of God today, see also Romans 9; 11:17-27.)

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Chapter 43 -- The Great Week

A Thousand Years?

Why is there a millennium?  Why are there a thousand years?  God is a God of order and has a purpose for all He does.  It’s because there are six thousand years of earth’s history before the millennium, and the millennium is the final period of a thousand years, finishing God’s plan of seven thousand years of earth’s history.  God’s number is seven, and it reoccurs throughout Revelation with seven acts, seven scenes, seven churches, seven candlesticks and so on.

Most important, God’s most basic measure is the weekly cycle with seven days a week.  There’s no reason for all the countries of the world today to have a seven-day weekly cycle, except that God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh-day Sabbath.

All seven of the Sabbath feasts of Leviticus 23 have types and antitypes.  We studied all but one already.  The Passover had its type in the death of Jesus.  Then, finishing the three spring festivals, the Feast of Weeks and Pentecost came.  The Blowing of Trumpets took place in the fall.  In antitype, the trumpets were blown in the 1830's and 1840's.  After that, the Day of Atonement started in 1844.  The Feast of Tabernacles, as of today, hasn’t met its antitype, but will, just before the second coming of Jesus.  That leaves one more festival mentioned in Leviticus, the seventh-day Sabbath.  It meets its antitype in the Millennium.

The Millennium is a time of resting from the works of God at the end of the six thousand years.  God created man in six days and rested from His work of perfect creation.  He has been using a six thousand year period to re-create, to restore His people to perfection.  In other words, God is using a six thousand year period to re-create His people into the His image, the same image Adam and Eve possessed in the Garden of Eden before sin.  At the end of the world, the seventh-day Sabbath will again be a sign of God’s creative power.  The Sabbath was a sign in Eden that God had created humankind perfectly in His image, and it’s a sign or mark at the end of the world to show that He has re-created His people perfectly.

God sanctified Adam and Eve in Eden.  God tells us the sign of His sanctification, “Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I [am] the LORD that sanctify them.”  Ezekiel 20:12.  Since the Sabbath is a sign of God’s sanctifying power, it’s appropriate for God to also use it as His sign or seal in the judgment.

This is one of the strongest evidences that the seventh-day Sabbath has never been changed.  It has been God’s purpose to use the seven-day weekly cycle and the Sabbath feasts of Leviticus 23 to show us important events of the future.  Just as God has used the earthly sanctuary to represent the heavenly, He’s using the yearly typical Sabbath feasts to represent one-time only antitypical events.

God wants us to see that the weekly Sabbath rest is a type to show how the world will rest for one thousand years, after the wicked are sleeping in their graves during a millennial Sabbath.  God created the world in six days.  It was perfect.  He rested the seventh day to commemorate His perfect creation.

At the end of the world, God will have a group perfectly re-created into His image, the 144,000.  All of His re-creation will rest in Heaven during the millennium to commemorate His second act of perfect creation, or restoration.  It’s called The Great Week.  See the chart on the next page.

1,000 Years on the Earth

Satan makes counterfeits of about everything important in God’s Word.  He fashions the false to imitate the original as closely as he’s allowed.  We would expect the teaching of the millennium to be no different.  When Satan makes counterfeits, he does so in order to form events in the minds of people. In this way, he can deceive them into being lost.  We need to know for sure if this is a thousand years of peace on earth or peace in heaven.  Satan wants us to think it will be on earth, so we’ll look for it before Jesus comes.  The father of lies claims there will be a thousand years of peace and prosperity on this earth.  It all sounds very good, but it’s not scriptural.  The father of lies is trying to get us to look at anything but the final judgment, the Day of Atonement.  He does this by skipping over it to get us to look at the Millennium. He’s succeeding in too many lives today.

The millennium begins when the dead are raised, and that happens when Jesus comes at the first resurrection.  (Revelation 20:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16.)  Then again, we have to be sure it’s Jesus and not Satan impersonating Him.  When Satan comes, He won’t be able to imitate precisely the second coming of Jesus in the clouds.  None will be resurrected then, because Satan has no power to create life, although he might make it appear as though he does.  We have to know God and His word.  Otherwise, we’ll be deceived.  We need to know that Jesus will come in the clouds and every eye will see Him (Revelation 1:7) and that the righteous ones will be resurrected at that time.

It’s no small thing.  We need to be on our toes.  We have to spend more time with our Bibles and less time in front of the television watching sports events and movies that are lost time.  We have to get ready.  However, there’s one more thing we must remember about Satan’s imitation of God’s truth.  The false event must come before the true in order for Satan to gain anything.  For instance, if he’s going to try to imitate the second coming of Jesus, he must do it before Jesus comes.  If he does it after the second coming, there will be no advantage for him because God’s people will already be in heaven.  Satan also must make his appearance before the end of the judgment, before all cases are decided.  Coming later will be too late.

The true millennium is the seventh millennium, the first one started at the fall of man in Eden.  From the study of Bible dates and patriarchs’ ages, the end of the first six thousand years from creation comes most likely in the fall of 1996, already past.  If the world was 6,000 years old in 1996, what does that do with the teaching of the first 6,000 years ending when the seventh millennium begins?  Did God make a mistake by a few years?

No, the 6,000 years start at the fall of man when Adam sinned, because the 6,000-year period is the time God uses to re-create man into His image.  God’s people all rest in heaven during the Bible millennium to commemorate God’s perfect re-creative act.

The 6,000 years ending in 1996 are counted from the creation of Adam.  The 6,000 years of the re-creation start at the sin of Adam in Eden.  We don’t know how many years Adam and Eve lived before they sinned, so we’ll just have to wait and see.  That period is the difference in time from 1996 to the second coming of Jesus.  We can know that Jesus’ coming is very near and when the millennium is about to begin, but not the day or the hour of His coming.  Jesus said, “But of that day and hour no man knows, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”  Matthew 24:36.

The Jubilee

The pope of Rome designated the year 2000 as a year of Jubilee.  He has declared all the debts of many of the poor developing nations forgiven.  This he has done, as if it’s in his power to do so.  How could this be?  Does he think he has such a right because he’s planning to take over the control of the New World Order?  Yes, it’s in his plan to rule the world once again, and he’ll do so when the time is right.  He’s now looking for an opportunity to take the reins of world control, and he’s confident such an opportunity will arise because of economic chaos and/or environmental disasters.  In Revelation 13, we learned that the second beast (USA) would reinstate the papacy when it makes “an image to the [first] beast (Papacy).”

The Papal theology of the millennium and the jubilee doesn’t include Satan and his tricks.  Instead, the Roman Catholic teaching on the whereabouts of Satan is that he’s in Hell, punishing those who failed to excel to Catholic excellence in this life.  In order for Satan to succeed in his deception, he must have his true location and motives concealed.  The false is always based on partial truth but is only clearly distinguished from pure truth when the light of Scripture is shining.  We must know the Word of God and know it well, for there’s some truth in every lie.

Note: We left out verses 11 and 12 of Revelation 20.  They have to do with a review of the Judgment of the Day of Atonement.  This judgment is next.

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Chapter 44 -- Act VI - Scene 6

Things Written in the Books - 20:11-15

In Revelation 20:11-15, we find in the “books” all that God has prepared for the faithful, as well as the unfortunate reward for those who have stood against God and His people.  But, what’s written in the books?

“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, ac-cording to their works.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”  20:11-15.

There are two sets of books mentioned above.  One is the book of life and the other is the book of the condemned, the dead.  There’s a two-part judgment, one for God’s people and the other for the wicked.

At the commencement of the millennium, the Investigative Judgment or final atonement in the Holy of Holies will have already finished, and all those who refused the mark of the beast will have already been translated to heaven at Jesus’ second coming.  Those who are judged unworthy because they received the mark of the beast, will have suffered through the seven last plagues and then been destroyed at the second coming.  The people of God are in heaven during the thousand years, while the wicked are asleep, not arising until the end of the thousand years.  “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.”  Revelation 20:5.

However, it’s not the Day of Atonement that’s mentioned in this verse.  Instead, during the millennium another judgment is held.  It’s a review judgment.  Finally, at the end of the millennium, the second death by eternal fire occurs, when the wicked are resurrected and later destroyed in the lake of fire.  However, the review judgment occurs while the wicked are still dead during the millennium.  Later, the second death in fire occurs after the wicked are resurrected.

The Review Judgment

“And I 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 worshiped 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.”  20:4.

The Book of Life has the names of God’s people who are in heaven during the millennium.  All others who have ever lived on earth are dead.  They either died in the past or were slain by the brightness of Jesus second coming and are in the graves during the millennium.

This review judgment during the millennium is to show that God is love and just.  It’s a review of the books, a review in the sense that the records of the wicked are being reviewed.  This review is not to determine their fate.  God has already done that.  This judgment is to show that God judged correctly and judged fairly, according to righteousness.  God’s judgment was during the Investigative Judgment, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.  The review judgment is during the millennium.

Why does God hold such a judgment?  Can’t we trust Him?  Of course, we can, but part of the overall strategy of God is to show all onlookers throughout God’s creations that He has been right all along and His decisions are holy, just, and good.  In a sense, God has been on trial ever since Satan made certain claims against His government, when he tried to take it and put himself in the place of God.  (Isaiah 14:13.)

Surprises in Heaven

Jesus stated he did everything openly and nothing in secret.  God has nothing to hide, but there will be surprises in heaven.  Some people there whom we thought wouldn’t make it will be there and others will be missing whom we thought would surely be there.  During this Review Judgment, the on-looking universe will have the opportunity to know why God judged as He did.

The “saints”, God’s saved people, will be able to review the decisions of God and know He judged fairly.  This is what Paul meant when he wrote, “Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world?  And if the world shall be judged by you . . . ?”  1 Corinthians 6:2.  “And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”  Revelation 20:12.  The dead are still dead at this time.  After the millennium, they come forth at the second resurrection.  “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” 20:13-15.

The wicked dead are judged in the Review Judgment, during the millennium; later they’re resurrected and then cast into the lake of fire.  How can the dead stand before God in the judgment, before they’re raised at the end of the millennium?

They stand before God in the form of their deeds, written in the book, in their case, the book of the dead.  They’re brought to life later and finally cast into the lake of fire.  Also, remember the last part of the introduction to Revelation 20 where it talks of the second death.  There was a second death at the end of the millennium?  It says, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished . . . “Revelation 20:5, 6.  The wicked live again so that even they can attest to the justice and mercy of God.  The Scripture says, “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”  Romans 14:11.  Those who have chosen to reject God are compelled to testify to the many times they felt the Spirit of God tugging at their heart’s door – and yet they threw it all away.  How terribly and tragically sad, they refused to have their names recorded and retained in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

When Jesus comes, God’s people will go to heaven and reign with God for a thousand years.  They don’t just live there, but reign with God as priests and kings (Revelation 5:10).  As priest and kings, they certainly can judge.

The Second Resurrection – The Last War

After the thousand years, the wicked are resurrected at the second resurrection.  They camp around the great city of God and try to destroy it, but instead are themselves destroyed.  Remember we read earlier in verse 7:  “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. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”  Revelation 20:7-10.

The wicked haven’t changed.  They remain as rebellious as ever as they try to take New Jerusalem by force.  Nevertheless, they’ll be destroyed in the lake of fire.  This will be their second death (Revelation 21:5-8) and the end of all their attempts to destroy God’s truth.  Satan and all his angels will also be cast into this lake of fire.  The second death is the Lake of Fire.  Revelation 20:14.  This judgment during the millennium will show that God is just and has judged correctly.  Then to put the final touch on it all, the wicked that will have been in their graves for the thousand years will come forth only to continue their rebellion against God, showing God’s judgment to be true.  The wicked didn’t change their hearts.  They couldn’t, because they were not surrendered to God and His will.  Only God can alter their sinful natures.  We have the choice to cooperate with God in partaking of the divine nature.  Let’s stand on God’s side today and surrender to Him fully and completely, “for why will ye die?”  Ezekiel 33:11.

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Chapter 45 -- Act VI, Scene 7

Everything New - 21:1-8

The message of Revelation is not gloom and doom but a promise of total restoration.  The Millennium will also be a blessing.  Scene 7 follows the end of the millennium, the final scene of Act VI.  It’s all good for God’s people.  The bad times are over, as God makes all things new.

“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.”  21:1.

One meaning of the sea is that of evil and the unknown, death and sin.  The Israelites passed through the sea, and Jesus walked on the water, both indications of victory and power over the sea.  The beasts that ruled over God’s people came from the sea, both in the books of Revelation and Daniel.  If there’s no more sea, there are no more beasts and no more evil.

The Holy City

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor cry-ing, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”  21:2-4.

This and most of the rest is self-explanatory, but why are their tears wiped away here?  We would think that happened when they were first taken to heaven at the beginning of the millennium.  We have to take into account the millennium review judgment.  Remember, there will be some people missing in heaven that we thought would surely be there.  It should be safe to say there will be tears shed over those lost friends and relatives, but when all this is finished, there will be no more cause for tears.

The Saved and the Lost

“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.  And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.  And he said unto me, It is done.  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  I will give unto him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely.  He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”  21:5-8.

The wicked don’t really burn forever in Hell.  Instead, they’re cast into the lake of fire.  This idea of eternal torment came from Babylon through the Greeks and passed on to the Romans.  Finally, it was adopted by Papal Rome.  Such an idea of eternal torment is inconsistent with God’s character.  This lake of fire is the “second death.”  Brimstone burns everything completely.  “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”  Jude 7.  These two cities are not still burning, and yet they suffered the vengeance of eternal fire, eternal in the sense the result is everlasting.  They’re examples to us of what can be expected from eternal fire at the end of the millennium.  They were never rebuilt, and their exact whereabouts is in question today.  Most scholars put them at the bottom of the Dead Sea.

In Malachi 4 we read, “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch . . .  And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.”  Malachi 4:1-3.  This is the lake of fire, the second death.  At this time, God’s words in Eden will be finally fulfilled to the ultimate.  Remember, God said to Adam and Eve, “You will surely die.”  Genesis 2:17.  When the final destruction of all the wicked is accomplished, their ashes will be under the feet of the redeemed.

God is Love.  He’s not going to place people in torment forever.  He’s going to purify the earth with fire and destroy sin and sinners forever.  There will be no constant agony going on elsewhere to disturb the happiness of God’s people.  Can anyone be happy in heaven, knowing that his or her loved ones are suffering in an eternal burning fire?  Satan would do such a thing, and Satan continues the lie of the Garden of Eden where he claimed, “Ye shall not surely die.”  How can we believe God is Love if He takes people who sinned for forty to sixty years on this earth and allows them to be tortured for eternity?  This idea is preposterous.  Such a punishment surely doesn’t fit the crime.  Satan and His puppets on this earth love to spread this lie and others about the Creator to discredit Him and belittle His great mercy and justice.

To believe that when you die you don’t really die is to say death is not really death but life in a different form.  How many times have you heard the preacher at a funeral say the person who just died is resting until the resurrection?  Later he might also add that the person is not really dead but looking down on us from heaven.  If the deceased was young, he might also say it was too bad he had to die at such an early age.  However, don’t you think that if the person were now in heaven, looking down, surely he or she would be much happier in heaven than on this earth?

If when we die we go directly to heaven, shouldn’t we all want to die young?  If dying brings heaven instantly at death, should we not say, “Somebody, please take the life of my child and transport him or her directly to bliss?”  Death is really death, not another form of life, and eternal death is the opposite of eternal life, but both are forever.  The Bible states, “For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Romans 6:23.   Life and death are contrasted here, not Heaven and Hell.

If we all understood this better, we would surely be a lot more serious about life and would shun evil and seek good, if even for purely selfish rea-sons.  That brings us to Act VII, which is the ultimate reward of those who will choose life and reject the second death.

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Chapter 46 -- Act VII - The Bride

New Jerusalem   21:9-22:5

Revelation 21:9 brings us to the beginning of eternity.  It starts with the total restoration of the earth to what it was before sin entered.  The last three acts of Revelation begin with an angel holding one of the vials of the seven last plagues.  These angels help us clearly understand where each act ends and the next one begins.  As with acts V and VI, Act VII begins when one of the angels with one of the vials of the seven last plagues comes to John.  The description of the New Jerusalem is not hard to interpret; it’s mostly self-explanatory.

“And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vi-als full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.”  21:9-11.

Twelve Gates, Twelve Foundations

“And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:  On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.  And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.  And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.  21:12-15.

Four Walls, 144,000 Cubits Around the City

“And the city lies foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs.  The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.  And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.  And the building of the wall of it was of jas-per: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.”  21:16-18.

Twelve Stones, Pearly Gates, Streets of Gold

“And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all man-ner of precious stones.  The first foundation was jasper; the second, sap-phire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a to-paz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an ame-thyst.”  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.’”  21:19-21.

No Temple, No Sun, No Sin

“And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is its light.”

“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 honor into it.  And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.  And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.”  21:22-27.

We need to be sure our names are in the Lamb’s Book of Life and be sure they’re not removed.  Because,contrary to what some teach, removal is possible.  In Revelation 3 we read, “I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”  Revelation 3:5.  We are not once-saved-always-saved.  This can be seen by the Psalms 69 that speaks of those who have their names in the book of life and later have them blotted out.  Speaking of these, the Psalmist prayed, “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”  Psalms 69:28; See Psalms 109:13, 14.

River of Life, Tree of life

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:  And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads.  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever and ever.”  22:1-5.

That which was lost in Eden, especially the tree of life, is now reinstated.  God’s faithful, along with the world that was once lost to sin and decay, are forever reestablished.  God is Love.

Why Not Seven Scenes in Act VII?

This author has searched extensively to no avail for seven scenes in Act VII of Revelation.  The best explanation heretofore has been that seven scenes are indeed absent due to the nature of the seventh act.  The first six acts take place in a changing world, where one power or beast gives way to the next.  There’s constant change as illustrated in the scenes, with history ever on the move.  However, in heaven, there will always be the same God, the same heaven or new earth, the same laws and the same perfection.  Although the inhabitants will learn and make progress in their minds and bodies, the government and Righteous Leader will remain.

It has also been suggested that there might be twelve scenes instead of seven, due to the often-used number twelve, such as the twelve tribes, gates, etc.  The number twelve has been associated with God’s kingdom, the number seven with the plan of salvation.  For whatever reason, seven scenes can’t be found.  So, for now, this writer will continue with the never changing nature of the Kingdom of God as the reason for no set number of scenes in Act VII.  God’s world will be timeless and changeless.

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Chapter 47 -- Things to Come

What to Look for in the Near Future

Satan is a real being who was expelled from heaven, deceived Eve, caused sin, usurped control of the earth and tempted Christ in the wilderness.  It’s his will that the Word of God be ignored and the laws of God disobeyed.  He hasn’t ceased to work toward this end since he was cast down from heaven to the earth.  Even if he can’t get mankind to disobey in every point, Satan works to get all to disobey in at least one.  He knows well that he that offends “in one point,” becomes “guilty of all.”  James 2:10.

In order to deceive, Satan has altered the doctrines of the Word, thereby perverting the minds of millions who unknowingly have incorporated false doctrines into their faith and practice.  The final struggle between truth and error is a culmination of the lies Satan has been presenting down through the ages, and will be over the laws of God.  Satan has claimed God’s laws invalid, while God has said they stand forever.  The final act of this struggle is just before us.  It will pit the laws of God against Satan-originated false teachings and the traditions of men.  Even so, in spite of all Satan’s efforts, God’s Word and His people will prevail.

Because the Bible is within the reach of almost all of the free world, none need fail the final test.  How many hours are spent watching one sports event or even a Hollywood movie?  Yet few even spend that much time to read from the Word of God over the course of a year or even a lifetime.  During the Protestant Reformation, many thousands lost their lives to gain the knowledge of the Holy Word of God.

Not only the world, but within the churches, the Scriptures are watered down.  Their meaning is spiritualized into a sentiment rather than the powerful two-edged sword that cuts to the heart.  The fact of creation, the dying of Christ for all of humanity’s sins, and the judgment of all are too often rejected or even denied by many who call themselves Christians.

The Wisdom of Man

In the place of God’s clear Word, false teachers hold up their wisdom and rational powers as greater than the wisdom of God, considering it foolishness to put their trust fully in the Word of God.  Some downplay the final judgment and the destruction of the wicked as an act too brutal for a loving God to perform.  Claiming the Ten Commandments too strict and unnecessary, they allege they have been done away with.  Validity and literal obedience to them is rejected.  They’re looked upon with defiance.

Others claim God is a severe being who is too strict and dictatorial.  In such words, they’re in reality claiming they’re more merciful and compassionate than He.  In all this, the Author of Truth is rejected, for by denying the law they reject the Law Giver.  God’s doctrines and laws are important because they educate us about the character and purposes of God.  Rejecting the true doctrines in turn misrepresents the virtues of God, leading many to reject His ways and truths.  In all this, Satan rejoices.

Today, the New Age Movement deifies nature, while denying the God who created it.  This misguided concept of nature teaches that we’re all gods.  This is echoing the lie Satan told Eve in Eden, that she could be as God both in possessing a moral character and in having an immortal soul that never dies.  Pantheism teaches us that we are all part of nature; the created is the creator; the mortal is immortal; the one dependent on power from God has all power within himself.  The New Age has today metamorphosed into what’s being called Contemplative Prayer.  Claiming that this meditation technique is acceptable to Christians and all religions has deceived many.  It’s eastern oriental, an emptying of the mind to allow a foreign power to take control.  This power is not of God.  The Bible tells us to contemplate or meditate on the things of God.  David said, “But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”  Psalms 1:2.  Again, “When I remember thee [God] upon my bed, [and] meditate on thee [God] in the [night] watches.”  Psalms 63:6.

Meditation should be an active contemplation of God and His Word.  Je-sus told a story about emptying our minds and the danger of not filling them with something useful.  Jesus tells us there are only two sides, one that’s for Him and the other is that's against Him.  Not all the religions of the world are acceptable to God.  He’s the “way, the truth and the light.”  Jesus said, “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathers not with me scatters.  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.  And when he cometh, he finds [it] swept and garnished.  Then he goes, and takes [to him] seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last [state] of that man is worse than the first.”  Luke 11:23-26.  When we empty ourselves of evil, we must put something good in its place.  If we don’t, the devils rush in.  Contemplative Prayer is the emptying of the mind, removing all thought of good or God.  Then the mind is “awakened” to a power of a different kind, an evil one.  We must do as David did, meditate on God’s Word and law and not let another spirit enter.  We must meditate on the works and promises of God and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Is God’s Law Invalid?

The most foolish and unreasonable of all contentions is the idea that God’s eternal law is no longer valid.  This untenable teaching is rampant within the churches today and gaining ground.  Every nation has laws necessary for its survival.  No government would ever entertain the idea that it could last long, if the leader of that country would one day declare all laws of the land null and void.  Chaos would result after the initial shock of such a declaration.  So why would anyone think that God could operate His government without laws to govern His subjects?  Yet there are ministers standing in the pulpits declaring the law of God cancelled at the cross.  If they taught the same about the laws of the state, they would soon meet with great opposition, both from within as well as from without the church.

Wherever God’s laws are abandoned, sin no longer is considered sinful.  This same spirit is then transferred to their children, and sin increases from generation to generation.  To make things worse, such lawless creatures ridicule those who would try to obey God and His Word.  All this is done in the name of freedom, as if freedom were a license to sin.

Doing away with God’s laws eventually creates disobedience to man’s laws as well.  The Bible foretold what would happen in the last days as a result of disregarding God’s law, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times will come.  For men will be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,  Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Timothy 3:1

During the Dark Ages when Rome reigned supreme, sin and ignorance prevailed.  With the Bible kept from the people, they could rise no higher in moral virtue than the example of the priests who were only men.  As men make or interpret their own laws, they do so to benefit themselves.  Soon those in charge can completely enslave their subjects and finally even control the conscience.

Today, Satan can’t withhold the written Word of God from the world, so he shifts to other means of hiding the truth.  The teaching that man has evolved over millions of years has been one of his major tools, deceiving much of the world, but in some Bible believing churches, he presents God’s law as binding no longer.

A Most Deceptive Lie

Another extremely successful lie is the teaching of the immorality of the soul, man’s consciousness in death along with the doctrine of eternal torment in an ever-burning hell.  If man is conscious in death, then he doesn’t truly die.  Although the Bible tells us “the wages of sin is death,” Satan tells us we need not fear death, because we don’t really die.  Such a misconception leaves us completely without a defense against spiritualism in the last days.  If some form, resembling the spirit of a dead relative appears telling a lie, such as the Sabbath has been changed to Sunday, many will believe – all because they’re unaware of the truths of God’s Word.

God is the Creator and thereby can claim the obedience of His creation.  Satan desires to negate this by destroying obedience to the one commandant that points to the creative acts of God – the Sabbath.  It’s in the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath that we “remember” God’s creative acts.  His acts of creation give authority to God to rule men and determine the laws that are to govern.  God has created, so He can therefore judge, condemn and destroy whom He chooses.  He can also save whom He will, and the Sabbath is a sign of His sanctifying grace.  (Ezekiel 20:12.)

The Sabbath is not only a sign of God’s creative power but also a sign of His redemptive power.  In the final judgment, it’s God’s plan to sanctify fully the 144,000.  The Sabbath will be the sign or seal of that redemption.

Satan will use the secular powers of the world in the last days to enforce Sunday, the so-called Christian Sabbath.  This will be done to supposedly lead men back to God and away from the chaos caused by the abrogation of the Ten Commandments.  What a reversal this is, on the one hand to be told the Ten Commandments are no longer binding, on the other hand given a Sunday law to obey.  It’s nothing new.  Most who preach against the laws of God do so with the purpose of destroying only one of the Ten Commandments – the Sabbath.  No preacher will ever tell you straight out that it’s fine for you to commit adultery or steal a car or money.  He won’t tell you it’s acceptable to kill or lie for gain.  However, when you get to the fourth commandment, the Sabbath, he will argue that all ten of the Ten Commandments have been done away with.

The Unholy Solution

Those who have caused the chaos will present a solution, Sunday.  This day of the sun will be proclaimed as the most important answer as to how to return to God.  They’ll claim it’s the failure to observe the “Lord’s Day” that’s at the root of the troubles in the world’s economy and moral woes.  “Keep Sunday, keep Sunday,” they’ll exclaim, “Return to the Lord, and He will bless us.”

Pope John Paul II in his apostolic letter of the fall of 1998 `asked that all Catholics honor the day of the sun by attending Sunday Mass.  He has gone even farther by making clear his desire for the nations of the world to enact Sunday legislation, requiring church attendance of all on Sunday.  All this is supported by the argument that the “Jewish” day of worship has been changed from the seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday in honor of Christ’s resurrection, an act with no Biblical approval or evidence.

This poison will be mixed with credible practices, possibly some temper-ance cause, but because of the disguise, it’s only rendered more deadly.  Honorable intentions to aid the needy will be claimed, while those who refuse to keep the seemingly honorable Sunday will be denounced as troublemakers and enemies of God and man.

The leaders of the Sunday movement may advocate that which the people need – virtues that are acceptable to God.  However, Sunday as a Pagan, fabricated law is in opposition to God’s Word, and is unacceptable to His people.  We must obey God, rather than man (Acts 5:29).

The Protestants of the United States, taking the initiative, will join with the false teachings of the Papacy, and through the working of spiritualism will work hand in hand with Romanism to negate a freedom once so proudly held up before the world by the United States, namely the freedom of religion and the undisturbed exercise of it.

Satan as an Angel of Light

Satan himself will appear as an angel of light, and through spiritualism, he will work many miracles, even to the apparent healing of the sick.  These false spirits of devils will claim the Bible as their source of faith and will support the work of the churches.  These are lies that undermine the present truth for this time.  It will be nothing new for Satan to quote scripture, for he has done so when it has benefitted him in the past.  His twisting of the words and their meaning will lead many to destruction.  Only those who are strong in the Word will be able to distinguish truth from error.  Those who are deceived will firmly believe in Satan’s false and miraculous power, as if it were a manifestation of the power of God.

Many believe that the demonstration of miracles is evidence of the pres-ence of God.  The deceived will have too little knowledge of the Scripture, so they won’t even imagine that Satan also can work great wonders in the sight of men.  Only the knowledge of the truths of the Bible will be enough to save them from deception, for like Eve in the Garden, they must not believe their own eyes.

Those on the wrong side will see this final working of Satan as an effort to unite and thereby save the world from the calamities that they observe all around them.  Those who refuse to follow will be called the troublemakers of the world, and stern measures will be undertaken to deal with these so-called bigots.

Satan Controls the Elements

In the past, Satan has used his powers to control the elements of nature.  He once destroyed the possessions of Job, also afflicting him with boils.  Job’s story should be understood by all, not only to show his faith in times of perplexity, but to reveal how Satan is not without power to make the lives of the earth’s inhabitants most unpleasant.  The ever-increasing recent calamities of earthquakes and strange weather disasters are no mystery to the people of God.  Jesus said that earthquakes and pestilence would occur in various places and their increasing frequency would be a sign of His soon coming.  Matthew 24:7.

God shields whom He will, but disobedience forfeits this protection at times.  For Job, the disasters that came upon him were a test to show his faith.  In the last days, disobedience to the law of God will bring about difficult times.  Setting aside the Ten Commandments or any part of them is a serious offence against God.  Those who disobey God’s law at this time, by accepting a form of worship supported not by the Word of God but only by the papacy and its fancy, will receive the mark of the beast and suffer the wrath of Satan.  Calamities will increase.

Then Satan will turn around and accuse those who are keeping the laws of God of being those who are breaking them.  He will blame God’s people for all the disasters that Satan himself has brought upon the disobedient.  In turn, those who are at variance with the Word of God will join Satan in his unfounded accusations.  They’ll claim that men are angering God by their disregard of the observance of Sunday, claiming such disobedience has brought forth the wrath of God upon them.  Their solution is to make Sunday enforceable with a stricter law including punishment, eventually to the extent of bringing about a death decree.  Those who keep the seventh-day Sabbath will continue in their obedience to the God who created all things in six days and rested on the seventh day.

This reasoning process of blaming the faithful for the bad situations brought about by the evil deeds of the unfaithful is not new.  It was used against Elijah in the time of King Ahab. “And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Aren’t you he who troubles Israel?  And he [Elijah] answered, I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and you have followed Baalim.”  I  Kings 18:17, 18.

Those who disregard the seventh-day Sabbath in favor of keeping Sunday will vent their anger on Sabbath keepers in the same way Ahab and the children of Israel did in their treatment of Elijah.

Ghosts

The recent movies from Hollywood containing stories of ghosts and other “spirits of the dead” are not in existence by chance.  Satan is preparing the minds of men for his great miracle working power through the guise of spiritualism.  Voices from the so-called spirits of the dead will declare to those not strongly founded in the Word of Truth that God has sent them to inform them that the rejecters of Sunday are in error.  They’ll also declare the laws regarding Sunday must be obeyed, because such laws, they say, are from God.  They’ll claim that the rampant immorality and the pestilence troubling the world are a result of disobedience to the Sunday law.

There’s no authority from Scripture commanding the worship of Sunday.  It’s of Papal origin alone, and the Papacy declares it so.  All Protestants who continue to follow the lead of Rome will be making a retreat back to Rome, giving up their Protestant heritage of believing the Bible and the Bible only as their sole rule of faith.

The leaders of the land will give into the pressures from the church leaders and bow to their demands – demands that go against the United States Constitution where it states the government has no right to make a law regarding the free exercise of religion.

At this time, the words from Revelation will be fulfilled: “The dragon was angry with the woman [God’s faithful], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed [God’s last church], which keep the commandments of God, [including the Sabbath commandment] and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”  Revelation 12:17.

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Chapter 48 -- The Mystery of God

The mystery of God is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  It’s Christ dwelling in you through the person of the Holy Spirit, totally and completely.  Being a partaker of the mystery is to have the image of God restored in you totally and completely.  Our first parents were created in the God’s image.  They were total and complete, but fell into the sin.  When and how the image of God is to be restored, totally and completely, is the message of this book.  It’s the restoring of the Holy of Holies, Christ in you, totally and completely.

Paul tells us of the mystery, “To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  Colossians 1:27.

It has been repeatedly written in this volume that the moral image of God will be totally and completely restored to God’s faithful as a blessing of the final atonement, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  The judgment is a blessing to the people of God, not a curse or anything to live in fear of.  It will be fulfilled in the days of the seventh trumpet, when the angel with the trumpet shall begin to sound.  “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”  Revelation 10:7.  The seventh trumpet, when is sounds, will declare the end of the world, the second coming of Jesus Christ.  Before that, still during the time of the sixth trumpet, God’s people will be sealed and numbered as the 144,000, later they’re followed by the great multitude.  See Revelation 7 for the two groups and the sequence.

The New Covenant Promise

The restoration of the image of God in man, totally and completely, is the fulfillment of the new covenant promise.  God’s plan is to restore, and He has promised to restore His people as written in His covenant.  “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. . .  But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”  Jeremiah 31:31-34.  This covenant writes the laws of God on the heart, full and complete.

144,000

This numbered group is written in the Bible so that God’s people of the last days will see the promise He has made to them.  God will restore, recreate and totally redeem His people, from not only the condemnation of sin (justification) but also the existence of sin in their lives (Sanctification).  The 144,000 will be completely sanctified.

Speaking of the 144,000, John writes, “. . .  These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes.  These were redeemed from among men, [being] the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.”  Revelation 14:4, 5.

They have the seal of God in their foreheads.  John wrote, “. . .  Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.  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.”  Revelation 7:3, 4.

Satan is working through the teaching of the Rapture doctrine to deceive genuine Christians into thinking that the 144,000 will be selected from the Jews in the nation of Israel of today.  However, the true Jew is the one that does the works of Abraham.  He’s not merely born of Abraham through the flesh.  Paul tells us, “. . . if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  Galatians 3:29.  It’s Christians, not literal Jews, who are heirs to the promise of complete restoration.  The new cove-nant promise goes to the faithful, not the rejected of God, nor those who have rejected His Christ.  (See Romans 2:28, 29.)  As mentioned in Daniel 9, the Jews had their 490 years to be faithful, but at the end of the 490 years, they were rejected as a nation, because, as a nation, they rejected their Messiah.  Since then, their temple has been in ruins, and they have been scattered throughout the nations of the world.  God told them it would be that way.  (See the blessing and the curses of Deuteronomy 28.)

If we are not alert to the true meaning of prophecy, the judgment will pass us by before we are aware of what’s happening.  This is as Satan would have it.  In order to receive the blessing God has for us in the Most Holy Place, we must enter there by faith today.  We enter by faith by understanding His work for us.  Then we trust in the sanctifying work Jesus is there doing on our behalf, the total and complete eradication of sin from our lives.

Caution, we must not today neglect the daily work of sanctification while looking for the final atonement, expecting the final atonement then to do what must be done now.  God’s authentic followers will daily cooperate with Jesus in the daily work of sanctification, today.  They will be living up to the light they have.  The faithful will be making decisions daily to follow God and be faithful to His Word.  The Christian experience is a lifelong series of decisions for right and against wrong.

While growing in Christ Jesus daily, we look forward to the yearly cleansing, typified in the Day of Atonement.  With this atonement, we’ll experience the complete and total fulfillment of the new covenant promise, the cleansing of the sanctuary of the human soul.  When talking about the Day of Atonement, Moses wrote, “For on that day shall [the priest] make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, [that] ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.”  Leviticus 16:30.

Not dealing with our known sins daily, waiting idly by for the final cleansing of the final atonement to deal with sin, not making any effort today to deal with and overcome known sins on a daily basis, is presumption.  Known sins are dealt with today in the daily experience.  Unknown sins only are to be dealt with and atoned for during the final atonement experience or as they’re revealed daily.

What’s the Message of this Book?

If the only thing we get from this volume is knowing who the beast is and what the mark represents, but we fail to desire the fulfillment of the new covenant promise, which is the fulfillment of the mystery of God in our lives, then we are most miserable.  The new covenant must be fulfilled in our lives, the mystery of God must be experienced, the 144,000 must be sealed and the image of God must be restored.  All else misses the mark.

Dear reader: Please know that God has a plan for you today.  Enter by faith into the Holy of Holies.  Ask for the forgiveness of all your sins, knowing that because of the death of Jesus, you can be forgiven.  Seek a total cleansing as well as forgiveness.  Jesus ministers in the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and it’s today that He has chosen to perfect His people.  Overcoming sin through the power of the Holy Spirit is on a daily basis, but God has, “. . .  appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness . . .” Acts 17:31.

All that God gives us is in the name of Jesus and through faith in His unlimited sacrifice.  Please don’t miss the message of this book.  Understand the work of Christ in the Most Holy and cooperate with Him in the complete and total eradication of sin from your life.  The Holy One is waiting to forgive and cleanse you of all your sins.  God has promised it in His new covenant promise, and He will be faithful to accomplish it.  Total and complete victory is yours, but only if you enter by faith into the Holy of Holies and in faith ask for it.  God is Love.

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Chapter 49 -- The Finale - 22:6-21

Heaven is cheap enough, so let’s not trade it for anything.  Jesus said, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”  Mark 8:36, 37.

When life nears its end, what used to be so important in life retains little meaning, compared to eternal life and living in New Jerusalem forever with a loving God.  On a deathbed, we only think of life.  Why not think of it now?

Oh, how wonderful it would be if more people could see that which really matters.  We seem to find all sorts of other unimportant things to do like watching television, sports, movies and the like.  Yet we can’t seem to find even a few hours a week for Bible study.  How will we be armed with the truth to stand against Satan, except we know and can quote the Word of God?  A surface understanding is not enough.  We absolutely must find the time for Bible study.  We need to desire to walk with God, or we’ll be tricked into believing a lie.

When tempting Jesus, even Satan quoted from God’s Word.  He twisted it to assert what he wanted it to mean.  We have to know it for ourselves and allow no man or religious group to decide for us what truth is.  We can listen to the opinions of others, but we must know for ourselves what we believe and why we believe it.

Gems of Truth

“To the law and to the testimony!  If they do not speak according to this word, it’s because there is no light in them.”  Isaiah 8:20.  “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”  Matthew 4:4.  These are the words of Jesus as he talked with Satan in the wilderness.  The things we have read as we have traveled this path through Revelation are either true or a terrible deception.  Will we believe or not?  If there’s anything we should have learned in our study, it’s that there’s one theme and one purpose within the pages of God’s Sacred Book.  God’s eternal purpose is to restore man to the place he was before sin entered Eden.  God wants us again to have close communion with Him, face to face, the same as Adam and Eve enjoyed before their sin.  Even though the Bible was written over a period of more than one thousand five hundred years, all the many writers are consistent with this Bible theme and purpose.  This continuity is the strongest evidence that the Bible is the true Word of God.

Where Do We Go from Here?

This is the end of our study of Revelation.  Now we must decide where to go from here.  It’s every Christian’s obligation and should be our greatest desire to share the message of the Apocalypse.  All need to be warned of the great conflict ahead.  We all need to know the Word of God to be saved out of the time of trouble.

Our attitude for sharing shouldn’t be because we feel a responsibility or think such service will aid in our salvation.  No, we should serve and save because we are born again.  When we are truly born again, obedience and our honest concern for others come about because we are connected with the Source of All Love.

Knowing the message of Revelation shouldn’t be for curiosity or for our own good alone.  We should have a burning desire to share this Bible truth with everyone.  It’s not just a responsibility, but the true convert will feel driven to do so.  The love of God constrains us to share eternal truths with others.  It will surely be disappointing when someone rejects such great salvation, but there will be much rejoicing when souls are rescued from eternal death.  The desire to save others should live within our hearts.  The desire to save and serve others is the highest and most sacred work of living beings.  The angels live to serve others, as does Jesus.  Jesus showed Himself to be a servant, and God’s true people will too.

The Finale

In the Finale, we should notice some mirroring statements corresponding with the Prelude.  They include the fact that what’s written in Revelation concerns things that must shortly come to pass, Jesus is coming.  He’s the Alpha and Omega, and the book is unsealed.  There’s a blessing on the reader in the Prelude.  In the Finale, we find a curse is on those who would try to change anything in the book.  If the reader cared to look more, there would likely be more chiastic parallels between the two.

“And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show to his servants the things which must shortly be done.  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book.  And I John saw these things, and heard them.  And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things.  Then said he to me, See that you do it not: for I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

“And he said to me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.  For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and sexually immoral, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.

“I Jesus have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.  I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.  And let him that hears say, Come.  And let him that is thirsty come.  And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.  For I testify unto every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.  He which testifies these things saying, Surely I come quickly.  Amen.  Even so, come, Lord Jesus.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.  Amen.”  22:6-21.

Dear Reader, if you have never decided to follow the Lord with your entire being, no matter where He might lead you, then why not ask Him now to forgive your sins and work in you through the power of the Holy Spirit?  Tell Him you wish to receive the daily atonement of the Holy Place.  Tell Him you are eagerly awaiting the final atonement of the Most Holy Place.  Tell Him you wish to be cleansed from all your sins and you wish to strive to be among the 144,000.

God is Love.  All we need, He will provide, including forgiveness, right-eousness and an eternal home.  Heaven is cheap enough.

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About the Author

David Miller has been an avid student of Bible prophecy for more than forty-five years and has published several books.  He is considered by many to be an authority on the subject of last-day events.  He graduated from Andrews University with a B.A in Religion and from Southern Illinois University with an M.A. in T.E.S.L.  He taught in Japan for over thirty years, mostly on the university level.  He now uses his spare time for sharing the three angel’s messages of Revelation 14.  He is eagerly looking forward to the restoration of all things.

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Table of Contents

Copyright

Dedication

*** About This Book ***

Introduction -- You Must Be Born Again

Chapter 1 -- The Prophetic Keys of Revelation

Chapter 2 -- The Prelude (Revelation 1:1-9)

Chapter 3 -- The Sanctuary Key

Chapter 4 -- Sanctuary Setting-Act I

Chapter 5 -- Act I, Seven Candlesticks

Chapter 6 -- The Things which Remain (3:1-3:22)

Chapter 7 -- The Disappointment Key William Miller

Chapter 8 -- Seventy Weeks Until?

Chapter 9 -- End of the 70 Weeks of Years

Chapter 10 The Last Week

Chapter 11 -- Sanctuary Setting-Act II

Chapter 12 -- Act II – Seven Seals

Chapter 13 -- Act II — Scene 6

Chapter 14 -- The Yearly Cycle Key - 1

Chapter 15 -- The Yearly Cycle Key - 2

Chapter 16 -- Plastic Sins - Cloth Temple

Chapter 17 --- Sanctuary Setting - Act III

Chapter 18 -- Act III - Seven Trumpets

Chapter 19 -- Act III, Scenes 5 and 6

Chapter 20 -- Act III - Scene 6, Continued

Chapter 21 -- Act III - Scene 6, Continued

Chapter 22 -- Scene 7 - The Seventh Trumpet

Chapter 23 -- The Soul Temple

Chapter 24 -- Sanctuary Setting - Act IV

Chapter 25 -- Act IV - Scene 1

Chapter 26 -- Babylon - A Key

Chapter 27 -- Daniel’s Prophetic Keys

Chapter 28 -- Act IV - Scene 2 - Part 1

Chapter 29 -- Act IV, Scene 2 (Part 2)

Chapter 30 -- Act IV, Scene Two (Part 3)

Chapter 31 -- The Seal of God - A Key

Chapter 32 -- Act IV, Scene 3

Chapter 33 -- Act IV, Scene 4

Chapter 34 -- Evolution/ Creation

Chapter 35 -- Act IV, Scenes 5 and 6

Chapter 36 -- Act V, Sanctuary Setting

Chapter 37 -- Act V, Scene 1

Chapter 38 -- Act VI, Scene 1

Chapter 39 -- Act VI, Scene 2

Chapter 40 -- Act VI - Scene 3

Chapter 41 -- On Death and Dying

Chapter 42 -- Act VI, Scene 5

Chapter 43 -- The Great Week

Chapter 44 -- Act VI - Scene 6

Chapter 45 -- Act VI, Scene 7

Chapter 46 -- Act VII - The Bride

Chapter 47 -- Things to Come

Chapter 48 -- The Mystery of God

Chapter 49 -- The Finale - 22:6-21