Revelation 7
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Good morning church!
This morning we are going to be looking at Revelation 7 and we are going to be looking at the events that will take place either at the end of the great tribulation or right before the end of the 7 year period of the great tribulation.
If you will remember we learned last week that the Bible teaches us clearly that the Lords church will endure tribulation on this Earth before he returns.
For so many years for many different reasons this has been taught a different way, however we believe that we should allow the Bible to interpret the Bible and use as little opinions from the preacher as possible.
I want the Lord through His word to teach me what something means I don’t want to assume anything Gods word is alive living and active an is able to teach us the truth about these hard subjects.
We are learning what events are going to be taking place prior to the Lords return and key things to look for as we draw nearer to that day when Jesus comes back to Earth for His children.
So we are going to be answering two questions from Gods word this morning:
Who is the 144,000?
When is the rapture of the church going to take place? What is it?
After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.
AFTER THESE THINGS....
chapter 7 picks up right where chapter 6 left off
Now if we remember where chapter 6 left off the 6th seal has been opened the sun and moon have been darkened the stars have stopped giving their light and the people of the Earth are wailing and crying out for the mountains and rock to fall on them and they say this ‘
For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
So the great day of His wrath has come it has just arrived and before the wrath is poured out
Then 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 granted to harm the earth and the sea,
saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
So right there he says wait a minute before I pour my wrath out before the Earth and seas and trees are hurt we must first seal the servants of our God in their foreheads
So this fits perfectly
God is about to pour out the wrath
Before he does he says wait a minute before we do this we must seal the servants of our God in their foreheads
Then in chapter 8 after the servants are sealed he begins to pour out His wrath upon the Earth.
The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
This is the first trumpet bc the trumpet judgments begin in chapter 8
Now when Jesus comes back for His church what is going to happen before he raptures his church? What will you hear?
A trumpet so here is the first trumpet being sounded and what happens?
Are the trees being hurt? Yes is the Earth being hurt? Yes
So we very clearly see a progression happening from 6-8
Chapter 6- God is about to pour out the wrath
Chapter 7- After these things God holds back a moment and says lets not harm anything until we seal the servants of our Gods in thier forheads
Chapter 8- After the 144,000 are sealed and the church being raptured then the 7th seal is opened and God begins pouring out His wrath.
Chapter 7 makes it very clear that between 6th and 7th seals are when the 144,000 are sealed and the church is raptured.
After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.
FOUR WINDS OF THE EARTH?
There are 4 compass directions right?
North South East and West
So the four winds are the winds blowing from those directions
Now there are some people who use this four corners thing as a way to say you see these Christians are uneducated they believe in a flat Earth.
this is where they get that from, but I dont know any Christian who believes the Earth is flat, but athiest use this to try to discredit Christians as being foolish.
Lets look quickly at why this doesnt make any sense
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
So here we see that the Bible clearly teaches the Earth is round.
Now we are going to look carefully at how the Bible means something different when it uses the word corner
Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
Now how many block heads we got in here?
No don’t answer that jk
But our heads are not flat they are round just like the Earth and just as our heads according to Gods word has corners so does the earth.
Something does not have to be square our flat to have four corners
It literally means quadrants or regions
After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.
Then 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 granted to harm the earth and the sea,
saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
4 angels are going to hurt the Earth and the sea he says dont do it until we have sealed the servants of God in thier foreheads
And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:
of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
So we have here this group from these different literal tribes from Israel
Why are these people being sealed before Gods wrath is poured out and what is that seal going to do for them?
So lets look at some scripture to learn the answer to that question
What we are about to see is the events that come after the 5th trumpet blows bc this seal that these Jews recieve is going to protect them after during the 5 trumpet.
Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.
In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
So what do we see? These horrible locusts from Hell that sting like scorpions and they are going to spend 5 months torturing and tormenting the mean on the Earth.
Stining them and putting them in such horrific pain that in those days men and women wil wish they could die and they wont be able to.
I mean this is terrible!
But notice who are the locust leaving alone?
Those who have the seal of God in their foreheads the 144,000 they are immune from the judgement from God.
and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
So here God speaks about putting a mark in the forehead of those who are upset about all the sin and wickedness going on in their nation well they are not the ones participating in it, they are the ones weeping over it.
He says lets put a mark on them in their foreheads so this ties in perfectly with Rev. 9:4
To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity.
Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.
So here God is pouring out judgement God is slaughtering the wicked people of the land in this vision its not really happening in Ezekiel 9 it is a vision Ezekiel is having.
In this vision everyone who has this mark on their forehead is spared from this judgement of God.
This is the same type of event they are very similar!
Here is whats interesting about Ezekiel 9 that you may wanna make note of. I think the AntiChrist will use Ezekiel 9 and Revelation 7 to justify his makr of the beats that goes in the forehead.
You see the devil is a counter fitter isn’t he?
The Bible talks about those who are working for Satan come preaching another gospel.
I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
So its not another gospel but they are simply perverting the gospel of Christ.
It is not a different gospel it is the true gospel twisted, it is the true Gospel perverted.
So the Devil is always taking what God has and what God says and what God does and He is constantly corrupting it twisting it perverting it. He is the master counterfitter.
The devil is a counterfitter and he will counterfit the mark that goes in the forehead in ezekiel 9 and use it to make people feel comfortable in some way about taking the mark he is giving.
I believe he will use this text as justification for killing whoever does not take his mark, bc in Revelation 13
Revelation 13 the antiChrist is going to command that anyone who will not worship the beast and recieve his mark should be killed and he is going to command that they recieve this mark on their forehead or hand.
He is going to say you see Ezekiel 9 says we should slay anyone who does not have the mark of God in thier forehead and the devil will pervert the word of God and turn it around to fit his needs.
The most effective lie always has a little bit of truth in it.
for example if I were going to use a counterfit 100 $ bill Im not going to use monopoly money Im going to try to find something that looks as real as possible.
the devil is always trying to distort the truth in order to get people to believe him and get people sucked in.
WHO ARE THE 144,000?
Now there are some out there who believe that the 144,000 is a specific number of people who will be saved but this does not match up with what is being said here in Gods word.
Jehovah witnesses believe there will only be 144,000 people saved at the end of time but this is not what is being taught here
And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:
of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
These are literal tribes of Israelites this is not referring to gentiles this is not referring to people not from these tribes this is not something to be seen as symbolic but rather literally.
This 144,000 children of Israel from all of the tribes of the OT still exist there are people alive today that belong to these tribes and God knows who they are!
This will become the greatest missionary force in the entire world.
They will be sealed and they will go through the entire tribulation proclaiming the gospel and will be honored in Heaven.
So imagine with me if you will that you are a part of the children of Israel, and Christ returns well right now by in large most of these people if we were able to see their hearts today would tell you they do not believe Jesus is the Messiah.
But on the day of Christs return they will and right before gods wrath is poured out God will seal them he will keep his promise to them even though they have been against him.
These are special Jews because they will be here during the Tribulation proclaiming the good news of Christ and will endure the entirety of Gods wrath though they will be protected by the seal they have been given in their foreheads.
So while these great and terrible things are happening on the earth these sealed Jews will be here on mission for Jesus and will be given a new song which no one in heaven can sing.
Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.
They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.
These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
This is why we don’t see the entire tribe from Benjamin, or Judah or Gad we only see 12,000 from each tribe. Because these Jews are faithful to be holy set apart and have integrity unto God even though they did not recognize Jesus as Messiah until He came.
12,000 saved virgins from the 12 tribes that were decimated centuries ago.
Chapter 6 records the tribulation in the Earth, chapter 7 has the 144,000 being sealed then later in chapter 7 we see a great multitude appearing in Heaven of all tribes nations and toungues saying they have come out of the great tribulation and wahsed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.
Then in chapter 8 Gods wrath is poured out
Now remember church we were never promised by God that we would never have trouble or tribulation on this Earth on the contrary Jesus told us if you follow me then you will be hated by all for my names sake and you will have trouble.
So we are not promised to be removed before tribulation comes but rather we will be delivered in the midst of tribulation.
We are not promised exemption from the wrath of Satan on the Earth we are promised deliverance from something far worse the wrath of almighty God.
So lets see the order of events as the Bible describes it
tribulation (6)
sealing of the 144,000 and the rapture (7)
Gods wrath is poured out
Now we need to understand Revelation like we understand Genesis.
Genesis 1 we get a birds eye view on what happened at creation
Genesis 2 we get a close up in detail description of the creation
Genesis 3 how sin affected it
Here in Revelation we see from chapters 6,7,8 a birds eye view of end times events
tribulation, 144,000, rapture, wrath
Then in chapter 13,14,and 15 we get a more in depth look at the things happening in the end times
13= what is actually going on during the tribulation
14=144,000 and rapture
15= Gods wrath being poured out
So these are very similar 6,7,8 birds eye view
13,14,15 close up and personal look at whats happening during those things
Very consistent
Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
So are the 144,000 already sealed at this point?
Yes bc they have their Fathers name written in thier foreheads already
Who are they with?
The Lamb
Where are they located?
They are with the Lamb (Jesus) and the Lamb is on Mt Zion and with him 144,000
Now where is MT Zion and where is the Lamb at this point in Revelation well the Bible says in Hebrews 12
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,
SO in Hebrews 12 He calls Mt Zion the Heavenly Jerusalem and if the Lamb is there then we know at this point the Lamb is in Heaven 144,000 are with him on Mt Zion.
So where are they?
They are in Heaven I will prove they are in Heaven a couple of other ways
And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.
So the voice that John is hearing from Heaven is the voice of singers and harpist right?
They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.
So the voices John is hearing singing from Heaven are being sung before the throne that is the scene described in 4-5 of Revelation.
They are in HEaven and no man could learn that song but the 144,000 who were redeemed from the Earth
So let me ask you this is someone else singing with them?
No they are the only ones who could learn this song.
They are in Heaven with the Lord but we are going to see later that they are going to return to the Earth to be a gospel witness during the time when the wrath is poured out.
Mose people who will be left behind when the rapture takes place will be reprobate they will have already taken the mark of the beast.
But there will be some non believers who never trusted in Christ who are left here and they will still have a chance to be saved during the time when God begins pouring out His wrath.
God sends two forms of gospel witnesses into the world.
The two witnesses will be on this Earth preaching during that period of time
144,000 will be on this Earth preaching the gospel while the wrath is being poured out.
Even then God is giving one small very small minute chance for some more even if it is a few to trust Christ one final chance we will see this later in the book.
So there is going to be a great tribulation that last 7 years and Christians will be here for most of it, but when it is almost over when that 7 year period is almost over then Christ comes and seals the 144,000 and raptures His church and then sends the 144,000 from Heaven back to Earth as a gospel witness during the time Gods wrath begins beign poured out.
They are there to preach the gospel.
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—
So the 144,000 are sealed preaching singing praises to God and basically this angel shows up having the everlasting gospel to be preached to all the remaining
So why does God need the 2 witnesses and the 144,000 here to preach the gospel and the angel?
Well I will tell you why
bc of the fact that the 2 witnesses are only two guys how many people can they really reach with the gospel?
if you look at the two witnesses they have a very public ministry they are killed and all the nations are rejoicing and everyone is thrilled
So these evil wicked people will be overjoyed when the two witnesses are killed they are probably getting alot of coverage in the media and are known worldwide
the 144,000 since there are more of them can basically do more local ministry scattered throughout the world preaching to people who arent watching tv during this time bc it is so dreadful.
These 144,000 will speak in various tounges just like the church in Acts 2
Some will be in china speaking chinese, some will be in India speaking Indian, some will be in Africa some will be in the US
They will be preaching the truth to those who are left behind, those who take the mark fo the beast its too late for them, but for the ones it is not too late for they will have a small window
Now lets look quickly at the rapture
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
saying:
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”
Now heres the key
Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
Now John remember is in the very throneroom of God and then BEHOLD= SUDDENLY THIS GREAT MULTITUDE APPEARS IN HEAVEN
One of the elders asks John who are these people and where did they come from?
John is like
And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
So this is us church!
This is when the church of Jesuss Christ appears in Heaven from Heavens perspective after almost all of the great tribulation but not quite at the end.
So in Heaven this is what the rapture looks like!
After the sealing of the 144,000
Were going home.
What does the rapture look like on Earth from our perspective?
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
(comfort)
Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.
WE WILL SERVE THE LORD IN HEAVEN!
JESUS WILL DWELL WITH LIVE WITH US!
HE WILL SATISFY EVERY NEED WE COULD POSSIBLY HAVE
They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat;
for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”