To every nation and tribe and language and people. Revelation 14:6-7

One of the aspects of Revelation chapter 14 is the feeling that we have been thrown back to minutes after the rapture once again.

Why would I say that?

Because if you walked through chapter 13 with me, then you saw the beasts come full force against Israel and the world. The timing of chapter 13 puts us well into the seven year-period, beyond the halfway point. The false prophet is causing all to take the mark, worship the beast, and worship the image that talks, refusal to do so means death.

Since we all seem to read Revelation with a chronological mindset, we get confused when we hit some of the terminology that Chapter 14 gives us. Let me show you what I mean.

Revelation 14:3-4 ESV "..., and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. (4) It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, ..."

Key phrases are:

• "before the throne"

• "who had been redeemed from the earth."

• "Redeemed from mankind"

• "as first fruits for God"

These are all phrases that tell me that something else has happened before the 144,000 got placed here.

Revelation 7:2-3 tells us that:

"...another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, (3) saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."

I point this out because it demonstrates that the 144,000 are marked prior to God unleashing his wrath upon the earth. That wrath is an integral aspect of the seven years that everyone likes to improperly call the tribulation. Death at the hands of evil men is also an aspect of the seven-year period, and it is possible that these have met their fate at their hands.

So with verses 6 and 7 of Revelation 14, we are pulled backward to the beginning of that seven years.

"Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water." (Revelation 14:6-7 ESV)

I made the statement to an acquaintance from church that there is nothing holding God back from returning for his church. He angrily replied that not everyone had received the gospel (apparently in written form) and Jesus could not come yet. Isn't that funny how we think we can tell God what he can do? I responded to his rant with my version of Revelation 14:6-7 by saying God had that problem covered as an angel will fly around the earth preaching about Jesus. Sadly, at that moment, I could not give him scripture, so I don't think he was moved enough to believe it. (Paul had a similar problem in that he was preaching what we now call the New Testament, but he was preaching it to Jews who staunchly held to the Old Testament. One group called the Bereans, went back to their synagogues and searched for these things Paul said and proved them for themselves.)

In what?

The Old Testament and they found them to be true and therefore believed. You need to look things up in scripture when you are not sure if what someone says is true. Then you can believe or reject it as garbage.

Sadly, for those living during this time of God's wrath, the atrocities will be beyond words, and that is just the violence that people will commit against each other.

“Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come,”

Think about that, a time to fear God, but it is also a time to give him glory.

Who is he talking to?

These are those who did not make the cut, those that allegedly never heard the gospel message and those that flat-out rejected him. Let's break this down a bit more.

We, religious, tend to say that those who are left have no chance. This group, according to Matthew 25, sits beside many of us in church. Some belong to religious groups such as the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Mormon church. I can just about guarantee you that a few of them actually believe in Jesus Christ as the savior. Just for the sake of argument, let's assume that they don't. In a quick instant, these various groups will come to the realization that they were misled. I suspect the rapture of the church will be an eye-opening moment, as well as a deep sense of grief when so many realize that they missed the chance for the grace of God.

Having missed the rapture, what options are left to you?

Get something clear in your head. You have been forgiven through Christ's death on the cross, but you chose not to sign onto the team. Ask Him into your life just as people have begged you to do for years now.

Jesus told us that in this world, you will have tribulations, and since you have now found yourself in the seven years of God's wrath on earth, I suggest you strap yourself in for the ride of your life.

• Islam is going to rise up as the dominant world religion, and they will not tolerate anyone outside of Islam breathing the same air as themselves. They will try to kill you, and if you make it to the halfway point of the seven-year period, it only gets worse.

• I believe that most of the major nations are deeply involved in things like Agenda 2030. Therefore, they, too, will try to reduce the global population. That is one of the reasons that there are guillotines at the FEMA camps scattered across this nation of America. (I originally published this in 2015, and sadly, due to my naivete, I did not realize then that all the medical procedures that have been shoved down our throats, along with destructive events like fires, are all meant to force you to need and submit to big government influence and enforce the so-called need to have a global economy that allows them to track and control every move you make.)

• Marshall law will be declared, and people will be shot. As I made mention, religion will be made illegal under penalty of death. (Again, I published this in 2015. Eight years later, Michigan's legislators passed a bill that makes it a felony to misgender another human being. Followers of Christ, who lean heavily on the Bible, have many scriptures that speak against homosexuality as a disgusting sin. In time Christians will be tracked down and killed.)

• Oh, and the hundred-pound hailstones and earthquakes among the mix that are meant to kill people.

Joel chapter two says that in the last days that God would pour out his spirit upon all flesh, and then you shall do mighty and amazing things.

Joel 2:28-29, 32 ESV "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. (29) Even on the male and female servants in those days, I will pour out my Spirit. (32) And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

The general impression I get is that the world continues to find the hope that is in Jesus during a rather hopeless time.

Have you ever thought about why Christianity has developed such skillful apologists – those who go out and argue on behalf of God?

It is because the Bible, God's Word, is provable and real. Jesus spent a great deal of time telling the disciples, and us, that all things are as he said, and then – just as he said – he allowed the Jewish leadership to kill him for the purpose of paying our debt and then rising again – just as he said - to give us the assurance that there is an eternity with the Father.

Look, I get it. The Christian church has not provided many great examples to follow, and because God will have taken those of us who know what a passionate life looks like out of here – you may not have a clue how to act. I am telling you that this time you will find yourself in is not the time to act like a pansy. You are going to be in warfare. If there is no one else to lead you, then there will be two witnesses from God who show up in the streets of Jerusalem, follow their lead, and do what they do.

You have a voice; use it. Put your faith in Jesus Christ, for there is power in the name of Jesus that will never change.

Part the waters when necessary;

Declare healing over the sick and wounded;

If necessary, call fire down from heaven, in the name of Jesus, upon those who wish to harm you.

If you find yourself here during this time – do it. All the rules will have changed except God's, and He empowered those who put their trust in Him to do exceptional things. Determine now to walk fearlessly through this earth. Oh, they will eventually kill you, but in that instant, you will be with the Father.

They either bow to the God you serve, or they die trying to harm you. When they came to take Elisha captive, he cooked two regiments with fire from God. The third bowed before the God of Elisha's and begged him to come with them. Elisha chose to come with that man. It is your choice.

Find a copy of the movie The Matrix; there is a scene in which Neo figures out what he is capable of. You, too, are capable of acting like the prophets of old. There is nothing to stop you. Use the power in the name of Jesus and change the course of rivers if you must.

Better yet, try living that way today.

Related articles

• Our Turn
• There are mysteries we can't read about in the Bible
• Will you be there?
• The 144,000 - symbolic or literal? Revelation 14:1-4
• But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.