Evidence of the Holy City coming down at the beginning of the millennium is scattered and, in a sense, hidden. Revelation 21:9-11.

 Back to Bible study. 

Finally, we have come to the New Heaven; and no, we are not in transition, “awaiting our resurrection to the New Earth,” as Randy Alcorn would tell you. That is nothing more than slop that people have made up.

Then why talk about the rapture of the church? 

Because, in the chain of events before the New Heaven and the New Earth show up, we have to have the catching away of the church. 

2 Thessalonians 2:3 tells us that the man of sin, the antichrist character, cannot come unless the church departs. A clear definition of this comes from the Geneva Bible, published in 1587. 

On the other hand, the King James translation, which some will tell you is the only authorized Bible you should use, was decreed in 1769, almost two hundred years later. In case you haven't heard, the King James Bible came to us because the State Church of England, the Catholic Church, ordered it rewritten to reflect their anger over people leaving the only recognized church, by their standards, for Protestantism. In the process of rewriting, 2 Thessalonians 2:3 was intentionally changed to read “except there come a falling away first,” and that was indeed happening.  

So, the church's departure initiates the seven years of God's wrath. 

Some things that will happen in association with the rapture:

• The catching away of the church.

  I use the terminology catching away, as it is a translation of the Greek word harpazo. Rapture, which many of us use, is a translation of the Latin word rapturo. It doesn’t matter which term you use as long as you get there, which, by the way, is through you accepting Jesus Christ into your life as your savior.

  This time with Him will last for seven years, the same time frame as the wrath of God is being poured out upon the earth. During these seven years, people will continue to come to Christ, take a stand for Him, and, sadly, have their heads cut off; they will be the martyred saints.

• ¼ of the world's population will be brutally murdered. 

  This will be through several methods, including manufactured pestilence of every kind. This list includes injections, diseases, and death at the hands of humanity.

• A massive war focused on the Middle East and likely involving President Putin of Russia will occur in the Jezreel Valley of Israel. 

  While this war will be horrific, one-third of Israel will survive, and this character, Gog, will be killed on the hillsides of Israel. The battle will be ended as God sends a firestorm upon the combatants. No one of a sound mind can tell you precisely when this will occur, except to say that it will be very close to the church's rapture.

• The third temple will be rebuilt. Reports indicate that it can be rebuilt in about three months. 

• The two witnesses from God will show up and preach in the streets of Jerusalem. 

  However, they only remain for three and a half years.

• Amid this chaos, a man will rise and declare peace.

  Many will tell you that he, the antichrist, makes peace with Israel, but scripture does NOT say that. It says he will make peace with many. The many are most likely the nations that will be warring with Israel and taking a severe beating at the hand of God.

  All this most likely happens right after the catching away of the church and rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

• The winds of the earth will cease.

  This will make the planet’s temperature rise by a deadly amount. Humans and plant life will die and suffer. 

• The water supplies will be poisoned and turned to blood.

  Literally? I don’t know. I just know it will be undrinkable.

• The oceans will be poisoned as something massive will slam into them, and one-third of the ocean vessels will be destroyed.

• A demon horde of locusts will be unleashed and sting people, making them want to die, but they will not die.

• The economic systems of the earth will be destroyed.

  The Bible tells us that the global leaders who put their trust in money will all see the smoke arising from Babylon. Since Babylon was destroyed thousands of years ago, this represents greed and power. Sorry, but it will be gone.

• And do not forget that 100-pound, fiery hail stones will batter the earth. 

At the end of seven years, the wrath ends. But, so many things will happen at the end of the wrath.

 Here are a few:

• Jesus will come back with a sword out of His mouth, and we will be with Him.

  The nations will have gathered for battle with the Lamb – Jesus, and those who came to fight with Him will be slaughtered in the Jezreel valley; this is the place we call the valley of Meggido.

• The new Jerusalem will come down from heaven.

• Jesus will be seated as a judge and reign during the thousand years of peace.

• There will be NO MORE WARS.

• The law of God will continue to be preached among the nations, and many will come to know Jesus.

  In other words, the nations – people will come to understand the nature and character of God. He is not out to kill you. However, the eternal torment made for Satan and those who followed him in the rebellion will also be filled by people who choose to follow Satan.

Between the killing that people will do against people and the things God is pouring out upon the earth, I cannot imagine how anyone survives.

It is NOT clear what we, the church, will be doing during the millennium, as we are in Him. But I am sure it will be grand.

Revelation 21:9-27 tells us the details of The New Jerusalem.

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:9 NASB)

That deadly angel says, “Come here, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” I chose the term deadly, as this is the same angel that had been pouring out the wrath of God upon the Earth.

What is coming? 

You would be correct if you said the New Jerusalem, yet it is the bride.

I thought we were the bride?

We are, but here, we are as those bricks, made up of pure gold, that comprises the entirety of the New Jerusalem. We are also the shining city.

I have become rather emphatic regarding the New Jerusalem, the Holy City, and how it comes down at the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ. But, like most everything else, there is some challenge, or the enemy comes along, invading my thoughts with confusion and doubt. In moments like this, I must regroup mentally, find my evidence and reestablish my confidence.

Like everything in scripture, evidence of the Holy City coming down at the beginning of the millennium is scattered and, in a sense, hidden throughout the Bible. One of those places is the entirety of Revelation 22. Here, we find this river that starts small and quickly widens, coming from under the throne of God. Along both sides of this river, the trees of life grow. The leaves of those trees are for the healing of the nations. (See Revelation 22:2.)

When and where does this healing take place?

Only during the millennial kingdom, and so, I was right, the Holy City does come down at the beginning of the millennial reign. 

If you have followed my posts for the last couple of months, you would be aware of how I have, over the previous twenty years, fought through erroneous teachings, such as only believers enter the millennial kingdom and the racist belief that' no Jews enter the millennial reign.

“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.”(Revelation 21:10-11 NASB)

I suppose that is understandable if you are confused about when the Holy City comes down. But know this, it is not by my doing; as I pointed out, the leaves of the tree of life bring healing to the nations. However, after the great judgment seat and the Earth and heavens being burned with fire and replaced, there is no longer any need for healing for the nations, as they are healed, or they are gone, cast into the lake of fire – their names not being found in the book of life. 

Perhaps the confusion is deeply embedded in the idea that we constantly apply our broken human understanding to Biblical concepts and events, such as the Holy City coming down and when. I see this happening when the earth is still horribly polluted, damaged, and has non-believing people walking around on it. God can and will handle all that, and it will not affect those living in that city. 

Now, if He has to lift the Holy City off the earth to purge the earth with fire, then so be it, He will do so with the blink of an eye, and it may have all of us in it, still walking on the streets of gold, as it moves. 

Should we care how God moves, lifts, or vaporizes the garbage under the Holy City to purge the heavens and the earth? 

NO. If we struggle to know, much of our struggle is wrapped up in wanting to have answers for other Christians who have lived through the erroneous teachings as we did. We struggle because we cannot seem to grasp the hope that the Apostle Paul tells us we have though we try. (This becomes harder when some “brother” in Christ tells you not to waste your time talking about Jesus coming back soon, especially when the “Christian community has been preaching this gospel for well over 2000 years, and we are still here.) We can have that hope if we have our name in the Book of Life. The only sure-fire way to know if you have your name there is to accept Jesus Christ as Lord over your life. 

It seems simple enough, doesn't it?

At the cost of blood, you ransomed us for God. Revelation 5:8-14.

 

Then the Lamb, which looked as if it had been slaughtered, is now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders, right where I expected to see Jesus Christ, the warring Messiah. This lamb had seven horns and seven eyes. I quickly learned that what I saw represented the seven-fold Spirit of God sent out into every part of the earth. I strongly suspect this to be the Holy Spirit of God. This slaughtered lamb stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne.

I adapted this paragraph above is from Revelation 5:6-7. Perhaps you recognized some of the terminologies, as we recently covered this section of scripture?

“When he took the scroll, the four living beings, and the twenty-four elders fell down in front of the Lamb. Each one held a harp and gold bowls filled with pieces of incense, which are the prayers of God's people; and they sang a new song, "You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals; because you were slaughtered; at the cost of blood you ransomed for God persons from every tribe, language, people and nation.”
(Revelation 5:8-9 CJB)

• The four living beings.

  “In front of the throne was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living beings covered with eyes in front and behind. The first living being was like a lion, the second living being was like an ox, the third living being had a face that looked human, and the fourth living being was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living beings had six wings and was covered with eyes inside and out; and day and night they never stop saying, "Holy, holy, holy is Adonai, God of heaven's armies the One who was, who is and who is coming!" And whenever the living beings give glory, honor, and thanks to the One sitting on the throne, to the One who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before the One sitting on the throne, who lives forever and ever, and worship him. They throw their crowns in front of the throne and say, "You are worthy, Adonai Eloheinu, to have glory, honor, and power because you created all things—yes, because of your will, they were created and came into being!”
  (Revelation 4:6-11 CJB)

• “Each one held a harp and gold bowls filled with pieces of incense, which are the prayers of God's people.”

  I would hope that you understand how vital your prayers are.

  Psalms 141:2 CJB “Let my prayer be like incense set before you, my uplifted hands like an evening sacrifice.”

  Proverbs 15:8 CJB “Adonai detests the sacrifices of the wicked but delights in the prayers of the upright.”

• “and they sang a new song,”

  When we get to Revelation 14, we will see the 144,000 singing a “new song,” which only they will know.

Page one.

Revelation 14:1-3 NASB Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him, one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. (2) And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. (3) And they *sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth.

While Revelation 14 is in Greek, Psalm 40, where King David is speaking, is in Hebrew, yet both convey the idea of a new song, and both can also mean fresh. You might think these 144,000 had already been singing some form of song unto the Lord.

Psalms 40:1-3 NASB “... I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD.”

• “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals.”

  In the previous post, we talked about Revelation 5:4-5, where John is weeping because there was no one worthy to open the seals. One of the 24 elders tell John to stop crying because there is one, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Well, that's quite a visual, and yet what does John see? A lamb that looks as if it had just been slain.

  The bottom line is this, Jesus Christ was and is worthy, and the Revelation is about to tell you why.

• “because you were slaughtered; at the cost of blood you ransomed for God persons from every tribe, language, people and nation.”

  He wasn’t merely whipped, although that alone killed most people; He was bludgeoned - beaten with fists; had his beard pulled out, a crown of thorns was pressed into His skull, and then the cross arm was lashed to His severely wounded back, stretching out His arms making it impossible to prevent more injury to His head and face as He fell. All of this was an aspect of the price He paid on our behalf.

  1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us that we have been bought with a price.

  Hebrews 2:9 informs us that Jesus, because of the suffering of death, was crowned with glory and honor so that by the grace of God, he might experience death for everyone so that we don't have to. Common sense tells us that every person must die sometime, so the author of Hebrews must be talking about something other than physical death.

  Hebrews 2:14, in the NLT translation, explains, “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.” Since the devil's only hope is to bring about a spiritual death, which is separation from God, we must understand that Jesus’ actions in death restored us.

Page two.

Acts 13:38-39 conveys the idea that through Him, we have forgiveness of sins, and through Him, everyone who believes is freed from all things the Law could not free us from.

Ephesians 1:7 establishes that in Him we have redemption because of this blood He shed, not only that, but we have the forgiveness of our trespasses; and, He uses the riches of His grace as the standard.

No one was left out of this deal; how is it that many will not accept this love, grace, and acceptance?

It is all about free will, and therefore, their choice to refuse.

If you have chosen to follow after Jesus, you are deemed a kingdom and priests to our God.

Revelation 5:10 KJV And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Hebrews 12:22 tells us that the number of angels is a countless multitude.

Revelation 5:11 NASB Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,

Angels, living creatures, the elders, and every created thing cries out; Worthy is the lamb that was slain.

“saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped.” (Revelation 5:12-14 NASB)

When I opened our look into Revelation chapter five, I asked why wouldn’t the church be the focus of chapter five since chapter four is a definitive boundary between the church age and the time of wrath. The answer to the question is that the entirety of the Revelation is focused on Jesus. What we have also learned is that the elders represent the church.

The problem for us humanoids is that we continue to apply our human emotions to God repeatedly; this is a pointless effort. God is not affected by our human emotions, although, through the Son, He can undoubtedly comprehend our feelings but not be ruled by them.

Now, here we are, represented by the elders, along with every living creature, crying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain

to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”

Along with this cry,

“To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb,

be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

Page three.

Many have claimed the title of Jesus Christ. Matthew 24, part 3.

Matthew 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

As I mentioned in a recent post, there have been over 30, throughout the years, that have claimed the title of Jesus Christ. They have followed by thousands in some cases, but this is something more.

Revelation 13:11-14 NASB (11) Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. (12) He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. (13) He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. (14) And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.

Do not let this get past you, for in it you see a lamb, with two horns. This should ring some bells.

Who is The Lamb, we believers recognize? (Rev 5:6) Jesus Christ of course, but when seen He is the lamb “as it had been slain.” John never describes horns on our Jesus, so He is never seen as an offensive personality. That will all change when you see him in Revelation 19, where He comes, riding a white horse, and has a sword coming out of his mouth.

What can you perceive from this lamb with two horns? That he is a representation, a false Jesus that will initially seem just like our Jesus Christ. The horns always represent war or violence, therefore, this false Jesus is coming with the intent of deception and violence. As I have stated before, Islam believes this man to be the enforcer of Sharia. Assuming you have your eyes open, then you should be aware of the level of deadly violence that infests Sharia law, and it is directed primarily at infidels (those outside of Islam), and women.

Revelation 20:1-3 KJV And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. (2) And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, (3) And cast him 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.

Revelation 12:17 KJV 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 and 20:1-3, are both clearly referring to Satan, but is that the only references to a dragon that we have in scripture? Not at all.

Revelation 13:2-4 KJV 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. (3) 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. (4) 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?

            Clarifying takes a little time, and a mind that is willing to look past tradition.

Revelation 13:2 tells us of a multi-headed beast, “and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”

What is this beast? 
The four heads represent four heads of authority. Because there is one body it demonstrates some form of unity, with one central goal, but did you notice that each head is different, indicating that they will be a destructive force and never attain cohesiveness (This is what we see in Nebuchadnezzar's dream where the toes are made of clay and iron).

There is only one thing on this earth that fully takes on these characteristics, and it is Islam.

The lack of cohesiveness is demonstrated by their hatred of each other as Sunni and Shia Muslims consistently try to blow each other up. Islam does give them a common, vile hatred, as prescribed in the Qur’an, and that is to kill infidels, defined as anyone not aligning with Islam.

Revelation 13:3 CEV  One of its heads seemed to have been fatally wounded, but now it was well. Everyone on earth marveled at this beast,

I cannot begin to number the theories I have heard on what this is supposed to be. Many thought it was President Kennedy, or a Catholic Pope that was to be assassinated. That is not it at all. Islam became united under one central religious authority called the Rashidun caliphate in 632 AD. This eventually became the Ottoman Empire that ruled over the Middle East, northern African continent, and much of Eastern Europe, until its defeat and dissolution in 1922. This is the head that was wounded, and the world thought it was dead.

Islam regained some life with the Muslim Brotherhood. Founded in 1928, “the Muslim Brotherhood started as a religious social organization; preaching Islam, teaching the illiterate, setting up hospitals and even launching commercial enterprises. As its influence grew, it began to oppose British rule in Egypt, starting in 1936. Many Egyptian nationalists accuse the Muslim Brotherhood of violent killings during this period. After the Arab defeat in the First Arab-Israeli war, the Egyptian government dissolved the organization and arrested its members. The Muslim Brotherhood supported the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, but after being implicated in an attempted assassination of Egypt's president it was once again banned and repressed.” (From Wikipedia)

Islam existed, in the mind of the modernized world, as only a sleeping religion, until the Islamic revolution, or Iranian Revolution of 1979. This was when the US Embassy in Iran, was taken hostage. Islam, the head that was dead, has been alive ever since.

Verse 4 of Revelation 13 states, “And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast:” If the “they” here are the followers of Islam, then who do they, in unity, worship? Allah. Is it possible that Allah is little more than a powerful and destructive fallen angel, certainly. Where would this “dragon” obtain such global authority? This kind of logic tends to make Islam the beast. Therefore, what we have is a demonic spirit giving power to a religious ideology.

Note the wording of Revelation 13:11-14, “he spoke as a dragon.”

This is now a singular entity, the false prophet, a pseudo Christ if you will (a lamb with two horns). Islam calls him - `Îsâ Ibn Maryam ( Arabic: عيسى, translit.: ʿĪsā ), known as Jesus in the New Testament, is considered to be a Messenger of God and al-Masih (the Messiah) in Islam^[1][2]:30 who was sent to guide the Children of Israel (banī isrā'īl) with a new scripture, al-Injīl (the Gospel).(From Wikipedia) This man did not die on the cross, and he is not the son of God. He is however, a Jew, of the lineage of Aaron and therefore entitled to be a priest, giving access to the temple. He is a Muslim, and a follower of Allah. He will defer to the Mahdi, and be able to do signs and wonders as Elijah did.

Things are moving so fast. If you are a believer, a follower of Christ, are you aware that Muslims are coming  to Christ in rapid numbers. He appears to them in their dreams, and they describe knowing precisely who He is. They are generally led to followers of Christ, much like Paul was led to Ananias after the road to Damascus incident.

If you do not know this Jesus Christ personally, ask him to make himself real to you. Ask him  into your life, and He will come and change you from the inside out. What is to come may seem exciting to some, but it is not. It will be a time of wrath upon those that remain upon the earth. There only one hope and his name is Jesus.