Those who get locked out, are now subject to the wrath that is coming

Do a word search in the Revelation and you will find that the word wrath first appears in chapter 6.

Why would that be important? Because of statements like this:

Revelation 4:1 NASB After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things."

After what things? The end of the church age. The typical religious response to this is an argument.

Ask yourself what has happened in the earlier chapters of Revelation? Some, rather in-depth descriptions of literal and at the same time, symbolic church bodies. Remember, we are the church, not where we congregate, so it would be proper to refer to our gatherings as bodies.

This phase of the Revelation ends with the last church, the Laodicean church - the lukewarm one which God threatens to spew out of his mouth in disgust. One of my typical admonitions is to look around you. Are we, the church, on fire? Hardly. Most have no idea of what the fire is and we certainly are not going to attempt to ignite any either.

I suppose most of you feel rather safe in your religious cloaks. Hopefully, yours has a hood and you can pull it up over your head to help you isolate yourself from reality, the world, and God's attempts at getting your attention. There is a problem in this though and you find it in Matthew 25.

"Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. "Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. "Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. "But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' "Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. "The foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' "But the prudent answered, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' "And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. "Later the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, lord, open up for us.' "But he answered, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.' "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. (Matthew 25:1-13 NASB)

Make note of some keywords and phrases:

• “ten virgins”

What does it take to be a virgin in this world today? Commitment? Certainly, but do not exclude the concepts of purity and separation from the world.

The important thing to take away from this is that God called them all and made no distinction.

We are not invited to judge their situations initially. Once they play their hands (A poker term indicating a showing of their cards to see if they win or not. Because so much of card playing involves bluffing you cannot ascertain truthfulness in the virgins) you can quickly see deeply into their hearts.

• “ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom”

All of them went and all had lamps with oil in them. What and where this meeting point is we do not ascertain from this passage. But, if I think like a Jew from this era it would make all the sense in the world. Since the groom would already have a contractual agreement with the family, he would be off building the house we would eventually be living in. This would be no secret. The idea behind what we see here is that he knows the hours it takes to do what needs to be done, especially after spending a long time working toward the goal of the wedding night. If he had hopes of being finished as the sun sets, giving him time to clean himself up and bring his betrothed home to his bed, he would have put out the word alerting her to have herself ready. She could easily be standing outside the gates waiting in anticipation, or we could find her, sitting by lamplight, in the living room of her parents. Because there are so many, let us assume a common meeting place or they are outside said gate.

• “Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.”

Is he delaying, waiting for others to join the ranks? No, the invitations have been sent, the number has been determined. Don't get sour thinking that you have the potential to be excluded. Just the fact that you are reading this tells me that you have been included. The scriptures tell us that God has no desire that any should perish. So he longs for all to come. Delays come, I experience them all the time, especially when I am working on my computer. I will often think, this will just take a minute, and forty-five minutes later, with my frustrations through the roof, I eventually get done.

Keep in mind that this young man has longed for this night for as long as it has taken to build the “house” that they will live in, and he will not wait any longer than he has to.

It says, “they all got drowsy and began to sleep.” Do you see any condemnation in that fact? No, but watch what happens next.

• “But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.”

The announcement comes, he is here, come and join yourselves to him – for eternity. What does this imply? He is now presenting himself, and, one other thing, which I am not sure why because it seems to give us the grace and time to trim a wick and refill an oil lamp.

• “Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.”

All the virgins awoke, got up, trimmed the wicks in their lamps. Those that had extra oil poured the excess into their lamps, relight them and proceeded to join the groom outside.

What did the other five do? They arose, trimmed the wicks in their lamps, noted that they did not think they would have to wait this long and therefore brought no extra oil, and so, demanded that the others give them some.

Seriously – you demand? It is midnight. It has been dark for about six hours now and everyone reasonable is in bed, so, why don't you go to the local market and see if you can buy some more oil and quickly, as the groom is out there NOW. Mind you, I see an unusual amount of grace and perhaps patience but not the time it takes to hunt for a store to be open, and this is not a society of convenience back then.

How and why all five go and come back at the same time (that is what we assume) is not known. Perhaps we have the idea that if we group together, much like the group of speeding cars I was meshed in with as we drove across the desert, that we would not get stopped since we are so many voices. We were wrong and we all got a ticket. If God is representative of the bridegroom, then it is obvious that he is not impressed by large whining crowds either.

“And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.” (Matthew 25:10 NASB)

• “those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.”

What makes the five who had to go shopping at midnight unready? A lack of lamp oil? It is obvious that the lamp oil is symbolic of something else, but what? A strong possibility is the Holy Spirit. Keep in mind that Jesus told this parable to a crowd of people who had not experienced the Holy Spirit. That tends to diminish this idea. Can I exclude sincerity and enthusiasm as the oil, not really.

Those who were ready were the ones who had extra oil. However long it took to wake up, trim their wicks and refill their lamps was apparently okay with the bridegroom.

What's the point I am trying to make, especially since there is really no wrath involved?

That those who get locked out, are now subject to the wrath that is coming, and all because they are lackadaisical and ill prepared, when they could have been. If I could reach any, or all of them I would implore them to figure out what the oil is, and then get some.

All that being said, let's move on to Revelation 16:2 and see how far we can get.

So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. (Revelation 16:2 NASB)

The wrath started in chapter six and has been ongoing.

Note: God's wrath is not necessarily associated with man's wrath, however, the two of them will run concurrently.

I would love to tell you that the mark of the beast will be exclusive to the half way point of the seven-year period. Perhaps if we could get some response from people who choose not to be Muslims in a Muslim land, they could tell us what Islam does to those who refuse to follow Allah. I know there is something called the Jizya tax.

Qur'an (9:29) - "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."

So if you comply with a willing submission, then God will pour out upon you a malignant sore. The Hebrew Study Bible calls them, disgusting and painful sores.

The second one (an angel sent by God) poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died. (Revelation 16:3 CJB)

An April 15, 2016, article from the Daily Mail in Australia shows this picture.

A swimmer heads towards a red algae bloom at Sydney's Clovelly Beach on November 27, 2012, which closed some beaches for swimming including Bondi Beach for a period of time. While the red algae, known as Noctiluca scintillans or sea sparkle, has no toxic effects, people are still advised to avoid swimming in areas with discoloured water because the algae, which can be high in ammonia, can cause skin irritation. AFP PHOTO/William WESTWILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images

While these scenes are impressive, the Red tide from algae blooms is not uncommon. I strongly suspect that the seas turning to blood may be a reality when this happens. Did this happen before? Yes, during the plagues of Egypt.

The third one poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they turned to blood. (Revelation 16:4 CJB)

If you read about the plagues of Egypt, then you know this too happened. Strangely, Pharaoh's sorcerers managed to find some clear water and turned that drinkable water into blood as well. When I read this story I cannot imagine there being any clear water. But, to take what drinkable water you can find and turn it into blood is just unfathomable.

Mother and child looking at the red beach

Revelation 16:5-6 LITV And I heard the angel of the waters saying, You are righteous, Lord, the One who is, and who was, and who will be, because You judged these things, (6) since they poured out the blood of the saints and of the prophets; and You gave blood to them to drink, for they were deserving.

The words show God's judgment against those who have poured out the blood of the saints and prophets. Since you chose blood, then blood you shall drink. Question? Since the judgment is very specific, speaking of the oceans, rivers, and streams, do you think bottled water would remain untouched?

Let's end this “study” with this.

Revelation 16:7 LITV And I heard another out of the altar saying, Yes, Lord God Almighty, Your judgments are true and righteous.

I have come to the conclusion that all of God's judgments are true and righteous. It does not matter how uncomfortable they make me feel.

Don't get me wrong, pain hurts me as well. I just need to get my vision straight and keep my eyes on Jesus and his work in me.

In Recovery we make amends. We do this for a couple of reasons: to take responsibility for our own actions and the harm we have done to others, and, to do the right thing in God's eyes, no matter what the personal consequences may be.

You need to be aware, that as a follower of Christ, God is not and will not punish you. Christ took all our punishment.

(Yes, I get it and hear the rebuttals all the time. That does not mean I will back down from this point of view. Because scripture tells that Christ took all the punishment due us on the cross, then we do not have to. This also means and tells that all sins: past, present, and future sins, have been forgiven. There is nothing to forgive. So, if we find ourselves going into eternal punishment what might have happened? You completely threw Jesus in the trash and opted to follow Satan - the god of this world, to his punishment. That puts your future completely on you, not God and some irrational decision you think he made.)

God, may, however, be testing you and trying to you, to purify you, to make you more like His son.

None of this excludes you from personal responsibility for your own actions. An example: if you drink and drive, and kill someone or do some major property damage. That was all your choice and you will have to submit to man's laws. By the way – God instituted man's laws as well, to keep law breakers under control. Since we - those followers who live controlled by the spirit of God don't do those kinds of things, then we should not have a problem, should we.

But we do, and often. Why is that?

Because our central processors came damaged (we call that sin) thanks to Adam's decisions making in the garden. God saw that coming long before it ever happened and chose to give the man the freedom to love the maker. That does not seem so unreasonable because a reasonable person should see the goodness and mercy in God and then long for Him. If this was any other way then we would just be automatons with no relationship. So, even before time began God had a plan. It involved allowing the creation, man, to make his mistakes; it involved allowing Lucifer to corrupt his power and position, with the potential to damage and kill the creation. But God had a plan, and he knew it would not fail. He would bring an uncorrupted son into the earth to be the King; he would allow that son to suffer and die with the express purpose of redeeming all mankind back to himself if they chose to come. And, He would receive his only Son back to himself alive and set him victorious on the throne; all for the purpose of ending all destruction and bringing back the family that wants to live with him.

Did God know there would be repercussions for his actions?

Yes, he knew some would choose not to believe and follow him. Those choosing against God would follow the only other “leader, the god of this world,” into the judgment that awaits him.

God did not make the eternal punishment for people; my bible tells me that God loves us, so much so, that he sent his only son into the world that did not love him, to die a brutal death, so that this world could be SAVED. They, the majority, however, choose not to be, because it cramps their style. No, God does not wish for anyone to perish, and Matthew 25, in the parable of the sheep and goats at the judgment, God shows MERCY to those who simply lived outside of their broken selfish ways and helped people at times.

Since I am not a good gambler I choose to live my life in the Spirit of God.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, (Titus 2:11-13 NASB)

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Will we have to go through the tribulation?

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God."

(Revelation 16:1 NASB)

Note the words “the wrath of God.” 

If you do not know my blog and how I think, then may I make something clear? This time that is coming upon the earth, often called the day of the Lord, is not tribulation; it is the time of wrath. 

Tribulation, as Jesus put it, is a way of life for the believer.

Even my mother would ask me, Will we have to go through the tribulation?

Because we can see events already upon us that look and sound like aspects of God's wrath during the seven years, it is for some to say we are already there, but as of this date, 01/03/26, the rapture of the church has not happened, and the world is not in the time of wrath yet. 

Add to this the testimony of a young Jewish boy. Jewish only by nationality at the time of his testimony, he died and went to heaven. He claimed to have spoken extensively with Jesus, the Messiah, and came back to life. As he was questioned by the rabbis, one of the things he said was that we are in the last seven years. 

I could take that information seriously, I could dismiss it, or I could compare it with what I see around me.

What is an obvious problem with believing that we are in the time of wrath?

Jesus took all the wrath upon himself on the cross,

Isaiah 53:4-5 NASB Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. (5) But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.

And we, being in Christ, are not destined for wrath.

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 NASB (9) For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, (10) and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

And, 

Romans 5:9 NASB Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

All the wrath we see during this time period is meant for the nations and an unbelieving Israel for rejecting him.

Allow me to explain something. We are only looking at three people groups in the world today: the Jews, the Nations, and the Church.

Once the church is caught up to be with the Lord, there will only be those unbelieving (at that moment) Jews and the nations. The nations are a broad spectrum, ranging from those we claim were unreached to those who live in ignorant or blatant rejection. (This includes many who currently attend churches.)

Romans 1:18 NASB For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

Did you ever notice this aspect of verse 18 before? It says, "the unrighteousness of 'men' who suppress the truth..." 

The rabbis admonish attendees to stay away from Isaiah 53 and the writings of Daniel the prophet. Why? 

Because these writings speak of a truth they do not want the Jews to know and accept.

And, 

John 3:36 NASB "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

 If God opened the windows of heaven and poured out his wrath upon the earth, wouldn't that mean that the church is receiving his wrath as well? 

And that is not right when I look at scripture.

What other explanations are there?

While it is evident to me that the removal of the church from the earth triggers God's wrath upon the earth (Consider Lot and how the angels were restrained from bringing God's wrath upon the towns, such as Sodom and Gomorrah, until they removed Lot and his family to safety), there is little that tells us plainly when the church will get caught up. 

But we have not been left in the dark, nor are we unintelligent concerning when this will take place, because there are clues if we are willing to heed them: 

Matthew 24:32-34 The parable of the fig tree. 

1 Thessalonians 5:1- 5 But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you like a thief. 

Matthew 13:10- 13 Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven,

While the previous three passages do not tell you precisely when, they give you the freedom to play in the ballpark. 

Here we are in January of 2026, and Israel is over seventy years old. 

Seventy was a common biblical estimation for a generation. 

Besides that, if I look at Israel as the fig tree, then it is easy to see that it is in full bloom and filled with fruit. 

There is a generation associated with that fig tree, and we have the covenant, called God's Word, telling us that the generation that witnessed Israel becoming a nation will not pass away without seeing the return of the Messiah for His bride - the church. 

Folks, we are right there.

2 Thessalonians 2:6-9 NASB (6) And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. (7) For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. (8) Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; (9) that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,

Sure, circumstantial evidence is mounting, and we can see that, but I can see many things happening as we speak. 

Just within the first three seals of Revelation chapter six are things that are happening all around us.

Revelation 6:2-6 NASB I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. (3) When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come." (4) And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another, and a great sword was given to him. (5) When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. (6) And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."

If I look at the first rider, he rides a white horse.

The white horse is symbolic of peace, yet the rider holds a bow in his hand, which seems to contradict the notion of peace. However, you notice that he has no arrows. This rider is representative of an entity that presents itself as peace, but its motive is war. Islam adequately fits that description, for while they present themselves as the religion of peace, they are anything but peaceful.

The second rider removes peace from the earth.

Have you watched the news lately? 
Sick of the looting, pillaging, and the rampant raping of European women, someone started burning Mosques in Sweden (2017); Islamic terrorists have, in recent months, blown up the Belgium airport and a hotel in Indonesia. At the time of this writing, we were in the midst of presidential campaigning here in America, but who do we have to deal with? Trump supporters, who seem to be a bunch of violent, racist fools. At the same time, the group Black Lives Matter has openly stated that we will bring violence to the streets of America if Trump is elected.

And thirdly, that loaf of bread that I can remember paying a quarter for is now as much as $4.25.

The general idea is that food is becoming expensive and, in many cases, inedible. As an addendum, Venezuelans are starving to death as their dictator refuses aid shipments.

Another example of that evidence was the idea that the beast was thought to be exclusively a Middle Eastern phenomenon by some. 

Just a few years ago, I would have told you that America would not be touched by Islam's terrors. But that is not the case anymore, as we have Al Qaeda training camps in the United States that are feasible threats to American targets.

Is it possible that what we see in the sixth chapter of Revelation is not the wrath of God? 

Maybe. By the time you get to verse eight, it sure seems like it.

Revelation 6:8 NASB I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death, and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.

But who is keeping count of the number of people in the Middle East, Sudan, Nigeria, and Kenya, all slaughtered by Islamic-related groups; how many have died, as verses 9-10 describe?

Revelation 6:9-10 NASB When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; (10) and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

What's my point? Things are not that crystal clear, are they?

If God sees fit to time events as He pleases, then how do we keep the timing? 

You see, even that gets muddy as we wanted a clean delineation that allows us to say, see, I told you so. But that is not our job. Our job is spelled out in the second chapter of Titus:

Titus 2:11-13 NASB For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, (12) instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, (13) looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,

We are to be looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. 

Grab hold of that for a moment. 

Believers will tell you that under grace, we have no ordinances, or perhaps another way of stating this, commands to restrain us. 

Titus 2:11-13 sounds like some explicit instructions to me: 

• Deny ungodliness and worldly desires, 
• live sensibly and righteously, 
• and look for the appearance of Jesus.

So, though you may be up to your neck in machete blades, you are NOT in the tribulation because the church is still here. 

We anxiously await His call to come home, then the real wrath will come. If you get the sense that it will be a horror show after the rapture comes, you are correct, and that is why I am writing to you. 

Having lived through my fair share of hell fire preaching.

Having lived through my fair share of hell fire and brimstone preaching, I do not find it attractive nor are people drawn to it.

One of my family members chooses to believe that a good God would not punish people. Is that the case? Scripture seems to be clear on this for those who change masters.

Revelation 14:9 NASB Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,”

If you give in, worshiping the beast, his image, and taking his mark, then you have condemned yourself to an eternal punishment. Verse 9 creates the context for verse 10 where it says, the one who does this, will:

Revelation 14:10 NASB he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

The he is that person, - there will be many, who gives themselves over to the beast.

Revelation 14:11 NASB "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."

Sounds fairly black and white to me, but it is definitely a three-part, intentional, process. It would not be right to condemn a small child who is forced to be chipped while at school. They, often, do not have a clue and to think otherwise about God and his mercy shows me that you know nothing about the character and nature of God.

There is a day coming in which those in opposition to God will come to our “peaceful”streets with an overwhelming level of violence. And, just like we have seen in the African nations where Boko Haran members (a sect of Islam) have fired bombed churches with the attendees inside, or, merely shot or beheaded those who claimed to be Christians. Do you think that won't happen? Then you are deceived already.

That day that is coming falls under the category of, “the day of the Lord,” the time of wrath. The time in which God pours out his wrath upon unbelievers, (Israel and the nations.) We, the church in general, were not meant to receive God's wrath.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 NASB (9) For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Why? Because:

John 3:36 NASB "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

Romans 5:8-10 NASB But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

As Israel wandered and complained in the desert God sent serpents (adders) to punish them [Look this up in Numbers 21.] People began to die and so cried out to Moses for mercy. At God's instructions Moses had an image of the serpent made and placed upon a pole. That was a type of Jesus Christ and, just as the serpents, which did not go away because of the serpent upon the pole, but became a salvation for the people when they looked upon it. Christ became sin upon that cross and took all the wrath due us because of the sin built into us. Sin did not go away, but it's impact, the wrath, went away when we looked to the cross where sin hung and died.

Why then are some continuing to migrate toward the wrath and eternal punishment?

Because some are suppressing the truth.

Romans 1:18 NASB For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

While others, because of their stubbornness and unrepentant hearts are storing up wrath for themselves.

Romans 2:5 NASB But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

I am telling you of things to come, although much of this has already happened in third world nations as Islam has been allowed to rise to power. Since Agenda 21 and now Agenda 2030 are designed to bring America and the Western European nations down to third world nation status for the purposes of population reduction, we can expect to see Islam filling our streets with violence also. It seems like there is nothing you can do doesn't it? But that is not the case. This time is not upon us yet; it will come, I know this because this is the pattern that I see in scripture. However, we have the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. This is the same power and Word which parted the Red Sea and drown the Egyptian army in the same ocean as they tried to cross it. This is the same word that brought fire down from heaven to consume God's enemies. This is the same word of power that opened up the earth to swallow the Philistines while blasting others with lightning.

What's my point? That God is still looking for those through which he can show himself strong.

Someday soon God will remove his church from the earth. At that point, the game is on and the wrath will begin to pour out of every crack. And, people, will continue to be godless killing machines, all in the power of their god, the beast.

So what happens after the rapture?

Revelation 14:12-13 NASB (12) Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. (13) And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."

Who is he talking about when he says Saints? We love to generalize considering everybody sitting in the pews to be saints. However, Matthew 25 does not tell me that. It shows me that 50% are ill prepared, having no extra oil and will not make it through the gates when he comes because they are off roaming the streets in the middle of the night, looking for more oil. Revelation 14:13 says, “blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!”

It is God who does the generalizing when he defines saints as:

O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. (Psalms 34:9 NASB)

We all comprehend fear as an aspect of cowering under an oppressive ruler, but God never wanted a relationship like that. Fear then conveys a respectful relationship in which we understand we have no control over anything and because of this relationship there is no want for anything.

Once the church is caught away, the number of people coming into relationship with Jesus Christ will be enumerable. This also tells me that almost as many will be put to death because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

Revelation 14:13 NASB And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."

These, because of their relationship with Jesus Christ, are deemed saints. They die because of their testimony – this testimony may or may not be elaborate and many, in their last breath may cry out their love for the Savior. Their actions are their deeds and these acts of kindness follow them into eternity for a remembrance.

Those that embrace a judgmental, unforgiving God typically have problems with God showing people mercy. Here, in the time of wrath, it is so much easier to perceive what happens to these people as God punishing them for their rejection. The problem with that kind of thinking is that you fail to understand that Jesus took all the wrath mandatory for the punishment of sin, upon himself.

Whom then is God's wrath being poured out upon? The nations and Israel for rejecting him. It is never about the church. Because of the timing involved with the gathering of the body to himself, some will escape all wrath; while others, joining themselves to the body of Christ after the in-gathering, will it seems, have to prove their allegiance through death. It seems the only alternative I can see.

Matthew 25: 31-46 offers us a comparable scenario when it comes to deeds that follow them. Jesus, at the end of the thousand years, having called the dead from the nations to himself, separates them into two groups – the sheep and goats. These are not Christians for they have not been caught up in the rapture nor the resurrection of the saints prior to the thousand years. The nations are generally thought to be anyone outside of a relationship with Christ, and yet, the Sheep are given their status because of their deeds, acts of kindness. This is defined as Jesus said,

'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; (Matthew 25:35 NASB)

These simple acts of kindness gained them entrance into the eternal kingdom.

If I thought it wise to take this gamble I would be making a serious mistake. I cannot even pick a line at the market without it coming to a screeching halt for some reason. It is wiser to live in the grace given to me, clinging tightly to his robe.

Consider a piece of wisdom we see in the story of the prodigal's son. Having spent all on riotous living, this Jew, a man who would not have considered touching an unclean pig, ends up not only slopping the hogs but having to eat what they would reject. This was the young man's bottom and looking up meant going back to his father that he had insulted. As he approaches the ranch the father who had looked and longing for his son's return, spots him a long way off and runs to him with outstretched arms. This is the Father and an example of the love he has for us. So, it will not be so much you merely catching a corner of his robe, but Him wrapping his arms around you to welcome you home.

Related articles

• Cleaving to Christ
• Salvation Is His Name. Selah.

Being destroyed because you rejected knowledge

This has been on my mind almost every day as I watch anonymous planes fill the skies with poisonous chemicals, and while our government pushes us to vaccinate our children with vaccines which have been associated with autism and death. All the while, the rich sit back in their comfortable office chairs plotting how to remove more people from the earth.

One day my girlfriend exclaimed, “Who is doing this to us; it seems as though no one in government wants to admit they know anything. There has to be a shadow government that is running things, for no one could make such irrational decisions unless it is intentional.”

Every bit of this destructive espionage is spelled out in scripture and falls under the category of Babylon.

Revelation 14:6-8 ESV 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. (7) 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." (8) Another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality."

“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.”

A brother in Christ, an intelligent man who retired early and last I know attended Talbot school of Theology, lashed out at me because I said, there is nothing that restrains Christ's return for his body. My friend began reciting statistics and numbers to spell out and define the unreached people groups around the world. Although then, I could not remember where this statement was found, I told him that scripture spells out that an angel, on several occasions, broadcasts the gospel to every tongue throughout the globe. He responded back with, “I have never read that.” I learned several things about my friend, in that moment:

• That he had spent far too much of his life willing to let someone spoon feed him his religion.
• That reading his bible for himself was not something he did at that time.
• And lastly, because he had admitted it, I knew he had an aversion and distaste for the Revelation.

So, yes, an angel covers the earth with the eternal gospel but what does that mean? The word they translated as eternal is aiōnios / ahee-o'-nee-os without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be. The message then is the same message that He has told people since time began. The Messiah will come and there will be a peace with the eternal Father.

"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."

While this does not specifically convey what I said, eventually, isn't  peace the underlying theme?

“Another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality."”

As of this writing, I can assure you that Babylon is not fallen. But then, there is God's opinion:

Romans 4:17 .. God, who .. calls those things which be not as though they were.

It will happen.

Start talking about the mark of the beast and this is probably what you will hear:

• Those that accept the mark of the beast condemns themselves to hell.
• The mark is a chip
• And it is all associated with the number 666.

You know what these are? Conjecture twisted traditions and misunderstandings. Let's see if scripture can explain or give us some clarity.

Revelation 14:9-11 ESV And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, (10) he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. (11) And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."

“If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,”

So it's not just one thing that brings you down, is it. You have to worship the beast and its image as well.

How many of you know who or what the beast is? Yeah, that is what I thought, none of us do. We do not know because we have been led around by foolish conjecture, our refusal to pursue truth through reasonable men, and our laziness in reading God's word for ourselves.

Hosea 4:6 ESV My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Is that what you dreamed of - being destroyed because you rejected knowledge? I did not think so. We all have had dreams and goals, and none of them included our own destruction. Then how about we turn this train we are riding, that is going downhill, fully loaded, with no brakes, around. It is what this life in Christ is all about.

Did you know that the Hebrew word also implies cunning? Webster's dictionary shows cunning to mean: Knowing; skillful; experienced; well-instructed.

yâda‛ /yaw-dah' is A primitive root; to know (properly to ascertain by seeing); used in used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively instruction.

When you start putting the pieces of this puzzle called “the end times” together, you will see that during the time we mistakenly call the “tribulation” - the time of God's wrath, there will come an event 1260 days into this period, in which a person called: another beast; the false prophet; Islam's Jesus, will set up an image of the beast in the rebuilt temple, cause it to talk and make everyone worship it.

So, now you have a worship compliance with the first beast, quite possibly represented by a man. (Think Islam.) If it is not a man and it turns out to be Allah, then you will have a mandatory and compliant worship of a fallen angel, a demon. Add to that an image that is supposed to represent either a man, or Allah, whom no one has seen, and now it talks. [Consider audio-animatronics like you might find at Disneyland.]

The third aspect of this is to take a mark or indicator.

Is this a new or isolated idea? NO! Hitler loved the idea as well and every hated group had some form of marker. Jews Polish and homosexuals, millions got flagged for death.

A crowd marked as Jews

The star of David indicating not only that the wearer was a Jew, but mandatory compliance.

Islam too has a system for showing compliance, if they allow you to comply and based on

Indicators showing compliance with Islam.

what we have seen as ISIS has swept through the Middle East, compliance has been seen as weakness resulting in them killing you anyway.

Wearing head and arm bands

One of the arguments that get thrown in our faces as people try to come up with reasons to reject God, is, how could a loving God send people to eternal punishment?

But consider, after all, God has done to find, rescue and restore us, only to have us give ourselves over to a defeated foe – Satan, and whatever entity this beast is, how God must feel. The man was created with a free choice; that ability to choose was very costly, but God not only had a plan but a method of complete restoration for those who would accept it. This time of wrath upon the earth is really meant to drive people back to God. I know many will not accept that, now, or later. They then are apparently deemed to be followers of another god, Satan. In the end, all will follow their leader into his eternity whether it be heaven or hell.

Related articles

• Isaiah 53, "Why Did Christ Suffer?"
• What Does The Bible say about The New World Order?
• A discussion about the marriage supper of the Lamb.
• Now war arose in heaven.
• The Bible Believers Guide To Understanding The Book Of Revelation: Pt. 12
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