Who is the “you” that is giving the woman trouble, and who is "his" seed?

 I used to meet with a group of men twice each week. One group met at a church, and there we had a leader and an established Bible study pattern, even though the leader persisted in preaching his opinion over the Word of God. Because of this, several of us would regroup a second time during the week but without a set Bible study plan. What we did do was open our Bibles each time we meet. If it were a study, there would have been some detectable pattern in our methods, such as an intense look at a particular book of the Bible or some passage that one of us was focused on. What did happen, almost without hesitation, is that we would talk about life, and that is a good thing. At least I found the personal discussions beneficial. Paul tells us to confess our faults to one another, and I have many. Doing this allows me to keep my mind free because we always integrate the Word of God into the conversation.

I am regularly challenged by the lack of understanding most so-called Christians seem to have, but one brother in particular always seemed to have the most peculiar questions. Interactions like these only convince me that we desperately need legitimate Bible study in our church bodies. Should you be wondering what a legitimate Bible study looks like, it would be one in which you walk away with a fairly permanent and correct understanding of God's word. If you are like me and have endured the book studies most church small group leaders offer, then you should also know that these books are written to promote an author's way of thinking or an organized church's point of view – even if it is wrong. I think the leaders of these groups should encourage God's point of view. So let's see if we can find God's point of view on a couple of subjects.

Here are a few of the questions that are presented to the group by this brother.

Having read Genesis 3:15, he asks,

Who is the “you” that is giving the woman trouble, and who is "his" seed?

Perhaps it will help if post the passage here.

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 KJV)

He initially presented his question to the group but then focused on me as the group could not or would not answer his question.

I could attempt to answer his question without applying much thought, but it is so much more convincing when you have scripture to back your assertions. We answered this very question on a previous occasion, and, as you can see below, I have included verse fourteen also as it conveys that the context involves the serpent, Satan. (Knowing the context is half the answer to this man's question.)

“And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15 KJV)

He understood that the woman and Satan would spend their lives at war. Enmity is the Greek word 'êybâh and also means hostility and hatred. The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature tells us that this can mean a deep-rooted, irreconcilable hatred.

If I take a narrow view, looking only at Jesus as the woman's seed, can I see evidence of that hostility?

You can visualize this hostility toward Jesus, with the purpose of killing Him, by merely reading the gospels, culminating in the brutality of the Jewish leadership bestowed upon Jesus. Their questioning and beating of Jesus evidence this uncalled-for violence at the home of Annas and then Caiphas as they were both high priests (Luke 3; John 18). These so-called representatives of God’s Holy Word handed Jesus over to Pontius Pilot, who had the Roman guards beat Him with thirty-nine lashes of a cattail, a torture that was expected to take His life. All the while, the Jewish leadership angrily shouted for Pilot to hang Him on the cross. While this may sound like the trouble was coming through the Jews, they, like the serpent, were merely used by Satan.

If I take the broader view of Eve’s seed, I am looking at the human race. Some seem to have less hostility focused against them, while, as the recent news conveyed, the Christian church in Nigeria is suffering from deadly violence. Nevertheless, the church suffers as Satan tries to badger or belittle us into not acting and walking in the excellence and beauty that Christ established for us.

“Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.” (Revelation 12:12 KJV modified for readability.)

Bluntly said, Satan is trying to take us out of the way as we followers of Christ represent the thing he hates more than himself, Jesus.

The NASB uses the word seed instead of offspring. Both terms convey the idea of a product of interaction, but the term seed has intimacy as a part of its definition.

Seed is the Greek word zera’ and means offspring, descendants, posterity, and children. However, it also speaks to us of moral quality or a practitioner of righteousness. Indeed, if we consider this verse, we can visualize the idea of a practitioner of unrighteousness as being an offspring of Satan.

The “you” is Satan, who had put himself inside the serpent, which happened to come off like a dragon, but that is another study for another time.

His seed is also Satan’s seed; by definition, it is his offspring, posterity, or children. These people can take the form of individuals, groups, or nations. While Genesis six informs us that fallen angels had sex with the women of earth, we have NOTHING that indicates that Satan did the same, so we will leave that alone. Therefore, it is safe to assume that Satan’s offspring are spiritual dropouts that choose to follow his lead.

Why talk about wrath, and who is dishing it out? 

Because in just a matter of days, the rapture will come, and the church will be taken back to be with the Father. Those who remain will go through hell on earth (I covered the details of the seven years in my previous posts on Revelation.) God, through the snatching away of the church, is removing the followers of Christ from the outpouring of God's wrath on the earth. You can partake in this if you will make Jesus the Lord of your life.

Having a meltdown about the wrath of God. Revelation 12:12

 In looking at some older files in a folder called “Questions that need an answer,” I found this one dated 04/2019, where a friend was having a meltdown about the wrath of God. Although in talking with another acquaintance about eschatology, that brother in Christ angrily said there is no wrath. I quickly understood that his problem was a matter of terminology. Still, it was also evident that this “intelligent” man had never read the Bible (His church background had been Episcopalian, and he had been content to let someone tell him what the Bible said.)

Yet, on the other hand, the person who originated this discussion felt that we all deserved God’s wrath. I had said to him, Is it possible that you have ascribed God’s wrath to Satan based upon verse Revelation chapter twelve, where it says, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath?” As I recall, he did not have a reasonable answer and insisted that we must sustain God’s wrath. I can tell you that this is NOT a true statement, and I will substantiate this with the Word of God.

Search for the word wrath, and you will find, depending upon the translation, that there are about twenty references in the Revelation alone. Each point to God as the owner or originator of that wrath. One of those passages is Revelation 12:12.

Rev 12:12 KJV “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.”

Wrath seems like such a simple word and easy to understand, and that is why NO one bothers to look it up in the Greek. Strong’s concordance tells us that it is the Gk word thumos with a primary meaning of passion (as if breathing hard): - fierceness, indignation. One of the last options is the word wrath.

Webster defines PASSION, n. [L. passio, from patior to suffer.] (1.) The impression or effect of an external agent upon a body; that which is suffered or received. (4.) The feeling of the mind, or the sensible effect of impression; excitement, perturbation or agitation of mind; as desire, fear, hope, joy, grief, love, hatred. The eloquence of the orator is employed to move the passions.

As you can see from the definition of passion, Satan was acting under the premise of #1 and the agitation and hatred of explanation two.

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NASB)

To understand this verse, I have to ask, to what point in time is the narrator speaking?

I ask this because Jesus told us, while He walked this earth, that He beheld Satan fall like lightning. It is evident from this statement that this event happened long ago. Since we find Satan in the garden seducing Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, then it is safe to say Satan’s fall occurred at or before the garden creation. (This scenario with Satan’s fall has a wide variety of options and may play into the “Gap Theory” that is seen between Gen 1:1 and 1:2.) (Luke 10:18)

Alright, I went there and mentioned the “Gap Theory,” so let’s pursue this for a few minutes.

Genesis, in most translations, opens in this manner, “In the beginning.” The problem here is that this phrase is wrapped up in one Hebrew word – rê'shı̂yth. It means the first, in place, time, order, or rank.

The passage could easily be read in beginning and still make sense. It was the first thing He did.

What did God do?

We are told that God created the heavens and earth.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
(Genesis 1:1 NASB)

The Hebrew word that was used to express God creating was bārā’. "It is a verb meaning to create. Only God is the subject of this verb. It is used for His creating: heaven and earth." (Word Study Dictionary)

But it is also indicative of Him creating: humanity (Gen_1:27); the heavenly host (Isa_40:26); the ends of the earth (Isa_40:28); north and south (Psa_89:12 [13]); righteousness; salvation (Isa_45:8); evil (Isa_45:7).

Did God make any mistakes?

No, and I will prove it to you.

“For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am the LORD, and there is none else. "I have not spoken in secret, In some dark land;I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek Me in a waste place'; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, Declaring things that are upright.”

(Isaiah 45:18-19 NASB)

Established is the Hebrew word kûn: According to the Word Study Dictionary, it is A verb meaning to set up, to make firm, to establish, to prepare. The primary action of this verb is to cause to stand in an upright position, and thus the word also means fixed or steadfast.

"Waste place" is the Hebrew word tôhû used twice. It means to lie waste; a desolation (of the surface), that is, desert; figuratively a worthless thing; without form.

“He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited.”

And yet, what does Genesis 1:2 say?

“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”
(Genesis 1:2 NASB)

According to God's Word, this is NOT what God created. Some might try to tell you that this was a part of the creation process. For example, some believe that the earth and the heavens were formed from some hot spinning mass. By what we see in the scriptures, especially Isaiah 45, that is NOT possible.

Formless, as used in Genesis, is the same Hebrew word we saw in Isaiah, tôhû. Void is the Hebrew word bôhû and means an undistinguishable ruin.

So, according to Isaiah 45, the earth was made in a manner appropriate for life and the life of humanity once that happens.

What does all that mean to you and me?

It means that something horrific happened between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, and it made the earth look like this - formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. There is no reason to see this destruction as anything but Satan being thrown to the earth.

Do you realize that there is NOTHING in scripture that defines how much time lapsed between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. If you hold to the earth, living things, and humanity being created in six, 24-hour days, then you are sadly deceived because #1. This Bible is a Jewish book, and in the majority, even the Jews do NOT see the creation in a six-day, twenty-four-hour format; neither should you. 

And #2, since you are trying to hold to six, 24-hour days for the creation, what do you do with the fact that there was no time until the fourth day? (See Genesis 1:19)

The point here is that Satan, at some point, was thrown to earth, and that act created vast and encompassing ruination; and that is quite possibly what we see when we read Revelation 12:12, where it says, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.” So, in his great wrath, Satan trashed the place, which had to be repaired.

Since Job tells us that Satan was already here, walking about the heavens, among the sons of God,

“Now on a certain day, when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan also was present among them. And the Lord said to him: Whence comest thou? (The NLT translation reads “Where have you come from?”) And he answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it.”
(Job 1:6-7 DRB)

- then, his coming down to the earth predates the fall of humankind in the garden.

So then, this great wrath of Satan, how is it demonstrated?

That wrath is a regular part of the believer’s life. 

Jesus told us that we would have tribulation in this world, and we are certainly a part of the world. 

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” 
(John 16:33 NASB)

A secondary consideration is that we who are followers of Christ are in Christ and therefore look and act like He did.

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
(1 Peter 5:8 NASB)

A famous passage that clarifies this wrath comes from Revelation 12.

 “And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. (16) But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. (17) So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” 
(Revelation 12:15-17 NASB)

I believe that the woman is Israel. This identification would be entirely acceptable because of: the time period – a period in which God is pouring out His wrath upon Israel for their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, their unbelief, and their idolatrous ways.

Alright, we now know Satan is on the rampage, but do we know why? 

The answer is yes. Initially, Satan is attacking the Jews, the woman's children, but because God allows those receiving Christ to be grafted into the vine, the drawing accomplished by the Holy Spirit will continue as multitudes come to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. Then, they, too, will become targets of the enemy.

The statement that spells out the reason for the attack is "the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus." We do not know what this overall attack on the tribulation believers will look like, as many will deny the god of the beast (Allah) at the edge of a sword. Perhaps God will understand that at that moment in which to deny Allah is to accept the alternative, Jesus Christ the Son of God, they are giving testimony to Jesus' power over their lives.

-----------------------

Let's assume that we have exhausted the wrath of Satan. Now let's consider God's wrath for a moment. 

If I did not say it earlier, let me mention it now. Several years ago, a brother in Christ who would not read his Bible and was, therefore, content to rely upon what his former Episcopalian priest told him from the pulpit angrily retorted to me; there is no wrath from God! To say something like this demonstrates that all you heard was that God is Love, and He is, but God, like a parent, will correct His children. This is what Israel has done since leaving Egypt, ignoring God's instructions. God, having warned them, will step up His reproofs to the next level and bring the wrath. 

In chapter eight of his book, Ezekiel sees a vision while seated with elders at his house. In the vision, Ezekiel is shown the Son of Man/Jesus, but he is also shown the elders committing abominations with idols in their hidden and secret places. Judgment and wrath are coming because of these practices, and don't think for a second that they are not still committing abominations because they are; wrath will come because of these things and others.

Since God often uses others to carry out His wrath, we see God in the ninth chapter of Ezekiel saying, "Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand." One group of executioners was the Assyrians. Suppose you jump forward in time to Revelation chapter seven, where we see the seals being opened and God's wrath and punishment playing out. In that case, some are marked with a protective mark on their foreheads, while others are violently slain - older men, young men, maidens, little children, and women. These same destroyers will defile the temple. 

Ezekiel asks, "Are You destroying the whole remnant of Israel by pouring out Your wrath on Jerusalem?" The Jews, during the time of wrath, will be asking this very question. The answer Ezekiel receives goes like this, 

"And it came to pass, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord Jehovah! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy wrath upon Jerusalem?"
Ezekiel 9:8 ASV

The thought continues, only I switched translations because the terminology is more appropriate.

"The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood and the city is full of perversion; for they say, 'The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!' "But as for Me, My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but I will bring their conduct upon their heads."
(Ezekiel 9:9-10 NASB)

The identification of the woman as Israel should prompt you to ask, who else is involved in this deadly mire?

The parable of the ten virgins demonstrates an exclusion, but because they were Jewish, it might be hard to understand. We can assume that 50% of the “Church” will have to endure this time of wrath, along with most of those deceived by the cult religions. We understand from scripture that the veil that blinds all who are left (those not caught up in the snatching away of the church) will be lifted, and the number of Jews that will take a stand for Jesus will be remarkable, as Pastor Jack Hibbs likes to say. And then, there will be the nations in general. Included in this number of those giving their allegiance to Jesus Christ will also be the Muslim nations, as they, too, will have the veil lifted from their understanding. The word wrath shows up 183 times in the NASB Bible. 11 of those references are found in the Revelation. Revelation 6:16 tells us that “they” are crying out to the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb.

“Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;” (Revelation 6:15-16 NASB)

Revelation 14:9-10 speaks about those who take the mark of the beast, worship the beast, and worship the image of the beast. We are told that these will drink the wine of the wrath of God.

“... "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 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.”
(Revelation 14:9-10 NASB)

Let's close this look at wrath with this passage from Deuteronomy.

"Now the generation to come, your sons who rise up after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of the land and the diseases with which the LORD has afflicted it, will say, 'All its land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and in His wrath.' "All the nations will say, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?' "Then men will say, 'Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. 'They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they have not known and whom He had not allotted to them. 'Therefore, the anger of the LORD burned against that land, to bring upon it every curse which is written in this book; and the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger and in fury and in great wrath, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.'” (Deuteronomy 29:22-28 NASB)

Since finishing the study on Revelation, I had the notion to address rather common misconceptions and questions that I hear. The 144,000 is one of those misconceptions.

This was first posted in 2008, but much has changed since then, along with my attitude. Since finishing the study on Revelation, I had the notion to address rather common misconceptions and questions that I hear. The 144,000 is one of those misconceptions.

First, I think I need to explain my understanding of the 144,000.

• They are Jewish young men, virgins who take God's word and Jewish traditions very seriously.

• God hand picks them from the twelve tribes, and, as an archaeologist recently pointed out, there are no lost tribes. Revelation 7:3-4 tends to uphold that scriptural fact.

• God uses these Jewish men as evangelists to the Jews. The assumption is that they are pointing to Jesus as the Messiah and explaining from scriptures who He is and why He is the Messiah. The oddity here is that it seems they knew that.

• With six of the seals containing God's wrath having been opened, we are fortunate that these men are alive. In my understanding, the sealing of the men protects them from harm. Now that might not be true, but that is what I understood.

• When it comes to people who missed the boat and, therefore, missed the rapture, calling them Christians kind of gets hung up in my throat. What I do see is that those who wake up and follow Jesus get martyred, and it is God that calls them saints. The first time we see these 144,000 is in Revelation 7. The second time is in Revelation 14, where they are with Jesus, before the throne, singing a new song that only they know, and you will not see them called saints.

I spent the last 14 years reading my Bible at every opportunity, asking questions about what I read and writing down the responses that I heard in my spirit. What I learned, more than anything else, was God's nature and character. So it really grates on me when I hear statements like this one.

One day, in the men’s Bible study – that I no longer attend, a statement was made proclaiming that the one hundred and forty-four thousand bond-servants, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel, would be caught up in the church’s rapture. 

So, let's all enlighten ourselves by reading a description of the 144,000  from God's word.

Then I looked, and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Tziyon (Zion); and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. I heard a sound from heaven, like the sound of rushing waters and like the sound of pealing thunder; the sound I heard was also like that of harpists playing on their harps. They were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living beings and the elders, and no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who have been ransomed from the world. These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; they follow the Lamb wherever he goes; they have been ransomed from among humanity as firstfruits for God and the Lamb; on their lips, no lie was found—they are without defect. 
(Revelation 14:1-5 CJB)

Allow me to reiterate verse five once again, but from the King James Version.

And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. (Revelation 14:5 KJV)

Now, with this pertinent information, 

Is it true that the 144,000 will be caught up in the rapture?

Any serious student of the Bible knows that is not true, but if you want to expand your horizons, then you need to ask why it's not true.

When we search for the one hundred and forty-four thousand, we only find three references, all of which occur within the Revelation of Jesus Christ, once in Revelation 7 and twice in Revelation 14.  The first reference is in Revelation 7, where we see four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so that they did not blow on the earth or sea or even on any tree.

"...Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads." And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:” (Revelation 7:3-4 NASB)

Sealed? A logical assumption is that they are being sealed to protect them from the wrath of God.

(I use the term wrath because six of the seals have already been opened, subjecting those young me to at least some aspects of that wrath. If you must argue, then consider the goals of the antichrist - based on known current trends in technology, where most everyone is chipped and tracked on daily basis. Considering the 144,000 who are sealed, how do they dodge some like a vaccination mandate?)

If that is the case, the timing of their sealing alone enforces the idea that they are Jewish and are here during the time that God’s wrath is being poured out (As teenagers tend to say, NO DUH, in other words, how obvious.) The distinction is that they are NOT gentiles.

Can we assume they were evil people because they did not go up with the church?

Not necessarily. First off, Revelation 14 clearly tells us they are without defect. 

Does that mean that they have no physical defects? 

No, it means they are, according to the law, sinless. We, too, are sinless but only by the blood of Jesus, and this may be the same reason that they can be deemed “without defect.” 

Secondly, the Jews are actively looking for the Messiah; but they have flatly rejected Jesus Christ as they feel He is a Gentile invention and designed for them alone. So, thanks to the veil being lifted and the help of these evangelists, many Jews come to Jesus after the catching away of the church.

Those who are sealed are specifically from the tribes of Israel, not Jehovah’s witnesses. 

Verses five through eight of Revelation fourteen spell out how 12,000 of each tribe of the sons of Israel were chosen from the tribes listed there, and you can look these up on your own time.

Why is any of this important? 

The layout of the Revelation is, for the most part, chronological, which is why we can say that the wrath of God began with the revelation of the lamb that looked as if it had been slain in Revelation chapter 4. By the time we reach chapter seven, where we see the 144,000, six of the seals have been broken.

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. "Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. "Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people;”
(Luke 21:20-23 NASB)

While the entirety of Luke's passage is worrisome, this, by and large, is pointed at one people group, the Jews. If I based my understanding of what is to come upon Luke's version alone, I would be remiss by not providing adequate witnesses.

Since we can see that it is wrath that is coming, then let's focus on that for a moment.

Who is this wrath for?

Based upon Luke's gospel and the usage of the name Judea, it is simple to see that much of it is for and because of the Jews, and the Prophet Hosea acknowledges that as well.

“Israel, the time has come. You will get what you deserve, and you will know it. "Prophets are fools," you say. "And God's messengers are crazy." Your terrible guilt has filled you with hatred.”
(Hosea 9:7 CEV)

Brenton's translation uses terminology similar to Luke's gospel.

“The days of vengeance are come, the days of thy recompense are come; and Israel shall be afflicted as the prophet that is mad, as a man deranged: by reason of the multitude of thine iniquities thy madness has abounded.”
(Hosea 9:7 Brenton)

Iniquities, in Hebrew, also means perversity or evil. Have you ever asked yourself why or where this happened? One of the first things the “children of Israel” did after coming out of Egypt was to pressure Aaron into making the god Moloch for them (think child sacrifice). Stephen, in Acts chapter seven, defines these things in a manner that we see nowhere else. Jewish tradition tells us that their acts were so detestable that they were unspeakable. So you see, NO one contest what Stephen said about what Israel did with Moloch. In Exodus 32, we see God's reaction and commentary.

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.”
(Exodus 32:7 NASB)

At this point, God practically disowns them. He uses the word corrupted to define them. The Hebrew word conveys that they had spoiled, ruin, and perverted themselves. The word perverted does not convey the depth of their perversion as they roasted their babies in the arms of Moloch and danced around the star of Ishtar the goddess of sex. Exodus 32:22, in the NASB, has Aaron defending them and himself by saying, “you know the people, that they are set on mischief.” Ah, mischief is an artful way of saying they are naturally and morally bad and evil. Now how would Aaron have known that? Remember Balaam and his donkey? This is the man that told Balak that they could defeat Israel by putting the pretty girls from the surrounding nations within reach of their men. Those men will take the girls into their beds, and when they whine, build me a high place to worship; the children of Israel will do what they ask. Those high places, especially among the Canaanites, were places of child sacrifice by dismemberment (I recently watched a Christian archaeologist who demonstrated exactly what I am talking about). Can you now see that one of the reasons God is so angry with Israel is that they perpetually invested in the perversion of the surrounding nations, and you see it throughout the Old Testament.

God's wrath is also poured out upon the nations. In Jeremiah, we see God taking vengeance upon those who chose to fight against Him.

“But that day is a day of the Lord, the Lord of hosts--a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries. And the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiated and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, the Lord of hosts has a sacrifice [like that of a great sin offering] in the north country by the river Euphrates.” (Jeremiah 46:10 AMP)

Here in 46:10, Jeremiah uses the phrase “day of the Lord.” What does this phrase apply to? It applies to the entirety of the seven years in which He pours out His wrath upon Israel and the nations. The purpose is to eliminate “sinners,” though it is evident that it is not complete elimination. Some will say, Ah, see, this is one of those areas that prove that God cannot be trusted. What it proves is that God is merciful. In the example I showed you above, where Aaron makes the god Moloch for them, God told Moses that He was going to destroy them all. If you read the story in Exodus 32, then you will see that Moses dissuaded God, and God showed mercy. Eventually, your sins will find you out, and somehow, you will pay. This is where the blood of Jesus Christ comes into play because it covers all our sins.

“Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it.”
(Isaiah 13:9 NASB)

The Hebrew word for exterminate can also mean to pluck down. You should be able to realize that there is a reduction of sinners and not extermination, as that seems to go against the character and nature of God. Sinners, according to the Hebrew, are those accounted guilty. We already saw in Jeremiah 46:10 that God is going to avenge Himself on His adversaries. Avenge can also be read as bringing punishment. The context of Revelation demonstrates how God comes at His adversaries from every possible direction.

One last passage to help define how God's wrath will purge the earth.

“The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant.”:
(Isaiah 24:5 NASB)

The everlasting covenant, what's that?

It is the covenant that God made with Adam, Eve, Abraham, and Moses, and it applies to every follower of Christ. In every human interaction, God said, I will uphold my end of the bargain, even if you don't. If you think about the family tree, no one failed to hear “the law,” but few upheld the covenant completely. In failing to uphold the covenant, we have destroyed this earth with our technological advances.

Sometimes you can determine to whom God's wrath is directed by eliminating those who are excluded from the conversation.

""But God demonstrates His own love toward us (the followers of Jesus Christ) in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." (Romans 5:8-9 NASB) Emphasis mine.

Romans 5 speaks of being justified; while that forgiveness was a blanket coverage, it still requires action on the part of the recipient. You must accept Jesus Christ as yours.

Paul goes on to say that we, followers of Christ, will be rescued from the wrath, much like Noah was.

“that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” 
1 Thessalonians 1:10 (NASB)

Spend a few minutes looking at this transaction between God and Noah (Genesis 7:1-4.) Having followed God's instructions, God closed the massive door behind them. (Genesis 7:16) And this saved the family from God's wrath – the flood.

This theme of being rescued from wrath is continued in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10.

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 NASB)

This, too, demonstrates how God's salvation is a blanket of escape – if you will, that works for all who accept His salvation.

This rescue or salvation from wrath is from God's wrath, not the tribulations of everyday life. God's wrath will be poured out upon everyone living on the earth at this time; we assume that there is an exception for the 144,000. I am puzzled, for if I look at the Revelation as chronological, then it tends to indicate that they, too, were killed in some brutal manner.

How does that work if the seal of God protected them? Again, we make assumptions about the extent of their protection. The passage where we see this sealing begins reads like this.

“..., Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads."
(Revelation 7:3 NASB)

It says nothing about NOT harming these Jewish believers. Now my understanding of them has shifted, and I see them as hand-picked evangelists up until the time that God sees fit to call them home. If the fourteenth chapter of Revelation is not an indication of that happening and fractures my idea of the Revelation retelling as a precisely chronological eschatological story. So, now I have to see the 144,000 as reinsertion into the Revelation timeline, much like a color commentary in a televised sporting event.

What's the point so far?

Based on what I see in the verses that we have to work with, all this is happening within the seven years of wrath. Since we see an uncountable multitude standing before the throne, then there would have to have been an attempt to kill the followers of Christ. Since God has sealed these Jewish men, then they, too, would be deemed to be followers and potentially subject to death at the hands of Jewish leadership as well. This conversation is, of course, in consideration of the fact that three and one-half years into the seven, the false prophet will be unleashed upon the world, and, according to Islam, this man will be the enforcer of Sharia law. Sharia law dictates that the head of infidels are chopped off (anyone outside of Islam is an infidel) as the primary method of elimination.

"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."
(Revelation 14:1 NASB)

If Jesus is standing on Mount Zion, then He has returned victoriously, and the earth is now in the hands of the Almighty God. Since the 144,000, to the best of our knowledge, have been witnesses to the Jews during the time of wrath, then it is obvious that their work is completed.

That would mean that they were not raptured, as only the church is caught up to be with Jesus; it also means that they are alive today, being prepared, and will have to endure the entirety of the seven years and its associated wrath. And, there is nothing that says they are exclusively in Israel, for we have Jews all over the world.