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.

Time for some common questions. A buddy of mine asked where we find the Battle of Armageddon in the Bible.

I knew his question was centered on the prophecies we see in Ezekiel 38,39, and though much of that battle will take place in Israel, there has rarely been a Biblical battle that is not fought in the Meggido valley.

The layman's definition comes across like this, every Biblical battle we are familiar with happens/ed in the Meggido valley or, as some put it, the Plain of Jezreel. Other names we find are Har- Megiddo, Har-Magedon, Armageddon, and Harmagedon.

Josiah, the King of Judah, went out to fight the king of Egypt in the valley of Megiddo. (2 Kings 23:29)

Joshua, the second in command to Moses, made his home here and raised his sons, who were just as tough as he was, in the Jezreel valley.

Elijah took on the prophets of Baal, the servants of Jezebel, on Mt Carmel, the Southernmost boundary of the Megiddo valley.

“Jezreel, or Esdraelon, was a city of Issachar, afterwards celebrated as the residence of the kings of Israel, delightfully situated in the extensive and fertile plain of the same name, which extends from Scythopolis or Bethshan on the east to mount Carmel on the west.” (This puts the upper range just North of the Sea of Galilee  and South toward Mt. Carmel. This mountain should have a familiar ring as this is where Elijah confronted the false prophets of Jezebel.)
The Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury (Emphasis mine.)

The book of Ezekiel gives two more identifying names. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.” (Ezekiel 39:11 KJV)

Ezekiel 38 tells us that this is also the area known as the location of the mountains of Israel.

“A long time from now, you will be called into action. In the distant future you will swoop down on the land of Israel, which will be enjoying peace after recovering from war and after its people have returned from many lands to the mountains of Israel.” (Ezekiel 38:8 NLT)

One of the prime examples associated with the battle of Armageddon is found in Revelation 16.

“The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. ("Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.") And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.”
(Revelation 16:12-16 NASB)

When you get to the end of the paragraph, there is a reference to “they” to whom does this refer? 

The passage tells us that the spirits of demons, which look like frogs, go out for one purpose, to cause the kings of the whole world to gather together for the war of the great day of God. These frog-like demons almost sound like they could take the form of humans as they begin performing signs. All the while, the Euphrates is drying up so that the kings from the East can come down and join in an attack on Israel. 

Now, you have to ask, does the great day of God refer to the time that Jesus will come back and retrieve His church, or is it something else, like the entirety of the seven years of God's wrath?

It references the time of wrath, which begins mere seconds after the catching away of the church.

So the kings of the earth, is it then exclusive to Ezekiel 38, or can it apply to something else, as I see two more times that fall under the category of warfare?

I think this description of kings applies exclusively to Ezekiel 38. While the destruction will not be complete in which they can never show their faces again, it will be severe.

“And the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. "I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops--many peoples with you.”
(Ezekiel 38:1-6 NASB)

The second major deadly event occurs when the false prophet steps up to bat. Islamic prophecies believe this man, a descendant of Aaron, is the enforcer of Sharia. What does that mean to the Jew - who will be the biggest recipient of this violence? Again, look at Matthew 24, as this speaks specifically to this moment in time when the false prophet shifts his stance, pledges his allegiance to Allah; sets up the image of the beast, which speaks (This may be animatronics, much like a Disney attraction, and made functional through artificial intelligence; or, it could be downright demonic.)

"Therefore, when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. "Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. "Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short."
(Matthew 24:15-22 NASB)

The problem with identifying this period as a battle of Armageddon loses steam because, though there has to be a large deadly militant force backing the false prophet, none of those fighters are identified with Gog, as we see in Ezekiel 38.

Another problematic issue in associating this “warfare” with Armageddon comes from the vagueness of the antichrist who gives power to the false prophet. If the false prophet is the high priest of the newly built temple in Jerusalem and he flips teams, denies God, follows the Mahdi, and forces “everyone” to worship the beast and take his mark, the impact will be massive – for the Jewish community. Still, it will also be deadly for anyone who has chosen to follow Christ during this time. If the antichrist turned out to be someone like the former American President, Barack Obama, it would feel like a massive betrayal, as he has been acting like he is their best friend for many years. The truth is, Obama is an avid student of Saul Alinsky, and in his book Rules For Radicals, is a man who feels like he could be suspiciously close to Marxism or Socialism; and an admitted follower of Islam. We, as a church body, like much of America and our government that seems naive, seem to think that we are immune from the violence demanded by Islam and refuse to consider that Islam is and will continue to become a global threat. The clues have been before us for a long time now.

After this second onslaught, where Matthew's account tells us that this period will be extremely deadly, realizing that this is the second part of the seven years of God's wrath. As this ends, there is no doubt that this time will be filled with violence against others; several billion people will be killed intentionally, and there will be another massive battle.

“Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
(Revelation 19:6-7 NASB)

Do I think this will be audible and the world will hear it? Absolutely. Not only do I think they will hear it, but they will also see Jesus coming back to earth, riding on the white horse and covered in blood.

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.”
(Revelation 19:11-13 NASB)

What an incredible sight, except for those who have chosen to fight against Him. If there ever was a battle of Armageddon, this would be it. When we looked at Revelation 16 a short time ago, we saw frog-like demons gathering the kings of the earth. No doubt there will be kings at this battle that Ezekiel describes, but there are ten nations at best. Here, the impact is global, and every country that thinks God is nothing compared to their gods will be sadly mistaken, for everyone who comes to fight will cease to breathe that day.

Alright, there is one last battle, and it too is fought, to some degree, in the Jezreel valley.

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.”
(Revelation 20:1-3 NASB)

At some point, the thousand years will have come and gone.
"When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore."
(Revelation 20:7-8 NASB)

Satan is released to, in a sense, thin the herd. All these people, and there will be many, will have walked around with their free wills intact. Those whose names were NOT written in the book of life will be deceived. It is just that simple.

"And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." (Revelation 20:9-10 NASB)

No fanfare, trumpets, or weapons of warfare as God Himself burns them up. Once again, the reality is that they quit breathing. Why do I keep saying that? Because we need to adjust our idea of death. Since the spirit of a human is in the image of God, then the soul lives on forever. Yes, those who choose to follow Satan to his demise will live eternally in the torment meant for him. You were meant to live in peace and love with the Father; I know that sounded like hippie talk, but it's true.

The only thing that associates this with Armageddon is the usage of this terminology, “ they came up on the broad plain of the earth.”

I wrote this piece because there are expected events and questions, and we, for the most part, do not know the answers. Perhaps you have heard all this, and it sounded familiar; what happened? I can tell you what happened; we allowed confusion and confused people to speak into our lives instead of leaning hard upon God's Word. Don't allow confusion like that into your life. The Holy Spirit of God is still here, no matter if the church is gone or not, and He will lead and guide you into truth.

Ask Jesus into your life, and the Holy Spirit will come beside Him. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with the fire of God, boldness, and strength, and He will do it. If the rapture has come, there is no time to fool around. One way or the other, they will kill you, but until that happens, live like the Prophet Elijah; he called fire down from heaven. The prophet Samuel was also feared, but I will leave you to pursue that. Just know that if you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. So put your faith in Jesus and choose to command the angels to move on your behalf. God's speed and mercy. We will meet again.

As we anxiously await His return. Revelation 22: 18 - 21.

 With the last few posts, we should have been encouraged and established as we read and studied Revelation 22, verses 16 and 17.

Why?

Because we have good witnesses and reliable testimony, this testimony primarily comes from the mouth of Jesus, who established the trustworthiness of His word by satisfying the demands of the law with His own body, and from the mouth of the prophets and thus fulfills the prophetic pattern. All this affirms our hope and understanding of why we can have that hope is valid.

Good, now that we are past that, let's finish this chapter and the book of Revelation.

“I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;”
(Revelation 22:18 NASB)

The Amplified Bible makes the statement a bit more intense by saying, “warn everyone who listens to the statements of the prophecy.”

Is it possible that there is a difference between hearing and listening?

I hear stuff all the time, but my mind is bouncing at least two more ideas around in my head while my wife's instructions are being said to me. I may have heard, but I was not listening. Now, if I symbolically move to the front row in the classroom and purposefully listen to the instructor, I stand a better chance of comprehending what is being said.

In defining the word hears, Thayer’s Greek Definitions tell us that the word akouō can also mean attending to or considering what has been said. 

So, it appears that Jesus is talking to and about persons who have invested the time to understand this book, whether through personal readings and study or under the inclination of theological training.

Now, if you invested that kind of time in understanding, why would you go about changing the meanings of the things you read in the Revelation?

An example of something that has been changed and brought about drastic confusion is Revelation 4:1. It reads,

“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.”
(Revelation 4:1 NASB)

The first three chapters of Revelation focus on the church age and end with God talking to the “church” of Laodicea. Revelation 3:14 opens with this statement.

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,”

You may not pick up the importance of what He said here, so let me show you an example of how God addressed the previous six churches. In Revelation 3:7, we see this,

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,”

It wasn’t Jesus’ church in Laodicea but the Laodicean’s church. Sadly, we are living in the age of the Laodicean church. Just look around you as churches of every denomination are going “woke,” becoming an arm of the government by opening their doors to become inoculation centers for the C19 vaccine, a vaccine meant to kill you; and note how quickly the churches are giving themselves over to blatant sin. See Leviticus 20:13.

The drastic confusion stems from the phrase “ After these things.” The church, on the whole, cannot seem to grasp that the events that will progress in Revelation are happening AFTER the time of the churches – after the rapture.

Now don't get me wrong, woke, progressive churches will continue to have a function in the seven years, for a time, as long as they comply with government demands, such as taking the mark, worshiping the beast, and worshiping the image of the beast, but the church, as I now know it, will be gone. We will be like the Chinese are now, meeting in secret at odd hours of the night.

Let's finish chapter 22.

“And if anyone takes away from the Words of the Book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which have been written in this Book.” (Revelation 22:19 MKJV)

As church people have read Revelation, I imagine many have wished they could remove many of the painful aspects we find there.

Why?

I can think of two reasons someone might do that.

1. Most of us know people who will probably have to go through the time of wrath, and we want to save them from having to do that.

2. Many “Christians” have not been taught properly and, therefore, believe they must go through the time of wrath or at least some portion of that time.

So, if you were like me, weaving your way through Revelation with the hope of understanding and causing others to understand. What advantage do you gain, by leaving things out or misrepresenting others, like Revelation 6:2?

“And I saw. And behold a white horse! And he sitting on it had a bow. And a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.” (Revelation 6:2 MKJV)

Saddam Hussein accepted only one verse from our Bible as true, Revelation 6:2. He also believed that he was this rider. He was not, and to prove my point, Saddam was hanged. This rider (symbolic language) is the antichrist personified in a man (sorry ladies) and will emerge shortly after the catching away of the church. This man, because we see him putting forth a seven-year peace treaty (Note: Israel is NOT mentioned in this treaty; the treaty, therefore, may be perceived as giving the Islamic nations a chance to reload. This war is probably associated with the war against Israel that we see in Ezekiel 38,39, which appears to have a nuclear aspect.)

Verse 19 tells us, “if anyone takes away from the Words of the Book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city.”

The Amplified Bible says it this way. “ And if anyone cancels or takes away from the statements of the book of this prophecy [these predictions relating to Christ's kingdom and its speedy triumph, together with the consolations and admonitions or warnings pertaining to them], God will cancel and take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the city of holiness (purity and hallowedness), which are described and promised in this book.”

How, in God's name, could we humans cancel God's actions?

The reality is, we can't, unless, as the Greek word aphaireō conveys, we take from or remove. This idea of not speaking is what I was talking about when I said that one of the ways would be by exclusion as we choose to NOT talk about some aspect of God's Word, in this case, the Revelation. A Pastor told me that no one can understand prophetic books like Revelation and Daniel, which is why I will not teach from them, and neither will you if I have any say over who teaches here.

The reality is that the person who intentionally does this will be removed from the book of life and eliminated from entering the Holy City. If this is true, then you would think that there are a number of pastors whose names have been removed from the book of life. 

Here is my problem with this. Having been raised in a Pentecostal environment, I was brought up with the idea that many sins, all of which seem to be built into our DNA, will send you to hell. A “brother in Christ” who led the weekly Bible study told the group of men every week (the average age of these men was about 75) that they were going to hell for their sins. a friend and I have talked about this scenario several times. It was my friend who pointed out the age thing and the fact that most of these men raised their families in this church. 

If they had been receiving sound teaching every week, why would you possibly think they were perpetually sinning sins that would send them to hell?

What does a teacher like this do with a passage in which Jesus directly says?

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:27-28 NASB)

In talking about losing our salvation, I suspect teachers like this are trying to manipulate you because it is known that we have a propensity to sin. All you have to do is be awake, and the opportunities to sin will come.

Perhaps it is merely this simple. Just as someone has chosen to remove themselves from God’s hand, we have the same ability, in Jesus' name, to declare that under no circumstance will I remove myself from God’s care. Peter seemed to do this and yet denied Christ three times. Fortunately, for our sakes, n Christ forgave Peter and showed him what forgiveness looks like in God's eyes as he comforted Peter back into the grace of God. 

And just as King David would tell you, there is no doubt in my mind any longer, as God wrote my name in His book before time began.

We are almost done.

Revelation 22:20 NASB “He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

It now seems like a simple question, and you should know the answer, who is the “He who testifies to these things.”?

He is the lamb that was slain; 

He is the only one worthy to open the seals; 

He is the risen one, 

the Son of the living God, 

The one who now sits next to the Father; 

He is the one who anxiously awaits that signal from the shofar;

And He is the one who will come and collect His bride – the church. 

And He testifies that He is finally coming quickly.

Did that cover it?

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

 

Revelation 22:21 NASB 

“ (May,) the grace of the Lord Jesus be with (you) all (as we anxiously await His return). Amen.” Emphasis mine.