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Psalms 103:13-22 As a father
pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear
Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for
man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it
is gone, And its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting On
those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children, To such as
keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them. The
LORD has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.
Bless the LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding
the voice of His word. Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You
ministers of His, who do His pleasure. Bless the LORD, all His works, In all
places of His dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul! In
the name of Jesus we pray to you Father God. Bless us and our loved ones, and
guide us in the truth of you Holy Word. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power
and the Glory forever, Amen!
Revelation 7:9-17 NKJV
I
didn’t have space for this picture last week in part 19. This picture relates
to last week’s lesson where the fifth angel came carrying the Seal of God.
God’s name will be placed on the foreheads of the 144,000 Jews of the Tribes of
Israel. As stated last week we don’t know much about these 144,000. They will
received this seal in the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation here on earth. I
will raise some questions in this lesson pertaining to their purpose.
Receiving the Seal of God
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Art used; by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992.
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This week’s lesson is
about the Tribulation Saints (great multitude), not to be confused with the
144,000, but I do believe there is a connection between the two groups.
9 After
these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number,
of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and
before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
After
these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number; John goes from one vision to this
vision and it can get very confusing, in fact I think many theologians are
confused also, because there is no consistency. After spending 3 hours studying
these two groups here is what I have come to understand and makes sense to me.
Is it right, maybe and maybe not, but this seems to be one of the mysteries of
God’s Word. This is one of those facts in the Bible that is not essential to
salvation, so if it makes sense and you want to believe it you can, but I would
never argue about it because we really don’t know. If we argue about
non-essential facts of the Bible what does it profit anyone. What we stand up
and steadfast for is the sacrifice Jesus did for us, meaning the works of the
Cross. We also stand fast for what the Ten Commandments stand for, meaning sin.
As a Christian we hate sin, but love the sinner and we are to point sin out to
those that live a sinful live in hope of them repenting and asking Jesus into
their life.
The sealing of the 144,000
takes place early in the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. When these 144,000
are sealed it is like in the book of Acts
2:1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had
fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And
suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3
Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
………….. I use these
verses as an example of boldness only and what caused the boldness and not a
filling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. When the
Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit they became bold and preached the
Gospel in a bold way. So keep this boldness in mind for the upcoming
paragraphs.
Here is where the
confusion lies. Some Theologians claim the Holy Spirit is removed from earth at
the Rapture and others claim He isn’t. I believe the Holy Spirit is removed at
the Rapture in regards to non-believers and a delusion will come over them to
believe a lie, which in turn allows Satan and his band of evil doers to do as
they please to those that don’t believe and will never believe. But to those predestined
and haven’t accepted Jesus because they don’t understand or never heard the
Gospel, the Holy Spirit will be active in bringing them home to Jesus. The Holy
Spirit is necessary in the lives of non-believers for conviction of sinfulness
which leads to repentance. Conviction + Repentance = Salvation. In a previous
lesson I made a statement regarding the removal of the Holy Spirit at the
Rapture which was wrong so I retract that statement because the Holy Spirit is
necessary for this great multitude to come to Jesus during the Tribulation.
This is where I believe
the 144,000 come into play. They are sealed with a zeal that causes them to go
out among nations to proclaim the Gospel and multitudes will be saved. The Holy
Spirit will lead this event by residing within these that are sealed and in
those saved. Through this outpouring of the Holy Spirit this great multitude is
the result.
Of
all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and
before the Lamb; This
phrase tells us the great multitude is different than the 144,000. They are
from around the world, of many nations, nationalities, and languages. They are
Born Again and standing at the Throne, before their Saviour.
Clothed
with white robes; The
white robes of course signifies they are children of God and have been made
righteous through faith in Jesus and given white robes like the Saints under
the altar.
With
palm branches in their hands; What
is the significance of the palm branches? We know they were used when Jesus rode
into Jerusalem and can be interpreted as a symbol of triumph and joy. John 12:12-13 The next day a great multitude that had come to
the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took
branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna!
'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!' The King of Israel!"
The palm tree is mentioned
many times throughout the Bible. Branches were gathered and huts were made out
of them for the Feast of the Lord in the seventh month. Nehemiah 8:15 and that they should announce and proclaim in
all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the mountain, and
bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches,
and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written."
The palm is, in truth, a
beautiful and most useful tree. Its fruit is the daily food of millions; its
sap furnishes an agreeable wine; the fibers of the base of its leaves are woven
into ropes and rigging; its tall stem supplies a valuable timber; its leaves
are manufactured into brushes, mats, bags, couches, and baskets. This one tree
supplies almost all the wants of the people of ancient times.
10 and
crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the
Lamb!"
These
that are saved just like the believers in the verse above, John
12:12,13 cry out the message of salvation that Jesus
brought into their lives and that they will enjoy eternal happiness for
eternity. They know with their hearts and not their lips who Jesus is, and only
through Him can salvation be found.
11 All the
angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures,
and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
The
angels, elders, and the living creatures all fall on their face to worship God.
Why do they fall on their face? It is out of reverence and submission. Have you
ever submitted to Jesus by laying on the floor, face down in prayer? It is a
submissive posture to Jesus when we do this.
12 saying:
"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and
might, Be to our God forever
and ever. Amen."
This verse is a seven fold
worship starting with amen and ending with amen given to God and Jesus. God and
Jesus are one, but two separate beings, therefore they are both entitled to a
seven fold praise. The “Amen” at the beginning denotes truth about what is to
be said, and the “Amen” at the end denotes total agreement in what is cried
out.
13 Then one
of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white
robes, and where did they come from?"
Did this elder answer a
question of Johns before he could ask it? Was John wondering this and the elder
asked the question for him? It very well could be. John may have been standing
there in awe and not knowing what to say, think, or ask so the elder asked for
him. What would have been going through your mind if you were in John’s
sandals? I think John gave a very appropriate answer by what the next verse
states.
14 And I
said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the
ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb.
John’s answer was one of
respect and reverence of an elder. This type of respect is missing in today’s
society. Many children do not respect their parents and this type of respect
carries over into the workforce. Just look around whether at work, school,
shopping, recreational events, or anywhere you go and you can observe
disrespect for fellow human beings whether elders, authoritative individuals,
or fellow human beings. Many times I have seen people reprimanded for not
respecting people in the places I have and currently work. Many times the
inherited sin nature rises in these individuals because they don’t see anything
wrong with their behavior, it is all about them, they are number one and that
is who they live to please. They actually are practicing idolatry, idolatry of
self by placing themselves first instead of God. Once you know what the sin
nature is, it is so easy to see it in practice through people’s actions and
speech anywhere you go.
The elder goes on to
explain to John who and where this great multitude came from. They are the
saved individuals that were witnessed to during the Tribulation and accepted
Jesus as their Saviour. They are washed with the life saving blood of Jesus
Christ, the only life giving blood that can be transfused into our veins that
will give us everlasting life. Jesus is the only way; religion is religion; Jesus
is Salvation. John
14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through Me. It
is a miracle that a white robe can be dipped in the shed blood of Jesus and
come out white as fresh fallen snow. Praise God Almighty!
15 Therefore
they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.
And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.
Therefore
they are before the throne of God;
Who are “they”? They are the great multitude standing before the Throne of God.
They have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. They have been fully
accepted by God as His faithful and true children.
And
serve Him day and night in His temple;
This phrase can be viewed as contradictory in two ways based on the following
two verses. Revelation
21:25 Its gates shall not be shut at
all by day; there shall be no night there. Revelation
21:22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb
are its temple.
Day and night is a way of
expressing a continuous thing without any interruptions. Verse 25 is referring
to the state of what the New Jerusalem will be like which is what the throne
room of God is like. There is no darkness there because God/Jesus is the light
of the world. Go back to the lesson that covers Revelation 4:3 and see the
description of the throne room of God and the light that is present. This light
is constant. There will be day and night on earth, but not when one is in the
presence of God.
Jesus and God are the
temple. When one is in their presence, they are surrounded by their attributes,
which is the temple. That is why verse 22 above states there was no temple. The
temple was done away with when Jesus died on the Cross. The temple veil was
rent from top to bottom and from that time forward no one had or has to go to a
priest for their spiritual needs. They go directly to Jesus our one and only
advocate.
And
He who sits on the throne will dwell among them; At some point in time Jesus will rule
and reign here on earth. He will take up residence and live among the people.
16 They
shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them,
nor any heat;
17 for the
Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to
living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their
eyes."
As stated previously, at
some point in time Jesus will be among us and life will take place in a perfect
environment. No more sorrow, hunger (physical or spiritual), tears, worries,
etc.
To attain this perfect
eternal life we must repent of our life style and accept Jesus life blood into
our blood stream and then keep our faith placed in the finished works of the
Cross. Where does your faith lie?
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God to salvation for
everyone who believes…...
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most
assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God."
Last Week’s Trivia: Who
was Alian?
Answer:
Alian was one of the sons of Shobal. He is listed among Seir’s descendants in
the family tree of Esau, Genesis 36:23;
1 Chronicle 1:40.This week’s Trivia: Who was Almodad?
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