THE 144,000
View A- Represents Church
View B- Literal number of people in Heaven with Jesus (Jehovah Witness)
View C- Number of Jews Sealed.
Revelation 6:17
17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
The word Israel is never used in the New Testament for the Church
Revelation 7:1-8
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5
12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6
12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7
12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8
12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
“As I read the Bible, when God says “children of Israel,” I do not understand Him to mean any but people of Jewish blood, be they Christians or not; and when He speaks of the twelve tribes of the sons of Jacob, and gives the names of the tribes, it is impossible for me to believe that He means the Gentiles, in any sense or degree, whether they be believers or not… I know of no instance in which the descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel include the Gentiles.” - J.A. Seiss (Noted Lutheran Scholar)
the rapture has already happened
contrast of jews and gentiles
Revelation 7:9-17
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
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 shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
7:1-8 7: 9-17
Jews(12 Tribes) Gentiles (from every nation, tribe, people and language)
Numbered (144,000) Not Numbered (Great Multitude Standing On Earth Standing Before God’s Throne Sealed For Protection Ascended After Persecution
Purchased
Revelation 14:3
3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
Prepared
Revelation 14:1
1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.
Rev 7 God’s Seal - “sphragizo” symbolized a spiritual sealing
Rev 13 AntiChrist - “charagma” literal brand, tattoo, or etching
Protected
Revelation 9:4
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
Pure
Revelation 14:4-5
4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.
View A. Abstained form a married life (1 Cor 7:29-35)
View B. Spiritually undefiled and pure, separated from the false church, the prostitute, woman (religion)
Persistent
Revelation 14:4-5
4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb,
Preachers
Revelation 7:3
3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
Sind A New Song
Revelation 14:3
3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
THE TWO WITNESSES
Revelation 11:3-14
3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
What do they do?
Who are they?
When do they show up?
THE FALL OF BABYLON
Babylon is a literal city/ place in the end times.
Revelation 17 and 18
Zechariah 5:5-11 Revelation 17-18
Woman sitting in a basket (5:7) Sitting on a beast, 7 mountains and many waters (17:3, 9, 15)
Emphasis on commerce Emphasis on Commerce (18:3)
Woman’s Name is Wickedness Woman’s name is Mother of All Prostitutes, Obscenities in the World
Focus on false worship (5:11) Focus on false worship (18:1-3)
Woman is taken to Babylon (5:10-11) Woman is called Babylon (17:5)
Jeremiah 50-51 and Isaiah 13 parallel closely with Rev 17-18
Jeremiah 50-51 Revelation 17-18
Golden Cup 51:7 17:3,4 & 18:6
On many waters 51:13 17:1
Involved with Nations 51:7 17:2
Same name 51:1 18:10
Destroyed suddenly by fire 51:30 17:16
Punished for works 50:29 18:6
Fall Illustrated 51:6; 45 18:4
Heaven to rejoice 51:48 18:2
ARMAGEDDON
Revelation 16:16
16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
CHRIST'S RETURN
Jude 14-15 Enoch prophesied about Christ’ return
Daniel 7:13-14 Daniel prophesied
Zachariah prophesied Mathew 24:27, 29-13
Jesus’ prophesied it.
Where does he return?
Zachariah 14:4-5
4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
Revelation 19:15
15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.