Who are these people and why are they now having an impact? Rev 21: 8-10.

Posted on 06/03/2022 by remso

When the Apostle John was given the Revelation dream or the vision, he tells us, the reader,

 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,” Revelation 1:10 NASB.

A few years ago, I sat in the living room of a man that led a group study in his home. Truth be known, only three of us met there, but this night there were just two of us. I don’t remember the book’s subject matter we had been reading, but the homeowner said to me, I have never been filled with the Holy Spirit. This conversation makes me think about an interaction that Paul and another brother had.

“It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.” (Acts 19:1-6 NASB)

The subject of the Holy Spirit can be the focus of heated arguments and fights, as false teachings have created an atmosphere of fear and distrust. The bottom line here is that we fear what we do not understand. I do not intend to pursue the subject of the Holy Spirit because it is a study in itself. However, I do want to make an observation about the Spirit, which the Apostles pretty much had to figure out as they went. 

With that thought in mind, what do you think John meant when he said, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.”?

Having had a few moments like this, let’s just say, he was lost in the moment. That moment may have been initiated through a time of prayer, or through an open conversation with God, which is also a prayer.

I will add that during my times of pursuing the faith movement, which I don’t do anymore, Brother Copeland came out on stage and continued speaking in tongues. Kenneth motioned for a man who taught in other sessions that weekend and had him take over the teaching for several minutes. It was a most interesting and unusual meeting. Later Brother Copeland explained, I had been in the back talking with God in my spirit, and I got lost in the moment. When I came out here on stage, I simply did not want to leave that moment. The Holy Spirit worked it out beautifully as Jerry Savelle, taught this portion placed in his lap beautifully, and in time handed it back to Kenneth. Kenneth explained that the Holy Spirit does not, and did not take over his body, he said, I merely did not want to step out of God’s presence. You see, it is our choice to let God envelop us in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

I can just about guarantee that the disciples figured out that Jesus is God. Imagine the moment John realized that those conversations that John had had with Jesus, as he laid his head on Jesus’ chest, he was having them with God. It is easy to visualize him, in that cave, reliving that moment now. A couple of my old fishing holes have islands in them. You can throw a rock from end to end; Patmos is quite a bit bigger than that, and may well have other prisoners trying to exist on it. How fortunate John had a cave for shelter. Now imagine yourself very focused, when suddenly you hear a voice, and it seems to be coming from behind you; that would make me jump unless I knew it was an integral part of the vision.

The vision may have been long, nothing short of scary, and exhausting. But, finally, this is all coming to a glorious end. The old earth has passed away, along with the heavens, and they are both made new. The final judgment has come and gone, ending Satan’s career permanently and those who chose to follow Satan by their refusal to follow Jesus. And, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain1.” All the anguish, fear, and pain associated with life are gone forever.

Now we move on to Revelation 21:5,

“And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” (Revelation 21:5 NASB)

With a statement like this, “I am making all things new.” you would think God could not be talking about people, as we have already been made new. If He is, consider how the end of judgment has come through the Great White Throne. If Matthew 25 applies here, then those deemed the sheep, whose names are written in the book of life – gain entrance into the eternal kingdom that has been awaiting them from the beginning of time.

Oh, by the way, no one comes into the heavenly kingdom with their old, broken nature. You need to get that idea out of your head. The problem, for many, is the manner in which some of these people are changed. Many think that this change only happens through water baptism; however, the thief on the cross blew that religious belief out of the water.

The Greek word for new is kainos, and it can also mean fresh or unworn. So it becomes easy to visualize that people, the earth, and the heavens will be cleaned up, including all the space debris out there.

Every time I pause, as I am contemplating the end of the Revelation, I envision the wastefulness and destruction we have unleashed upon this earth; it is more than a little disgusting that you have to find someone else’s debris almost everywhere you go. As messed up as I think this planet is, I can still see that there is beauty and wonder in the mountains and the trees. None of this matters, nor is God asking our opinion about what we would like to see. I just know from scripture it will be the most spectacular, and relaxing garden setting that anyone could imagine and somehow be just what our hearts needed.

To the thief on the cross, the newness was about to become a reality, as Jesus said, “this day, you will be with me in paradise.” The religious explanations for what Jesus said have to add to the idea that, while the thief may be momentarily relaxed and comforted, there has to be an accounting for his sins. Considering that Jesus is God, don’t you would think He would have discussed that with this man if it had been necessary, or, Jesus could have done a supernatural download of information into the man’s head (Yes, I am being sarcastic about that download stuff.)

The word Jesus used for the place He was inviting this man next to Him to is the Greek word paradeisos and it was understood by many to be the most spectacular garden you could imagine. I tell you this because we are told in scripture that heaven is beyond our wildest imaginations.

(In Dubai’s small but very wealthy nation, there is a garden that must have come out of Alice in Wonderland. In the pictures I have seen, it has the feel of giant lollipops, gumdrops, and the best of the Rose Parade floats. It is eye candy and lavishly absurd, especially when considering that their water supply is from the ocean and must be desalinated.)

So, for this man on the cross, whom we call the thief, there was no holding zone – purgatory, as all of his shortcomings, were instantly erased. This man was changed (in the twinkling of an eye,) made new, and went straight to paradeisos when he died. For those hung up on details, the question is, when did this change happen? That is not clearly defined, but it happened. Perhaps it was when the thief told the other, “do you not fear God?” This was very like one of those Peter moments, for when Jesus asked “who do men say that I am,” Peter responded with, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” As Amir Tsarfati, recently taught, in his teaching “Get behind me Satan,” that NO ONE in Israel would recognize or teach what Peter said. But the thief on the cross said it. I contend that this statement indicated an acceptance and acknowledgment of the deity of Christ.

Now, as for Jesus. I was asked, where then did Jesus go when He died?

The mystery of the gospels and the New Testament lies in all that this God-man did. A massive clue and part of the answer comes from the book of Acts. Peter, preaching boldly to the thousands on the Day of Pentecost, quoted from Psalms 16:10, when he said of Jesus,

“For You will not leave My soul in hell; You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”

The Holy Spirit would not have made a statement like this unless Jesus had gone to hell. You can play word games, hoping to convince others that Jesus was being held in Abraham’s bosom. The problem with that logic is that there is no corruption recognized there.

Why would Jesus, a sinless man, go to hell?

Because Satan had Him falsely accused as a blasphemer because He said He was the Son of God; the high priest – the law of the Jewish community, had Jesus scourged, based on those false accusations, few lived through such punishment; and, He died a criminal’s death on a Roman cross. Satan thought he owned Him. If you recall, Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if He would just bow to him in worship. If Jesus had done that it would have been game over for everyone, and, without a doubt, Satan would have owned Him. But, praise God, none of that happened. Look at what Paul said.

And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher. But God raised him from the dead:
(Acts 13:28-30 KJV)

I used to drive quite a bit for a job I had and I entertained myself by listening to “Christian” radio. One of those voices was the Bible Answer Man, Hank Hannegraf. I did not like him. Hank would say, those who teach that Jesus would have gone to hell are blasphemers and false teachers. Obviously, Mr. Hannegraf did not have all the answers.

I do not see how, even for a moment, that Jesus’ adventure into hell, in any way diminishes His Godhead or authority, as He stripped Satan of all his “power and authority”, took away his keys, preached to the captives, and set the prisoners free.

Does that sound diminished?

Hardly. All this may have taken place right before that dear man on the cross died. You know, the one who has been promised to be with Christ in paradeisos. So run a streak of logical thoughts and tell me where that “thief” on the cross went when he died. He went where Jesus went when the Father, only seconds later, reached down His mighty hand and pulled His own Son out of hell. A son, by the way, who voluntarily put Himself through this mire, just for you and I.

Do you know how hard it is to type when your eyes are filled with grateful tears that long to be with the one who did all this for us.

And he also said,

“It is finished!

I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End.

To all who are thirsty

I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.

(Revelation 21:6 NLT)

This is like listening to a sports announcer do the after-game wrap-up. It’s over, and yet, having spoken these words so long ago, He saw fit to cry out to those who thirst for His love, come.

Revelation 21:7 NASB “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”

Obviously, the NASB uses the word overcomes, but so do about half the translations. The translations, many of which were meant to be at an elementary school understanding, will say, “Those who win the victory.” I have to tell you, I have days in which I feel like I did neither. But as I wrote I kept hearing these words screaming within me, but you have overcome in Jesus. It might also be said, in Christ, you are a victor.

If you could do a word search for the simple phrase, “in Christ” you would find that Paul used this phrase at least 26 times, which kind of implies he was serious about the fact that, as believers, we are in Christ.

Examples.

  • Romans 3:22  God puts people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. God does this to all who believe in Christ because there is no difference at all.
  • Ephesian 2:7 “so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
  • Philippians 3:9 “… not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ,”
  • Colossians 1:28 “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”

I hope you got the general idea that we believers are, by adoption, in Christ. All we need to do is believe and trust. I would like to tell you this is easy, but we have an enemy and he is always blasting us with doubts about our relationship. This blasting is always one-sided, as it never comes from the Father because He loves you. Alright, now the peculiar part.

Revelation 21:8 NASB “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

If I did not lose you, you have a general idea that the world, as we understand it, is over. Revelation 21:1-7 paints that picture for us. If it’s over, that means all the judgments are past and the only persons left are those whose names are written in the book of life.

Take a look at the Contemporary English translation, and pay attention to these alternate words.

“But I will tell you what will happen to cowards and to everyone who is unfaithful or dirty-minded or who murders or is sexually immoral or uses witchcraft or worships idols or tells lies. They will be thrown into that lake of fire and burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (CEV)

This book of life thing is not exclusive to particular denominations, as some believe, for we can see mercy being shown to some, through Matthew’s account2.

Then who are these people and why are they now having an impact?

If you have read the Revelation with the intent of understanding, you noticed that many passages look backward into history. By doing this those scriptures are giving you the background and reasons for God pouring out His wrath upon Israel and the nations. Examples of this can be seen in,

  • (Revelation 12:1-6 NASB)

    Here, it speaks of a sign. This astronomical sign was a reality and reoccurred recently. The woman is Israel, and the child is Christ. Satan tried to kill Christ but failed, and three and a half years after starting His ministry on earth we see Satan try again. This time he thought he got Him, but a short time later we see Him caught up to heaven. The rule over the nations primarily points to the millennial reign. The visual of a red dragon is created through words. The horns and heads were and will be world rulers and leaders. Angry that he could not kill Jesus, Satan went after the woman who fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. This is significant because it puts this final attempt in the second half of the seven years.

  • (Revelation 12:7-9 NASB)

    Satan was thrown down to earth. The passage tells us that there was war in heaven, but it does not specify when this happened. Indeed, this happened long before the birth of Christ. Still, the plans and attempts to derail God’s plan continued throughout the centuries. It was Satan, in the form of a four-legged serpent, who deceived Eve in the garden. So, the deception has been an ongoing process.

  • (Revelation 12:10-11 NASB)

    And finally, the retribution of Satan against Israel and God’s people. The scriptures, having just told us that Satan was thrown down, tell us that Satan goes on a rampage against anything that looks like Jesus.

    The passage says, “…Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down…” It is a little confusing and puzzling at best when the Holy Spirit sees fit to say things like “they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony,” and “rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them…. knowing that he has only a short time.” For many of us, the battle has been deadly. Oh, sure, by the Father’s standards, we overcame, but it does not look like we did as an outsider looking in. (Yes, I let my humanness get involved in Bible study.)

With all that in mind, Revelation 21:8 describes people from among the nations that walk the earth through the millennium and up to the great white throne. This is the time frame that includes Jesus coming back to earth as the warring Messiah, the beginning of Christ’s millennial reign, and the final judgment at the end of those thousand years. This description works because the Holy City comes down quickly, and Jesus’ throne is set in the middle of the city, where He reigns along with the martyred saints through the thousand years. So, in the simplest of terms, that one verse is a recap and description of the kind of people that continue to live with their free wills intact throughout this time.

I get it; this clashes with what you have been taught. If only we would read our Bibles, we would be less prone to accept false teachings that lead you astray from truth and create a massive hole in what you think the character of God is.

1Revelation 21:4

2Matthew 25: 31-46

Posted in bible study, false teaching, God's character, In Christ, Israel, judgment, Revelation, Rule the nations, the nations, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, thrones, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Rev 21:4.

Posted on 05/28/2022 by remso

With this post, we heroically move forward, hopefully beyond verse four, but first, I feel the need to recap where we are in this journey.

We closed out our last look at Revelation 21, discussing verse three, which reads like this.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, (Revelation 21:3 NASB)

If Jesus is seated on His throne in the New Jerusalem, as the millennial reign begins. Isn’t it possible that the promised peace has come? Since the followers of Christ will stand alongside the martyred saints that were resurrected, are now immortals, and cannot be harmed. So then, death too should be done away with, right?

Why ask such a lengthy question?

Because I was recently asked,

“if these things have been done, why does seem that they are being done again at what appears to be the end of time, after the great white throne?”

With a question like that, the following statement would be, I don’t see a need for things such as we see in Revelation 21:4 after the end of judgments.

“and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 NASB)

Let’s break this down, as usual.

  • “ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes;.”

    This is a continual process.

    Why? Because, for the believers who have struggled with heartache and loss, as I have, those things that caused sorrow or agony will be put behind us, just as the Father puts our sins behind Him, never to be seen or heard of again.

    While the thousand years roll by, there will be those from among the nations that will suffer pain and loss. But, with Jesus sitting on the throne, comfort will be given to those from the nations that may need comfort. And healing, which comes from the leaves off the tree of life, can also be brought. Of course, I don’t understand all that healing implies. Still, as we saw in the Genesis account, the tree of life brought immortality, so there has to be more to what these leaves do than providing a primitive bandage.

    And one last thought on the tears.

    The dead, having been resurrected, are now standing before the great white throne. Matthew’s account tells us that these are the nations and conveys that some have their names written in the book of life because of their works.

    Those works are explained as acts of kindness – something that Jesus would do, like giving someone a drink of water, a blanket, or a visit to a prisoner.

    What are the probabilities that these called sheep are so profoundly and emotionally touched that they cry?

    Pretty good, huh? Jesus will also wipe the tears from their eyes.

  • “There will no longer be any death;.”

    I already pointed out that a few from the nations will die.

    We have an example in Isaiah 65.

    “No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only the cursed will die that young!” (Isaiah 65:20 NLT)

    No more unexpected loss of children; Adults will live full lives, well past one hundred; but, there seems to be a catch as the passage tells us that only the cursed will die young, as in one hundred.

    Cursed is a horrible word choice as the Hebrew word qâlal primarily lends itself to someone being of little account. My granddad used to say, of particular people, “they ain’t no account.” I suppose, in his world, they had borrowed money and never paid it back, or perhaps they were the wrong skin color.

    I cannot imagine the Father even thinking that way. He seems to find the good in everyone, and thankfully He found it in me. I have a grandson who stopped breathing when he was three days old; this is NOT a good sign, but it led the doctors to the cancerous tumor sitting on his brain stem. One of the scary things we were told is that this cancer looks very similar to brain stem tissue, and to cut into the brain stem would be cataclysmic for my grandson. Most of the tumor got removed, and the rest was killed with chemo. The end result – my grandson, who just graduated from high school, is affected on his left side like a stroke victim. We just watched him get publicly awarded for being a mentor to new students in the program. School administrators all raved about how much they loved him, and I love that they loved him. You know what, though, not everybody can tolerate the repetitious things he says and the occasionally painful high fives he gives. Because of all these things, they might consider my grandson of little account, and some might think he is worthy of death. As you can imagine, I do not feel that way at all. I long to see the day when he finds a place where he can continue to bring his vitality to others.

    How do I comprehend this?

    Well, here it is, May 26, 2022, and only a couple of days ago, a troubled young man killed more than 20 people, most of which were, in a sense, babies. So naturally, far too many politicians jumped on the anti-gun bandwagon and screamed that people should not have guns. So this evokes the next question.

    Is God going to take away all weapons?

    The answer is yes, as Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 both speak of the nations beating their swords into plowshares. (Do not get hung up on the idea that everyone has swords because that would be odd at best, but many people, including little gangsters, have guns. The weapons will be made into farming tools.) I do not think this is a voluntary act on their part. Remember, Cain, killed Able with a rock.

    The Hebrew origins aligned with the word plowshares are uncertain; however, we are told that a mattock, which is a pick for turning over the ground, is an alternate usage.

    “And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.” (Isaiah 2:4 NASB)

    The usage of the term nations indicates that they will still have their broken natures, this is the same instincts that brought about what we see in Genesis 6.

    “God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them, and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.” (Genesis 6:12-13 NASB)

    What’s the point here?

    Weapons are now repurposed as farming and gardening implements. The passage gives us the final word when it says, “Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.” This tells me that organized war is done and that NO one will be teaching the other how to fight.

    How is this cessation of fighting possible?

    Because Isaiah 2:4 tells us that “ He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples.”

    The Hebrew word for judge shâphaṭ means to decide controversies, act as law-giver, condemn, punish, and vindicate when necessary.

    Might some heinous acts demand the death penalty?

    Based on what we see on the news, I would think so. While Isaiah 11 exhibits mercy, there is one line that conveys how he dispenses justice without fanfare.

    “And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.” (Isaiah 11:3-4 NASB)

  • “the first things have passed away.”

    What does that mean?

    You would think we should know the answer to this.

    I wish I could tell you that the law goes away. It might be safe to say, in a sense, that it does because, after the great white throne and the end of all judgment, there would be no more need for the law.

    How is that possible?

    Because for the Christians, our broken natures from Adam will have been changed at the church’s rapture, right before God’s wrath gets poured out. (See 1 Corinthians 15:52).

    If you have been able to follow along with me, you would understand that many from the nations will come to a knowledge and acceptance of Jesus Christ. However, the methods of gaining salvation seem to vary, as the leaves of the trees of life will bring healing to the nations (although, it would be foolish to think that number includes all of them.) I can understand this because a vast number whose names will not be found in the book of life will be deceived and try to kill God at the end of the thousand years; therefore, Only those who have their names in “the book of life” will make it into the kingdom after the Great White Throne.

    So while there may not be a need for a proclaimed law, that law, written upon our hearts, is nothing less than the moral character of God. Since we are in His image, His character is our character, and we will live by those motives.

    Don’t even consider the idea that sin would again infiltrate the heavens as it did with Satan. I think it’s safe to say that God will not tolerate this scenario again. It appears that the motive to commit treason will be eliminated with Satan.

    What other firsts could we consider?

    According to Isaiah 25, the veil that covers the eyes of all people will be lifted.

    You might try to angrily argue, I know the Lord, follow him, and, like Paul, pray in the Holy Spirit more than you all, so you are not talking to me. Don’t you wish? Paul’s gospel says differently.

    “For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”
    (1 Corinthians 13:12 NASB.)

    The truth is, you have no idea what an unhindered communication with God would be like. Now apply this idea to Adam, and you can better understand the death he brought upon himself and us. Someday soon, we will obtain what Adam had before the fall. So this could easily be one of those issues that will pass.

    Ponder this thought.

    As I sit here writing about the hope that is in me, I am painfully aware of how this broken, sin-ridden flesh fights against the things of God; therefore, I do something like this and let the words speak to me as well.

    Will there be a day in which Satan’s voice does not permeate my thinking?

    Absolutely, and it may begin, for the believers, at the rapture. For everyone else, you would think that it should definitely start at the start of the millennial reign of Jesus because Satan will be locked up during this time and unable to afflict people. But it is painfully apparent that human natures continue to be broken for the nations, and their minds work far too freely. The evidence for this can be found in Revelation 21, as God sees it necessary to say,

    “and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” – Revelation 21:27 NASB.

    As I have mentioned, there are those trees of life along the river that come from beneath God’s throne. We are told that the leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations. Just thinking about what this healing can mean boggles my mind, so I accept that it does. So, this moves the idea that Satan’s voice can no longer invade our thinking to the time beyond the throne of judgment. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s look of life can come in. Having given myself over to the King of Kings, I have every confidence that my name is in there. How about you?

I feel as though I could go on for days about the things that came first and will pass away; some were arbitrary, but some came because I fell in love with my Father once again. He is all that I need.

Posted in bible study, End times, God's character, healing, Heaven, judgment, judgment, Mercy, Our being caught up, Prophetic, rapture, rapture, Revelation, the nations, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What can we know about Heaven?

Posted on 05/25/2022 by remso

When it comes to heaven, our primary source of information comes from the book of Revelation. Yet, by consensus, Revelation is one of the most perplexing books of the Bible, outside of, say, Leviticus and Numbers.

If you want to understand a concept like death, a book like the Revelation, or a construct like Heaven, you should search for corroborating evidence and attestations from the Bible and consider the context.

One other piece of information, which applies to the idea of Heaven that I am going to dive into momentarily, is that this Bible and the book of Revelation, where many of the references to Heaven make their home, is to understand that the Revelation is a Jewish centric book.

Evidence for this assertion comes from Revelation 1:2, where we immediately encounter the proclamation that all of this is “the testimony of Jesus Christ.” This pronouncement should make us concentrate on the fact that the book of Revelation is focused on a Jewish man, God’s Son, and the journey He is taking us on.

The second thing that plays a role in how you read and understand the Revelation is that John, for the longest time, focused his attention on the Jewish believers. In other words, John’s primary audience was Jewish believers for the longest time.

Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day, a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Acts 8:1 NASB)

Their staying in Jerusalem was not fearlessness but a dedication to the Jewish community of believers who accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah. John maintained that strong Jewish connection and motivation. However, he assumed the reins of one of Paul’s established churches with a large congregation of Gentile believers alongside the Jewish followers.

Thirdly, look at the terminology that John uses in Revelation 2:8,9.

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this: ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” (Revelation 2:8-9 NASB)

Why say something like this unless there are Jewish believers there. Gentiles did not go to the synagogue; Jews did, and it would be foolish to use terminology that would make no sense to the Gentiles.

These same concepts apply to the entirety of the Bible, and you see strong evidence for that in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. You also see comparable evidence in the letter to Hebrews – Jewish believers. So, if your Gentile mind is struggling, it will be better for you if you can see it through the eyes of a Jew. (That may sound impossible for some, but you may have to trust the Holy Spirit if you get stuck.)

The motivation for writing about Heaven initiated with the study I have been doing on the Revelation chapters 20-22. These chapters focus on the end of judgment and the new heaven and a new earth. I share these studies with the guys, and they always have questions. Heaven was one of those questions.

One of the men asked about death and Heaven, which prompted him to buy a copy of the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn. I have a copy of that book but have never opened it. The first chapter I read started on page twenty-three. By the time I got to chapter five, page 41, I had run into this statement by Randy Alcorn.

“When a Christian dies, he enters into what is referred to in theology as the intermediate state, a transitional period between our present lives on earth and our future resurrection to life on the New Earth.”

The Oxford languages dictionary tells us that “theology is the study of God and religious belief.” While Wikipedia conveys the idea that it is “the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief.”

So, for someone to say it is referred to in theology, they might as well be telling me that it is the opinion of others; this is effectively what Randy Alcorn conveys to me when he starts talking about a transitional period. I refuse to accept your opinion as something more reasonable than an understanding of the word of God. What matters is what God has to say about it. If your opinion enhances my understanding, great, but you better come up with scriptural witnesses to back up your opinion.

I have read through the entire Bible and have done much studying. Not once did I find the terms transitional or intermediate. I have at least 30 translations of the Bible, and some border on being woke, yet none of them used those terms. So again, I am stuck with the idea that this “transitional or intermediate period” is something that religious folk did with their spare time as they looked for ways to make the Bible more complicated. Now, I can see things that I might interpret as transitional or intermediate, but since scripture does not make a doctrine out of vague allusions, neither am I.

Oh, doctrine, by the way, is “anything taught.” Just because I teach, it does not make it right or Godly. When doing Bible study, a couple of rules are context and applicable scriptural witnesses. So these two terms by Alcorn lean toward strikes one and two in my book.

Alright then, let’s examine this part of Randy Alcorn’s statement.

“a transitional period between our present lives on earth and our future resurrection to life on the New Earth.”

Just the fact that I am standing here on earth, as a Christian awaiting the call to go home, indicates that I am in transition (I am thinking of my permanent home in heaven, which is with the Father. The details are of minor importance because I will own nothing and be happy about it. I no longer have to fear anything because I will be immortal, untouchable, and, as I said, with the Father.) The problem is, most of us do not seem to know that.

But that does not seem to be what Randy Alcorn is saying. Instead, he implies that we go to some transitional place when we die.

Why would you write something that conflicts with the Apostle Paul’s assertion that our separation, as followers of Christ, from this physical body puts us in the presence of the Lord?

“Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord–for we walk by faith, not by sight–we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8 NASB)

I get it; Paul’s statement is written in reverse, as Paul acknowledges “that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” But it is not that difficult to comprehend the inverse that for the believer,  we are instantly in the presence of the Lord at death. 

A quick definition. Death is a complete and total separation from His presence. It is not God who has done this; it is you by your rejection of Jesus Christ.

Let’s talk about resurrection for a moment.

In the Revelation, we are told the martyred saints are raised from the dead – in other words, their bodies are reattached to their spirits. Why I do not know. You see this first resurrection in Revelation 20, verses 4 and 5.

“Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.” (Revelation 20:4-5 NASB)

These martyred saints reigned with Christ for a thousand years. I suspect that means they rule over the earth with Him. Ah, but what of the believers? I don’t know. I know that we are in Christ, but what that means exactly is not spelled out for us.

Randy Alcorn said we are in “a transitional period between our present lives on earth and our future resurrection to life on the New Earth.”

Surely that means that we are next on the list to be resurrected, right?

We already lost out on the first resurrection opportunity, so maybe we will be next. Wait a minute; Revelation 20:5 tells me that the rest of the dead get resurrected at the end of the thousand years.

Dead? It is unmistakable that we who are in Christ never die. As I was sitting with my friends, talking about Revelation 20, I was asked, when do we die, and where do we go? The answer was, we don’t. The Word of God never deems us to be dead (for those who love to argue, the scripture tells us that we were dead in our sins, but having accepted our redemption through Christ, we do not live enslaved to sin anymore, do we.) Revelation 20:12,13 tells us that the dead are resurrected and brought before the great white throne at the end of the thousand years. They are raised to life again for the sole purpose of standing before that throne. Matthew’s gospel in chapter 25 tells us that the nations are brought before the same throne, and it makes no mention of whether these people were dead or not. Why do you suppose that is? Because the soul never dies, and they are being identified by that soul and its actions. So, the second resurrection, the last resurrection, has nothing to do with believers who, according to Randy Alcorn, are in a transitional phase when we die.

I am not very familiar with other religions, but one of the Cults believes wholeheartedly that their works may earn them a resurrection to a planet of their own. This bizarre familiarity naturally raises serious concerns about Mr. Alcorn’s teachings and even more serious concerns about those pastors who rave about Randy Alcorn’s book, Heaven.

I asked the question, at what point does this tired body release its hold on the spirit?

When we physically die or depart with the catching away of the church. I have no idea or care about the body’s importance in this transition as mine is old, fat, and hurts everywhere. I do, however, know that Jesus had Thomas touch His scars to prove that He was real, and Jesus sat on the beach and ate fish with the guys. Apparently, it takes a body to do those things. Death for those that are not believers is quite the opposite.

“For the living know that they shall die; but the dead do not know anything, nor do they have any more a reward; for their memory is forgotten.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5 MKJV)

Let’s say you are proficient with the scriptures and can easily see a context to this verse that leans toward understanding your fate. You might be right; however, if you were to look up the Hebrew for the words know and anything, you would realize that it refers to those whose fate is death without apparent hope.

To know is the Hebrew word yâda’ and carries the meanings of perceiving, see, distinguish, recognize, and consider. In other words, in this example, the dead did none of the above.

The Hebrew word for anything is me’ûmâh. It also means a speck or anything at all. So, neither do the dead consider, but once they are dead, they think nothing.

Since Ecclesiastes is marginal as a witness, I suppose you need another to hopefully convince you about this dead “know” nothing stuff.

“Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish.” (Psalms 146:3-4 NASB)

First off, the psalmist talks about mortal man “in whom is NO salvation.” This is not a judgment call; it is simply an observation. While the believer returns to the Father, the mortal man returns to the dust, where his very thoughts perish, on that day. Again, the critic might say, of course, in time, we forget about that person unless they made some decisions that we live by. But a statement like this shows that you missed the fact that their thoughts perish, not yours. As I pointed out with the example from Ecclesiastes, the thought process ceases.

Consider this, if you are transitioning do you know where to?

Dear Lord, I hope so; this is one of the reasons that we learn that Jesus died on a cross for our sins. I believe in that sacrifice that gives me eternal hope in heaven and a life with the Father.

“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13 NASB)

On page 42 of his book Heaven, Randy Alcorn says,

“usually when we refer to heaven we mean the place that Christians go when they die. This is what I am calling the present or intermediate Heaven.”

Paragraph two, according to Randy Alcorn, says,

“by definition, an intermediate state or location is temporary. But,… still, the intermediate or present Heaven is not the place we are made for – the place God promises to refashion for us to live forever.”

This place we are living in is only temporary. Consider what the writer of Hebrews tells us.

“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:13-16 NASB)

Having seen them?

How could they have seen heaven or the millennial kingdom? They could not unless they saw it through faith. Jacob saw a ladder (of sorts) coming down out of heaven, and the angels were ascending and descending on that ladder. The Apostle Paul, in 2Corinthians 12:2, tells us that he was caught up to the third heaven.

What does that mean?

We will allow Paul to explain.

“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago–whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows–such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man–whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows–was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.” (2 Corinthians 12:2-4 NASB)

It sounds like a vague reference to someone who doesn’t want to identify themselves. Paul is merely trying to keep the focus on Jesus as the Apostle John frequently did in his writings.

Three things jump out at me when I read this passage.

The first is caught up. Many people rant because the word rapture is not in the Bible, and it is not unless you are familiar with the Latin Vulgate, in which case they used the word rapiemur. In our Bibles, the New Testament uses the term Harpazo, which means the same thing and implies a rapid snatching away. The word harpazo is used 18 times. One of those speaks about a wolf snatching a sheep.

“He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.” (John 10:12 NASB)

Luke 24:51 is a gentler depiction of harpazo, as it shows Jesus returning to the Father gently and slowly. However, the Apostle Paul used the term in 1Thessalonians 4:17 to describe a rapid, almost violent removal of the saints out of harm’s way.

Secondly is the focus on “the third heaven.” Seeing as we have NO further “witnesses” and NO direct instruction on how to comprehend this, I would not make a big deal out of it or start a new church based upon the phrase. However, if we were so inclined, we could dig into the scriptures and find things that may clarify.

Heaven, as used here, is ouranos. According to Mounce’s dictionary, it conveys

  • “The visible heavens and all their phenomena,

Matthew 5:18; Matthew 16:1; Matthew 24:29;

  • The air, atmosphere, in which the clouds and tempests gather, the birds fly, etc.,

Matthew 6:26; Matthew 16:2-3;

  • And, heaven as the peculiar seat and abode of God, of angels, of glorified spirits, etc.,

Matthew 5:34; Matthew 5:45; Matthew 5:48; Matthew 6:1; Matthew 6:9-10; Matthew 12:50; John 3:13; John 3:31; John 6:32; John 6:38; John 6:41-42; John 6:50-51; John 6:58.

In the Old Testament, the word used is sha^mayim or sha^meh and is defined as 1) heaven, heavens, sky; 1a) visible heavens, sky; 1a1) as an abode of the stars; 1a2) as the visible universe, the sky, atmosphere, etc.; 1b) Heaven (as the abode of God)

An example is Genesis 1:8.

“Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.” (Genesis 1:6-8 NASB)

Since we effectively don’t know where God is, let us assume that He lives somewhere in the expanse of the heavens above the waters of the earth that we call the atmosphere. The UCAR Center for Science Education tells us that “Earth’s atmosphere has a series of layers, each with its own specific traits. Moving upward from ground level, these layers are called the troposphere; stratosphere; mesosphere; thermosphere; and exosphere. The exosphere gradually fades away into the realm of interplanetary space.”

Does God need a humanly defined, breathable atmosphere in which to survive? NO, so we could find Him anywhere, but something seems apparent. He chose to put this planet at just the appropriate distance from the Sun so that the plant and human life would be able to live and coexist. We have not done an outstanding job of that, but that is irrelevant because all of creation became severely damaged and corrupted and handed over to our enemy, Satan. There somewhere among the atmospheres, God saw fit to send His Son to become a bloodied sacrifice on our behalf. What kind of person would do that? An unusual and loving one for sure. No matter what “heaven” He lives in, we will be welcomed there, with Him someday soon.

The third thing I wanted to point out from 2 Corinthians 12:4 is the word Paul used, translated as “Paradise.” This Greek word paradeisos is a word that the Muslims also use to explain where a martyr goes when he dies in Jihad. When Paul wrote these words, there were no Muslims, so don’t lose your mind over it. The word aptly describes the world that Adam walked in and had dominion over before the entrance of sin. Mounce’s definitions explain that it is “a park, a forest where wild beasts were kept for hunting; a pleasure-park, a garden of trees of various kinds; used in the LXX for the Garden of Eden; in NT the celestial paradise.”

Examples of the word paradise usage include the brief conversation that Jesus had with the thief on the cross when He said, this day, you will be with me in paradeisos. (Luke 23:43). In Revelation 2:7, Jesus’ letter to the church in Ephesus told them, “To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.” Paradise = paradeisos. I can’t begin to tell you the impaired things I have heard as “learned” people have tried to explain where Paul went.

Paradise is where The Apostle Paul also went. So I must tell you; you would be hard-pressed to get me to leave such a place.

Our old Testament “role models,” although skewed, like Samson or slightly less than brave, like Gideon, all seemed to understand that “The LORD God planted a garden.” A place “of abundant trees, water, fruits, and vegetables-where conditions for life are maximized.” (Word Study Dictionary) And this garden conveys Heaven for them, and they put their hopes in the God that did this, just as He has asked us to do.

Hebrews 11 speaks to this very hope.

  • “having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”

They understood that this earth, in its present state, is transitory, intermediate, and NOT permanent. And they also knew that this was NOT their home; heaven is.

The psalmist, most likely King David, said this.

“Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You, A sojourner like all my fathers. (Psalms 39:12 NASB)

Again we hear from King David.

“For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. (1 Chronicles 29:15 NASB)

  • “For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.”

There is no doubt that many longed for this heavenly country; what is not clear is how this got explained to them. It seems that God demonstrated this idea of sojourning by having them live it out; this is why we see Abraham, Moses, and Jacob speak of the temporary nature of their journeys. They were always looking for their permanent home, and none of them spoke of an intermediate destination.

  • “they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

That better country is the heavenly one. And what a shock, as the millennial kingdom also has the Holy City sitting in its middle. That sort of says that heaven begins with the millennial kingdom.

One last thought.

Just a few days ago, as I was writing and trying to work this out in my head, it occurred to me that we would be caught up in the rapture and spend seven years with Jesus – doing what? If, as I have come to realize, that heaven is paradeisos or Paradise, the most spectacular garden you have ever experienced, won’t it be a bit of let down to have to return to the earth that won’t be purged with fire and restored to its original condition for another thousand years? But then it occurs to me that heaven will be excellent as long as I am with my Jesus, and I will be.

If I must get stupidly technical, then I suppose that the seven years of mind-blowing beauty, like the thief on the cross was promised, could be deemed a transitional or intermediate place. Again, that would stink if I had to migrate through this earth once again. No one seems to speak about this Holy City made of translucent gold, and considering its size, it will consume the entire Middle East. You could put quite a garden in there, but I digress.

Obviously, God is deeming the entire migration until the great white throne judgment and a few seconds or minutes after that because that small gap in time is where the earth and the “heavens” are burned up and replaced. Ah, once again, my broken thinking comes into play as I try to assign God a specific time frame within which to work. But, considering that He spoke the worlds into existence, who am I to say. And, again, I am reminded that where He is will be heaven.

Now, since this treatise emerged from several painful paragraphs from the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn, let’s address this horrid statement – “our future resurrection to life on the New Earth.”

If you are reading this, you are not dead, broken perhaps, but as I addressed in this attempt to understand heaven, death is nothing less than the complete separation from God. There is only one place that happens, and it is at the great white throne. If you read Matthew 25, where we see the sheep and goat judgment, mercy is being demonstrated for some. The Bible clearly defines only two resurrections, the martyred saints at the end of the time of wrath and the dead who are brought before the throne at the end. Never are we Christians treated or seen as dead. And, if you are not dead, you can pull out your sword of the spirit and fight for the kingdom by telling someone, as I did the other day, that God loves you so much.

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And God himself will be among them. Revelation 21:3.

Posted on 05/22/2022 by remso

So, in Revelation 20, Satan, having been released from the pit, makes a last-ditch effort to kill off God and His people. Satan was only able to accomplish an attack of this size by deceiving the nations.

If you are wondering, Revelation refers to all those coming into the kingdom as these “people.” These people who have come to God borders on uncountable. It’s fascinating about these “nations.” which are also uncountable, as only those who do not have their names written in the book of life fall for the deception.

For months now, I have been saying that all those caught up in the rapture and the martyred saints are now immortals, just as Jesus is; and death cannot touch Him or us. By bringing up this immortal aspect, I am reminding myself that heaven is real, and it will be a time of peace. That means no fear, and I don’t know if you noticed, but the level of fear and anxiety is rising.

Chapter 20 closes as all judgments are ended, and Satan is permanently tossed into the lake of fire.

In trying to wrap our minds around heaven, we now migrate into chapter 21, where we read.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.”
(Revelation 21:1-2 NASB)

Yes, the old earth burned up. But, if that concerns you, I would like to remind you that as followers of Jesus, it will not matter what happens to this polluted planet we now stand on. Why, you might ask? Because we are immortal, just like comic book characters, and we are safe within the arms of the Father. My guess is that this new earth will be technology-free and look very similar to the planet that Adam first encountered. Add to that thought the promise we have about heaven.

“But as it is written, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,” nor has it entered into the heart of man, “the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
(1 Corinthians 2:9 MKJV)

Your mind can’t even conceive of an idea that surpasses what God has in store for us. This thought makes me aware of the movie Avatar. Please spare me the religious negativity, as I was in awe of plants that lit up as the characters touched them or those which produced music. A tree of enormous proportions spiraled to the sky and could be walked on, and another that emanated light. I also happen to think that riding a dragon would be very cool. But my thoughts show my limitations. Let’s simply say that I long for this time with Jesus.

The Holy City has been restored to its appropriate location; it’s spectacular and filled with colors. Suddenly, a great voice from the throne is heard. Most translations say the same thing; however, the Moffatt translation says the voice came “out of the throne.” Since the grandchildren practice their non-listening skills, if I have the freedom to step in, I make sure they can hear me, and I am not trying to be pleasant at those moments. So forgive me for a moment as I consider the possibility that the furniture just spoke. I can’t disprove it. 

The Greek word used to convey this voice coming out of the throne is the word thronos. Terms to define this include to seat. A seat, usually high and having a footstool, a throne as the emblem of royal authority.

Just knowing this tends to push my thoughts toward the idea of God doing the speaking.

Well, what did He or it say?

Revelation 21:3 NASB “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,”

Let’s break this down.

  • “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men,”

    Since we, in our previous study of Revelation 21:1 and 2, saw that the Holy City had already come down; and that Jesus and the martyred saints sat as judges over the earth for a thousand years, you might think that it would be safe to say that “God” was among men.

    Remember, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one and in unity. One thing that is clear to me is that Jesus sits on a throne, in the Holy City, on earth and is approachable. 

    That does not mean that the nations get to dance into the throne room and disrespect Him. Oh no. A piece of evidence for what I just said comes from Revelation 22:15, and yes, it seems ludicrous to consider that this activity level could still exist during the millennium. 

            “Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.” ( NASB)

    I just cut that thought short as I remembered that we are looking at Revelation 21, where it seems that the story has moved beyond the thousand years. Undoubtedly, nothing like this “Outside are … everyone who loves and practices lying” could exist beyond the great white throne.

    Having discussed this with others, I have pointed out how God’s people (I see this terminology applied to those who are coming and going in and out of the Holy City during the thousand years) during this time are taking the leaves from the trees of life and bringing healing to the nations. Healing is more than a simple bandage; this is an internal and eternal change where the brokenness and propensity to sin are removed.

    Remember that after the fall of humanity, Adam and Eve were prevented from accessing the tree of life in the center of the garden. Surely, you have asked why that had to be. If they had taken from the tree of life in their newly broken condition, they would have been the evil and immortal gods of the universe. The leaves from the tree of life, improperly applied, would allow these people to be immortals and yet keep their ways that conflict with God. 

    If you are good students of the Bible, then you know that NONE of what I just said is clearly defined in the Revelation. You have to come to this understanding by looking at what happened with Adam in the garden and then applying what you know from Paul’s letters about how Jesus took our sins upon himself and is NOW offering this same relief to the nations throughout the thousand years.

  • “ and He will dwell among them,”

    Here again, the Father and the Son seem to be seated in the Holy City.

         And the peoples will say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will give us knowledge of his ways, and we will be guided by his word; for out of Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 2:3 BBE)

    In this phrase, “the house of the God of Jacob,” God is the Hebrew word’ elōhiym and is plural. This plurality is one of the ways we come to understand that the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are one. All three have a seat and can sit upon the throne. Since the Holy Spirit is the helper who leads and guides us into all truth, it might explain why we don’t see Him seated at all. 

    We can make foolish arguments about how God sits exclusively above all sin. One of the verses that are used to push horrendous negativity is this.

         “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they?” (Habakkuk 1:13 NASB)

    To understand verse 13 and why he says this, you have to go back to verses 2 and 3. Habakkuk is ranting about God not hearing his prayers while evil things and violent behavior go on all around him; not so unlike today, which is increasing in violence every day.

         “How long, O Lord, will your ears be shut to my voice? I make an outcry to you about violent behaviour, but you do not send salvation. Why do you make me see evil-doing, and why are my eyes fixed on wrong? for wasting and violent acts are before me: and there is fighting and bitter argument.” (Habakkuk 1:2-3 BBE)

    So Habakkuk makes a massive assumption if he believes that God cannot look at sin. If that were true, we would NOT be here. Remember, God so loved a world that did not want nor love Him that He sent His only Son to die a violent death on a cross so that the world through Him could be saved. Try to explain how He could do that without looking. And there is also the example of God returning to the garden, calling out for Adam, even though the man now represented sin. 

    And one more thing, while we are forgiven of our sins, we perpetually continue to sin. Please don’t assume that your sin has to be murder for it to be deemed a sin. Gluttony is a sin, and there are many of you guilty of that. Besides all that, we are told that if you thought it, you did it, and with that, you can throw your argument that you never murdered anybody right out the window.

  • “and they shall be His people,”

    This statement is oriented toward the Jewish people. To put it bluntly, they rejected the Messiah. Scripture tells me that when Jesus returns, riding a white horse and having a sword come out of His mouth, at that time, the veil over their eyes and hearts will be lifted, not only from Israel but the entire world.

         “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart, I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34) (NASB)

    When Jesus comes back to reign, as Revelation 19 points out, two-thirds of Israel will have been killed.

         ‘One-third of you will die by plague or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them. (Ezekiel 5:12 NASB)

    The word Plague is interchangeable with pestilence. The ISBE defines pestilence as “any sudden fatal epidemic. The word is most frequently used in the prophetic books, and it occurs 25 times in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, always associated with the sword and famine.“

    Since virtually any outbreak lately of pestilence, like a baby formula shortage, is always manufactured, it is easy to picture where these future pestilence events will come from. Here is a clue, forced inoculations are a weapon.

    And the scriptures speak in terms of survivors.

         “Yet, behold, survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come forth to you, and you will see their conduct and actions; then you will be comforted for the calamity which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it.” (Ezekiel 14:22 NASB)

    The point being this relatively small number of Jews, His people, will fall in love with their Messiah, and yet, it is evident that the number of people entitled to enter the Holy City is beyond counting. These are all God’s people.

  • “And God Himself will be among them,”

    I like this verse because it is befittingly in the face of Israel and the nations.

         “They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd, and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. “They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David, My servant, will be their prince forever. “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. “My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. “And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”‘” (Ezekiel 37:23-28 NASB)

    Since I know that this theme, where God is among His people, is rampant throughout the scriptures, I could potentially leave this right here. I will not do that because we are told, by God, in the law, that NO ONE is prosecuted on the word of one witness. This law sets a precedent for proof, and we have to apply it to the Word of God. 

         “My eyes will be on those of good faith in the land, so that they may be living in my house; he who is walking in the right way will be my servant.” (Psalms 101:6 BBE)

    We are focused on Revelation 21:3, where it says, He will be among them. “Them” is His people. You become His people through this relationship where you accept Jesus and the forgiveness offered.

Posted in Abyss, Antichrist, bible study, concealed, doctrines of demons, End times, false prophet, gentiles, God's character, Gog, Heaven, hell, hidden wisdom, Hope, In Christ, Israel, Jews, judgment, judgment, Magog, Matthew's gospel, Mercy, Millennium, mystery, Prophetic, rapture, Revelation, strange doctrines, straying from the truth, teaching a different doctrine, the nations, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

They will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the LORD,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it. Revelation 21:2.

Posted on 05/15/2022 by remso

Let’s assume you read my last post and now have a confidence that allows you to describe how:

  • The surviving Jews enter the millennial kingdom and become evangelists.

    “In that day … the survivors of Israel.” (Isaiah 4:2 NASB)

    “For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant … survivors.” (Isaiah 37:32 NASB)

    “…There will be those who escape, … Even among the survivors …” (Joel 2:32 NASB)

  • The beast (which is the antichrist) and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire, while Satan is locked up in Hades, where he cannot bother anybody for a thousand years.

    Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:1-3.

  • People from the nations that are NOT believers and did NOT fight against Jerusalem and Jesus at His triumphant return will enter the thousand years with their free wills intact.

    “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.” (Zechariah 14:16-19 NASB)

    Because there are many among the churches that believe only Christians come into the millennial kingdom, here are a couple more passages that speak in opposition to this belief.

    “… and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, …. (Jeremiah 3:17 NASB)

    “Many nations will join themselves to the LORD in that day and will become My people. … (Zechariah 2:11 NASB)

  • The entirety of the thousand years will be peace. This is only one verse among many that speak of this.

    “I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. “I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing. “Also, the tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. “They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them, but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid. “I will establish for them a renowned planting place, and they will not again be victims of famine in the land, and they will not endure the insults of the nations anymore. (Ezekiel 34:25-29 NASB)

  • By the time the great white throne judgment comes along, multitudes from among the nations will have come into the kingdom and are now called God’s people.

    It is hard to imagine who is left to stand before the throne. One of the things that became clear as I did this study is that in Matthew’s account of the great throne, Jesus (the only judge) finds good deeds listed for some, and they obtain mercy and enter the eternal kingdom.

  • The thousand years are expired; Satan is released; and deceives all those whose names ARE NOT written in the book of life.

    This tells me that many from the nations chose to NOT have their names written in the book of life. To be honest, this is unbelievable that someone could choose to walk away from God’s love. So, Satan deceives an uncountable number from the nations, and they surround the Holy City in an attempt to kill God and His people. God responds by killing them all with fire. Do you understand what death is? Most think it is merely the cessation of breath and heartbeat. Ah, but your soul never dies. As a non-believer, you merely go to sleep as you await whatever happens next. Unfortunately, even if it’s a wait of several thousand years, that next event is to stand before the Great White Throne.

  • Scripture tells us that the next event is the great white throne, the final judgment, which has Jesus Christ as the judge.

    The only people standing before this throne are dead people. Scripture says nothing about sinners; they are simply dead. They weren’t “Christians,” or they would have gone up in the rapture, and we far too quickly forget that Jesus took ALL sin upon Himself on the cross; therefore, their sin was forgiven. Alright then, why are they standing here?

    Since each of us has God’s moral code written upon our hearts, (Think about the logic of that. We were made in God’s image, so it only stands to reason that His moral code is written there also. It also stands to reason that the choice of following after the one who made you or tossing Him aside has repercussions,) then, you are only judged based upon what you did with Jesus; and it was Jesus who paid that sin price for you. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 25, we see Jesus calling the nations before Him. Nations suddenly equals the dead.

    All of them standing there are judged by what is written in those books, and Jesus is looking for good deeds. Those deeds are explained in Matthew 25, and I will let you go there and pursue that on your own time. But it is evident that the simplest acts that demonstrate God’s love, which is an aspect of that moral law written upon our hearts, had its wanted effect. While it is not explained, those who demonstrated these acts of love apparently have their names written in the book of life. (Do not ask me how or why their names are written there because I do not know. I just know it happens because I see it in scripture.) Matthew’s gospel tells us that the “sheep” are the first to be dealt with and given entrance into the eternal kingdom. (Don’t worry, Jesus is going to allow anyone to bring their broken human nature into the eternal kingdom, and so they will be changed at some point.) Those NOT found in the book of life were cast into the lake fire.

  • The final judgment is over. The next thing that happens is that the earth is burned up along with the heavens. But not to worry, because believers are now immortals and can’t be harmed. That and God makes the heavens and the earth new.

    “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.” (Revelation 21:1 NASB)

Where does this Holy City go when the earth burns?

Maybe nowhere. Maybe it is heavenly, spiritual, and according to scripture, more real than what we see on earth and untouchable by fire. Maybe, it’s hovering in the sky, just waiting for the command to descend.

With the end of the time of wrath, I know that the New Jerusalem (God’s Holy City) will come down to earth, and this may happen within minutes of Jesus’ return.

How can I be so sure?

The end of warfare can come about with a Word from Jesus. The changes will begin.

Jesus, alongside the previously martyred saints, will sit as the judge during the millennial reign. Doesn’t it stand to reason that He will sit in the new Jerusalem? Amir Tsarfati, a Jewish believer and evangelist, will tell you, “We DO NOT have control of the temple mount in Jerusalem.” I would think that would be a necessity if Jesus were to sit on the throne of David. (Spare me the theological arguments and corrections, as they don’t really matter while I try to make a point.) The point here is that the place and the city in which Jesus will be seated is NOT here yet, and the only place and time that can happen is after Jesus returns and conquers everything.

Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4 NASB)

So, when Jesus comes back to earth at the end of the time of wrath, where does, He sit as the judge?

“It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,” declares the LORD, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. “At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the LORD,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; nor will they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.” (Jeremiah 3:16-17 NASB)

Jerusalem, but not the place we now see, as that will be destroyed. It will be the New Jerusalem that lies within the Holy City, which is currently absent. This line from Jeremiah chapter three, “and all the nations will be gathered to it,” is the lead in verse to the sheep and goat judgment of Matthew 25. It has a context, and that is the final judgment.

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. (Matthew 25:31 NASB)

Standing before the Jewish high priest, who could not recognize Him as God, spoke of that throne.

But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.” (Mark 14:61-62 NASB)

And in the book of Hebrews, Jesus is described as the one who upholds all things by the Word of His power and is seated at God’s right hand.

“in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” (Hebrews 1:2-3 NASB)

So, Jesus, as we speak, is seated at the right hand of the Father. He is, by the way, ever making intercession for us.

Doesn’t such a picture imply something noble, worthy of a judge?

I know I am making a broken human assumption, and NO, we don’t need special seats to judge, but we all picture a throne. And most of you realize that such a magnificent place can only exist when Christ comes to reign.

In Revelation 19:3-5, we see a chorus of voices rejoicing because they see smoke rising up from her. That “her” is Jerusalem as the sin and rebellion are squeezed out of her, and God’s wrath is finished. Revelation 19:5 tells us that he heard a voice coming from the throne; however, that throne is in heaven, and there is a good chance that this voice was coming from The New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven. We have to look outside the Revelation to get more details on this.

“In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, …” (Zechariah 14:4 NASB)

And here our introduction ends, so let’s move on to Revelation twenty-one, verse 2.

Revelation 21:2 NASB “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.”

While Zechariah 14:8-11 does not speak of a throne, he tells us that Jesus will be the king over all the earth and where this Holy City will be placed.

“And in that day, living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one. All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem, but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security. (Zechariah 14:8-11 NASB)

At 1500 miles square, there is much ground to level.

As for the dimensions of the Holy City, most translations use the term stadia, but stadia does not translate into an exact measurement in English. For me, it is like meters and feet. So, the CEV version works best for my understanding.

“The city was shaped like a cube, because it was just as high as it was wide. When the angel measured the city, it was about fifteen hundred miles high and fifteen hundred miles wide.” (Revelation 21:16 CEV)

According to Ezekiel 48, this measurement is the exact same on each side. I found several versions of maps, and most differ, but here is one. Some show the land engulfing all of Saudi and North to encompass Turkey. By looking at old maps and their distance equivalence indicators, I can do no better than 600 miles.

Here is a thought for you. We always make the assumption that Adam stayed in one small garden area. When in fact, the landmasses were all combined. I don’t speak of this much as I do not handle ridicule well. One day my mildly autistic grandson said to me, “the entire earth was a Pangaea.” This was a new vocabulary word moment for me, and my grandson knew what it meant. I looked it up, and it means that what we consider continents were at some point all combined into one landmass. I told my grandson, “I have believed that for many years, and my bible tells me that this was the case.” That did not impress him, but it impressed me. In case you don’t believe that I will show you.

Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was Peleg, for, in his days, the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. (Genesis 10:25 NASB)

Divided is the Hebrew word pâlag and literally means to split. So, we have evidence of an earthquake so massive that the continents physically split apart; and people wonder how Egyptian glyphs ended up in the walls of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and other places. Having joined landmasses may explain why are there commonalities between the megalithic stonework of Sacsayhuaman, Cusco, Peru, and Baalbek in Lebanon?

Just remember, brides, are always at their best on their wedding day. So the New Jerusalem will be spectacular.

Posted in bible study, End times, forgive, gentiles, Hades, Hell, hell, Jerusalem, Jesus, Jews, judgment, Mercy, Millennium, Peace, Peace, Revelation, Rule the nations, the nations, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A new heaven and a new earth. Revelation 21:1.

Posted on 05/12/2022 by remso

 We ended chapter 20, where the thousand years have come to a close.

Satan has been thrown into the lake of fire along with the false prophet and the beast or antichrist.

The dead were brought before the great throne, the books were opened, and they were judged according to their deeds/works. This sentence can throw many for a loop as it opposes one of the main themes of traditional religion. I say this because Matthew’s gospel, which shows the same throne, indicates that the judge, Jesus, shows many of them mercy.

We also found out that the fallen angels also stand before this throne. Their names are NOT written in the book of life and, therefore, find NO mercy.

The NASB has this as the opening line for chapter 21,

The New Heaven and the New Earth.

The question was asked, I thought the heavens and the earth were burned with fire, so when does that happen?

Well, we are about to find out.

Revelation 21:1 NASB Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

Think this through. The thousand years are done; the final judgment at the white throne is done; Satan, the beast, the false prophet, and all those dead people that did not have their names in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire. The fallen angels are NOT our problem, and yet God has judged them; therefore, the judgments are over and done.

What’s left?

The heavens, filled with the debris from broken spacecraft, and polluted earth, have to be cleaned up. I suppose this is where the burning comes into play and why there is a new heaven and a new earth. Second Peter 3 also speaks of these things burning.

But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:7 NASB)

I always try to find a witness or two from the Old Testament, so let’s run with this.

““Of old, You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing, You will change them, and they will be changed.” (Psalms 102:25-26 NASB)

If you had doubts about God having or showing anger, read Zechariah.

“…My decision is to gather nations, To assemble kingdoms, To pour out on them My indignation, All My burning anger; For all the earth will be devoured By the fire of My zeal.” (Zephaniah 3:8 NASB)

Do we care what the timing is, seeing as this is God’s plan of redemption, a plan where the timing is entirely His?

There should be no concern on our part, especially since all this happens after the thousand years and the judgments involved with the great white throne. Everything I see in scripture shows me a new Jerusalem coming down at the beginning of the millennial reign. One of the proofs that it comes down at the beginning of the 1000 years comes from Revelation 20 verse 9, where the nations, having been deceived, surround the Holy City to kill God and, I suppose, God’s people. This battle is where God kills all those participating with fire and then recalls the dead from among the nations, from all-time to the great throne for judgment.

Revelation 20:9 NASB “… they came up …and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.”

As I advanced in this study of Revelation 21, I became concerned about what becomes of the city made of gold as everything burns up. I wouldn’t be surprised if many have a similar question because of erroneous religious teachings. I say this because I had no firm grip on effectively anything that happened from the initiation of the seven years to the great white throne.

The answer to my concerns was just a verse away, as God replaces those things.

Revelation 21:2-3 NASB “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. (3) And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,”

Consider Isaiah 52:1.

“… O Jerusalem, the holy city; For the uncircumcised and the unclean Will no longer come into you.” NASB

If Isaiah 52:1 was speaking of the Holy City, after the 1000 years, why would there need to be any discussion about the uncircumcised and unclean coming into the place?

As you just saw, there are NO unclean and uncircumcised after the great throne, and I do not think there is any need to discuss the uncircumcised any longer, as the Apostle Paul informed us that circumcision is by faith and of the heart.

But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter…” (Romans 2:29 NASB)

Perhaps Ezekiel 43:7 answers our questions.

Ezekiel 43:7 NASB “…I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the corpses of their kings when they die,”

The Bible, speaking historically, informs us that Israel did defile God’s Holy name. The fact that God has to say, “And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name…” proves that. You can’t have a conversation like this unless something brings about a drastic change, and there is; we see it in Revelation 19:11-14. Moments after Jesus returns to earth as the warring messiah, He sits on the throne in the New Jerusalem and sits as the judge. At this point, the days of Jewish denial are over. Here comes another of my theology crushers. Everyone not in Christ, entering the millennial reign, still has the free will NOT to worship Messiah.

Do you know what a person during the millennial reign who refuses is called?

One from among the nations – a person who is NOT a Jew, nor are you a believer, although those designations shouldn’t even exist any longer. In my mind, this puts the Holy City on the ground, at the beginning of the millennial reign, long before the white throne judgment.

Zechariah chapter eight backs me up on this previous assertion.

“Thus says the LORD, ‘I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.” Zechariah 8:3 NASB

When does Jesus come back and do this?

At the end of the seven years of wrath, we are told that when Jesus returns, He stands upon the Mount of Olives, and it splits in two. A portion of this answer is what I pointed out in the previous paragraph. Everything Zechariah describes can be assigned to the millennial reign. Once again, we have no evidence that this applies to the time after the white throne judgment.

Ezekiel 37 talks about His sanctuary being among the nations.

“And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.“‘” (Ezekiel 37:28 NASB)

Trying to attribute this imagery to the time after the 1000 years doesn’t work because it talks about the nations knowing that Jesus Christ is the Lord. Something just became obvious to me; this does not tell me that all of those from among the nations will convert their understanding into a relationship with the Father. I am aware that a thousand years is a long time and the population, among the nations, will grow exponentially, to the point that their numbers will be uncountable by the time that Satan, once again, deceives them.

If you struggle to grasp this, you need to remind yourself that the Jewish understanding of nations is about those outside of Judaism. Accordingly, the nations would be entirely outside of a relationship with God. In contrast, those that have passed the great white throne are all in a relationship with the Father.

The best way I have to grasp the Holy City is to see it as a heavenly place.

Dake’s commentary tells us that Jerusalem “…is called new (referring to the Holy City) because of its eternal freshness and newness, not because it is new in existence. It is as old as heaven and was promised to the earliest saints on earth.” Emphasis mine.

Do you have a problem with that?

Then consider what 2 Corinthians 4:18 has to say.

“while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
(2 Corinthians 4:18 NASB)

The NASB restated tells us that we, followers of Christ, DO NOT look at things that are seen because those things are temporary. Sadly, our government seems relatively corrupt and fixed, but it too is only temporary. A day is soon coming when they will figure this out. We, the followers of Christ, are looking at, and waiting for, something called Heaven and a relationship with the Father, which is eternal; this is our hope.

Consider this. Christ died, rose again, came back, and was seen by over 400 people. But to Thomas, and I am sure there were more, He said, touch Me spirits don’t have flesh and bone as I do. (You can read this in Luke 24:39.)

I hope that I have made my point that the Holy City is here on earth during the millennial reign.

For all intents and purposes, the Holy City is as real as it can get. However, when the old earth we are currently standing on gets burned up, the Holy City seems to get put in storage or simply disappears when God eradicates the old polluted planet by fire and makes a new one a good place to put the new Holy City, we read about in Revelation 21:1.

Isaiah speaks of the New heaven and earth. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; …” (Isaiah 65:17 NASB)

Isaiah chapter 25 describes so many details that happen only moments after Jesus returns as the warring Messiah that Israel has been looking for. One of those examples comes from verse eight.

He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 25:8 NASB)

God Will Swallow Up Death Forever.?

Since this time indicates Jesus’s return to earth, a time in which peace reigns. You might assume that death would be eliminated, which would be the reason for no more tears. However, if I look for the word death and nothing else, some passages indicate that people are still dying during the millennium, making this statement not precisely accurate. For example, Satan’s ability to deceive the nations; God’s response to their actions is to send a firestorm and kill all those that attempted the takeover.

Another example of death comes from Isaiah 65.

“Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
(Isaiah 65:20 NIV)

People are dying; we know this because there is apparent dismay when a person dies young. Since no one truly dies, maybe I can give this a pass. Another aspect of this conversation lies in the fact that only those among the nations that have NOT received healing from the leaves of the trees of life will continue to die; this also means that births will continue to occur among the nations.

My wife asked me if I thought we would continue to have babies in heaven. I responded by saying, I do not think so, as we will be like the angels, and they do not partake in marriage as we do. Sorry if this last part ruins your dream and causes you to demand a refund. But think about it. If you are honest, you will admit that “love making” is nothing more than our yearning for a deeper relationship than our broken mindset can give or receive. All we get is momentarily distracted from life’s pressures for a few minutes. Only God can love you the way you long for. An example, though broken as well, was David and Jonathon. Don’t go trying to make this more than what it is. I understand it a bit more because I had a fishing buddy like that. When he got married, I lost him to a wife that did not like the God I represented or me.

I guess we all have to make choices. I chose God.

Posted in antichrist, Antichrist, bible study, End times, fallen angels, false prophet, fire, Gog, Hell, invasion, Israel, Jerusalem, Jesus, Jews, judge angels, judgment, judgment, Magog, mercy, Peace, Prophetic, Revelation, Rule the nations, the nations, Thoughts on scripture, Vengeance, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Revelation 20 does not answer this question, what became of the fallen angels?

Posted on 05/08/2022 by remso

 Before we move on, I need to talk about something that is bothering me. What became of the fallen angels?

Revelation 20 does NOT answer the question, although some think it does.

“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)

A thousand years later.

“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)

Pastor Don Stewart refers to Rev 20:10 when he says, “The lake of fire has been prepared for the devil and his evil angels.” The problem is, I see no reference to the fallen angels, unless you are foolish enough to think that the word “they” includes more than what is listed in the passage.

Just what exactly does verse 10 tell us?

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 20:10 NASB)

It tells us that only three persons are indicated, the devil, the beast (which is the antichrist,) and the false prophet. To go beyond that without substantiating evidence is pure conjecture. 

So, where then are the fallen angels?

The short book of Jude tells us in verse six.

“that those that did not keep their domain have been kept in eternal bonds under darkness, where they await judgment of the great day.”

There is only one great day, and that is the day on which the white throne judgment takes place. Unfortunately, many of us believe this verse only applies to those angels who somehow had sex with the women and produced the Nephalim.

Also, I have nothing to suggest that this indicates all the angels, and the word domain seems to cry out for definition.

If the statement applied to all the angels, what demon horde has been carrying out Satan’s orders and manipulating the world since then?

Satan, being a solitary unit could not possibly torture everyone at the same time, only God can do that.

In the book of Job, chapter four tells us that God charges them with error.

“He puts no trust even in His servants; And against His angels He charges error. ‘How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!” (Job 4:18-19 NASB)

Why would God charge the angels with an error unless an error was committed? 

He wouldn’t. We don’t expect an angel to “sin.”

The apostle Peter validates what Jude conveys.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;
(2 Peter 2:4 NASB)

Again, this does not tell us that ALL of the fallen have been condemned to hell, and since Satan has been dancing upon the heads of believers all over the earth, we know that there are still an uncountable number of angels following Satan’s lead.
In Matthew chapter eight, there is an encounter with demons – fallen angels who had possessed a man. The demons spoke to Jesus and said, “Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

When He came to the other side, into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:28-29 NASB)

Torment is the Gk word basanizō and means torture, torment, to vex with grievous pains (of body or mind.)

Obviously, they were aware that their time was coming. The phrase, “the time?” is the Greek word kairos. It means a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, or the decisive epoch waited for.

These demons knew that there was an appointed time and were content to wait for it. One of the most significant issues we, as believers, face is when this appointed time will come. As I watch, not only are events unfolding, but I am hearing the globalists tell us that the time has come for their great reset and how they will make it happen.

If I wanted to do an adequate search for angels, I might have to expand my vocabulary because the phrase “the sons of God” also references angels. One of the prominent places we find this is in Genesis 6 where the chapter conveys the idea of angels breeding with humans. (There is much controversy over this, but maybe it is time for you to get over the shock.)

that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. (Genesis 6:2 NASB)

Beautiful is the Hebrew word tob. It means pleasant, agreeable, good, and beneficial. Webster’s dictionary defines beneficial as: Advantageous; useful; profitable; contributing to a valuable end. 

Ah, but what was that end?

The creation of a race of Hybrid humans that would destroy the gene pool and end God’s plan of redemption through mankind.

Why do you think God had to have this conversation with us?

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9 KJV)

It sounds so benign and innocent, but it is not. We are told that they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.

Took is the Hebrew word lâqach and means to fetch, lay hold of, seize, acquire, snatch, and take away.

There was no love, no romance, and these women were merely taken and used to propagate this new, corrupted breed. When you examine the words used to define Noah, you get,

Perfect. The mind conjures up images of Jesus, who never sinned, even when He intentionally made a whip and drove the sellers and money changers out of the temple courts. No other man stands up to Jesus’ image. The truth is, we know little about Noah. He followed God’s lead and built the ark, having no concept of rain and knowing that this vessel was much too far to move to the ocean. We have two things that are telling about the man, and that is the fact that he preached righteousness to those who would listen; no one received his message, and we are shown that he knew how to make a sacrifice to the Lord when the floodwaters receded.

In most translations, the Hebrew word used here and defined as perfect is tâmı̂ym.  It conveys the idea that the generations of Noah were whole, sound, and unimpaired.

While we might want to brag about some descendant who signed a founding document or saved hundreds from invaders, these words don’t tell us that; they tell us his generations had no disability – they were not impaired. Ah, but by what?

The Word Study Dictionary tells us the word is “an adjective meaning blameless, complete; and, in over half of its occurrences, it describes an animal to be sacrificed to the Lord,”

Why would God use a word that describes a lamb that was to be intensely scrutinized for any flaw? Flaws, by the way, would EXCLUDE that lamb from being used as a sacrifice.

Was Noah sacrificed?

No, but his lineage was scrutinized by God to find out if these fallen angels had polluted Noah’s genetics or their wives. But, of course, the sad part of this conversation is the religious zealots who are screaming right now about how foolish my assertions are.

Really, what is the context of Genesis chapter six?

The context has everything to do with fallen angels and the arrival of the Nephalim through the rape of women.

The story’s details in Genesis six tell us that almost every genetic line on earth had become infiltrated and polluted, except for Noah’s family and the families of these young ladies that Noah’s sons chose.

Genesis six also tells us that the attempt to corrupt the human lineage continued after the flood. That can mean only one thing, that the fallen angels were unaffected by the flood and that they tried it again with Noah’s descendants.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:4 NASB)

According to the Word Study Dictionary, the word came reads in this manner. It is used with the preposition ’el and means to have intercourse. There are two examples of this, and Genesis 6:4 is one of them.

After what?

The flood wiped out all air-breathing land mammals on earth, except for Noah’s extended family. With no place to land, birds would have died from exhaustion.

So, what did I manage to determine about angels and the fate of the fallen?

With statements from the demons like, “have you come here to torment us before the time,” I can ascertain that,

  • They already know their fate.

    There is no book of life for them. The angels were created to be messengers for God and the followers of Christ. To break rank and do their own thing or follow after Satan was unthinkable. I can only assume these boundaries were set up when this relationship was initiated.

  • The NASB, like many others, used the term torment.

    In actuality, the word torment leans toward torture or vexation with grievous pains, and they knew it was coming.

  • The Revelation does not tell us anything about the fate of the fallen angels.

    It should not be that much trouble to include them in the narrative about being thrown into hell alongside Satan. Since the demons brought up the subject and demonstrated their knowledge and acceptance of said torment, then, as I said above, we can ascertain that the angels will stand before that same white throne, be judged, and cast into eternal torment. Consider that I have pointed out how Matthew 25 demonstrates mercy being given to some. The fact that the “demons” understand their fate tells us that NO mercy is available to them.

  • God will hold the fallen angels guilty for their foolish choices.

    The religious assumption is that angels are merely robots that only do what God tells them. The problem with that thinking is; that first, you seem to forget that Lucifer is an angel and led a rebellion against God and His throne. Secondly, Lucifer/Satan was able to deceive one-third of the angels into following his madness. It is this, above all else, that tells us that angels have free will to serve with loyalty or not.

    “… And against His angels He charges error.” (Job 4:18 NASB)

    Jude tells us that those who participated in the Genesis 6 orgy are locked away,

    “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,” (Jude 1:6 NASB)

    Maybe it is not so much that an angel could turn their back on God, but more in how they committed such an act. Think about what they did, they seized humans, made in God’s image, with the sole purpose of destroying those beings, all of them, and it almost worked.

If you are perplexed why I included the Nephalim narrative of Genesis 6, this is one of the worst and most apparent indiscretions that we are aware of when it comes to fallen angels – or demons, if you wish. Genesis 6:4 indicates that their efforts to destroy anything that looked like God continued after the flood. So, whether they are invading your physical human space or tormenting your life otherwise, they are real and active. If they don’t control you, I can guarantee you that they control that other person who walks around without the protection of the Holy Spirit that lives inside of the believer.

I am telling you, you need Jesus.

Posted in angels, angels, angels, Antichrist, bible study, End times, fallen angels, false prophet, Genesis, Hades, Hell, hell, judgment, ministering spirits, Revelation, Sin, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, ungodliness, unrighteousness, wickedness | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

God’s people and the beloved city, are surrounded. Revelation 20:9-15.

Posted on 05/05/2022 by remso

 The defeat of Satan.

I would guess that many of you thought this would never happen; well, it will. Our confidence concerning this comes from the scriptures, all of which have proven that God is faithful to His word; and we happen to be looking at an aspect of that Word.

For the followers of Christ – those actively waiting for Him, the catching away of the church will happen any day now; at that point in time, Satan will no longer be an issue. That fallen angel, with his annoying ways, will no longer give those of us in Christ any more trouble.

On the other hand, if you are one of those who have to try and live through the seven years of God’s wrath, “they,” will, within a short period of time, be coming for you to kill you.

I can hear some of you saying, Hey, I have sat in church on occasions and I am confident that I deserve to be called a Christian. Because of that, I am sure that I will be gathered up with the church when the rapture comes. If you don’t want to believe this can happen, then look at this.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. (2) “Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. (3) “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, (4) but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. (5) “Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. (6) “But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ (7) “Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. (8) “The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps, are going out.’ (9) “But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ (10) “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. (11) “Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ (12) “But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.‘ (13) “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.” Matthew 25:1-13 NASB

If you paid attention, then you would have noticed that they were all virgins, and yet 50% did not get into the party.

  • As an analogy, you might think that this conveys that they were good Jewish girls and pure of heart. Apparently, that is not the case.

    The term virgins also express that this is a young woman who has never had sexual relations with a man, and therefore marriageable in the Jewish community. While this tells us that she obeyed her father’s rules, it does not tell us about the quality of the heart.

  • Verse 2 tells us that five of them were foolish. This is explained in verses three and four.

    ““For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, (4) but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.”

    Foolish is the Gk word mo-ros’ and means dull or stupid.

    Prudent is the Greek word phronimos. It means to be intelligent, wise, prudent, i.e. mindful of one’s interests.

  • From verse five. “…while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.”

    God does not see this as a negative; but while five were mindful to take extra oil with them, five were lazy and did not care anymore.

  • If you think they were such precious young ladies, then pay attention to what verse eight conveys from the Contemporary English Version.

    “The foolish ones said to the others, “Let us have some of your oil! Our lamps are going out.”

    All of a sudden they are demanding oil, as though the world owes them something.

Who can I equate this to?

Those who, like an acquaintance of mine, was inclined to tell me, that I was wasting my time and others by saying that Jesus was coming back soon.

Many of us see the ten virgins as an analogy of the church.

If that is correct, then we are looking at fifty percent of the “so-called” church, acting like that brother in Christ who chooses to berate anybody who is a proponent for the soon coming of Christ for His bride. (This concept could be mine alone; but what if I am right? Are you looking for Jesus or are you being dull and stupid? )

My advice to you, in whatever dire strait you find yourself in, is to hold tightly to Jesus Christ for He is your faith and hope for a future with the Father.

The reality is that we are NOT going back to normal, whatever that looks like for you. Those who gather at the World Economic Forum have done their damage and created the atmosphere to bring about their openly stated New World Order. Ukraine, Lebanon, and others are already having serious food shortages. It will not be long until people will be coming after the Christians, to kill them, partially because many of us have stood against these foolish global dominance efforts. So in effect, the end, as far as your life among the heathen, will come quickly for many.

In the last post, we covered Revelation 20, verses seven and eight.

Let’s pick up from there and move forward.

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)

These people – the nations, will have heard and chosen to ignore, the same message that brought many of us to a relationship with Jesus Christ.

He will fool the countries of Gog and Magog, which are at the far ends of the earth, and their people will follow him into battle. They will have as many followers as there are grains of sand along the beach, (Revelation 20:8 CEV)

Immediately my mind says here are some familiar names, so what is the relationship to the Old Testament?

In looking at the children of Israel (Jacob), there is an allusion to Reuben, but the allusion ends almost as quickly as it comes, and the father of Gog, we are told, is Joel.

Suddenly, I am aware that I have never paid attention to this Joel and have no idea who he is.

Alright, who fathered Joel?

The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary gives us this.

“Now the sons of Reuben — In proceeding to give this genealogy, the sacred historian states, in a parenthesis (1Ch_5:1, 1Ch_5:2), the reason why it was not placed first, as Reuben was the oldest son of Jacob. The birthright, which by a foul crime he had forfeited, implied not only dominion, but a double portion (Deu_21:17); and both of these were transferred to Joseph,”

“That foul crime,” as JFB, side steps, was to take one of his father’s concubines to bed.

What if Joel was the product of that indiscretion?

The answer lies in pure speculation, so we will leave that hanging there.

Matthew Poole’s commentary claims that Joel was the son of Hanoch, Reuben’s first-born, or Carmi. Again, we have NO scriptural evidence. It is possible that the answer lies in Jewish history, but some would call that extra-biblical information and disregard it immediately.

What is evident, is that Joel, NOT the prophet, was of the lineage through Reuben and that he was the father of Shemaiah, Gog, and Shimei.

The one that catches our attention is Gog.

Why do I point out that Gog is a descendant of Reuben? We, of a religious bent, tend to think that Jacob was a Pentecostal. I am being facetious to make a point. There were NO Jews as yet, and certainly NO organized religion that we can associate with Jacob.

In fairness, Jacob was a descendant of Abraham, a man with whom God spoke and made a covenant. And yet, no one should be able to declare that Abraham lived under the tenants of organized religion. Abraham and any of his descendants that followed in his path became aware of ‘ĕlôhı̂ym, the Supreme God and the plural of ‘ĕlôahh. So Abraham, and every descendant he could speak to, was introduced to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit through this plural God, ĕlôhı̂ym.

We can’t call them Jews at this point in the study, as the name Jew, a derivative of Judah, did not get attributed to them until long after the exit from Egypt, and that is still to come. Since most people of this time period primarily passed along their culture and history through oral tradition, then it is safe to assume that Jacob would have known of ĕlôhı̂ym and the covenant this Supreme God made with Abraham.

What we struggle to see, is how this knowledge changed Jacob’s life or anyone else’s. If I based my inclinations as to how they were directed, on the family of Jacob, then his sons lose me, as they tried to kill their brother Joseph; murdered an entire community over how their king’s son treated their sister, Dinah; they lied repeatedly; and, Reuben apparently chose to ignore familial boundaries and had sex with one of his father’s concubine.

So, if I am considering a descendant named Gog, and trying to sort out what motivates this man’s eventual actions, then how much of Abraham’s moral fiber and character can still be attributed to this Gog character?

Not much and following this family’s patterns demonstrate that.

Is this Gog, the son of Joel, the same Gog that we see in Revelation 20?

I want to say, get real. There is no way this is physically the same person, but the spirit may be.

One last look at Revelation 20:8.

He will go out to trick the nations in all the earth, the nations known as Gog and Magog. Satan will gather the people for battle. There will be more people than anyone can count, like sand on the seashore. (Revelation 20:8 ERV)

  • “He” is Satan.

  • “Will go out to trick the nations in all the earth”

    Deceive or trick, it does not matter. It is the Greek word planaō and means to roam from safety or truth. It also means to go astray or wander in your mind.

    This statement implies that these people are at least aware of the truth. If it is true that Satan wants you to wander in your mind, then how do you fight that?

    You get your spirit firmly planted in the Word of God.

  • “ the nations known as Gog and Magog.”

    We are talking about the descendants of Gog and Magog. One of the confusing things for us, in this modern age, is that we are familiar with Magog as a region. Ah, but all these nations, primarily North of Turkey, began as a person, a descendant of Noah’s sons then became a people group, and, in time, enemies of Israel. (As an interesting side note, Magog sits in a region that was known as the Scythians. To describe these people makes me think of Genghis Khan or the Vikings, as they were nothing short of feared and vicious horsemen. Fortunately, God won’t allow us to revert back to being brutal savages, as we are dealing with a time in which there will be peace.)

    The way science and industry are going you might think Star Trek could be a reality. That thought process quickly comes to a halt when you consider all the damage that God does to the earth during the seven-year period. Add to that the fact that the Bible indicates He will burn up the earth and the heavens with fire and start over. Since humans (let’s spice this up and call them mortals,) will be living on the earth, right up to the great white throne, then this burning would toast them all and prematurely end the story; so I am not clear when that refurbishing takes place. (Just in case you think I relish the mistaken idea that everyone that stands before the great white throne goes to hell, Matthew 25 plainly indicates that some, called sheep, gain entrance into the eternal kingdom. If this is true and it is, then our sadistic theology is broken, and there is no logical reason to have such a throne, as God could merely just throw away those He seemingly hates.) What is clear to me, is that what we consider technological advancement does not fit into God’s plan.

An uncountable number of people have now come against God.

Revelation 20:9 NASB 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.

Image that, the camaraderie, the strange smiles of agreement, and that I really don’t know why I am here kind of look. Israel fronts the sea on one side, so as best they can, they have surrounded the city of God, the city of Gold. You might think that there would be an immediate sense of futility. Then the question, is everybody here? Oh, good. And fire comes down from heaven and devours them. Devour is the Greek word katesthiō and means to eat down.

Revelation 20:10 NLT  Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

All those that attacked the city; the freshly dead, they just seem to lie there quietly with no thought. Meanwhile, Satan is grabbed without any fanfare and thrown into the lake of fire. There he joins the false prophet and the antichrist character, which is called the beast, for an eternal bath in fiery torment; and yes, it says “they” implying that Satan is also tormented, forever.

The NASB entitles this next section,

Judgment Before the Great White Throne

Revelation 20:11 NASB Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.

Hold on for a second, something just changed and I cannot remember anyone talking about this. Ignore the great white throne for a minute, because earth and heaven just fled away from the presence of Him who is sitting upon it.

  • “Him who sat upon it,”

    Our immediate response, if anybody were to ask, is that it is God. That is, in part correct, but in spite of the fact that Scripture repeatedly points out that ALL judgment has been handed over to the Son, we rarely ever say IT’S JESUS.

  • “from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.”

    The Moffatt translation finishes this sentence by saying, “no more to be found.”

    We assumed that this great white throne would sit on the plains of Megiddo or on some high hill so that everyone could see. Now, I think it is sitting in the sky and is large enough for everyone to see. To be honest, I can see how this should be nightmarish for some.

    But we have one more problem, and it is one that seems to solve many others, as the sky, as we know it, along with the earth, disappear.

      • Where did all the dead go?

      • Where did all the people, we thought were going to be standing before the great throne, get off to?

      • Where did He put Holy City?

      • And, how do you make the sky disappear?

I have, for some time, been trying to explain that almost everything in scripture is the polar opposite of what you were taught. Only the dead come before the throne, and so these “dead” are souls that are alive. God can do anything so having these souls stand before Him, while the earth is gone, is nothing. The quantity of dead or the era in which they died means nothing. Having been bypassed in the rapture of the church, all those years earlier, you would think there was no hope for them. But Matthew’s account demonstrates that JESUS looked in those books to see if any did good works, and He found some. Bizarre as it seems, those He found all had their names written in the book of life, and they were granted life in the eternal kingdom. Were they changed, so that they don’t bring their damaged life in with them? Of course, they were; and scripture tells us so.

Revelation 20:12 GW  I saw the dead, both important and unimportant people, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened, including the Book of Life. The dead were judged on the basis of what they had done, as recorded in the books.

Almost every translation says something similar, “ The dead were judged on the basis of what they had done, as recorded in the books.” This is NOT what they teach you in Sunday school.

The dead came from everywhere. We, only moments ago, talked about the uncountable number that Satan deceived, but of those, who under radio silence, had their war vessel shot out from under them during WW11. Survivors had to jump into the sea and then had to watch as the sharks picked off many of the survivors. Those sharks scattered their remains across the seafloor where the currents move their cells across thousands of miles. You should get my point, God only needs one cell to rebuild a body if He needs it.

Revelation 20:13 GW  The sea gave up its dead. Death and hell gave up their dead. People were judged based on what they had done.

Dead from everywhere are gathered, and judged based upon what they had done. Some will ask, what do I have to do? Well, Jesus explained that when He told them,

‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ (Matthew 25:35-36 NASB)

And finally, death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. What does that mean? It means that the fear of death and hades were also eliminated, quite possibly to never be spoken of again. That would be nice.

Revelation 20:14 NASB Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

What is the first death?

Perhaps this is it.

The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17 NASB)

They could not see it, but it happened, and death happened all around them. It was in some ways a slow death, in other ways, like in the spirit of the couple, it was instantaneous and they knew it, as the ease of communication with the Father ended abruptly.

This last verse of Revelation 20 is almost always read with an ominous tone.

Revelation 20:15 NASB And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

No followers of Christ were there, even those who wanted to spectate. This crowd consists only of the dead. Most, and understandably so, would assume that they were the dead in spirit, not having a relationship with Jesus. The problem with that kind of thinking is that we cannot see the heart where God looks.

And there is one other thing, we constantly forget that the law of God is written upon every heart. That law motivates us to do good, although it is clear that many choose not to follow that law.

We can label it deeds or works, but God sees the motive that we seem to miss.

Posted in Antichrist, bible study, death, End times, Ezekiel 38, fallen angels, God's character, Gog, Gog, In Christ, judgment, know nothing, Magog, Magog, Mercy, mercy, Millennium, Prophetic, rapture, Revelation, Things I have never noticed before, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When the thousand-years have expired. Revelation 20:7-8.

Posted on 05/01/2022 by remso

 When Revelation 19 ended we were looking at the previously martyred saints, now seated on thrones, ruling over a millennial kingdom in which Satan’s influence and voice can only be heard through the recollections of those from the nations who have survived.

It is possible that those who are now sitting as judges, are in a sense, ruling with Christ?

It is possible that some of these survivors, over which the martyred saints now sit in judgment, may have played a role in the murder of those same saints, therefore, this position of judgment seems appropriate. This thought seems to work, as ALL judgment was given to the Son because He willingly put Himself on that cross in order to redeem humanity.

Did you know you had been redeemed?

While many religious folks have been angrily telling you that you are a sinner – which we undoubtedly are, many have added that you are going to hell. The problem is they are NOT our judges and don’t truly know the answer as to where you get to spend your eternity. Not being a good gambler I prefer not to play the odds and have, therefore, accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior. Because of that decision, I do not have to stumble around with no hope and fear the ravages of hell. I will spend eternity with the Father, all because I, like you, have been redeemed.

So, Satan will have no influence over the nations during the millennial reign, because he is captive and restrained during that time.

Does this mean that people from among the nations will not exhibit sinful behaviors?

Hardly, for these people still have the freedom of choice; and though the opportunity to change continues to be available it is obvious that far too many do not avail themselves of that “change” by submitting themselves to Yahshua, as we believers did. We have scriptural evidence for this.

and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
(Revelation 21:27 NASB)

The nations, by coming to Jesus, will become changed just as we have, and they too will find their names in the book of life.

Let me add something to this introduction. We have little that defines what transpires during these thousand years.

  • Jesus Christ, alongside the Father, will dwell among them, and they shall be His people. (Revelation 21:3 NASB)

    This tends to lean toward the Jewish community, but it does not exclude the believers.

  • He will wipe away every tear from their eyes;

    and there will no longer be any death;

    there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 NASB)

    The statement “the first things have passed away” probably makes no sense to most; initially, it made no sense to me. But it does make sense when you read it from a translation like the Contemporary English Version. 

    “He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.” (Revelation 21:4 CEV)

  • He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war.
    (Micah 4:3 NASB)

    If you have chosen to believe the scriptures, then you might recognize Micah 4:3 as evidence of what is to come. Having never experienced eternity myself I have to trust that what I am told is true. Some would shout, who are you building your confidence upon? Well, Jesus of course. He told His disciples what He was going to do and then did just that. To top it off, He came back from the grave as He said He would.

    So, why shouldn’t I believe Him now?

The NASB entitles this next section of Revelation 20,

The defeat of Satan.

Wait a minute, I thought Satan was already taken down and defeated.

I was in the choir of one church I attended and we sang a song that declared, “he’s under my feet, Satan is under my feet.” Strange how some people at that church acted like they were always on top, while others could not hide the fact that they struggled constantly. I found myself wondering, what am I supposed to believe about this because Satan can’t be both, defeated and crushed while continuing to ruin people’s lives, can he?

In Revelation 12:9 we see that Satan, the great dragon, was thrown down. You might think that this was the moment where he was silenced, but no.

“And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world–he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” (ESV.)

He merely brought his circus sideshow to the earth, where he continues in his futile attempts to overthrow God.

The passage does not explicitly say one-third of the angels, however, Revelation 12:4 implies that this quantity was thrown out with him; and, because stars are an allusion to angels, which we frequently find in scripture. A third of the angels, now angry, was thrown down to earth with him.

Revelation 12:4 ESV “His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.”

An alternative translation:

“And the huge dragon was cast down and out–that age-old serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, he who is the seducer (deceiver) of all humanity the world over; he was forced out and down to the earth, and his angels were flung out along with him.”(Revelation 12:9 AMP)

Having sent the disciples out to go to people’s homes, they came back rejoicing because the demons complied in the name of Jesus.

Jesus responded to the disciples, to strengthen their faith and perhaps brag a bit, by saying,

“…I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.” (Luke 10:18 NASB)

Genesis 3:15 is one of those verses that feeds into the Serpent’s defeat.

“I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other. I will make your descendants and her descendant hostile toward each other. He will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel.” (GW)

A more common translation reads like this.

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (MKJV)

When Genesis 3:15 says, “He” it is referring to Jesus Christ. The woman is Israel.

Enmity is hatred.

Bruise, while a bruise can border on deadly, we typically don’t see it that way. Most of the time, you get a bruise and you move on. This is so much more, as the Hebrew word shuph to gape, snap, break, and lastly, to bruise.

Can you envision the varied ways that Jesus crushed Satan’s head? I will just leave that there.

If Genesis 3:15 is indicative of perpetual warfare, then some of the first shots that Satan fired looked like this.

“”The LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this while another said that. “Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “The LORD said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.'” (1 Kings 22:20-22 NASB)

Do you think that this tactic of deception is NOT active now?

Oh, it is, and the most rational of pastors can mislead. I was recently taken aback when my pastor said that there were two books of life, and one of them was “Jesus’” book of life. He made statements indicating that you can be blotted out of the book of life but not Jesus’ book of life. I have covered this subject in previous posts so suffice it to say that the pastor’s assertions were not biblically sound, and, therefore, blatantly wrong.

Where is the harm in what the pastor said?

If it causes those of you that do not take the time to study your Bibles, to stumble, or to maintain a mental image of God that is false, then yes, it is harmful, severe, and entwined in Satan’s goals of deception. Considering the number of people that a famous television/internet pastor can reach, thousands, that could now be replicating the false teachings in others, while cultivating an image of God that is NOT true; and, be added to the long list of people who cannot understand the book of Revelation. If you think my assertion is fallacious, then you need to know that these are the result of conversations with church-going people.

So much for my introduction.

Now, consider the definition of defeat.

According to https://www.dictionary.com/browse/defeat, the word defeat means “to overcome in a contest, election, battle; to prevail over; to frustrate; thwart; eliminate or deprive of something expected: to annul; a bringing to naught.”

All of these definitions apply, and, by God’s standards, brought Satan to a crashing halt at the cross. At least that is what scripture tells us, but the effect this fallen angel has on our lives seems to say differently. For example, in the book of Job, the cast out Satan, places himself before God, and the righteous angels and God makes no derogatory remarks but restricts what Satan can do to Job.

“And a day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah. And Satan also came among them. And Jehovah said to Satan, From where do you come? Then Satan answered Jehovah and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And Jehovah said to Satan, Have you set your heart against My servant Job, because there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil?” (Job 1:6-8 MKJV)

What are you supposed to believe?

The answer is God. The entirety of what I have been rambling about is God’s plan and a great mystery that will culminate at the Great White Throne. We will get to that throne momentarily. Revelation 19 and a portion of chapter 20, have placed us in the millennial/1000-year reign. While here, there are only a handful of things I can say with confidence that will happen.

Examples are,

  • A form of evangelism takes place, as the leaves of the trees of life are taken to the nations and bring healing;

  • Peace rules the earth during this time but that does not mean that people will stop doing ungodly things;

  • Swords will be made into pruning knives and farming tools;

  • Everyone from the nations will have their own little farm;

  • The nations will be forced to come, once each year, to Jerusalem, to participate in the Feast of Shavuot and bow before God.

  • And, the most peaceful thing that stands out in my mind, is that Satan, will for these 1000 years, be taken out of the equation, and therefore, NOT be the motivating factor in the lives of the nations.

    Allow me to explain something. The Bibles we are studying are a Jewish book. Many of you don’t want to believe that, but it is. As such, the nations, to the Jew, is anyone outside of Judaism. Since we, believers are in Christ and grafted into this Jewish rootstock, we are NOT included in the conversations about the nations that demonstrate bizarre levels of evil during the 1000 years, and all without Satan pushing them to act this way.

    But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, will have their part in the Lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8 MKJV)

So, does the absence of Satan from the 1000-year period, mean that he was defeated by dictionary standards?

If the dictionary is the standard, then yes; but the dictionary only helps us to understand how God may see this. Since crushing one’s head, as we saw in Genesis 3, tends to be deadly and permanent, then this crushing is just a matter of when that happened, or happens.

The cross may have been the turning point, but if that is the case, then why do Satan and his crew, continue to torment people?

The only other point in time, where we see the final removal of, not just Satan, all brokenness related to him, centers around the great white throne.

Revelation 20:7-8 MKJV  “And when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be loosed out of his prison.  (8)  And he will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle. The number of them is as the sand of the sea.”

Did you see a great white throne in this passage?

No, it is not there, but some peculiar things are.

  • “…when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be loosed out of his prison.”

    Having had my fair share of battles with this fallen angel, it is disappointing to see him loosed again.

  • “ And he will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth,”

    We are told that the number of people living on the earth, outside of the New Jerusalem, will be like the sand of the sea. These are the same words that God spoke to Abraham about his descendants. You do realize that Ishmael and his offspring are descendants as well.

  • “ Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle.”

    If you know anything about prophesy, then you know that many of us are expecting a huge battle, that involves Gog, Magog, Rosh, a few others, and Israel. In this battle, Israel takes a horrific beating but God sends a firestorm against Gog and kills him on the mountains of Israel.

    “And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Son of man, set your face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief ruler of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him. And say, So says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the chief ruler of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn you back, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed most perfectly, a great assembly with buckler and shield, all of them swordsmen;” (Ezekiel 38:1-4 MKJV)

    It is rather obvious that Gog is a man. Magog is a place but originated as a man’s name, and Rosh is also a place.

    “Gog (the prince) of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.” By Magog is most probably meant the Scythians or Tartars, called so by the Arabian and Syrian writers, and especially the Turks, who were originally natives of Tartary (inhabiting parts of Russia and central and western Siberia); and by Rosh, the Russians, descendants of the ancient inhabitants on the river Araxes or Rosh.” The Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury.

Don’t you find it interesting to see the same names, once again? You don’t have to answer that.

Something about Revelation 20:7-8 caught my eye.

“when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be loosed out of his prison.  (8)  And he will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle. The number of them is as the sand of the sea.”

Suddenly it occurs to me that this quantity of people, as numerous as the sands of the sea, will all be deceived. Now that may not be the case and the fact that we have talked about those leaves providing healing for the nations. There is no way that God will bring about healing without bringing about a change, much like He is going to do with the raptured church. You see, the nations will still have their brokenness, which is most likely genetic thanks to Adam. Don’t think for a second that God would make a broken, sinful human an immortal. That would be like handing the keys to the New Jerusalem to Satan all over again. Adam already did that once, it is NOT happening again.

Add what I just said, to a world of unrepentant people – the nations, and then release Satan with his skill to deceive, and these fools suddenly think they can kill God and take over. How quickly it happens I don’t know, but God consumes the entire lot of them with fire. This moment in time has eliminated ALL those who, we assume, demonstrated opposition to God, both presently – thus freshly dead, and those who have died throughout all time.

Why would I say any of that?

Because in Revelation 20 there are no “living” people standing there before the throne. Now don’t get all hung up on this living / dead distinction, as no one truly dies. Since the soul, made in the image of God, lives on forever; death, then, is only realized by eternal separation from God, through the lake of fire. I happen to believe that Matthew 25, where we see the sheep and goat judgment, is the exact same judgment that we see in Revelation 20.

Is it mandatory to use the same terminology to explain a picture?

No. In Matthew’s account, there is no mention of death; it merely tells us that the nations are brought before Him.

So who did Satan just deceive?

If you said the nations, then, you would be correct. The number of those standing there is ‘like the sand of the sea,” and therefore uncountable. Since Satan has been doing nothing less than deceiving people since humanity showed up, then it makes sense that the population of the dead would increase.

Who else could be standing there?

People who have died since the beginning of time. Since Matthew also shows us the mercy of God, which we don’t see in Revelation 20. In Matthew’s account the sheep, who would have been gathered with the others who are dead, gain entrance into the kingdom. If they are thought of as sinners not worthy of life, then I guess God just gave them a pass. Matthew tells us that it was their good deeds, found in those books.

Far too many make a critical assumption about these standing before the throne. I made that same assumption when I said “This moment in time has eliminated ALL those who demonstrated opposition to God.” The assumption is that they all committed some unforgivable sin and are, therefore, all headed toward the lake of fire. If the dead are judged from the books, not the book of life, then it is safe to assume that those who find mercy in Matthew 25, were also judged by those same books.

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Are there two books of life; one of those being The Lamb’s book of life? A Rebuttal.

Posted on 04/21/2022 by remso

The wife and I watched Jack Hibbs, and he was all fired up about our CA Congress and their willingness to murder babies. Near the end of his talk, he evidently said there are two books of life. One is allegedly the Lamb’s book of life. The wife turns and says, what do you think of that? I believe now that it was a good thing that I missed what he said because it would have made me angry. I did manage to tell the wife that I would transcribe what the pastor said and do a study in the morning to see if I could find these multiple books of life that I have never heard of until this day. Here is how that went.

So, Pastor Jack quickly tells the audience that there are two books of life; and one of those books is The Lamb’s book of life. From this book, you cannot get your name blotted out because we belong to Jesus; however, you can get your name blotted out of the book of life.

(To be fair, I found two scriptures that included the Lamb’s book of life, or a derivative, and both are in the Book of the Revelation, which we will pursue momentarily.)

I did a search for the phrase, the book of life. Throughout the bible, and using the NASB, that phrase is only found 7 times.

Here are those verses.

Psalm_69:28  May they be blotted out of the book of life And may they not be recorded with the righteous.

This is King David whining out for justice against his enemies, and so we can exclude this.

Phillipians_4:3  Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Here, Paul, acknowledges that their names were written in the book of life, but primarily based on faith. I have no doubt that they were.

Rev_3:5  ‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

 Revelation 3:5 is bewildering because it says, I will not erase the name of an overcomer. I have overcome a few things but was it enough? What is the standard? Perhaps there is NO standard and that is why Jesus came and died on our behalf. None of us would have made it into the kingdom. If you look for the term erase in your Bible, this is the only place it shows up. Try another translation, like the King James, and you get nothing.

 Erase is the Greek word exaleiphō and also means to smear out, obliterate, and wipe away.

Now if you look for the word blot, which seems like the same thing, there are 14 entries. Genesis 6 gives us one of those when it says, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land.”

Here, it is a Hebrew word machah, but if effectively means the same thing as the Greek word  exaleiphō.

Well, obviously He did not blot out everyone because He spared Noah and family. Our problem is that we assume He never offered salvation to any others. It took Noah over a hundred years to build this ark and we are told that Noah preached righteousness to all who would listen. Therefore, salvation was offered to anyone who would accept it, and all we see was immediate family.

With verses like Exodus 17:13-14, it is difficult to argue against the possibility that God would blot someone’s name out of the book.

So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” (Exodus 17:13-14 NASB)

 You get the idea that God was very angry with, not only this man, but a nation named after him; and yet, God only focuses on the man.

Look at this, as it seems to be a clear definition of why someone would be blotted out.

“so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood. “It shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will boast, saying, ‘I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to destroy the watered land with the dry.’ “The LORD shall never be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the LORD and His jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. “Then the LORD will single him out for adversity from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant which are written in this book of the law.” (Deuteronomy 29:18-21 NASB)

Rev_13:8  All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

 Revelation 13:8 is not so much about “the book” as it is about those who have enough backbone to refuse the beast, his mark, and his image. The mystery of these people is only enhanced by the fact that their names have been in this book of life before time began.

Since these people, who are resisting the global agenda, did not go up in the rapture, how did they get their names in the book of life? When I attempt to point this out to my “Christian” friends, they are puzzled, mumble out some unfounded response, or get angry. Why angry? Because what we see here defies any standard religious explanations; and, it validates what we see in Matthew 25, where the crowd before the throne is separated into two groups. The group referred to as sheep is granted entrance into the kingdom. I was under the impression that sin was one of those things that kept you from going up in the rapture; if that is the case, these people don’t fit. And yet, this is Jesus giving them entrance. I have only one decent explanation and that is that God’s mercy is greater than anything we can understand.

Rev_17:8  “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.

When the antchrist shows his head, and contrary to Pastor’s like Tom Hughes, I believe that this man will have Muslim roots. Can you think of anybody that has the ear of the world and yet has Muslim roots? I can, former American President Obama does.

The passage says, only those who do not have their names in the book of life will be in awe of this guy. Why make a distinction like that? Perhaps it is because, during the time of wrath, when many will tell you that the Holy Spirt is removed from earth, the Holy Spirit, which leads and guides you into all truth is still here, speaking into the hearts of those left behind and telling them, DO NOT follow this clown.

Rev_20:15  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

To be honest, this passage annoys me. Not because of its finality, but because it is like a fly trap for people who seem to relish punishment. If you read Revelation 20:12-15, then you wouud know that NONE of those standing there are judged from the book of life, they are judged, according to their deeds, from the other books. I already pointed out how in Exodus, God told Joshua to write Amalek’s name in a book of rememberance. I don’t what these books are but this may give us a clue. By the way, you and I are NOT the judges, so don’t worry about these books. If you must be concerned then make Jesus the Lord over your life and move on.

Rev_21:27  and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 21:27 puzzles many people. The answer lies in the fact that we are looking at the millennial reign of Jesus. During this time, many from the nations have survived, just as many of the Jews have, and are living with the freedom of choice. This freedom allows them to practice their abominations, which is idol worship. The biggest joy I have, is knowing that this time will be one of peace, so your twisted nature will  have no impact on me. But know this, you don’t get to bring your abominations and brokenness into the Holy City. Wow, that sounds hopeless, but it is NOT as there those leaves from the trees of Life, and they can bring healing. This healing is not just a quick fix but an entire mental overhaul and freedom from your brokenness.

If we extend the search to the Lamb’s book of life. There is also a reversal of that phrase in Revelation 13:8 as it reads the book of life of the Lamb. In either case, there is but one example. That information alone should tell you that you are chasing a rabbit trail. With such minimal examples, you should grasp that there is no additional book of life exclusive to Jesus. Therefore, this is most likely not a valid argument.

John, in Revelation 21, starting in verse ten, was shown the Holy City of Jerusalem. So, the conversation has everything to do with New Jerusalem and who is allowed into that city.

“I did not see a temple there. The Lord God All-Powerful and the Lamb were its temple. And the city did not need the sun or the moon. The glory of God was shining on it, and the Lamb was its light. Nations will walk by the light of that city, and kings will bring their riches there. Its gates are always open during the day, and night never comes. The glorious treasures of nations will be brought into the city. But nothing unworthy will be allowed to enter. No one who is dirty-minded or who tells lies will be there. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will be in the city.” (Revelation 21:22-27 CEV)

If you are struggling to understand at what point in time this city shows up, look at the words “Nations will walk by the light of that city.” This can ONLY happen during the millennial kingdom. We have not yet reached the Great White Throne judgment, which is about a thousand years away. And, if you noticed, it says nothing about getting your name into that book or being blotted out, for the names are already established in that book.

Focus on the word established for a moment. When you consider those who go through the seven years of God’s wrath upon the earth, the great push to take the mark, worship the beast – the antichrist, and worship the image of the beast, this DOES NOT happen until 1240 days into the seven-years.

All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. (Revelation 13:8 NASB)

One of two scenarios has taken place to put these people in this horrid time. First, they were either non-believers or, as Revelation 3 describes, caught off guard when it speaks of the church of Sardis. 

‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. ‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. (Revelation 3:2-3 NASB)

King David said Before my days were ever formed, you had ordained all my days and wrote them in “your book.”

“My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.” (Psalms 139:15-16 NASB)

Let’s ponder the reference in Phillipians for a moment.

“I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.” (Philippians 4:2-3 NASB)

It is evident that Euodia and Syntyche (Not that it is important, but her name is pronounced soon-too’-khay,) are also followers of Christ and assisted Paul in sharing the gospel. It is Paul’s words that help to define their relationship to Christ and also to Paul. Paul calls them, AND an unnumbered quantity of others, his fellow workers, and get this, he says their names are in the book of life.

Isn’t that strange that all these, being believers with proven relationships to Christ – the Lamb, are not defined as those who have their names in the “lamb’s” book of life?

In Revelation 3:5, Jesus says this in speaking to and about the church in Sardis.

‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Revelation 3:5 NASB)

Did you grasp what He said? 

He is telling you that anyone who overcomes (Since the Revelation is of Jesus, and the first three chapters speak to specific churches that have been gone from us for several thousand years and are, therefore, representative of church ages.) will be clothed in white. He, Jesus, will NOT erase their name from the book of life.

The critical point is that this is narrowed down to individuals and not the entire church. Verses two and three define what the problem was/is.

Wake up! You have only a little strength left, and it is almost gone. So try to become stronger. I have found that you are not completely obeying God. Remember the teaching that you were given and that you heard. Hold firmly to it and turn from your sins. If you don’t wake up, I will come when you least expect it, just as a thief does. (Revelation 3:2-3 CEV)

⦁ You have only a little strength left, and it is almost gone.

⦁ You are not completely obeying God.

⦁ Remember the teaching that you were given and that you heard, and hold firmly to it.

⦁ And turn from your sins.

What happens if they don’t? 

“If you don’t wake up, I will come when you least expect it, just as a thief does.”

The context of a statement like this has everything to do with the catching away of the church.

Since this was spoken to real people, who are now dead, how are we supposed to perceive such an admonition? 

Wake up, remember or rehearse the teachings that speak to Christ’s soon return, and turn from your sins.

Let’s try an alternative search – “of the Lamb,” which will give me other potential answers.

We get things like wrath, blood of, song of, marriage of, wedding supper of, the throne of, and fat of.

Only one verse in the entire Bible refers to the book of the lamb, Revelation 13:8, and we covered that above.

Another possibility is to simply look for the word “book.” There are over 170 references to “book,” but obviously, not all apply to the situation.

The people that were to become Israel compelled Aaron to make the god Moloch for them. I find it interesting that he knew how to do that.

“Then Moses returned to the LORD, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. “But now, if You will forgive their sin–and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” The LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.” (Exodus 32:31-33 NASB)

Moses told God to blot his name out of God’s book, which you have written. Yet, God still held those who had sinned responsible and told Moses that He would blot them out of His book.

Why did God NOT kill Aaron or write him out of His book concerning this event?

I don’t have an answer for you aside from the fact that inevitably we  look at the actions and make a judgment that this person is going to hell for that. All the while, God is looking at the heart.

Back to King David.

Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. (Psalms 40:6-7 NASB)

Perhaps a little presumptuous, or maybe David had understood that all his days were in this book.

Doesn’t that seem strange when David had a man killed so he could take the man’s wife and then lie about the baby he produced? 

Psa_56:8  Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

As I worked on this study I was reminded that God assigned things like books of remembrance. Our presumption, then, is that God would not waste space writing about your tears in the book of Life. But there I go thinking like a human again.

Psa_69:28  Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.

Add iniquity to their iniquity, And may they not come into Your righteousness. May they be blotted out of the book of life And may they not be recorded with the righteous. (Psalms 69:27-28 NASB)

David asks God not to record them with the righteous. I do not think this is appropriate, although heartfelt, and I do not believe that God will not honor such a request from us.

Why not? 

Because God is Love and desires, every person comes to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. Want proof?

This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4 NASB)

An interesting relation to the “book” is found in Revelation 17.

“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. (Revelation 17:8 NASB)

Only the persons whose name is not written in the book of life are amazed when they see the beast. Revelation 17:8 is easier to understand if, where it says, “that he was and is not and will come,” you merely substitute the Islamic Caliphate (This works for me, because the Ottoman Empire was forced -at gun point, to disband and dissolve in 1924. For many years they did, but then there was that devilish branch called the Muslim Brotherhood, who soon regrouped in Egypt. The head that sustained what seemed to be a mortal wound, never truly died.)

So, with NO other valid scriptural witnesses to validate that there is an exclusive Lamb’s book of life, then I either do NOT attempt to preach it or teach it, or I make the assumption since Jesus and God are in essence the same thing, then the book of Life is also the Lamb’s. He has been given ALL judgment, so that makes sense.

There is one reference where God says to Moses that He will blot out from “the book” those who sinned. While we don’t see that God actually did blot out their names, but we do see Moses having a hand in the death of 3000. (Exodus 32:26-27.)

Initially I said, I have NO additional witnesses to God blotting out people’s names from the book, but with further study I found a couple more.

In Genesis 6:7, we see God saying, I will blot out all mankind from the earth.

Did God do exactly that? 

No, for Noah and the extended family were saved.

Did God exclude all others from salvation? 

No, as it took over 100 years to build the ark and Noah preached every chance he got.

Did they line up to get in the ark?

Hardly, but the family could hear them pounding on the door when the flooding got serious.

How about this one, what methods did Israel have to remove, even if momentarily, sins? 

The sacrificial system, and, at this point in time, I can not see that it was set up. Perhaps this could be an explanation of what seems like harshness.

Alright then, what is death? 

The cessation of breath and, or complete separation from God.

So what did God do with the people that were killed at Mt. Sinai? 

They ceased to breathe, for the aspect of death associated with the great white throne has obviously NOT happened as yet. Therefore, no one has yet to be sent to hell, although people will argue with you. And, since we are NOT the judge, we do not know who is destined for this place.

Is it possible that because of Jesus’ obedience to the cross, every person regained their name in God’s book? 

If their names were restored and then blotted out, it would only be because of a refusal on their part to accept Jesus, that excludes them from having their name in the book and hence be blotted out.

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