Armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse. Revelation 20: 1-6.

Posted on 04/19/2022 by remso

In Revelation 19 we saw Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, riding into the scene on a white horse and a tremendous army of saints riding behind Him. He has a sword coming out of His mouth, that sword is His Word, so in reality, He may only speak a word and kill all those who have joined in, and He slaughters all those who have come to the fight.

Statements indicating that Jesus only kills those who come to do battle seem logical, however, some will actively fight with me about how Jesus kills off everyone but the Christians prior to the millennial reign. If that was the case, why would there be a need for judges seated on thrones during this time period?

Who these judges are is found in Revelation 19:2 where it speaks of God avenging the blood of His bond-servants – the martyred saints. You then have to extrapolate how God would avenge their blood. Since we, the church, caught up in the rapture, did not spill our blood, then it is certainly not speaking about us. The answer to this question above lies in the fact that many from the nations will enter the millennial kingdom.

Notice the terminology used in Revelation 19, pertaining to this battle.

“Then I saw the beast and the rulers and leaders of the earth with their troops mustered to go into battle and make war against Him Who is mounted on the horse and against His troops.”
(Revelation 19:19 AMP)

  • We see the beast – this is the antichrist character,

  • the rulers of the earth – take your pick, if they have survived the onslaught thrown at the earth by God, then they too will be there.

  • And we see, leaders of the earth with their troops.

All of these are going into battle against Him who is seated upon the white horse and His troops.

You do know who this is, right?

Jesus Christ. Here is a scripture to back up my argument.

“Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war.”
(Revelation 19:11 NLT)

Suddenly, it occurs to me, that the gathering of troops, to a specific location like Israel (Never let this piece of information out of your thinking, this saga, we call the Bible, is about God’s plan to redeem humanity, the promise He made to Abraham, and the land that He promised to Abraham – that land extends far beyond the reaches of Israel,) will take more than a day or two, and we can see that Russia is staging for some horrid activity with their build-up in Syria. The implications are that Jesus is merely hanging there in mid-air for all the world to see, with the armies of heaven in tow until these earth-bound fools are gathered and ready to fight.

You saw my shortlist above, where there are no wives, mothers, or children listed. That does not preclude that a few may choose to join in the melee, but for the most part, in the Middle East, wars are fought by the men. So that does not mean that the King of Kings will go to their house, in contrast to some of the instructions Israel received concerning the conquering of opposing “nations,” and leave no one alive. If you believe that, then you have no idea who God is.

Let’s confirm these assertions I just put forth.

“And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.” (Revelation 19:19-21 NASB)

So here we go once again with an inventory again as we look at another verse..

  • The beast and the kings of the earth,

  • Their armies

It is only those assembled to make war against Him who are seated on the white horse and against His army that is killed.

What is the result of this war?

The beast, which is the antichrist, is seized, and with him, the false prophet; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. Two are permanently judged and tossed into the lake of fire, while an untold number of fighters from among the nations are killed – temporarily put to sleep until they are called before the great white throne.

All that is merely housekeeping and now begins,

The Thousand Years

Revelation 20:1-3 Moffatt NT (1) Then I saw an angel descend from heaven with the key of the abyss and a huge chain in his hand; (2) he gripped the dragon, that old serpent (who is the devil and Satan), and bound him for a thousand years, (3) flinging him into the abyss and shutting and sealing it on the top of him, to prevent him seducing the nations again until the thousand years were completed — after which he has to be released for a little while.

So much of this is self-explanatory. 

An angel simply means an angel. Since we seem to think that Satan is all-powerful – by the way, he is NOT, then it is obvious that this angel is stronger.

I was asked by a relative, to explain Revelation 20 and 21. Since the questions are usually entwined with convoluted arguments, I asked that person to give me some specific questions. A response that came went like this, God had to use a special chain because you can’t hold a spirit being with a metal chain. I suppose that stands to reason.

Whether it is a huge or great chain makes no difference as the word hálusis also carries meanings of manacles, shackles, bonds, imprisonment, or a state of custody. Whatever it takes.

Notice that this angel has keys. Where did he get a key?

Jesus told the disciples, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19 NASB)

When Jesus spoke these words He had not yet gone to hell, taken the keys to death, hell, and the grave. And yet He speaks as though He already had them. Perhaps this speaks to the confidence that God has in His own word.

Paul tells us in his letter to the church at Ephesus that He went to hell.

Therefore He says, “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.” (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? (Ephesians 4:8-9 MKJV)

An aspect of what happened to Jesus was to be falsely accused of sins He did not commit. The payment for sin was death, but not just physical death, it was spiritual death as well, and Satan thought he had Him.

I always think of Hank Hannegraf, the Bible Answer Man, and how he seemed to lose his mind over this teaching. He would proclaim that it was blasphemy if you can think that Jesus should or could be put in hell. And yet, there it is in black and white, “He also descended… into the lower parts of the earth.” What Paul preached came from the heart of God, the Old Testament, and so here is where he got the teaching from.

“You have gone up on high; You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts for men, yes, for the rebellious also, that You might dwell among them, O Jehovah God.” (Psalms 68:18 MKJV)

These gifts that the passage speaks of did NOT come from hell. The gifts are only from the Father, so it is easy to see that Jesus was rewarded as well.

“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us and has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. Having stripped rulers and authorities, He made a show of them publicly, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2:13-15 MKJV)

In the faith movement, there was a teaching called, “What happened from the Cross to the Throne.” To be honest, it was awesome, not something you hear very often, and I think it is something that every believer should understand. I am presenting several aspects of that teaching in this post. 

Jesus did not simply die, He destroyed Satan and His power, and then went into heaven, where, as the high priest, He placed His own blood on the heavenly utensils there – the tabernacle on earth was a copy of that heavenly one. Because He conquered sin and death, the Father restored Him to power and placed Him upon His throne, where He still sits today.

Take the time to read these passages: Heb_4:14; *Heb_6:20; *Heb_8:1, *1Pe_3:22. 

One last passage about those keys and we will move on.

“and the Living One, and I became dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, Amen. And I have the keys of hell and of death.” (Revelation 1:18 MKJV)

So when I asked, where did the angel get the keys, he got them from Jesus, who obtained them by stripping them out of Satan’s grip. Satan, on the other hand, got them when Adam, who was NOT deceived, handed the dominion of the earth over to the deceiver.

Revelation 20:4 MKJV  “And 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 for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor his image, nor had received his mark on their foreheads, nor in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

Who are these that sit on the thrones that Jesus sets up?

Fortunately, we answered this in the first few paragraphs. But in short, it is the previously martyred saints.

Notice the terminology, they were “beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor his image, nor had received his mark on their foreheads, nor in their hands.”

Revelation 20:5 GNB  “(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the first raising of the dead.”

If you are not cautious in your reading, you will see the first raising as those who are brought back at the end of the millennial reign. It is NOT the dead being brought before the great white throne, it is the martyred saints, raised to sit upon these thrones, passing judgment over the nations during the millennium.

Revelation 20:6 NASB “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”

Martyred saints, raised to life again, never have to fear the second death.

The second death, we have heard this term several times, so what is it?

The second death is spiritual death in that you are separated from God. I don’t think any of us can express what that feels like except for Jesus. I can say that because I have known Jesus all my life and have never been without Him. Now, if you chose NOT to listen to His voice, then the obvious assertion would be that you did not recognize His voice, but that was your choice. 

Didn’t you ever wonder what Jesus meant when He said, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”

For many, this is just a curse when things are not going well, Jesus got it from the Psalms

“… My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.” (Psalms 22:1 NASB)

Humanity, whether they choose to follow Christ or spit in His face, has always had the Spirit of God speaking to them and moving around them, and that is why I struggle with people who are willing to tell you that God cannot and will not look at sin. If that were the case, He would have ignored all of us. The passage these false teachers use is taken out of context and is part of one where Habakkuk is whining to God. That NASB titles this section as:

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

“Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct. 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 1:12-13 NASB)

Habakkuk went on to ask, why do you look with favor on those who deal treacherously, which of course is a polite way of saying evil, wickedness, or sin. So, using the phrase, God can NOT look on wickedness, is no less sin, and a form of manipulation and control; and those two words move their actions into the arena of witchcraft.

The reality of God’s heart and character looks more like this.

“Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love.” (Micah 7:18 NASB)

Did you catch the depth of character embedded in what Micah had to say?

  • “ Who is a God like You,”

    This statement is reaching out to find and display God’s character.

  • “who pardons iniquity”

    This is in total opposition to the proclamation that God cannot look at sin, which, by the way, is exactly what His son became on the cross – sin.

  • “And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession.”

    On this earth, we are subject to the demands of the law and, therefore, our crimes, if caught, get punished. Some seem to think there are no repercussions if they get away with the crime. Enjoy your moment in the sun, but there is a payment to be made. But what does Micah tell us? That God passes over the rebellious acts.

    Question. After the treasonous act by Adam, what did God do? Some will try to work from the angle that God was hiding His face from the man in the garden. Seriously, God, who knows and sees all, was showing the man respect, although I am not sure he deserved it, by calling out where are you. You are NOT going to hide yourself or your sins from God. He will seek you out.

  • “He does not retain His anger forever,”

    Thank you, Lord, for that. Wouldn’t it be nice if people acted like God? As I write I am considering, with frailty, how long then does God hold on to anger? The answer is simple, He doesn’t. The cross was more than an interesting dot on the timeline of God’s redemption plan, as it, among other things, signifies His forgiveness of ALL sin. So when I come to God with my sin, as though there is a release from hell’s grip by confessing what was done. He responds with, I don’t know what you are talking about. I left that all on the cross.

    But there is yet a better answer and it comes from the passage itself.

  • “Because He delights in unchanging love.”

    It brings the Father more joy to show you His unchanging love.

    Let those words sink in.

Posted in Antichrist, bible study, deserted, End times, false prophet, false teaching, God's character, Hades, Hearing God, hell, judgment, Millennium, Prophetic, rapture, Revelation, Rule the nations, the nations, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, thrones | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

His name is called The Word of God. Revelation 19:12-21.

Posted on 04/16/2022 by remso

“I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named …”

Where else have we seen a white horse?

And I saw: and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon it having a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and that he might conquer. (Revelation 6:2 Darby)

This rider on a white horse, which we see in Revelation 6, is the antichrist.

How do I know this?

  • Primarily, I follow the context of Revelation 6. Everything we see in chapter six is the result of the first of seven seals being opened; this is important because the seals, the trumpets, and the bowl judgments are God’s wrath being poured out on this earth. So this rider on the white horse is an aspect of God’s wrath and helps to explain why he has a bow in his hand with no arrows. The key takeaway from this is that this man brings deception and death.

  • Secondly, it is The Lamb, the Messiah, the Son of God, the firstborn from the dead opening the seals, so He is certainly not going to be the rider of chapter six. When John was looking into heaven he saw the scrolls and heard a strong angel crying out, who is worthy to open the seals? The answer came quickly.

    And I saw a powerful angel, who called in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But there was no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth who could open the scroll or look inside it. I cried and cried because there was no one who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. But one of the elders said to me, “Don’t cry! The Lion from the tribe of Judah has won the victory. He is David’s descendant. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Then I saw a Lamb standing in the center near the throne with the four living beings around it. The elders were also around the Lamb. The Lamb looked as if it had been killed. It had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that were sent into all the world. (Revelation 5:2-6 ERV)

  • And finally, I will end this testimony on this note. The rider on the white horse, that we see in Revelation 6, has many names. Here are a few.

      • The insolent king.

      • A king of fierce countenance.

      • The one who sets forth the covenant of peace and breaks it.

      • The little horn.

      • The mouth uttering great things.

      • The Assyrian.

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems, and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”” (Revelation 19:11-16 NASB)

To give you a contrast to the rider we see in Revelation 6, here are a few of the attributes of Jesus, the rider on the white horse of Revelation 19. The differences are many and distinct.

    • In Rev 19:11 He is called Faithful and True.

    • Rev 19:12 “His eyes were like flames of fire.”

    • Rev 19:12, on his head, were many crowns.

    • Rev 19:13 “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood.”

    • Rev 19:13 “His name is called The Word of God.”

    • Rev 19:15 “From His mouth comes a sharp sword ,,,,”

    • Rev 19:16 “And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

This makes me chuckle because the believer will look at these attributes and see the blinding glory of the Father; it is so overwhelming when I think about it that I wonder why the antichrist is not merely consumed by that light. There is no doubt that day will come but not now.

If you need convincing about God’s mercy to save the nations, then look at this.

“On this mountain, he will destroy the veil which covers the face of all peoples, the veil enshrouding all the nations.” (Isaiah 25:7 CJB)

At the end of the tine of wrath, the veil will be lifted from all peoples, including the Jews. It is this veil that prevents them from seeing the truth. That sounds so hopeless but it’s not, for even today the veil is lifted when “they” read the Word of God and believe.

The great feast.

Few ever explain it, fewer still, explain it well – this great feast, the marriage supper of the Lamb.

The only place you will find the phrase, the marriage supper of the Lamb is here in Revelation 19.

Then he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'” And he *said to me, “These are true words of God.” (Revelation 19:9 NASB)

Almost everyone pictures a great festival associated with marriage, especially one in which the groom is the Son of God. But look at what Revelation 19 seems to describe as the menu.

Revelation 19:17-18 NASB (17) “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in mid heaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, (18) so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves and small and great.”

I, too, struggled with this marriage supper of the Lamb; not because I did not think it would happen, I of all people, wanted it to happen, but verse 18 certainly slaps me in the face. When the bible teacher would not and could not explain when or where this supper takes place, I turned verses 17 and 18 against him. Years later I found the answer.

The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. (Isaiah 25:6 NASB)

Wine, meats, and cheese, not the flesh of kings. To add to the importance, Jesus spoke of this time with the disciples the night before His crucifixion.

“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29 NASB)

The seven years are finished, the time in which the marriage supper of the Lamb has come. Everyone has been invited, and that includes the nations. All fighting has come to an end. Weapons will now be burned or made into garden implements. Jesus rules over the earth as a righteous judge, and Satan and the antichrist and the false prophet (you may recognize this person as Isa ben Maryiam,) will all three be thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 19:20 NASB “And the beast was seized, and with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.

Surprise, they are the only ones there at this point.

Someone will read this and say I only see two persons, so the Bible is not true. Oh, spare me. This lake of fire is eternal and the only one who will get back out will be Satan, for at the end of the thousand years he will be allowed to deceive the nations, once again.

“When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,” (Revelation 20:7 NASB)

You cannot be released from prison unless you had just served time there. Once the deception is done, guess where he returns to? Yes, back to his eternal torment.

“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)

That idea of only three persons being in hell is hard to receive for many religious folks because of false teachings. Some of those false teachings include the incorrect teaching that no Jews will enter the kingdom, nor will the nations. If you have bought into those beliefs my heart grieves for you, as you need to be freed by reading the Word of God. My suggestion for you is to read it as though you have never read it before and your life depended upon what it says.

Pardon the pun, but I have a burning question – this is a fairly common subject brought up in Bible studies.

Revelation 19:21 NASB “And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”

Who is Jesus fighting with?

“For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 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, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.” (Zechariah 14:2-4 NASB)

The nations have always been those outside of Judaism; this includes the Christian community to the Jew mindset. Believers, although we came out of the nations, are NOT the nations, we are the body of Christ, as is any believing Jew.

So those, called the nations, are non-believers. You might think the term non-believer automatically qualifies them to go straight to hell. Sorry, but NO. How quickly we forget that ALL SIN was forgiven on the cross. That should have been a game-changer, possibly to the point that all would gain entrance into heaven, but it had a stipulation, you must believe in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and the fact that He did all that for you.

Alright, let’s assume that in theory they are forgiven, but it still does not tell me where they go.

Where do all these dead folk go?

King Solomon tells us,

For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. (Ecclesiastes 9:5 NASB)

Well, it is quite obvious that it is NOT straight to hell. The soul, though still alive, lies in inactivity until God calls them back for judgment. The entirety of this statement can only be defined as God’s mercy and truly beyond my ability to explain the process, but I will try.

“The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. …” (Revelation 20:5 TLV)

You cannot simply say the “rest” of the dead unless there was a previous awakening of the dead, and there was – the martyred saints, which we see in Revelation 20:4. That verse goes to tell us that they reign as judges during the millennial kingdom. How appropriate, the “nations,” and that includes a wide variety of people, and dictators will now be subject to those they brutalized and murdered.

Who is this being called before the Great White Throne?

I must first remind you that ALL judgment was given over to the Son, so this is Jesus sitting here, but pay attention to what He is being called.

“Then I saw a great white throne, and the One seated on it. The earth and heaven fled from His presence, but no place was found for them.”
(Revelation 20:11 TLV)

Yes, this is that feared throne, where allegedly no one obtains mercy.

“And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne. The books were opened, and another book was opened—the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their deeds.”
(Revelation 20:12 TLV)

As I have talked about this with my friends, I have pointed out the futility of the judge bringing the book of Life, especially if the assumption is that no one obtains mercy. An action like this only makes the punishment crueler as you taunt those being flung toward hell. We don’t know how many books there are as there is only one that is important, the Book of Life. But verse 12 tells us that the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS.

“The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Sheol gave up the dead in them. Then they were each judged, each one of them, according to their deeds.”
(Revelation 20:13 TLV)

When the gathering of the church happens, the dead in Christ will rise first, and then those that remain will be caught up together with them. Notice that it says the dead. Now the assumption is that the dead in Christ are written in the book of Life. Ah, and yet in verse twelve above we see God continuing to scour the Book of Life to see if any of those now standing before Him can be shown mercy.

What is the distinction here?

This may seem pretentious, but obviously, I am still here, writing. I am a part of the body of Christ and it is the Apostle Paul’s words in the New Testament that have promoted that understanding. Paul put forth that the Law of God is written upon our hearts, and this is true for everyone, but does everyone follow that law. Speaking for myself, it is often a daily struggle. Having the law merely conveys the truth that we all have the same moral standard to live by.

I get it, you are an atheist and are willing to scream loudly to prove it, but your words do not change the truth. The law of God is that moral standard that allows God to be the righteous judge, and everyone will be judged upon the same value system; but, not for sin, as that was destroyed on the cross.

“Then death and Sheol were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire”
(Revelation 20:14 TLV)

It seems as if this should have been the last statement made as punishment has fear and torment attached to it, and with the last person thrown into the lake of fire, having chosen to ignore the inset moral standard and follow after Satan, there is no longer any need of death and Sheol. Where they go I do not know, nor do I care as we, in the loving arms of the Father, never have to concern ourselves with any aspect of that again.

“And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
(Revelation 20:15 TLV)

The end. Are you kidding me, I know less about what happens next than I do about the millennial kingdom. One preacher said we will all have jobs there. Great, more corporate leadership, Gestapo-like managers, and deadly pollution. Get real, that is NOT happening. Those who are a part of the body of Christ might just be hanging around with Jesus all the time. Honestly, I don’t know. I just know that finally, my head will have peace and I will know love as I have never known it.
God is Love and heaven is beyond our wildest imaginations – and I have seen the movie Avatar, so I get to be dazzled.

Posted in Abyss, Antichrist, bible study, blood of the Lamb, crowns, End times, false teaching, God's character, hell, In Christ, Jews, judgment, Millennium, Prophetic, rapture, Revelation, Rule the nations, Sin, the nations, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, thrones, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Marriage supper of the Lamb – continued. Revelation 19:10-11.

Posted on 04/11/2022 by remso

We are back to Revelation 19, praise God.

When we were there last, we finished with Revelation 19:9

Then he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'” And he *said to me, “These are true words of God.” (Revelation 19:9 NASB)

The man that ran the Monday morning men’s Bible study would frequently talk about his excitement over the marriage supper of the Lamb, but he could and would not define what and where this marriage supper takes place. We religious folk are so embedded in conjecture and tradition, but not truth. So I decided to rock the man’s boat one morning, by reminding him that Revelation 19:9 is the only place you will find this phrase “marriage supper of the Lamb” and is therefore not supported by scripture. The passages that follow actually describe a rather horrifying scene.

“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in mid-heaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves and small and great.” (Revelation 19:17-18 NASB)

I read this and said, enjoy your meal.

Since that time I have found a passage that supports this idea of a marriage supper with the Lamb. It is rather exciting.

“The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine.”
(Isaiah 25:6 NASB)

To read Isaiah 25:6, just as it is, is not very revealing because it is missing the context. Here is a larger portion that reveals when then this takes place.

“For You have been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rainstorm against a wall. Like heat in drought, You subdue the uproar of aliens; Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced. The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. And on this mountain, He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. 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. And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
(Isaiah 25:4-9 NASB)

Wow! This is the day we long for. The nuggets in this passage are spread across the New Testament and the Revelation, and this is why these people in Revelation 19 are rejoicing. If you look at this one point at a time, you will see the events of Revelation 19.

  • You subdue the uproar of aliens; Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced.

Answer me this;

In what ways will He subdue, or as Isaiah 13 tells us, punish the world for their iniquity?

“Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.”
(Isaiah 13:11 NASB)

Revelation 20 speaks to this very thing but it is stated in relation to the end of the thousand years.

Revelation 19, where we find Jesus coming back as the warring Messiah, is specifically about the time at the end of the time of wrath and the beginning of the millennial reign.

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems, and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.”
(Revelation 19:11-15 NASB)

  • “on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.”

“But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”
(2 Corinthians 3:14-16 NASB)

From the moment Jesus touches down on the Mount of Olives, the veil will be lifted; but not just off the Jews, the nations too will have the veil lifted. If they have not sought out Jesus during the seven years of wrath, perhaps they will now.

  • “ He will swallow up death for all time.”

1 Corinthians 15 almost requires you to understand that our spirits live on forever, and this changes our comprehension of what death is. Some will live eternally in the presence of the Father, while others will follow their leader to a perpetual burning hell.

“And when this perishable puts on the imperishable and this that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the Scripture that says, Death is swallowed up (utterly vanquished forever) in and unto victory.”
(1 Corinthians 15:54 AMPC)

2 Corinthians explains that we will be clothed with a heavenly body.

“For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 5:3-5 NLT)

  • “the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces,”

“Those who have been ransomed by the LORD will return. They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness.”
(Isaiah 51:11 NLT)

Moving on.

(Revelation 19:10 NLT) “Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers and sisters who testify about their faith in Jesus. Worship only God. For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.”

While I am not sure how important it is, this one who spoke to John is of the body of Christ. Remember that we, the church are appareled in a particular manner and that we are given a crown; just as the 24 elders apparently were.

Revelation 2:10 tells us that we are given the crown of life. And 1 Peter 5:4 states,

“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” (NASB)

The elders are described in this manner.

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones, I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.
(Revelation 4:4 NASB)

I mentioned the crown but I did not mention the white garments.

‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
(Revelation 3:4 NASB)

If you are anything like me, then you have had a discussion in your head that goes a bit like this, I soiled my garments. There is a solution for that and we find it in Jesus. By the way, there is nothing you can do to resolve this on your own, except of course to turn away from your sins and run to Jesus. Jesus did all this work on the cross because we could not.

“so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”
(Ephesians 5:26-27 NASB)

We are cleansed because we are washed by His Word. He did this so that He could present to Himself the church, with No spots, No wrinkles, and that we would be holy and blameless. I am stunned by this statement.

One of the things people struggle with is the gifts of the Spirit, prophecy in particular. If you could give an honest assessment of why some run around the country verbalizing words they feel is prophetic, you would find it is because they want the power that seems to be associated with that gift.

Revelation 19:10 tells us where the heart of prophecy is found.

“… the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (NASB)

According to Webster’s dictionary, testimony is defined as,

“A solemn declaration or affirmation made for the purpose of establishing or proving some fact. Such affirmation in judicial proceedings,may be verbal or written, but must be under oath. Testimony differs from evidence; testimony is the declaration of a witness, and evidence is the effect of that declaration on the mind, or the degree of light which it affords.”

So, our speaking about Jesus, giving testimony to what He has done in our lives, is a prophecy in its simplest form. Don’t make a big deal out of prophecy, merely live it.

Here comes the best part, Jesus.

Revelation 19:11 NASB “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.”

My father asked me, why don’t you use the KJV?

Dr. Chuck Missler used to say, every translation has its issues, it’s just that the KJV’s are well documented. So we just have to be diligent and perceptive enough to allow the Holy Spirit to direct us to one that most closely conveys the heart of the Father. And do not be afraid to use passages from newer versions, such as the NLT or the NET bible, as they may say it better.

Let me show you a major problem that shows its ugly head here in the King James Version of 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 KJV  “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”

What is the “that day” in this passage referring to?

Christ’s return for His church and the revealing of the antichrist. But the way they stated the situation, the horrendous falling away of the church AND the revealing of the antichrist must come first before Jesus can take the church back home to Himself. If you are not aware that a falling away has taken place then you have been living under a rock.

Why is the KJV a problem?

Because the state church – the Catholic church, saw that people were leaving and going to the more recent Protestant church. Having influence, and a king who was deeply invested in the Catholic church, they pressured the king for a rewrite that would convey their disdain for those leaving the state church, and thus we got the KJV.

Well, what did 2 Thessalonians 2:3 read like originally?

One of the first bibles available was the Geneva translation 1587, and it read like this.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Geneva (3) “Let no man deceiue you by any meanes: for that day shall not come, except there come a departing first, and that that man of sinne be disclosed, euen the sonne of perdition,”

Here, in the Geneva translation, the phrase reads “for that day shall not come, unless there come a departing first.

The Word Study Dictionary conveys this about the word apostasia. The primary word to define apostasia is to depart. A Departure. Does apostasia also cover the word apostasy? Certainly, it does, but it is NOT the primary definition.

Even if the Geneva bible has peculiar spellings, like the KJV, the fact that the KJV did not come on the scene until 1769, almost two hundred years later, should say something to you about our ability to perceive it as being more valid. When someone like the YouTube evangelist Robert Breaker, makes a statement such as “it is the authorized version,” he is ignoring the fact that the KJV was only authorized after pressure from the state-run church – the Catholic church, to manipulate the masses.

Let me add one more thing.

If you choose to hold tightly to the KJV because it was “authorized,” then what do you do with this piece of information, only a few verses later, that conflicts with verse 3, and emphasizes that “he”, the church, must be taken out of the way before the antichrist can come.?

2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 KJV  “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.  (8)  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:”

  • “he who now lets”

This is the church. Many feel this is the Holy Spirit; I know this because I have heard it repeatedly. It is NOT the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit continues to move upon the face of the earth just as He moved upon the face of the waters in Genesis.

As I wrote these words I got a mental picture of the 120+ disciples, waiting in the upper room and receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit. (Look at these verses in Acts 1:14-15 and you will see that the group had grown.)

The Holy Spirit – the comforter, did not force Himself upon them, and they, like everybody else, had to receive Him.

One more argument that needs to be put aside.

When you received Jesus you received the Holy Spirit.

Ah, but are you aware of that?

Ephesians 1:13 MKJV  in whom also you, hearing the Word of Truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

That promise is the assurance of our salvation – which happens with the rapture of the church and is placed within our hearts.

2 Corinthians 1:22 MKJV  And He has sealed us and having given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Are you aware that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are ONE?

Colossians 2:8-10 MKJV  Beware lest anyone rob you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.  (9)  For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  (10)  And you are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power,

So, did you choose to receive Jesus; then you received the Holy Spirit. They are the same in that they all convey the character and nature of the Father, and yet, each is different in appearance.

John 14:16-17 MKJV  “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, so that He may be with you forever,  (17)  the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him nor know Him. But you know Him, for He dwells with you and shall be in you.”

Most people fear the flamboyant shows of display put on by individuals and therefore fear that the Holy Spirit will do that to them. Calm down.

Let me ask you a question. Do you drink too much, take off your clothes, and dance on tables with a lampshade on your head?

If your answer is no, then you are not one of those people who have the inward desire to do something outlandish and are just looking for an excuse to act out.

I need you to know that the Holy Spirit, is a gentleman, will NOT make you do anything. People who do such things are waiting for something that will allow their inhibitions to drop and, therefore, revel in the momentary freedom that promotes displaying themselves in bizarre manners.

To be honest, I so wish I could dance. I have danced freely, with my arms lifted in praise to God, twice in my life. The only thing that gave me this freedom was the fact that no one was watching. It felt glorious and liberating, as I danced before the Lord.

So, when the church is removed the Holy Spirit is not removed. The fact that people will continue to be drawn to the Lord is evidence that the Holy Spirit is still here, drawing them to the Father.

  • “will be taken out of the way.”

We already saw this in the word apostasia – departure.

Where are we going?

Jesus, will come in the clouds and with the blast of shofars call us back to Himself. We are His, and a part of His body, did you NOT know this?

The Rider on a White Horse

The former President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, believed that there was only one true passage in the Bible and Revelation 19:11 is the one. He believed this because he was confident that it spoke of himself. Unfortunately, he was hanged by the Iraqis for his war crimes, which were many, and that dream did not come to pass. The passage is declaring Jesus Christ as the warring Messiah, the one who is Faithful.

Revelation 19:11 MKJV  And I saw Heaven opened. And behold a white horse! And He sitting on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness, He judges and makes war.

He keeps His word and is, therefore, faithful

Psalms 89:35-37 MKJV  Once I have sworn by My holiness that I will not lie to David.  (36)  His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me.  (37)  It shall be established forever like the moon, and like a faithful witness in the heavens. Selah.

When I use scriptures as a faithful witness I typically use at least two passages. I like to use one from both sides of the cross; you know, the Old Testament where they originated and the New Testament where Jesus fulfilled the law – that is the same law that happens to be written on your heart, whether you like it or not.

“And in righteousness He judges and makes war.”

Righteousness implies all we call justice, honesty, and virtue, with holy affections. This is who God is. So God judges based upon His moral standard, and, He also makes war based upon this same moral standard.

Posted in 2 Thessalonians, Abyss, Antichrist, bible study, Catholic Church, departure, End times, false teaching, Geneva Bible, gentiles, hell, Israel, Jesus, judgment, marked, Millennium, Our being caught up, Prophetic, Protestantism, rapture, Revelation, Rule the nations, sealed, the nations, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, unrighteousness, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This will be the last look at and critique of Pete Garcia’s post, How it all ends.

Posted on 04/05/2022 by remso

Post three of three.

The original merely had eight bulleted points with no explanations. Here, I continue as I look at point number five.

  1. (The) “Sheep and Goat” judgment (Matt 25:31-46).

    If you had asked me about the sheep and goat judgment, this is where I would have initially directed you. It is, the same scenario as the great white throne judgment of Revelation twenty, verses 11-15, however, Matthew shows us, Jesus, while Revelation 20 seems to show the judge as God. Keep this in mind as you read the Revelation, it is a Revelation of Jesus Christ. There are very precise reasons I feel comfortable saying that are the same, and we may touch on some of them here.

    In Matthew 25 we see this.

    “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)

    It is the Son of Man sitting on His glorious throne. You should know at this point in time, that all judgment has been placed into Jesus’ hands.

    “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;” (Matthew 25:32 NASB)

    Here in Matthew, all nations are gathered before Him.

    Can you make an assessment as to whether those gathered are alive or dead?

    We are not given that information.

    Can you define dead, in God’s eyes?

    Death is only a separation from God.

    Notice that it is Jesus that creates the groups and places the people in their appropriate group

    “and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
    (Matthew 25:33-34 NASB)

    The King, that’s Jesus, makes the announcement to the group on the right – the sheep, Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Before the foundation of the world, doesn’t that imply that their names were written in that book this entire time?

If that is the case why wouldn’t they have been called up in snatching away of the church?

I don’t know the answer to that, but this is speaking to me of the religious judgments that I have been inappropriately taught to make.

Perhaps those being shown God’s mercy, are having the same questions because Jesus seems to respond with an explanation.

‘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;” (Matthew 25:35 NASB)

Wow, giving someone something to eat or drink doesn’t really seem like much. But in God’s eyes it is acting in the nature and character of the Son. His nature and character is LOVE, in case you did not know. This exchange of questions and answers goes on for four more verses.

“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
(Matthew 25:40 NASB)

“…To the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”

Have you ever given that any thought? He, Jesus, is projecting, and appropriately so, His persona upon these.

If we could end it here that would be enough for me, but NO, He has to go on.

“Then He will also say to those on His left (the goats,) ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;”
(Matthew 25:41 NASB)

Verse 40 applies to these people as well, only in the opposite. “To the extent that you did (NOT do) it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did (NOT do) it to Me.”

  1. Millennial Reign of Christ on earth (Isa 2:2-4, 9:6-7, 11:1-10, 65:22-25, Rev 20:1-10) righteous (outside of the Church) resurrected, unrighteous of all time not resurrected until the end.

    First, the millennial is the 1000 year reign of Christ over the earth. It is also the time when Satan gets thrown into the Lake of Fire for a thousand years, where he cannot bother any of us in the outside world. Wow, if that is the case, then how do you explain what we see in Revelation 21 where it is talking about the New Jerusalem.

    “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)

    It would seem that God has allowed for free will, and based on their actions, I would say they have chosen not to follow after Jesus.

    “Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 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 2:2-4 NASB)

    Interesting how many usages the phrase “last days” refers to. It can imply Jesus’ return for His church, the seven-years of God’s wrath, known to many as the great tribulation, and the millennial reign of Jesus. Here, in Isaiah, it is speaking of the thousand-year period.

    The mountain of the house of the Lord will be established. There are scriptures that speak of Satan being tossed from heaven, stripped of power, and all power being given to the Son. With statements like this, you would think that we, the followers of Christ, would walk about in power and victory; but we don’t, do we. The millennial reign is when this actually happens.

    “That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” Sadly, you have had this opportunity to learn His ways and walk in His paths all along.

    During the 1000 years, He (we assume that this is God, but no, all judgment has been given to the Son, Jesus,) will judge between the nations, and (He,) will render decisions for many people.

    And, as a result of this judgment, they (the nations,) will hammer their swords will be turned into plow-blades, and their spears into vine-knives.

    The BBE Bible puts the end in this manner.

    “No longer will the nations be turning their swords against one another, and the knowledge of war will be gone for ever.”

    Finally, peace.

    Can you imagine how many people live in a constant state of fear?

    What a relief a life like this would be.

    It is a wonderful thought, and it will end with a final judgment.

  2. Great White Throne Judgment (Rev 20:11-15)

    This is the same judgment that you saw when we talked about the sheep and goat judgment. Yes, there seem to be differences, such as here in Revelation 20 it talks how He (we assume it’s God here,) calls the nations before Him. While in Matthew’s account, He (in this case it is the shepherd – which we understand to be Jesus,) calls the dead before Him.

    Since our spirits live on forever, is anybody truly dead?

    Death is nothing less than your permanent separation from God, and hence, that is why there is a hell.

    “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. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15 NASB)

  3. The eternal order (Rev 21-22:5)

    I have no idea what Mr. Garcia is talking about and I will tell you that I have never heard this preached in church. Let’s see what the passages say and see if we can make any sense out of it.

    “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)

    “A new heaven and a new earth.” I was recently told by someone that they wanted to talk about these very chapters. I have read them on several occasions, and I thought they made sense. Immediately one of the questions I was asked popped into my mind, and it had to do with the earth burning up. In trying to find an answer for this person, I did an extensive search. This is about all I could find.

    2 Peter 3:4-7 NASB “and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” (5) For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, (6) through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. (7) 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.”

    I, and a few others, will tell you, that the Revelation is a Jewish book immersed in the Old Testament, and prophecy to the Jew is based in repetition. I find nothing in scripture that shows me the earth being consumed by fire, except for 2 Peter 3. Should I then reject any allusions to the old earth burning up and being replaced? I don’t think so, if for no other reason than to purge the earth of it’s pollution; and I can see pollution on two levels – Satan’s and that made by humans.

    If Mr. Garcia is trying to make a point, perhaps the point lies in the chronological order of things. Albert Barnes, who published his commentaries around 1847, tells us that John assigned no time frame to what these two chapters convey. So I am not sure a chronological order is going to work.

    If, like the Apostle, Peter tells us, that it is all reserved for fire, then how does God manage to show mercy to those living throughout the millennial years?

    My question is anchored in the scriptural understanding that non-believers enter the millennial reign; and since these people will continue to live with a freedom of choice, among their own people, outside of the New Jerusalem, then births will continue and each individual will have to be shown God’s mercy, hopefully leading them to Jesus Christ. You cannot merely burn them up and we see an ample opportunity for them.

    In Revelation 21:2 we see the Holy City, 1500 miles square, coming down. For this to land on a level pad, there has to have been a tremendous shaking, and we see that as we read the scriptures. I have always pictured Holy City being in place throughout the millennial reign. A piece of evidence for this comes from this statement, which Mr. Garcia did not point you to.

    “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.” (Revelation 22:14-15 NASB)

    If we do not see the Holy City until after the sheep and goat judgment, where the goats are thrown into the lake of fire (to be burned eternally,) then how is it that there people like this walking around outside the city of God?

    Another question arises. How could a just God allow these people to enter the millennial kingdom and continue with such horrid desires? Perhaps the answer lies in His mercy.

    We have one more clue in that Satan will be released after the 1000 years and he deceives the nations; they, in turn, driven by his passion to kill God and take His power, attack the Holy City. God stops that nonsense by, you got it, burning them up. Satan is then cast permanently into the Lake of Fire, while all these new deaths get to join the others at the great white throne judgment. This is the same judgment as what we see in Matthew 25 where the “goats” are cast into the fire. In either case, among those books used to judge is the Book of Life. The mere thought that God is scouring the books to see if there is a shadow of a reason to give those before Him life, should keep you awake at night.

    So, if the Holy City was sitting on earth when God burns the heavens and the earth, would it also be consumed in the fire?

    I suspect that God can do anything and maintain what is His. Revelation 21:4 tells us that there will no more death, sorrow, nor crying, for the former things have passed away.

    Ah, but when does that happen?

    Does it happen, for the church, at the catching away – the rapture?

    Beyond the rapture the martyred saints, murdered during the time of wrath, should no longer have to deal with death, sorrow, or crying, and yet we see them crying out, how long Lord until the rest can come home, almost as though they are still aware of grief. So I am not sure this thought process works to define the order of heaven.

    Perhaps this has more to do with the beginning of the millennial reign because it seems that immediately after Jesus shows up peace will take over. I have struggled to comprehend this peace all my life, as I have had to deal with bullies, just as many of you.

Look, the “Order of Heaven” is irrelevant as God will do what He intends, and His intent is to give us back the world and the relationship Adam had with the Father before the fall. No more Satan, therefore, no more prodding to sin. For the believers, we will be immortals, impervious to pain, death, and aging. And one other thing that I long to understand, is the companionship of such a powerful God.

Posted in bible study, death, End times, God's character, Hell, Israel, Jews, judgment, judgment, Millennium, Our being caught up, Prophetic, rapture, rapture, restore, Revelation, Rule the nations, the nations, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, thrones, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Once again, these are questions and/or statements that I have heard over the years, but this particular string of questions came under the guise of “I would like to talk about Revelation 21 and 22.”

Posted on 03/31/2022 by remso

Your questions and challenges.

I sit with several groups of men, and issues like this come up every once in a while. The problem is, attempts at answering a clear portion of the question, always seem to bring up some other train of thought, interrupting my own, and taking us down some unrelated rabbit trail. In responding like this, I can avoid those non-productive rabbit trails.

My initial response went like this. I never try to do battle without sharpening my sword. That being said, you write down your questions and such and send them to me.

This is what I received.

1. The time of the new heaven&earth when God sets up his kingdom. I always believed this was after the removal of all sinful people. but these chapters talk about being worthy and what is inside and outside the city. outside is murderers and the like.

2. “About the earth it says the valley’s will fill and the mountain brought low with no more see. In Luke the earth that was perished in the flood. A new earth grew from the destruction of the old. Why has my mind always imagined the universe being erased like a chalkboard when I read new heaven and earth. I could argue that it will be reborn after some form of purification and that in fact that sun 🌞 will be done away forever. But it’s looking like man,good and evil, remain even after the new Jerusalem.”

My response to Question #1.

You are not alone in your, hopefully previous, belief. The Monday morning “Bible teacher” used to hammer this false teaching, among others, into the brains of the men that showed up. I think he is still adhering to his twisted beliefs. By this man’s standard, no one but believers enter the millennial kingdom. He takes his opinion one racist step further and inappropriately excludes the Jews.

Sorry if this bursts your bubble, but as you have apparently figured out, surviving Jews and those from among nations who have endured will go into the millennial kingdom. By Jewish definition, the nations are any who are NOT Jews. Not only that, but those among the nations that have children during this time, have the freedom to NOT worship God and, therefore, within reason, act any way they chose. The huge difference between now and then, is that we, the believers, will be immortal/eternal and, therefore, cannot be harmed, but those among the nations can be. Violence will NOT be tolerated and will be suppressed faster than they can blink. There will be peace.

Isaiah 4:3 NASB “It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy–everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem”

Another strong reproach to those who choose to NOT believe.

Isaiah 10:20 NASB “Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel”

It is clear to me that the Jews will be the evangelists if you must call them something, and they, among others, will bring healing and the change that allows them entrance into the new Jerusalem, that comes through the leaves on the trees of life.

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed, and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it, 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 21:24-27 NASB)

Zechariah speaks of the nations that came against Jerusalem coming to the new Jerusalem.

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. (Zechariah 14:16 NASB)

Ask yourself, how would these, from among the nations, understand all that is to take place at the Feast of Sukkāh, or booths, as we gentiles say?

Someone would have to teach them. Who better than Jews that have knowledge of the law?

Ezekiel 44:10-11 NASB “But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me after their idols, shall bear the punishment for their iniquity. (11) “Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house and ministering in the house; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

So, by these passages, we know that the nations and the Jews will be there; among them or part of them will be, those who are unclean, those who practice abominations, and liars. I hesitate to include verse eight, as this could just as easily apply to the previously dead, before the millennial kingdom. But think about it, sin has no qualifiers, and, therefore, this crowd could include those described in verse eight.

Before I move on and continue this discussion about the earth being burned with fire, think for a moment with me. For a human, this fire that will purge the filth of earth should purge it from humanity as well. Since God is merciful beyond our understanding, then I can’t see that happening until after the great white throne.

If you are asking, why at this point in time, just think about it; after this judgment, all sin is purged from, not just the earth, but from all creation, including the universe. Heaven and earth will be as they were meant to be; and though I cannot imagine what that will be like, it will be serenity.

The second of your questions is a puzzlement for me as well – but why?

If the earth is burned with fire during seven-years of God’s wrath, then how is it possible that there would be any survivors, including the 144,000 Jewish men that we see set apart in Revelation 7:4? Note, these 144,000 cannot be harmed by the judgments of God, and that should include any burning of the earth.

Why burn everything?

Maybe because the earth is polluted. Many plastics will take 10,000 years to break down, but vaporizing those same plastics, which are everywhere, and it should not take long at all.

Obviously, getting rid of pollutants is a plus, but what about the pollution that humanity brings along with it, like toxic waste materials?

It does not seem logical to attack humanity, especially if Jesus took all sin on Himself at the cross and paid for any debts owed by us. So Purging humanity is obviously not the goal, but purging unrepentant humanity might be.

What in the Revelation gets purged by fire or burned?

One of our more prominent examples comes from Revelation 19.

And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. (Revelation 19:19-20 NASB)

Who then, at this point, is thrown into the lake of fire?

Satan, the beast, and the false prophet. No one else gets thrown into the lake of fire. Again, this is NOT what many teach. Ah, but note, the rest that came to battle with Jesus were killed with the sword. An interesting, but incorrect assumption we religious people make, is that Jesus kills everyone from the nations. Once again, let me remind you that this Bible of ours is a Jewish-centric book, and so the nations, for the Jew, include the Christian community.

While it is contestants from the nations, here doing battle, does everyone come, and, therefore, get killed by Jesus?

No. The verse above tells you who gets killed in this battle with Jesus – the beast; the kings of the earth; their armies, and those assembled to make war against Jesus. Now, while mama and the children may hate Jesus, the Jews, and the people of the Book (the Bible,) they are NOT killed unless they decided to join in the fight.

So let’s get back to this idea of everything on earth burning.

Maybe this is where everyone gets toasted because there is an angel in charge of fire.

Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” (Revelation 14:18 NASB)

But what does he do?

He calls out another, who has a sickle, and that angel begins to carry out a puzzling order. The angel is told to, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.“

I would assume that we are the grapes and that we are ripe, sort of like the bride, ready for the groom. But that is not the context and in verses 19-20 we see that these crushed grapes are representative of the blood that flows through the Megiddo Valley, deep as their bridles, for 200 miles. Clearly, we are being shown the wrath of God, but He did it without fire.

So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles. (Revelation 14:19-20 NASB)

How did we transition from fire to a sickle?

It is the angel who has power over fire that is calling forth him who has a sharp sickle, and he is the one who is gathering the clusters.

So, where does the fire come into play?

The next time we see fire is in Revelation 16, and it is scorching humanity.

The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. (Revelation 16:8 NASB)

Throughout the Bible, you see statements, such as all were there. If I used Daniel as an example of this, I would show how ALL were commanded to bow, and yet Daniel was not bowing because he was NOT there.

Merely because Revelation 16:8 tells us that it was given to scorch men, it does not mean all, because, here again, NO ONE would survive.

Does everyone that goes to the beach get severely sunburned?

If not, why not? Because many make efforts to hide from the Sun and its’ effects.

Also under the bowl judgments.

The first angel pours out his bowl and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. Students of the Bible should immediately understand that this is the most logical place in the timeline of events and, therefore, the second half of the seven-years of God’s wrath.

In Revelation 16:3 we see the second angel pouring out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.

The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters, and they became blood.

And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.”
(Revelation 16:5-6 NASB)

“For they have poured out the blood of saints and prophets,” who did this?

Well, if you know your Bible, then you also know that this is speaking of the scribes and Pharisees in Israel, and, it is also pointing at the global elite of the world.

Let’s get back to the fire/scorching of humans.

Men were scorched with fierce heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.
(Revelation 16:9 NASB)

Some people might think of scorched in terms of a sunburn. The Greek word kaumatizo translated as scorched also means to burn. If I were cooking, this piece of meat would most likely be trash at this point.

“Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.” (Isaiah 24:6 NASB)

A couple of keywords in Isaiah 24.

  • “and those who live in it are held guilty.”

    Forgiven of sin, what are we being held guilty of?

    Refusal to believe and follow Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

  • “Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left”

    The Hebrew word for burn is chârar, and though it means hot and scorched, it also means to be dry and angry.

Notice something from Revelation 16:9.

Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory. (Revelation 16:9 NASB)

Scorched with a fierce heat, they blasphemed the name of God and did not repent. Obviously, the scorching was NOT to death for all, but it was meant to drive them to repentance.

In Isaiah forty-two the context is Israel.

So He poured out on him the heat of His anger And the fierceness of battle; And it set him aflame all around, Yet he did not recognize it; And it burned him, but he paid no attention. (Isaiah 42:25 NASB)

Have no doubts, God does bring His fire upon the unrepentant, and we saw that in the story of Lot. Elijah is another.

Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. (2 Kings 1:10 NASB)

And, God, during the beginning of the seven-years of wrath, will set His two witnesses in the streets of Jerusalem, who spew fire out their mouths, among other things.

Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. (2 Kings 1:10 NASB)

I appreciated the questions as I have been motivated to look at things like fire, as part of the end times scenario, more thoroughly, and I must say, do not see the earth awash in fire, as yet. Fire is undeniable and is primarily associated with the Lake of Fire. From a scientific point of view, if the Sun was acting up, as it appears to be, then why couldn’t it supernova and destroy everything nearby; that might be where this is going, however, the final purging of pollution from the earth seems more effective between the great white throne and an eternity completely purged of sin.

Posted in bible study, Deception, End times, false teaching, Israel, judgment, Revelation, Things I have never noticed before, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, two witnesses, unrighteousness, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Some things need definition. A critique of a short post from Pete Garcia.

Posted on 03/23/2022 by remso

This essay was, in a sense, a critique of a short post from Pete Garcia. You can view his page, education, and background on the Telegram app as REV310.

Part one of at least three.

I am doing this because the numbered points are things that you might hear in church but rarely understand; that, and I happen to think that some things need definition, especially when it comes to the Revelation. And yes, I tend to get carried away with my writing and, therefore, have to cut my essay into segments.

I have noticed that Mr. Garcia has become a sought-after speaker in a brief time when it comes to Eschatology (The study of end-time events related to scripture.) Like Dr. Chuck Missler, he has an extensive military background, but I don’t buy everything he says. 

Having said all that, when I saw his eight quick points on how the end will come I immediately wanted to see what he had to say and to find out if what he was trying to convey was valid; the way I do that is to look at the passages he uses to define his points and see if they explain his point. 

For example, Number 1 is the Church age. I will tell you that most people, even the old-timers, which I have now become, cannot define what the church age is. Can I relate this age to say, the stone age, seeing as somehow, at least the stone age can be defined? Perhaps an answer to this is to simply start from the day the church, that believes in Jesus, began on the day of Pentecost when over 3000 people came to accept Jesus as their savior/Messiah. This event occurred over two thousand years ago and will continue until the church is snatched away from the turmoil that is coming.

The title of this post is: How the Bible states the end will come. The numbered points “1)” etc, is Pete’s.

  1. ) Church age (or our present-day) Philippians 1:10, Romans 11:25, Revelation chapters 2-3.

    We are starting with Revelation 2-3. While these passages are descriptions of the church, they, for the most part, were written to existing churches, most of whom were in the Asia Minor region. All of these continue to represent the church age as it progressed through the centuries. Today, we are a living representation of the Laodicean church; we have turned our backs on God.

              Philippians 1:9-10 NASB (9) And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, (10) so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;

    While Philippians does not speak to a particular church associated with Revelation 2-3, the church of Philippi was one of the many churches started by Paul. It was also in Asia Minor, along with the seven churches. Again, these words speak to us as well. Note how Paul prayed that their love would abound, that they would operate in knowledge and discernment, and be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.

    Although we loudly proclaim that Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles, his evangelism toward the Gentiles, for at least 15 years, was only a consequence of his messages to the Jewish communities he tried to enlighten. An understanding of who Paul was talking to should cause us to understand what he is saying when he proclaims, “in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.” Most of these “converts” had a Jewish background, and one might assume that the day of Christ could have everything to do with Jesus coming back as the warring Messiah. 

If that had been the case, the terminology would have been stated “as the day of the Lord,” but it was not, so our understanding leans toward Jesus coming back to retrieve His church.

And finally, let’s try to consider why Mr. Garcia included Romans 11:25. 

Romans 11:25 NASB For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery–so that you will not be wise in your own estimation–that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;

This verse has everything to do with a hardening of the heart that causes them NOT to believe. Current day Jewish teachers in Israel forbid the reading of scriptures like Isaiah 53 and the prophecies of Daniel. Passages like these should be life-changing, but perhaps not because there is a hardening of the heart that prevents understanding. 

Note how Paul uses the word mystery. Most religious folk will tell you that the Bible is a mystery and that NO ONE can understand it or know. There is a problem if you try to use the word mystery as a weapon in your goal to keep the masses illiterate and uneducated. 

The word mystery is the Greek word mustērion  and means something previously hidden but now fully revealed. 

Eugene Peterson’s Message says it best.

“‘Go on about your business, Daniel,’ he said. ‘The message is confidential and under lock and key until the end until things are about to be wrapped up.
(Daniel 12:9 MSG)

This may not shock you, but God is about to wrap this church thing up. With that being said, I do not see how reading about the seven churches can convince some that we are living in that age, especially since this age has lasted for over two thousand years. But then, there is that idea that God has unlocked the understanding for those who choose to understand.

2. ) Rapture of the Church (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 4:13-18, 5:9; 1 Corinthians 15:51-56, Revelation 3:10

The first consideration is that there is NO direct reference to the phrase “the rapture of the church;” Yet, there are many examples of the church being caught up. The expression is derived from the Latin Vulgate, which uses the term rapio, which means to be snatched.

Revelation 12:5 speaks of the church, her child, being caught up unto God. In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, the Apostle Paul states that we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And finally, Philip in Acts 8:39 was caught up and moved a great distance to another place, Azotus – not that the site is essential. 

Here in Acts 8:39, the translators used the word snatched. Webster’s dictionary defines snatched as seized suddenly and violently.

Caught up or snatched is the Greek word harpazō, and it carries several implications such as: to seize, take away by force, snatch away, convey away suddenly, or transport hastily.

There are many willing to fight with you about this subject. Some believe that we, the church, are already in the time of tribulations. I think that if I could have a conversation with “believers” from Ukraine, they might agree. 

My point of view, and I believe my opinion stems from a competent comprehension of the scriptures and we will experience a catching away of the church prior to God’s wrath being poured out upon the world. 

John 14 does not use the term harpazo but bears the implication of our being gathered.

John 14:2-3 NASB “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. (3) “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

Why would He need to gather us, the church, back to Himself? 

Because there is wrath that is coming, that exceeds your imagination.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 NASB (10) and wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

Paul wrote this letter to the church in Thessalonica to address worries and concerns about some being left behind. I give you a portion of Pete Garcia’s reference.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NASB (16) For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (17) Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 speaks of the church not being destined for wrath. Most call the time of wrath – the Great Tribulation.

Well, how would you expect to be delivered from this wrath?

Only through death or the catching away of the church. By the way, Jesus told us that tribulations would be a way of life for His followers.

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

1 Corinthians 15 communicates how these perishable bodies cannot inherit the kingdom of God. 

1 Corinthians 15:50 NASB (50) Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

There is a solution for that, to go through a change in which we obtain imperishable bodies.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NASB (51) Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

So, when does that change occur, most likely when we are caught up or snatched into the clouds to be with Jesus. The last example the author uses is Revelation 3:10. 

Revelation 3:10 NASB ‘Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Though it does not speak expressly about catching away or snatching, the idea is there, and the presumption is that you would understand this by now.

Posted in bible study, End times, judgment, judgment, mystery, Prophetic, rapture, rescue, Revelation, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

For the marriage of the Lamb has come. Revelation 19:6-9.

Posted on 03/22/2022 by remso

Revelation 19 opens with the declaration that His judgments have come to pass; the logical assumption is that this is after the wrath of God has been poured out upon Israel for their rejection of God and upon nations – this should be thought of as the controlling bodies, for abuses committed against humanity. Apparently, evidence of this judgment is the smoke rising from “Babylon,” which is symbolical of Israel. The passages from Revelation 18 do not clearly explain, as I have stated in previous posts, why this is Israel, but it does emphasize Babylon’s burning and the speed with which it falls.

“And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.” (Revelation 18:2 NASB)

“And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” (Revelation 18:9-10 NASB)

Why talk about judgment?

Well, if you have spent your life in the church, as I have, then you have heard about forgiveness and how Jesus took all sin upon Himself at the cross. Only to have someone, just minutes later, remind you of your sinful past. Unfortunately, this is the typical pattern among religious people. I am not telling you this to keep you out of fellowship, you need that, but they have to be safe people willing to address when you are perpetuating some sin.

His judgments?

Honestly, I am not positive about how this judgment stuff is supposed to work, seeing as my years of immersion in the Bible have demonstrated Jesus to be a merciful God. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5 how we, the believers, are immediately present with the Lord upon our death. If a person was driving drunk and had given their life to Jesus at some point and crashed into a pole. We often assume little more than Jesus took them to heaven if they die. If they lived, we would tell them what a sinner they are and that they are going to hell because of their sins, which we are sure would be many. Do you see something wrong with the logic here? Me too, and I do not think it can be both ways. Either the price Christ paid on the cross is valid and authentic, or it is not, and we have been duped. What God did through His Son was very real and valid. But I have people in my life that I struggle with. I suppose God’s answer to that is I am NOT the judge, He is, and His judgment is faithful and righteous.

Here is how I understand it.

If you have given yourself to God through Christ, then you are considered a part of the body of God’s Son, Jesus. God, through Jesus, has taken all of the wrath that we deserved because of sin upon Himself, and that is why we, the church, are NOT subject to the wrath that is coming (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:9). Most of humanity has chosen to ignore the price Jesus paid to bring us back into the relationship and, therefore, fall under the category of those who have rejected Jesus. Because of your actions, you will be included with Israel in this retribution. If you merely warmed a church seat on sporadic Easter Sundays, this, in my opinion, does not qualify as a relationship with God, and you have simply fulfilled some legalistic motivation; and, therefore, might be included among the nations and have to suffer through the wrath that was meant for others.

The NASB and many other translations entitle this next section.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Over my many years in church, I have heard it said, multiple times, that we should find our gifting or calling. Paul covers these gifts of the Spirit extensively in 1 Corinthians 12, and you can read that information at another time. In my own life, and after much struggle to shed the legalism that comes through the church, I have learned that I have a gift of teaching, and hopefully, I make the Word of God understandable. I also have come to understand that my calling is to the body of Christ. I believe that because we, the church, have allowed ourselves to be misled by our own false teachers, and yes, the church is full of them.

Why tell you that?

Because while I can probably explain Biblical things to the degree that anybody with an open mind could understand what I am saying, one of the things I have heard repeatedly is preaching and conversation about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. If you search for the phrase, this passage below is the only place to find it.

Revelation 19:6-8 MKJV “And I heard as the sound of a great multitude, and as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of strong thunders, saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns! (7)  Let us be glad and rejoice and we will give glory to Him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself. (8)  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.”

Those there with Jesus during the seven years of God’s wrath may all be shouting Hallelujah!

Why?

Because the promised end has finally come. Again, we are about to see who brings that end and what it looks like. Those absorbed in protecting their masculinity may struggle with this, but we are the bride of Christ. When we accepted Jesus Christ, we accepted that His blood sacrifice was also poured over us, which caused us to be clothed in fine, white linen that was washed in His blood. This is also the description of the 24 elders, and they are deemed symbolic of the church.
(Read Revelation 4:4)

As for the crowns.

“Do not at all fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the Devil will cast some of you into prison, so that you may be tried. And you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10 MKJV)

I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no man may take your crown. (Revelation 3:11 EMTV)

Although I occasionally struggle with the once saved, always saved concept, I can see multiple references that help to convince me. The problem I have is with the “Christian” that lives like Christ has little or no place in their life. Paul told us we can know the tree by its fruit; well, to be truthful, some people’s fruit is inedible.

“… for the tree is known by its fruit.” (Matthew 12:33b NASB)

So, either God is a liar, or those people put on an excellent show. If it isn’t a show, then I will just have to let God sort out the wheat from the things that kind of look like wheat, but they are not.

Can you see now why I spent more than a few minutes talking about things that I don’t really understand?

Here is something I can understand.

  • How you judge is how you will be judged.

Having already experienced some of that judgment firsthand, I want NO part of my harsh judgments coming back at me. Instead, I want God’s mercy.

If some of us will be in heaven shortly, due to the catching away of the church, and since many play out the Revelation as though it is chronological, then wouldn’t we, the church, still have to wait seven more years to be married to Christ? Perhaps my question is more rhetorical, and perhaps scripture will answer the question. So with verse nine, we are encouraged as we have been waiting for such a long time for Jesus to return.

Revelation 19:9 EMTV “Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ “And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

Look at those words, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”

I thought that we had already been invited back into a relationship with the Father and, therefore, invited to the marriage supper?

Indeed, both are true, but that relationship gives us the freedom to sit a the table with Him.

I was publicly accosted by a man I called a brother in Christ, as he called me a firebrand – one who tries to get people excited only to let them crash with disappointment because we, as a church, have been looking for Christ to come back for us, for over two-thousand years. Well, that is true that we have been looking for Him for a long time; but the Apostle Paul did not seem to be concerned about the expediency and emphasized that we are to live as though His arrival, for a waiting church, could happen at any moment.

A pastor that I listened to emphasized Jesus’ words when he said, “when you see these signs beginning to happen, then know that the time is near. Well, guess what? We have been watching the signs occur for the last couple of years (It is currently 03/15/22.)

What things?

“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars,

and on the earth dismay among nations,

in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,

men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world;

for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

“Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory.” (Luke 21:25-27 NASB)

  • There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars.

    This sounds like Joel 2:30-31. We have already seen many of those signs in the stars. An example of this would be the astronomical sign of Virgo giving birth.

    “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30 NASB)

    1 Thessalonians 5:3 tells us that they will be saying peace and safety.

    While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3 NASB)

    Just this morning, 03/16/22, I saw a report that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in addressing the congress (presumably the American version,) has called upon Joe Biden to be the leader of peace.

    A March 1, 2022 headline from the UN states, “As Russian Federation’s Invasion of Ukraine Creates New Global Era, Member States Must Take Sides, Choose between Peace, Aggression, General Assembly Hears.”

    The cries for peace are out there, and if you are a purist and think that this conversation should only be about Israel, then know that Israel is telling refugees from Ukraine to come to Israel because there is peace.

    So, the general theme is peace, just as the scriptures tell us.

  • Still in Luke 21:25. “and on the earth dismay among nations.“

    The word dismay, in essence, means to fall, a loss of courage; a sinking of the spirits; or depression.

    Dear Lord, have you watched what is going on with Ukraine and the retribution against Russia? Nothing can explain what we see any better than the word dismay. I know I am. And yet, the dangerous situation is heating up globally – North Korea is testing more missiles; China is siding with Russia, and this bully of a president we have in the US is telling China to keep out of Ukraine – like they are going to listen to him. And Russia has armored vehicles patrolling on Mount Hermon, which happens to be a part of the border between Israel and Syria.

  • “in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves.”

    Perplexity is the Greek word aporia. Some of the other usable words are doubt and uncertainty.

    Today is Wednesday, 3/16/2022. Yesterday I would have said, how would something like an earthquake cause embarrassment?

    In just the last few hours, there was a 7.3 earthquake in Northern Japan. Tsunami alerts have been going off everywhere, but the worst of it is that Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant once again had a fire alarm triggered off, as one of the spent rod cooling pools had to be temporarily shut down. Fukushima, because of the tsunami disaster of 3/11/2011, where the plant was damaged, and explosions practically demolished four of the reactors. This was embarrassment.

  • Men swooning away or expiring with fear and dread and apprehension and expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the [very] powers of the heavens will be shaken and caused to totter.  (Luke 21:26 AMPC)

    The Amplified typically gives you an overabundance of definition; it almost needs no further explanation. I really cannot see such fear happening yet, but then I live in a quiet neighborhood in America and not in Ukraine or one of the other violence-filled nations, where the odds of you living to the end of the day are limited.

So, where are we in terms of Jesus’ return?

We are right there.

“But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28 NASB)

Again, redemption is a matter of perspective, and dependent upon where you live, it makes more sense. But, the general idea is that we don’t have to be neck-deep in the things coming upon the world.

If you lean toward God removing His church body from the earth so that they do not have to experience His seven-year outpouring of wrath, you can consider yourself a pre-tribulation believer.

Should you allow others to convince you that we should endure God’s wrath, perhaps because of sin, you are ignoring that Jesus took all sin on Himself and purchased our redemption and lives back to God. Not everybody accepts that grace, and many will follow Satan to his reward, but that is their choice. This theological position is often deemed to be mid-tribulation.

If you are among those few who believe we must endure the same punishment as the nations and only gain anything close to salvation if you survive and enter the millennial reign, you can call yourself a post-tribulation supporter. These people, by their own standard, will not gain any relief from oppression until Jesus comes back and sits as the ruling Messiah during the thousand-year reign.

As a side note, you may have heard this already, but the things we are dealing with, though deadly for some, are NOTHING compared with the slaughter coming.

I had to laugh recently as I watched the news talk about police abuse with that thought in mind.

Do you think the Russian police give a thought to your personal freedoms and how they should NOT beat you up?

Not at all, and since the Ukrainian invasion, people in Russia, who thought they could, speak their mind about how Putin is running things, were rapidly and abusively hurried off to an awaiting prisoner bus. The day is coming; after the church has been removed, abuses will quickly reach deadly levels.

Amir Tsarfati frequently states how the scriptures tell us that approximately 4 billion people will be dead soon after the church is removed. The majority of deaths will come at the hands of humanity.

I like to focus on particular words, and redemption is good. It is the Greek word apolytrōsis and means deliverance, procured by a ransom payment. Wow, we just talked about that because Jesus’ actions on the cross purchased our ransom. So perhaps it would be a good time to ask Him into your life.

Posted in Babylon, bible study, crowns, judgment, Revelation, Thoughts on scripture, thrones, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A great multitude in heaven, saying. Rev 19:3-5.

Posted on 03/10/2022 by remso

One of the things we talked about in the last post is that God’s judgments are true and righteous. You need to settle this in your mind – no matter what the judgments look like in your own life, God’s judgments are always appropriate and righteous; this of course applies to Israel and the nations.

If you were, to be honest when you read about the judgments that are coming against Israel and the nations, many of you have entertained the thought that God is out of control and just angry.

How do I know that?

Because this is what Satan does, and we saw it in the Garden when he said to Eve, did He really say that? The question/challenge to Eve might as well have accused Adam of lying about what God said, and, it challenged the veracity of God. This scenario with Eve only makes sense because, when God gave the instructions about the tree of knowledge, Eve had NOT been made. Somewhere down the road, Eve is made from Adam’s rib. She was cloned. The typical process of cloning has to allow for “natural” growth. Mind you, God does not have to operate on the normal time frame, because, He is God.

Adam had been given dominion of the earth.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28 KJV)

Dominion, according to Strong’s concordance, is the Hebrew word râdâh. It is a primitive root that means to tread down, that is, subjugate; specifically to crumble off: – (come to, make to) have dominion, prevail against, reign, (bear, make to) rule, (-r, over), take.

For me, the two words that stand out and make sense is to reign and rule. It does not take much of a stretch to comprehend that Adam’s role was to inform Eve of the rules and there was only one – don’t touch that particular tree. So, when Satan approached Eve with that lousy play on words, he challenged both Adam’s honesty and God’s wisdom and “law” giving.

Question?

Remember I said that Eve was not present, and yet, here in Genesis 1:26 it appears that both Adam and Eve have been created.

How do you explain that?

Perhaps the best way to understand what transpired, is that the spiritual entities called ‘âdâm, that is, a human being, mankind have been set into motion. Neither the man or the woman, have been created as yet.

Note what Genesis 1:27 tells us.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27 KJV)

Do we have a definition of what God is?

Yes, we do.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
(John 4:24 KJV)

So everything created in Genesis 1:27 looks like God, a Spirit.

  • We do not have a physical man, made from the earth, until Genesis 2:7.

  • The explanation of the Garden and the plants in it, particularly the tree of knowledge, are not made known to us until Genesis 2:9.

  • And, we are not introduced to the woman, Eve, until Genesis 2:21-23.

If man had dominion, then why and how did someone else gain that control?

Awe, now that is the million-dollar question, and it falls back on Adam and God’s righteous plan to regain humanity and to have Christ rule over the earth once again.

BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” (Revelation 19:2 NASB)

God, nor I, can say “He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her,” unless we can see that the seven-years of wrath have been God’s judgment.

Once again, who is the her in this sentence?

Chapter 18 of Revelation called her Babylon, that great city. But we learned that Babylon was, like Damascus, to be destroyed and useless; so we are NOT talking about the physical kingdom of Babylon. We are, however, talking Jerusalem, and by extension Israel.

And thus we continue with Revelation 19, starting at verse three.

Revelation 19:3 NASB “And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.”

Who is the “they” we see in Revelation 19:3?

It was something like the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven. If I tried to base my assumption that these were the previously martyred saints, on Revelation 19:1 alone, I could incorrect and misleading, therefore need more information.

“After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God;”
Revelation 19:1 NASB

Previously, in Revelation 7 there is a reference to One of the elders asking John, who this great multitude were. The response was,

“Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  (Revelation 7:13-14 NASB)

One more witness. Revelation 12 tells us,

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. (12:10 KJV)

This is almost word for word what we see in Revelation 19:1. The safe proclamation then is that it is the martyred saints that are cheering as salvation and the end of God’s wrath has finally come. Even if I get this declaration wrong and it turns out to be the angels shouting out the praises of God, it is not a life-altering mistake.

Consider what the voices say.

And a second time they shouted, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever!” (Revelation 19:3 TLV)

I can find NO reference to the first time they shout like this and with the same terminology.

So, again I ask you, what kind of mentality rejoices over such destruction?

Perhaps, these in heaven can see what has been happening here on earth and know that Israel will sustain two major attacks. Wait a minute, I thought that our entrance into heaven required a change, which for the church is associated with the Bema seat. As I sit here, unchanged, I know that I am a broken human being (thanks to Adam,) and that my brokenness often longs to revel in the destruction of the wicked. So, the logic doesn’t work.

If one of those attacks was a part of Nebuchadnezzar’s capture of the nations of Israel and Judah, then I have to incorrectly assume that he sacked both cities, and the smoke from those actions ascended forever. But that did not happen. Don’t get me wrong, the land that is attributed to God’s people, did get sacked, but it was after repeated attacks, from various Assyrian leaders. In none of those cases did the smoke go up from her forever.

I might note that nothing burns forever except for hell, and that, for most is an imperceptible concept. The “Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary” tells us that the Greek word aiōn represents a period of time of significant character; or a state of things marking an age or era. With that knowledge, I can see plainly that it burns until this time period comes to end. The in question is the end of God’s wrath, which most refer to as the Great Tribulation.

As I sit here ( March of 2022) Israel seems to believe that she is in control of her destiny. Scripturally, Ezekiel 38, 39 predicts a massive and deadly attack on the nation of Israel, in which a prominent world leader titled Gog and his armies will die in the Megiddo valley. Two-thirds of Israel will be destroyed and killed, but not all by weapons, as some will die because of manufactured pharmaceuticals.

Revelation 19:4 NASB “And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”

I walked away from a church. The final straw came during a seven-week, crash course in the Revelation. When the pastor, in the third session, stood before the audience and authoritatively said, the twenty-four elders are representative of the church. He gave no explanation and moved on as though he were educated and we were not. When he did that I was done with him and I walked out. This is not the time or the place to flesh that out, but there had been a build-up of reasons and one of those had happened only weeks previous, when something this pastor said, brought many in the audience to their feet in applause. Me, I said out loud, you should be booing such a statement. Internally I was screaming, as your response demonstrates that you will fall for the lies that are coming. Sure enough, the Covid and its associated lies came, and that church shut down for a long time.

In time, I came to understand from Pastor John MacArthur, why the twenty-four elders are representative of the church, and let’s just say that the answer stems from Revelation 4:4.

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. (Revelation 4:4 NASB)

Pay attention to how they are attired, as this is the description of the church after the catching away.

Revelation 19:5 NASB “And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.”

Verse five may come across as insignificant because we have seen loud exuberant accolades about God. It almost seems as if the heavens are getting ready for a great party. We, however, are directed to give Him praise, as we are included among the bond-servants and those who fear Him.

The way I was taught about God was commingled with fear and an inappropriate fear at that. It was demanded that when we say our prayers at night, we explicitly ask God to forgive us for childish sins, and apparently, by mom’s standards, they were many. The premise was that if we died during the night, our failure to repent would send us to hell because we had made God mad. Can you imagine the imagery I had of God and how that might have impacted me for the rest of my life? As an adult, I had to make a decision to change that attitude, and that is how and why we found each other.

In the current world we live in, where the Marxist ideals of the BLM movement and the goals behind Critical Race Theory, nobody wants to hear the words bond-servant. I would like to say, there is no slavery, but slavery is alive; it thrives in the Muslim world, and sex trafficking, which involves the capture of young children for sexual perversion, plays into slavery.

The Apostle Paul, a Jew who could have easily, said like his Jewish brethren, that I have been the slave to no one, introduced himself in his letters, on several occasions, as a bond-servant of Jesus Christ. Bond-servants typically have no rights and yet we, as believers, have the right to walk away from the Lord, if we were so foolish. And yet, guided by the moral standards of God, that is written upon our hearts, we have overwhelming freedom and liberty; and, it is all because of this relationship with Christ.

A – Admit you’re a sinner.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

B – Believe Jesus is Lord.

John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

C – Call upon His name.

Romans 10:13 “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Posted in 24 Elders, Abaddon, Abyss, Antichrist, Assyrians, Babylon, bible study, End times, fire, gentiles, Gog, Gog, Harlot of Revelation, Hell, invasion, Israel, Jews, judgment, judgment, rapture, Revelation, the nations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

So that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous bloodshed. Rev 18: 20-24.

Posted on 02/27/2022 by remso

This dive into Revelation 18 begins with verse 20.

Revelation 18:20 NASB “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.”

When you think about the judgment and what that horror looks like for the nations and Israel, why would you rejoice? 

One answer might be because this means that the beginning and the eventual end of this fury, from both humanity and God, is close and peace is finally near. Another train of thought occurs to me, for as you migrate through the Revelation, you see the martyred saints crying out, how long, oh Lord. It is difficult to see this question as anything other than a cry for vengeance. Considering that these are before the throne when they say it and that those who have been martyred, which are now in heaven, cannot stand before the throne without this change we see in 1Corinthians 15:22. It does not make sense that they would be seeking an eye for eye justice since the drive to sin has been removed from them.

Look at what Revelation 6 tells us. 

and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. (Revelation 6:10-11 NASB)

Completion?

Sadly, our religious training drives us to look at the Great White Throne, as a place where many teachers send all who come to this throne to their final, inescapable day of justice.

Do I rejoice over the idea that we can so easily send people to hell?

No, I mourn, as many have foolishly chosen to follow Satan to his eternal punishment and they don’t need our help. Ah, but there is a high point in this throne of judgment, for many will be found worthy to enter the kingdom. You see, this Great White Throne is the same throne we see in Matthew 25, and there Jesus, the gentle shepherd, separates the crowd into two groups. One He calls the sheep and the other goats. Jesus tells the “sheep” to enter the kingdom, while those referred to as goats get sent to the eternal hell meant for Satan and his followers. So, there is hope even in this.

Justice/judgment began with the breaking of the first seal in Revelation chapter 6 and comes to completion approximately seven years later when Jesus returns as the conquering king at the end of the seven years. As you begin to read Revelation 6 you see a rider on a white horse and another on a red horse. The rider on the white horse represents the antichrist and he comes conquering. The red horse rider takes peace from the earth. If you can understand that God just used two humans to fulfill His prophecies, then you are on your way to understanding the Revelation.

‘He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father; (Revelation 2:26-27 NASB)

The only one who has overcome and kept God’s deeds until the end is Jesus. He is the one who has the authority over the nations.

Note the ominous words, He (Jesus) shall rule them with a rod of iron, as he breaks the vessels to pieces.
God is the one who made every vessel (that includes you and me,) and He is the one who has the right to destroy those vessels.

What did the Holy Spirit say in Revelation 18:20?

God has pronounced judgment for you against her.

So, who is the “you” in this sentence?

The verse itself tells us that it is the saints, the apostles, and the prophets.
Saints, in the context of the Revelation, apply to those who have been martyred during the time of God’s wrath.
If the application applies to all saints, then wouldn’t they already be in heaven, with the Father; they would.

“For indeed, while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord–” (2 Corinthians 5:4-6 NASB)

Assuming that we, the church, fit into one of these categories, saints, apostles, or prophets then the potential is here for at least a couple of these as being descriptives of the church; and, I could then say, yes, we are saints.

Use 1Corinthians 1:2 as a definition of a saint,

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: (1 Corinthians 1:2 NASB)

Secondly, as the prophetic, in the Revelation, is defined like this, the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, then believers fall under this category as long as you are testifying of the work of Jesus in your life, as described in the Word. In a sense, you are prophesying every time you proclaim Jesus. Let that sink in.

Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he *said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:10 NASB)

I am bypassing the term apostles as it is saturated with controversy and misuse. It effectively means sent ones, and according to Jesus’ commission, we have all been sent to spread the good news of the kingdom.

A former pastor used to say, in heaven, we will be looking down over the edge of the balcony, able to see what is going on here on earth during the time of wrath, and we will rejoice with those who come to know Jesus and enter into the kingdom because they are martyred. That pastor seems to forget that there will be no more sorrow in heaven. Being able to witness the horror and suffering that those on earth will continue to experience until that Revelation 19 moment when Jesus comes back to end all fighting seems rather sadistic and bizarre.

If I can find the church among those rejoicing, it is only because God has pronounced judgment.

Revelation 18:21 AMP Then a single powerful angel took up a boulder like a great millstone and flung it into the sea, crying, With such violence shall Babylon the great city be hurled down to destruction and shall never again be found. [Jeremiah. 51:63, 64; Ezekiel. 26:21.]

There is that phrase once again, the great city. One dramatic verse is Revelation 11:8, where it says.

And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.(Revelation 11:8 NASB)

The context of Revelation chapter 11 has much to do with God’s two witnesses coming back to earth and giving testimony of God, His power, and Jesus Christ. That last one, Jesus Christ, will still only be marginally acceptable to the Jews.

Notice that their dead bodies lie in the street of that great city. The only place God puts these men is in Jerusalem, so the city is Jerusalem. Verse 8 continues on by identifying Jerusalem as Sodom and Egypt, spiritually. Obviously, it is NEITHER of those two places.

So, if Jerusalem can be referred to as Sodom and Egypt, then what is to prevent it from being called Babylon?

Well, nothing really. Revelation 18:21 says,

“with such violence shall Babylon the great city be hurled down to destruction and never be found.”

In the book of Lamentations, we find this.

“The Lord has rejected all my strong men In my midst; He has called an appointed time against me To crush my young men; The Lord has trodden as in a wine press The virgin daughter of Judah.(Lamentations 1:15 NASB)

It is the Lord that is doing the crushing and He is doing it because of sins.

For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, Because their speech and their actions are against the LORD, To rebel against His glorious presence. (Isaiah 3:8 NASB)

More evidence for why they are fallen.

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity. (Hosea 14:1 NASB)

In the book of Amos, we again see a direct address against Israel.

Hear this word that I take up against you in lament, house of Isra’el: The virgin of Isra’el has fallen; she will not rise again. She lies abandoned on her own soil with no one to lift her up.(Amos 5:1-2 CJB)

Continuing through chapter 18.

Revelation 18:22-23 NASB (22) “And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer, and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer, and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer; (23) and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer, and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.

If this is the definitive telling of the end of Jerusalem then where and when is this new city going to come and sit?

At the end of the seven years, after Jesus has ended the fighting and bloodshed, the New Jerusalem will come down. It will sit upon the entirety of the land God promised to Abraham – 1500 miles square, and it will be filled with the sound of music, laughter, water running, merchants, and joy.

At the end of this morass and punishment, the new Jerusalem will be filled with the opposite of the curse. Within the city, there will be no deception and sorcery.

Sorcery?

For me, my imagination turns to something that looks like a scene from Harry Potter. No, I have never seen any aspect of Harry Potter except for commercials. This word sorcery seems so simple and self-explanatory, and it is unless sorcery was a poor choice for a translation.

Sorcery is the Greek word pharmakeia and means medication. The word also conveys the idea of using or administering drugs and poisoning people by drug usage. What do you think the so-called vaccinations are?

You might ask, what does this have to do with Israel and Jerusalem?

Are you not aware that Israel was in full agreement with this globalist agenda of population reduction and made it very difficult for anyone that was not fully inoculated. After they noticed, that many of their population were having horrid reactions to the vaccines and that the majority of Covid cases we coming from fully vaccinated people, they dropped the mandates. Don’t worry, the propaganda has had the desired effect and many, even in the church, are enveloped in fear and will probably comply with all future attempts to control the populace.

The last verse in chapter 18, and my last attempt at convincing you that we are NOT looking for a rebuilt Babylon speaks about the fact that the blood of saints and prophets have been found in her.

Revelation 18:24 NASB “And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.”

I have pointed out, on several occasions, that the primary source of information we have on Babylon is from the Prophet Daniel and the three Hebrew young men who were taken captive with Daniel. Every attempt to kill these young men failed, so surely these are not the subject of verse 24.

Since Babylon is a continuation of Babel, then we know even less, and what we do know is wholly extra-biblical.

What do the scriptures say about this blood?

“Also on your skirts is found The lifeblood of the innocent poor; You did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things, (Jeremiah 2:34 NASB)

I suggest you read all of Ezekiel 22.

“You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths. “Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood, and in you, they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst, they have committed acts of lewdness. (Ezekiel 22:8-9 NASB)

And I will end this with Jesus’ words from Matthew’s gospel.

“Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous bloodshed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. (Matthew 23:34-35 NASB)

Did you get that?

“ so that upon you (Israel) may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth

How badly some want to see Babylon rebuilt. I suppose it comes from a need to validate their false prophecies.

Do you understand that I want you to be able to understand the Revelation and the words you find here? It is not that difficult when you realize that the majority of the prophecy is derived from the Old Testament and that figuring out what the context is, is key.

I was accosted by one of my pastors, several years ago, when he said, NO ONE understands the Revelation or the prophetic. I later learned that this pastor’s anger was triggered by another brother in Christ who pushed his theories with the insistence that the pastor allow him to teach his theories.

I have written to believers who wish to understand God’s word, as I do. If you are not a believer and want to be, then follow these simple words.

A – Admit you’re a sinner.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

B – Believe Jesus is Lord.

John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

C – Call upon His name.

Romans 10:13 “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Posted in apostles, Babylon, bible study, COVID 19, Daniel, Egypt, Israel, judgment, Revelation, Rule the nations, the nations, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, two witnesses, wrath. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

To the degree that she glorified herself. Revelation 18:6-20.

Posted on 02/20/2022 by remso

We ended our last look into Revelation 18 on verse five. So what does verse five say?

For her iniquities (her crimes and transgressions) are piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her wickedness and [her] crimes [and calls them up for settlement].
[Jeremiah. 51:9.] (Revelation 18:5 AMP)

If you are unfamiliar with the Amplified Bible’s logic, things in brackets [ ] are meant to give you deeper insights into the verse at hand. Not that the brackets are inappropriate but occasionally, I struggle to understand the point they are trying to make. The other thing that affects my understanding is that Revelation 18:5 is NOT a standalone verse, as the context is lacking. The context begins in verse two and immediately begins referring to Babylon. As I said in my previous post, Babylon is little more than a ghost town, much like an old, forgotten mining community that you find in our American deserts. I realize that what I am telling you is in opposition to Dr. Andy Woods, but Babylon, the physical city, will never rise again.  If what I am saying is valid, then Babylon represents something else.

Ah, the next question is, what is that something else?

In the previous post covering Revelation 18:1-5, I gave examples of how Babylon references Israel. I am not going to cover all those references here but merely say that the references to Babylon are indicative of Israel.

In the passage above, there is a clarifying statement [and calls them up for settlement] that is apparently found in the words of the Prophet Jeremiah. So let’s pursue Jeremiah for a moment.

We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her and let us each go to his own country, for her guilt and the judgment against her reach to heaven and are lifted even to the skies. [Gen. 18:20, 21.] (Jeremiah 51:9 AMP)

  • “We would have healed Babylon,”

    If it’s not Babylon, to whom is the speaker referring? 

    I could say that the speaker is Jeremiah; if that is the case, then I have to assume that Jeremiah and company are the ones that attempted to heal Babylon.

    Why would they do that, as Babylon was perceived as the enemy?

    Any healing would have to be through a conversion to being Jews, and we know that wouldn’t happen. The other possibility would be that Jeremiah and company would infuse thousands of dollars into Babylon so that they could see how horrible their techniques and prisons are. I am being facetious because you know that neither of those things happened. So the healing assumption doesn’t work unless I apply this reasoning to Israel, and then I can see Jeremiah’s heart as he hopes the words he speaks can bring about healing to Israel.

    I opened my MacArthur Study Bible to read the introduction to the prophecies of Jeremiah, and here is what I found.

    He was known as the weeping prophet because of his conflict over predictions of judgment against Israel by the invading Babylonians. For these prophecies, he was threatened, tried for his life, put in stocks, forced to flee from Jehoiakim, publicly humiliated by a false prophet, and thrown into a septic waste pit.  Once the invasion of Judah was inevitable, he pled with Jewish leaders not to resist the Babylonian conqueror to prevent Jerusalem’s destruction.

    And, he called on delegates of other nations to heed his counsel and submit to Babylon. When Babylon invaded Egypt in 568, 567 B.C., Jeremiah was taken captive to Babylon. Jeremiah was from Judah, the Southern kingdom, and the last to go into captivity. My MacArthur commentary tells me that Judah was engrossed in blatant idolatry. I bring this bit of history into the equation as it is difficult, at best, to heal an invading nation.

    I began to look through my commentaries to see what they had to say, especially since my first assumption is that “We represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” One comment, in particular, caught my eye when it said, remove the word would.

    My immediate reaction was why, and based upon what?

    I began looking into the Strong’s concordance a short time later, and I found this.

    The word translated as “We would have healed” by most is the Hebrew word râphâ’  or  râphâh; they both mean the same thing. It is a primitive root; properly to mend, to cure, cause to heal, make whole.

    So Jeremiah 51:9 could be read like this.

    “We tried to heal Babylon, but she cannot be healed. So let us leave her and let each of us go to our own country. God in heaven will decide Babylon’s punishment. He will decide what will happen to Babylon. (Jeremiah 51:9 ERV)

If I contrast Babylon with Israel, this statement, “she cannot be healed,” is immensely harsh. If you are a Bible student, then you know that the entirety of the Revelation shows us God’s punishment upon Israel for their sins and their rejection of God; and it is also a punishment against the nations for similar reasons.

So what do we see next?

Revelation 18:6 CEV  Treat her as she has treated others. Make her pay double for what she has done. Make her drink twice as much of what she mixed for others.

If this is Israel, then watch this.

Jeremiah 16:14-18 NASB “Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ (15) but, ‘As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.’ For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers. (16) “Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,” declares the LORD, “and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks. (17) “For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. (18) “I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin because they have polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.”

The people in the land of Israel have been brought back from the land of the North and from all the countries where He had banished them. And, He has restored them to their land.

If Revelation 18:6 is speaking about Babylon, don’t you find it peculiar that Jeremiah 16:18 uses comparable language specifically against Israel?

Revelation 18:7 NASB “To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.’

But we are not to make accusations with two or three witnesses. So how about this.

“Yet you said, ‘I will be a queen forever.’ These things you did not consider Nor remember the outcome of them. “Now, then, hear this, you sensual one, Who dwells securely, Who says in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me. I will not sit as a widow, Nor know loss of children.‘ (Isaiah 47:7-8 NASB)

Does the context of Isaiah 47 cover Israel?

Absolutely, and yet the impulsive translation writers titled this chapter “the humiliation of Babylon;” and yet, look at this verse.

“Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no longer be called tender and delicate. (Isaiah 47:1 NASB)

It appears that God is talking to the virgin daughter of Babylon. Now, I have to figure out who might fill this role.

Babylon had no virgin daughter, although some might argue that the conquering nations, such as the Medo-Persian empire, could have filled that function, or perhaps the Chaldeans were entitled to carry that name. If that is your belief or understanding, then prove it by your Biblical witnesses. There aren’t any. So the characterization of the virgin daughter of Babylon falls upon Israel. (Consider that I use that term lightly as they were NOT the unified nation of Israel when they went into captivity – the kingdom was split into the Northern kingdom of Israel and the Southern kingdom of Judah. Judah is where we found King David, and then even that was not without struggle.)

Consider what Jeremiah 14 tells us.

“The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them–neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters–for I will pour out their own wickedness on them. “You will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound.” (Jeremiah 14:16-17 NASB)

Consider how the captives of Babylon – those of the faith camp, had false prophets telling them, God will deliver us quickly from this vile place. In opposition to those claims was Jeremiah the prophet, who told the captives, which included himself, to build houses, plant gardens and eat the fruit, and take wives for your sons and daughters because we will be here for a long time. (Read Jeremiah 29 in your spare time.)

Is it possible that this seventy-year span is where Israel became the daughter of Babylon?

Perhaps, but there was to be an end to the captivity. The daughter would then be freed to marry herself to whoever; this seems like a redundant statement considering how Israel had married themselves to many nations and their gods. So why should their time in Babylon be any different?

‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the LORD, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. (Jeremiah 25:12 NASB)

Consider that Daniel chapter 9 tells us that Daniel ascertained by books that the seventy years had been completed.

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans–in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. (Daniel 9:1-2 NASB)

That means that Israel’s freedom from Babylon’s captivity; and the eventual, everlasting desolation of Babylon was only a short time away.

And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there. Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come, and her days will not be prolonged. (Isaiah 13:19-22 NASB)

In 2022, many of us are focused on Damascus, as this city has a drastic prophecy declared against it; yet there it stands, receiving air shipments of weapons for usage against Israel. Hmm.

Revelation 18:8 NASB “For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.

As I read through the Revelation and Daniel’s prophecies, it seems that so much of the damage that Israel is to sustain can quickly come in an hour, but do we talk about it? No, for it is too uncomfortable and challenges previous false teachings. One of the dramatic moments in time that gets spoken of frequently is Revelation 18:9-20. This monumental passage speaks of Babylon being destroyed in an hour.

Verse eight above tells us that Babylon is destroyed in a day, and yet here, in verses 9-20, it is destroyed in an hour. I am not sure the amount of time matters, as devastating loss is still a loss.

“And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour, your judgment has come.’ “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more–cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. “The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you, and men will no longer find them. “The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!’ And every ship-master and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’ “And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’ “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.” (Revelation 18:9-20 NASB)

I have introduced several things for you to think about, so what did Revelation 18:7 say?

“To the degree that she [Israel] glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.”

Since we have a comprehension that Revelation 18 is also referring to Israel as well as a “spiritual” Babylon, you may not be aware that many Jews, to this very day, will say we have NEVER been in captivity or slaves to anyone.

Are you serious? What about Egypt, and what about Babylon? Perhaps Israel should have tried repentance and mourning. Now, here comes perspective. Though an analogy of Israel, Babylon is speaking about an empire, perceived as a beast and shown to be a harlot that motivates the current financial greed, idol worship, and blatant adultery against God.

What does verse 8 tell us? 

Not only will the “governmental and economic” system collapse in a day, but so will Israel. Ezekiel tells us that only a third will survive what is coming. Ezekiel 5:12 is the passage that tells me that only one-third of Israel survives, and quite possibly makes it into the millennial kingdom.

‘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)

Merely because the verse says that one-third will die by plague does not mean this will happen in a day. In contrast to what we think it means, an interesting aspect of the word plague is that it is the Hebrew word deber and means pestilence – in the sense of destroying. In a sense, our first introduction to plagues was those placed upon Egypt to force Pharaoh to let God’s people go.

Webster’s dictionary describes plagues as acute, malignant, and contagious diseases. The black plague was associated with filth and rats in the dark ages. The plagues upon Egypt included boils, gnats, and frogs, among other things.

Since our word deber originated from another word, dâbar, perhaps we need to include this definition to clarify our understanding. The Hebrew word dâbar is assumed to properly mean arrange, but this does not make sense in the context of plague or pestilence. One of the other meanings is to subdue. If you use the word subdue in conjunction with contagious diseases, you should be able to make the connection between the C19 injections and this unprecedented population reduction program, that eventually, for Israel, kills off one-third of its population.

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