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The Great Discovery!
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The apostle John in the Island of Patmos
The Book of the Revelation starts actually in chapter 4 and we will see how it is really structured. While the apostle John was a prisoner at Patmos, he had an out of body experience, he was in the Spirit as a time traveller. Isaiah (ch.6) also had visions of the throne room in heaven, and described the seraphims ('burners') spoken of in Rev. 4:6-8 as the 'four beasts' before the throne that spoke as the noise of thunder. Paul the apostle also was taken to the third heaven above where he had visions and revelations of the Lord (2 Cor. 12:1). John heard a voice as of a trumpet summon him through a door opened in heaven saying "come up hither" (Rev.4:1) and found himself in the Spirit, and it was in the Lord's day. Many teach that this implies Sunday but nowhere in scripture is this term used in such a fashion, but rather it is another way of saying 'in the day of the Lord' (Rev. 1:10). John is taken in spirit to the day of the rapture, but is not an experience of his resurrection, still to come. If you have read much of the content in this website you would be familiar with the meaning of the day of the Lord, for let us not forget that John is of the age of the Church and though he is in heaven he too will return with the Lord at the rapture to receive his glorious resurrected body in that day. John therefore found himself in the spirit time travelling to the day of the rapture, when he entered heaven and saw the LORD God in the throne room, the enthroned crowned elders, the beasts or living creatures and the worship of God for creation (Rev. 4:1-11).Then he saw the seven sealed book in the hand of the Father that no man in heaven was worthy to open (Rev. 5:1-4) and the Lamb, the Lion of the tribe of Judah and Root of David, the only one worthy to open such book, who is worshipped because of redemption, is exalted and seen receiving universal adoration (5:1-14). In the vision John hears the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ behind him, that with these words is described as the Almighty God, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (1:8-12) and turns to see the very Lord of Glory in his full splendor and power and at the very center of his Church (1:12-17)! The apostle is instructed to write about 3 things: what he has already seen, about the things of the Church (things that are) and about things that shall be thereafter (1:19). Thus the apostle begins this epistle as by the Spirit of God describing how that the Father is unveiling the Lord Jesus Christ by this book, that he gives his angel (the angel of the Lord Jesus Christ) from whom John learns the significance of the letter (1:1-2) for the book is not given to John, who is baring record of the word of God, of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of his own vision and by which epistle the readers will receive blessings (1:3). John was to write the letters to the seven churches and of its evolutionary spiritual events till the time of their departure to God. It is not that the apostle was more than once in the Spirit, but in a single out of body spiritual travel event [the demons imitate this in OOB experiences as of those of near-death and turned over to their power but is deception by mind manipulation, for all the accounts have the same similar structure], in which he is given all these eschatological highlighted details. With the Church in heaven he is told to write about the things that are to be thereafter (4:1). Hereafter what? Hereafter that the Church is taken home.
This brings us right into the seal judgments and we have discovered that the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments, the vial judgments and the treading of the winepress is all of the wrath of God. Wrath is present from the beginning to the very end, chapters 6-19, inclusive. So this book can not be parcelled based on selected wrath descriptions here or there, in these or those judgments, for all represent the wrath of God. You may want to be reminded of what happens at the rapture. Well the Spirit of God in his ministry of indwelling the church believers is taken out of the way of holding down iniquity so that evil is turned loose and that Wicked is revealed, the man of sin and the Devil's christ (2 Thess 2). This is the beginning of the Tribulation, the losening the cords and bands of the antichrist. The only caution that now must be spelled is that antichrist and the Devil, the old Serpent, are never running amock but in their wickedness end up doing the will of God for all things always, always, are done at the time appointed of God.
The four horses of the apocalypse, as often have been described, are the very first four seal judgments. Notice in Rev. 6 these points: it is the same rider, on different horses, who is allowed to conquer the world, given his crown, turned lose first to conquer by peaceful political maneuvers (first seal, antichrist on a white horse), then having assessed the world's situation, he rides that red horse of war to conquer by force and might. We know that the Devil gives him his power and that presently the world is riding on a demonization rollercoaster that are bringing many adepts into the ranks of the occult, so that at the right time he will have a willing and able army of demonized humans aided and abeted by dark forces in the world. Wars end up in the scarcity of food (famines) followed by pestilences and all sorts of diseases (the black horse), but a warning is given to him to hurt not the oil and the wine (ISRAEL). And after that the last and pale horse is allowed to ride, Destruction and Death reign. Note that in 9:11 we are instructed that the antichrist seed of the Serpent is the king of the demons of the Abyss or the Pit and his name is Apollyon, meaning the destroyer. Yes, the antichrist or Satan's christ is a demon. So far the first 4 seals have been opened and the death toll of the world is immense (one fouth of the 7.2 bil. find death). And of the False Prophet we have written about already and have considered whether as a demonic entity he is death himself that rides alongside destruction, a sort of dynamic duo killing machine.
This brings us right into the seal judgments and we have discovered that the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments, the vial judgments and the treading of the winepress is all of the wrath of God. Wrath is present from the beginning to the very end, chapters 6-19, inclusive. So this book can not be parcelled based on selected wrath descriptions here or there, in these or those judgments, for all represent the wrath of God. You may want to be reminded of what happens at the rapture. Well the Spirit of God in his ministry of indwelling the church believers is taken out of the way of holding down iniquity so that evil is turned loose and that Wicked is revealed, the man of sin and the Devil's christ (2 Thess 2). This is the beginning of the Tribulation, the losening the cords and bands of the antichrist. The only caution that now must be spelled is that antichrist and the Devil, the old Serpent, are never running amock but in their wickedness end up doing the will of God for all things always, always, are done at the time appointed of God.
The four horses of the apocalypse, as often have been described, are the very first four seal judgments. Notice in Rev. 6 these points: it is the same rider, on different horses, who is allowed to conquer the world, given his crown, turned lose first to conquer by peaceful political maneuvers (first seal, antichrist on a white horse), then having assessed the world's situation, he rides that red horse of war to conquer by force and might. We know that the Devil gives him his power and that presently the world is riding on a demonization rollercoaster that are bringing many adepts into the ranks of the occult, so that at the right time he will have a willing and able army of demonized humans aided and abeted by dark forces in the world. Wars end up in the scarcity of food (famines) followed by pestilences and all sorts of diseases (the black horse), but a warning is given to him to hurt not the oil and the wine (ISRAEL). And after that the last and pale horse is allowed to ride, Destruction and Death reign. Note that in 9:11 we are instructed that the antichrist seed of the Serpent is the king of the demons of the Abyss or the Pit and his name is Apollyon, meaning the destroyer. Yes, the antichrist or Satan's christ is a demon. So far the first 4 seals have been opened and the death toll of the world is immense (one fouth of the 7.2 bil. find death). And of the False Prophet we have written about already and have considered whether as a demonic entity he is death himself that rides alongside destruction, a sort of dynamic duo killing machine.
Martyred Saints under the Altar
As we come to Rev 6:9-11 John's vision is that of the martyred saints under the altar clamoring for God's revenge of their blood upon the earth dwellers, which is carried out in v.12-17. These Tribulation saints are given their white robes of the righteousness of God and are to wait to come before the altar when the martyred saints of the Great Tribulation join them. These latter ones die soon after the mid-tribulation point (Rev. 7:13-17) when the Devil's christ, the beast's turn to rule the world begins, for they do not receive the mark of the beast mandated by the False Prophet. Such will not worship the beast and will not be able to buy nor sell and die of hunger, thirst, and exposure (13:17) and it will not take much after this before they experience death. Then all tribulation martyred saints with their white robes altogether will come before the throne of God. Before the trumpets begin the earth dwellers (code name for those who are not of God of the earth) realize that these judgments are from God for what they are experiencing is his wrath and that of the Lamb's (6:17).
Revelation ch. 7 is covered under "Israel in the Tribulation". Suffice it to say for the sake of perspective, that the 144,00 sealed Jewish virgin men, emissaries of the Lamb (Rev. 14:1-5) are 'raptured' right after that the Devil's christ kills the Two Witnessess at the mid-trib point. They are redeemed from among men and are the firstfruits unto God of the Jewish saints, having the name of the Father written in their foreheads. From this verse one can figure out that the name of the beast will be that of Satan's in the foreheads of the wicked and idolatrous ones.
Revelation 8 begins with the 7 angels, and upon much reading this epistle one comes to the realization that these are the 7 angels of the churches, that appear as the executioners of the judgments given them to sound, announce or pour out (ie. 8:2,6 15:6 16:2). And while the seal calamities involved mainly mankind, the trumpet judgments fall upon the creation that support and provide for man:
Revelation ch. 7 is covered under "Israel in the Tribulation". Suffice it to say for the sake of perspective, that the 144,00 sealed Jewish virgin men, emissaries of the Lamb (Rev. 14:1-5) are 'raptured' right after that the Devil's christ kills the Two Witnessess at the mid-trib point. They are redeemed from among men and are the firstfruits unto God of the Jewish saints, having the name of the Father written in their foreheads. From this verse one can figure out that the name of the beast will be that of Satan's in the foreheads of the wicked and idolatrous ones.
Revelation 8 begins with the 7 angels, and upon much reading this epistle one comes to the realization that these are the 7 angels of the churches, that appear as the executioners of the judgments given them to sound, announce or pour out (ie. 8:2,6 15:6 16:2). And while the seal calamities involved mainly mankind, the trumpet judgments fall upon the creation that support and provide for man:
And as the middle of the tribulation gets closer, so do the judgements increase in severity. The last three trumpet judgments are called Woes! and all three have primordially demonic elements as their framework. While we see the parallel verses to these judgments in the OT, as the first woe or 5th trumpet judgment is found in Is. 2:8-12, this judgment falls on all men who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads, and is done by the tormenting demons, that are allowed for five nmonths to cause rebellious mankind such severe pain that they would wish to die but can not (9:1-12) and such demons form the army of Appollyon, the Devil's christ!
The next trumpet judgment is clearly defined in Joel 2: 1-11, Joel's demonic army at the hand of the antichrist that many wish to say are the brave men of the church in God's army but fail to realize that it is God that sends these demons (Rev. 9:13-21), the death demons to invade Israel to chastise the nation in measure, both unbelieving (Messiah-rejecting Jews) and those of the synagogue of Satan that say they are Jews but are not. These death demons will be covered as a subpage of "Israel in the Tribulation" as well as the (third Woe) 7th trumpet judgment: the unceremonious fall of the Dragon and Satan to the earth, in wrath to persecute and destroy Israel at the hand of the archangel Michael, upholder of Israel (Dan. 10:21 & 12:1).
It has been an observation noticed as one reviews commentaries on these trumpet events, the reluctance to associate God and his sovereignty over the demon and fallen angelic realms, as the author of all judgments and awful tribulation catastrophies and calamities of the Revelation, ignoring, denying or distancing God from using them as the weapons of his wrath. Isaiah 10:1 clearly says that the Assyrian (Apollyon) code name for the Devil's christ, will be the demon rod of God's anger and the staff of his indignation. Let us keep in mind that at the rapture (a pre-trib event) all born again believers will depart to heaven, and all left behind are not the saved born-again ones, for whatever reason they have not been willing to call upon the name of the Lord for salvation. The wrath of God during the tribulation is both persuasive and retributive, in that by the persecutions God is bringing repentance and conviction to the undecided to come to him, and by the same judgments he is castigating the satanically-committed, God rejecting world. In the end the result is that of evicting the Devil and Satan with all his hordes and wicked men, from the face of the earth so that the current world system will proclaim its' last hurrah and be no more forever and ever. Good riddance.
The next trumpet judgment is clearly defined in Joel 2: 1-11, Joel's demonic army at the hand of the antichrist that many wish to say are the brave men of the church in God's army but fail to realize that it is God that sends these demons (Rev. 9:13-21), the death demons to invade Israel to chastise the nation in measure, both unbelieving (Messiah-rejecting Jews) and those of the synagogue of Satan that say they are Jews but are not. These death demons will be covered as a subpage of "Israel in the Tribulation" as well as the (third Woe) 7th trumpet judgment: the unceremonious fall of the Dragon and Satan to the earth, in wrath to persecute and destroy Israel at the hand of the archangel Michael, upholder of Israel (Dan. 10:21 & 12:1).
It has been an observation noticed as one reviews commentaries on these trumpet events, the reluctance to associate God and his sovereignty over the demon and fallen angelic realms, as the author of all judgments and awful tribulation catastrophies and calamities of the Revelation, ignoring, denying or distancing God from using them as the weapons of his wrath. Isaiah 10:1 clearly says that the Assyrian (Apollyon) code name for the Devil's christ, will be the demon rod of God's anger and the staff of his indignation. Let us keep in mind that at the rapture (a pre-trib event) all born again believers will depart to heaven, and all left behind are not the saved born-again ones, for whatever reason they have not been willing to call upon the name of the Lord for salvation. The wrath of God during the tribulation is both persuasive and retributive, in that by the persecutions God is bringing repentance and conviction to the undecided to come to him, and by the same judgments he is castigating the satanically-committed, God rejecting world. In the end the result is that of evicting the Devil and Satan with all his hordes and wicked men, from the face of the earth so that the current world system will proclaim its' last hurrah and be no more forever and ever. Good riddance.