Since my salvation in 1972, I had read the book of Revelation dozens and probably hundreds of times. I had read the entire Bible dozens of times but I was making a point of reading Revelation more frequently because it seemed to be so relevant. But, one evening in Malaysia, I had read Revelation twice and was on my third read when I heard that still small voice.
Sometimes it's just so natural or even without words but I "felt" the idea, "Why don't you read it through slowly one word at a time, like it's a puzzle. Ask me to show you word by word."
So, I started reading and questioning the Lord at every puzzle, everything that puzzled me. I knew that the 144 thousand was a big debate. It sure wasn't what the Jehovah's Witnesses said. But, Christians I'd associated with in the past said,
"WE are the 144 thousand!"
That just didn't seem to fit either. When something isn't right, you just don't have a peace about it. So, I really wanted to know and I asked God. At first I thought,
"Maybe when we get saved, we are born again into the Jewish family and become spiritual Jews so that we each become a member of one of the tribes." But, I didn't have a complete peace about that either. The Bible makes it clear that it's talking about the 12 tribes of Israel.
Then the thought came to me that, "Maybe this is the army that comes down from heaven with Jesus!" Well, of course it is. The Bible tells us right in Revelation 14:1 that the 144 thousand are standing on Mount Sion with Jesus and we know that when the Lord returns to fight the Battle of Armageddon and pour out his wrath, He will land on Mount Sion."
So, who are these people in his army? That was my question. As I was reading, I came across Revelation 7 where the angel says, "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." And I realized, this happens right before the wrath! And we born-again believers will NOT be on the earth for the wrath of God! Not only that, but the direction the angel was flying was UP. The angel was ASCENDING. That means he was going up to get to the men that he was going to seal! Those men were coming DOWN from heaven!
Now I knew who they were! They are men of God from the tribes of Israel, men of renown who fought on the earth. The Bible says they were redeemed from the earth. So, they will be coming down from heaven with Jesus to fight in the Battle of Armageddon. It's almost too simple. Of course.
The action begins in chapter 6. And it's pretty clear that there will be souls slain for the word of God before the actual Tribulation starts because they ask, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" And they are told to wait "a little season" until "their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled." I would assume that that is referring to the Tribulation.
Yet, there is no description of the 3 1/2 years of Tribulation in this chapter because the next verse jumps into the Wrath of God which begins with a "great earthquake".
This "great earthquake" is a marker in my mind for the beginning of the Wrath of God. If you follow along to the end of the chapter, it says,
"The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, ... hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, AND FROM THE WRATH OF THE LAMB: For the great day of his WRATH is come; and who shall be able to stand?"
The Wrath of God is NOT for us, folks! Not for God's kids. And whenever it talks about "hurting the earth" or pouring out vials, it's talking about the Wrath. In fact, even the sixth seal refers to the wrath as we just read.
So, that all became clear in my mind and the so-called scales were falling off my eyes. With the Lord's help, it all fell into place. I felt as though the Holy Spirit was leaning over my right shoulder and guiding my thoughts. It was like a very simple puzzle, all right there but just overlooked or not pondered on long enough.
Mind you, the book of Revelation is NOT chronological. There is a time-line that's clear but the chapters don't follow sequentially and, really not much is even spoken about the Tribulation in this book. Chapter 7 starts off with the Wrath and ends up at the throne of God (possibly during the Marriage Supper) after the Tribulation. Chapter 8 starts off with 30 minutes of silence before the Wrath is poured out. Chapter 9 is all Wrath of God. In chapter 10, the mystery of God is finished.
In chapter 11, the Tribulation is mentioned as "forty and two months" that the Gentiles will tread the "holy city" under foot. Not only is Jerusalem God's holy city, but all of us born-again believers are God's lively stones who will go through the tribulation to purge and purify us and bring us closer to God.
In chapter 11, we see that God refers to Jerusalem as being spiritually called Sodom and Egypt. So, we start to see how God sees the new temple of the Jews and the performance of their daily sacrifice. (In other parts of the Bible, God says even her prayers will be an abomination and God will not hear them.) That's not to say that many Jews are and will become Christians.
In the same chapter, the two witnesses are killed and left for three days. (I'm guessing that when we see these two witnesses killed in the streets of Jerusalem, we can count three days until the Rapture!) This event will also coincide with the Rapture because it says, "The SAME HOUR was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell."
How the timing is exactly, we can only guess that the earthquake and the Rapture happen very close together if not simultaneously, because the two witnesses are raptured or resurrected. That makes me think they may have been taking part in the Rapture because during the rapture the graves will open and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Chapter 12 talks about the Tribulation in an encouraging way, mentioning that God has prepared a place for at least part of the Bride of Christ where she will survive for the 3 1/2 years.
Chapter 13 describes the Antichrist and his side-kick, the False Prophet or the second beast who comes up out of the earth and causes the earth to worship the first beast. AND this second beast does great wonders so that he makes fire come down from heaven. He even has power to give life to the image of the Antichrist.
Chapter 14 is about the Wrath of God and Jesus coming down to deliver it. He discovers that Babylon has fallen. Why is she called the great city? Why is this city so important to the angel?
Because it is God's City, Jerusalem. She has been persecuted and destroyed and judged as has been done to her in the past when she went a whoring after other gods. This is her final judgement. And now her true King and Messiah has come back to avenge her on her enemies, the ten horns that burned her with fire. This is the Battle of Armageddon!
Chapter 15 makes it clear that "we" (God's chosen ones that go through the Tribulation) are NOT on the earth at the time of the Wrath but are with God on the Sea of Glass singing songs and praising God. (And probably watching the big battle going on down on earth called "The Battle of Armageddon".)
After all this, in chapter 16, it says that "Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." So, it seems that when Jesus said in Matthew 23, "Woe unto you" to the Jews, He really meant "Woe!" This chapter confirms to me that God will allow Jerusalem to be judged and that Babylon the Whore is indeed Jerusalem who will be destroyed in one hour.
Chapter 17 describes the whore drunk with the blood of the saints. Just as Jesus told Jerusalem in Matthew 23:34 and 35 "Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar."
Does that sound like the Roman Catholic Church to you? Did the Roman Catholic Church shed all the righteous blood upon the earth? They are not even old enough to have done that. Yes, there was the Spanish Inquisition and lots of persecution of true Christians, but, who has been more accountable?
Jerusalem has been persecuting Christians for thousands of years. Approximately 4,000 years. In fact, Jesus even goes all the way back to Abel's martyrdom. That's a lot of blood. Would God be a just God to overlook all of that?
Yes, Jesus died to cover our sins, but how can He cover the sins of those who have rejected Him? Yet, I believe that the Wrath of God and the judgement of Jerusalem is also done in love! Jesus wouldn't do it unless it were absolutely necessary. And after the "spanking", He avenges Jerusalem on her enemies.
I think this "Babylon the Great" is going to be some amazing, monumental and glorious-looking temple full of all the wealth of the Jews. The Antichrist will lust after it and take it over, placing his Abomination of Desolation right in the holy place. (Of course, there is no holy place anymore because the holy place is now in our hearts of flesh. That's why we no longer need sacrifices.)
In chapter 18:12 and 13, Babylon is described word for word exactly the way Solomon's temple is described in the Old Testament.
"The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine and oil and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men."
This won't be the first time that God has allowed Israel's enemies to destroy her temple and take her people captive. And this third temple will be built by non-believers. This temple worship will be an abomination to God, just as the Catholic temple worship and idol worship is an abomination to God. In fact, it's possible that Catholics will worship together with Jews in Jerusalem because Pope Francis is encouraging religious unity. Talk about abominations. Gather all the false gods together. Why not throw in a Buddhist statue while you're at it? And a few Hindu gods?
Ok! So, that's that! We should keep our eyes on Jerusalem. When she is compassed with armies, the end is near. So, that means that the destruction of Jerusalem will happen near the very end of the Tribulation, I would assume. Right around the same time as the two witnesses rise from the dead.
Then, there's 1,000 years of Christ's reign on earth. Then the devil makes a come-back and does NOT get the point. He tries to kill God's saints with an army of people that he was able to deceive. (Don't be deceived.) But, God calls fire down to burn them all up. Now, you can feel sorry for the False Prophet and the Antichrist because they're both going together into the lake of fire. Death and hell are also going to be cast in there along with "whosoever was not written in the book of life".
Then John sees something wonderful: a new heaven and a new earth! Read it if you want to! Revelation 21 and 22.
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