Revelation

Revelation 7 Series, Study #1

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 4, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #1 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to begin by reading Revelation 7:
1-3:

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

We are progressing in our study of the Book of Revelation and we are entering into chapter 7, where we will learn some interesting things concerning God’s salvation program. We will find in this chapter that God is going to lay out some details concerning those that He saved during the church age and also those that He saved during the Great Tribulation period. This will set the stage for the information in chapters to come, as the Lord will get more focused on the Great Tribulation and the judgment upon the churches and the judgment on the world at the time of the end, the time we are now living in.

Let us begin with the first verse, in Revelation 7:1:

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

We need to mention, as always, that the word “angels” (angelos) is a Greek word which can also properly be translated as “messengers.” Here, God is continuing to give the Apostle John this divine revelation and John sees four messengers “standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth.” We also notice that God is emphasizing the number “four.” There are four angels, four corner of the earth and four winds. It is pretty obvious that God is emphasizing the number “four” because what He is discussing has application to the whole world. It is a universal truth and a universal teaching; it will impact everyone and, therefore, the number “four” is in view. The four corners of the earth represent the four points of the compass: north, south, east and west. That encompasses everything. It is the complete world that is in view.

As we are looking at this verse, we cannot help but notice the reference to the “four winds of the earth,” and this reference to the “four winds of the earth” is not only found here, but God makes reference to the “four winds” in a few other places in the Bible. The “wind” itself is sometimes referred to, but when God speaks of “four winds,” that helps narrow things down and we can go directly to Scriptures where the Lord speaks of “four winds” and we can correctly understand what we are reading in these other places and this will help us in coming to learn what the Lord is telling us in Revelation 7:1. Let us begin by going to the Book of Zechariah, the next to the last Book in the Old Testament. It says in Zechariah 2:6-7:

Ho, ho, *come forth*, and flee from the land of the north, saith JEHOVAH: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith JEHVOAH. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest *with* the daughter of Babylon.

Here, God is speaking to His people. It is basically a command to “come out of her, my people,” as we read in Revelation, chapter 18. He is directing them to “flee from the land of the north.” The Babylonians came out of the north against the southern nation of Judah, historically, and God is directing His people to come out of Babylon, “For I have spread you abroad.” The Lord is speaking of His people. They are the ones that have been spread abroad “as the four winds of the heaven, saith JEHOVAH.” This is interesting because it likens the “four winds” to God’s people, to those that are coming out of Babylon.

By the way, that helps us to understand a reference such as we find in Matthew 24:29, which is that verse we are becoming increasingly familiar with, day by day: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened.” And in that context of Judgment Day (the present time we are living in), it says in Matthew 24:31:

And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

You see, that goes hand in hand with what we read in Zechariah 2. God’s people came out of Babylon and verse 7 said: “Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.” Again, when God speaks of “delivering thyself” and “coming out of Babylon,” He has in view becoming saved – to experience deliverance from sin, deliverance from the kingdom of Satan. Once delivered, we are translated into the Kingdom of God’s dear son and we have come out of Babylon, spiritually. In Zechariah God’s elect are encouraged to come out from the land of the north, and once they have become delivered and have experienced the salvation of God, they are likened to being spread abroad as the “four winds.” So that is indicating that God’s people are saved; they are outside of the kingdom of Satan; they are not a part of that spiritual Babylon. They are part of the Kingdom of Christ.

In the Day of Judgment, the Lord sends His messengers with a great sound of a trumpet and they go about gathering together his elect and we have learned recently that this time period is a time of “reaping” and reaping means to gather the fruit, so Matthew 24:31 is picturing the Feast of Ingathering, which is held in conjunction with the Feast of Tabernacles. When we reach 10,000 days (and the 1,600th day of this period of judgment has concluded, if we are correct about that), then that will be the last day of Tabernacles and also the last day of the Feast of Ingathering, as God would have completed this process. He saved His people and, therefore, they were scattered abroad as the “four winds.” They are all over the earth, but then there is a process of “reaping” or gathering them together and that will be completed by the last day on the Feast of Tabernacles, which would also be the last day of the Feast of Ingathering.

Well, these are two places that we find reference to the “four winds,” in Zechariah 2 and Matthew 24, but we also find it in another interesting place in Ezekiel, chapter 37, where the Lord is giving Ezekiel instructions to preach or prophesy to the “dead, dry bones” and he does so. It says in Ezekiel 37:7-10:

So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but *there was* no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

Here, God is giving us a wonderful and beautiful illustration of what He did when He saved a “great multitude” of sinners out of the Great Tribulation. They were spiritually dead – as dead as you can possibly be and, yet, God commanded that there be prophesying from the direction of the “four winds.”

Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

The “four winds,” as we consider what God said in Zechariah 2, would be where God’s people were found outside of the kingdom of Satan. Since the kingdom of Satan included the churches and congregations during the period of Great Tribulation when God was sending forth the “latter rain” to save that great multitude, we can know this is a reference to the Word of God coming from “outside” of the churches and congregations and accomplishing the purpose the Lord sent it forth to accomplish, the salvation of a great many souls from every nation and tribe and tongue and people. This is the glorious picture we are seeing here in Ezekiel, chapter 37.

Notice, also, that it says: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain.” This reminds us of our verse in Revelation 7:1, as it says:

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

The word “blow” that we see here is also found in the Gospel of John and it is used in an interesting way. It says in John 3:5-8:

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and *of* the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Now, in these verses we see that the blowing of the wind is likened to the working of God’s Spirit. God’s spirit – His Word – breathes upon sinners and they become saved. That is the picture in Ezekiel 37:9:

Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

Of course, that would be like the wind blowing, yet, God has in view the idea of His Word and His Spirit coming forth and creating life in spiritually dead souls, so the prophesying that comes forth from the “four winds” was able to bring salvation and it is also able, therefore, to blow upon the wicked in the form of bringing judgment. That is more the case in our verse in Revelation 7, verse 1, as the winds are held back from hurting and, therefore, we could understand that the Lord has in view that the Word of God that will be declared by His people from their position outside the churches and congregations will “blow” and declare the information from the Word of God which brings judgment upon those that hear it.

You know, we see the wind blowing in judgment in Matthew 7:24-27:

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Here, the winds are beating upon the house and, finally, causing it to fall. We think of great storms, like a hurricane, that come every year and the tremendous winds that are found within those storms that are able to completely blow away homes. That is what God is saying here, but the “winds” that are blowing are a spiritual reference to the Word of God which is pronouncing judgment. For instance, as we entered into the period when the church age ended and judgment began at the house of God, these things became known from the Word of God and the Word of God destroyed the house of God (the churches and congregations of the world,) and they were destroyed, spiritually, by the declaration of the Word of God. The information came forth from the Bible; it was “God breathed,” as all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and God sent forth His Word and it accomplished the purpose of pronouncing the judgment that completely destroyed the entity that was the corporate church. So the winds blew upon the churches and, since they had no foundation because the Lord Jesus had departed from them, they had no ability to withstand against the fierce “winds” that came forth from the wrath of God. The Bible tells us that not one stone was left upon another; their house has fallen.

Likewise, the Word of God is that which is pronouncing the judgment in the Day of Judgment, which began May 21, 2011, and it is the fierce “winds that are blowing and bringing forth this news from the Bible that is bringing damage and destruction and spiritual hurt to the inhabitants of the earth.

Well, let us just look at one more place before we finish our study. In Jeremiah, chapter 49, we read of God’s judgment upon Elam and I will read Jeremiah 49:34-38:

The word of JEHOVAH that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, Thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, *even* my fierce anger, saith JEHOVAH; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them: And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith JEHOVAH. But it shall come to pass in the latter days, *that* I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith JEHOVAH.

Now this is an interesting passage that God has given us and we find our phrase, the “four winds from the four quarters of heaven,” and we wonder what God is saying. Who does Elam represent? As we search the Bible for references to Elam, we are helped with what we find in Daniel, chapter 8, and this will help us to understand the entire passage we just read. It says in Daniel 8:1-2:

In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, *even unto* me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first. And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I *was* at Shushan *in* the palace, which *is* in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

Here, Daniel is still in Babylonian captivity. King Belshazzar is the King of Babylon and Daniel is at Shusan in the palace and the palace would be where the King reigns from, and that palace is in the province of Elam. This means that Elam is a very important province of Babylon because that is where the palace of the King of Babylon was found. Therefore, we can understand that Elam is a representation of Babylon, so what God is saying here of Elam would apply to Babylon. Once we see that connection, then we do understand, for instance, verse 36:

And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds;

This is very similar to what we read in Zechariah 2, where God was encouraging His people to flee from the land of the north, from Babylon. Then it goes on to say in Jeremiah 49:36:

… and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

That would be in keeping with God’s people being spread abroad as the “four winds of the heaven.” Then it says in Jeremiah 49:37:

For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, *even* my fierce anger, saith JEHOVAH; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them.

Now we can see that the blowing of the four winds, as God brought the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, identifies here with the wrath of God as He is bringing evil upon Elam (Babylon), and then it says in Jeremiah 49:38:

And I will set my throne in Elam…

Once the King of the Medes and the Persians (Cyrus, also known as Darius) conquered Babylon, we find that he became the King of Babylon. Likewise, once God conquered the kingdom of Satan on the Day of Judgment, the Lord Jesus Christ took over the throne and began to reign over all that Satan once reigned over. So, right now, it is the Lord that reigns with a “rod of iron” over this world.

We will continue looking at Revelation 7:1 and consider what God is saying there, when we get together in our next Bible study.

Revelation 7 Series, Study #2

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 5, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #2 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading the first three verses. It says in Revelation 7:1-3:

These verses are very important because they are going to establish God’s overall program of salvation and judgment. God first sealed His servants “in their foreheads,” and that is language that pictures salvation. Lord willing, at a later time, we will look at the word “sealed” and we will see how that ties in with those that God saved. But, for now, it is just good to know that in these verses God is indicating that the wrath and judgment of God that will come from the direction of the “four winds” will not blow upon the earth, sea or any tree until these servants of God have been “sealed.”

Now this has some application to the judgment of God upon the churches. God would not bring His judgment on the churches and congregations until the “completeness” of the firstfruits, the 144,000, had come in; that is, all those that God intended to save during the 1,955 years of the church age had to first become saved before God would end his evangelization of the world through the churches – before He would end the church age.

That is no problem for God to do; He orchestrated things perfectly and He had all of His elect born at certain times and in certain lands where they would eventually hear the Gospel before they died and God saved them through the many centuries of the church age, until, finally, He saved the last one to be saved (whoever that was) and then He ended the church age. He removed His Spirit from the midst of the congregations and He loosed Satan, who had been bound for the figurative one thousand year period, and Satan entered into the congregations. At that point (once judgment began at the house of God) never again would another individual become saved within the churches; the “firstfruits” had already been gathered. The 144,000, as we will see as we continue on in Revelation 7, is the figure that God assigns to those that were saved during the church age and that also is a figurative number to represent the “fullness” of God’s elect that were saved over that period of almost 2,000 years.

Here, again, God is speaking to these four angels (or messengers) that are on the four corners of the earth and this points to the universality or worldwide scope of what is in view. They are holding back the “four winds of the earth.” They are holding back the wrath of God and another angel, in verse 2, is ascending from the east, and that is the direction that identifies with the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, Christ is also a messenger of God. He is the Messenger of the Covenant, so without question, this other angel is Christ and He is “ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God.” That also fits since the seal relates to God saving individuals and it is Christ who does the saving. The elect of God are saved by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ – it is the work of Christ and this is the work the Father had given Him to do. So He possesses the “seal of the living God,” and “he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea.” That is interesting language. What does it mean when God says that is given to them “to hurt the earth and the sea”? For instance, how do you hurt the earth? What would have to happen to the earth in order for it to be considered hurt? Again, Lord willing, we will look at the word “earth” as we continue in the future to go through these verses. There is a lot of Biblical information that will be helpful to us in understanding a great many verses, once we properly understand this passage. Hopefully, we will understand why it was given to the four angels to “hurt” the earth and the sea.

Again, this angel ascending from the east goes on to say, in Revelation 7:3:

Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

The implication is that once the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads (or do become saved), the four angels (messengers) may proceed to “hurt” the earth and the sea and the trees.

So, that is where we want to begin right now, with this Greek word that is translated as “hurt” in these verses. What does that mean? What is this word pointing to? Well, occasionally, this particular Greek word is translated as “wrong.” For instance, it says in Matthew 20:13:

But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?

This is the “householder” that gave payment to his laborers and some were murmuring because they worked longer than others and, yet, all received an equal wage, and the householder is saying he did not “wrong” them, and that is the same word translated as “hurt.”

We also find this word translated as “wrong” in Acts, in reference to an incident involving Moses. It says in Acts 7:24-27:

And seeing one *of them* suffer wrong, he defended *him,*and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?

In this passage, we see the word “wrong” three times and, really, when the one individual did “wrong” to his neighbor, he injured him or hurt him. This Greek word, Strong’s #91, is actually translated (I think) one time as “injured.” That is the idea: he did “harm” to his neighbor and in this case it was in a physical way.

But let us continue in looking at this word. In Luke, chapter 10, we find it translated as “hurt.” It says in Luke 10:19:

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

In this case, the Lord is speaking to His people that had gone forth “two by two” to share the word of God and they are rejoicing. Christ is letting them know that they will have power or authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, which are words to represent the ungodly or the unsaved that bring other kinds of gospels or those that we today would call “professed believers,” which use the Bible, but they are not true believers. They are not really God’s elect and, therefore, the gospel that they bring is a gospel that cannot save anyone, not even when it was the day of salvation. God would not save individuals through the hearing of lies. He reserved that for the proclamation of the truth, the faithful putting forth of the Word of God. That was how God saved – when an individual would hear truth – because Jesus said, “I am the Truth.” And who is associated with lies, but Satan, and no one can be saved by Satan and his gospels which his emissaries brought; it never saved anyone. And, yet, even though God’s elect (that had not yet become saved) may, for a period of time, have come under the hearing of false teaching or false gospels, it would not “hurt” them because God would not permit that; He would make certain His people did become saved. This is a similar idea to what we find in Mark 16, where the Lord is speaking of what typifies the true believers, and it says in Mark 16:17-18:

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Now we need to point out that the Greek word translated as “hurt” in Mark 16 is not the same word that we have in our verse in Revelation 7 or in the other places we looked, but it is the same idea that is being expressed: God’s people cannot be injured, spiritually; they cannot be “hurt” or killed by anything. God predestinated them to salvation and, at this point, everyone that was to become saved, has become saved. They are safe and secure.

There is no more warfare waging over whether there is one of God’s elect, still unsaved and in Satan’s kingdom of darkness, who needs to hear the Gospel, and with Satan doing battle in order to prevent it. That is all past. It is all done and none of God’s elect were ever “hurt” spiritually by the efforts of Satan and his emissaries (in the churches our without) as they designed and brought forth other kinds of teachings from the Bible with other gospels that tried to identify as closely with the true Gospel as possible, while trying to deceive and lead people off that “narrow way” and into that broad way. It was always Satan’s end purpose to cause one of God’s chosen to fail to become saved and, therefore, die in his or her sins and be destroyed, and to disappoint God and make God’s program of election of none effect. Yet, he failed for centuries and centuries and centuries, until now it is an utter and complete failure because God’s program to find the lost sheep of the house of Israel has now been completed and all the sheep have been found.

Now it is not a matter of finding sheep, which “evangelization” was all about; that is, the sending forth of the Gospel that individuals might hear and become saved and, therefore, be “found.” But now it is a matter of “feeding sheep,” because all of the sheep have been found and now it is just taking care of them and spiritually nourishing them with the truth of the Word of God.

Let us go to Revelation, chapter 2, and we are going to find a verse that really defines the passage that we are looking at in Revelation 7:1, as far as this word “hurt” is concerned. It says in Revelation 2:11:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

“He that overcometh” is someone that is overcome in Christ, as Christ overcame all, to win the victory. That is what the word “overcome” means: to be victorious, to be the conqueror and the winner of the battle. Christ did so and all those that are in Christ are the “seed of Abraham” and have overcome in Him and none of them shall be “hurt of the second death;” that is, that final judgment of God in which He will destroy the sinner for evermore. That “second death” began once God shut the door of Heaven; at that point, He guaranteed the destruction of every unsaved individual in the world. He guaranteed that they will, finally, at the end of Judgment Day, be completely destroyed and annihilated. That is the “hurt” that our verse in Revelation 1:7 is referring to. First the Lord Jesus (the ascending angel from the east that has the seal of the living God) gives instructions to the four angels “to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea.”

The four messengers bring forth the Word of God that will declare and pronounce the condemnation of the wicked and it was said to them: “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” We are presently living in the time when all of God’s elect have become saved and, therefore, sealed, and that means we are living in the time when the “four angels” are no longer constrained. They are no longer bound. They are no longer held back from performing this task to “hurt” the earth and the sea and the trees.

Lord willing, as we continue on (and this is important for us to keep looking at), we will be greatly helped in many passages of the Bible, once we get a proper understanding of what is going on here. Actually, it will help us in the coming chapters of Revelation 8 and Revelation 9. Revelation 8 describes God wrath falls upon the churches and Revelation 9 describes God’s wrath falling upon the world. In other words, God is “hurting” them and He is doing so because of what is said here: first, the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads, which then frees up the “four messengers” to begin their task to “hurt” the earth.

Revelation 7 Series, Study #3

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 6, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #3 of Revelation, chapter 7, and I am going to be reading the first three verses. It says in Revelation 7:1-3:

We have been looking at these verses for the last couple of studies and there is quite a bit of information here, so we are going to take our time, by God’s grace, and if it be His will. We have sufficient time to, hopefully, go through the entire Book of Revelation before these 1,600 days are completed, but that is according to the will of God. We are not going to hurry through it, but we want to take our time. If you have noticed, we have spent a lot of time on certain verses and we are doing a lot of “comparing of Scriptures.” We are not only showing one verse, but several verses, that prove the point or the doctrine that these Scriptures teach and we want to continue to do that as much as possible.

We were discussing the word “hurt,” the Greek word, Strong’s #91. We went to a few places where it was translated as “wrong,” such as in Acts 7, when Moses interceded between two men that were arguing and one man had done his fellow Israelite “wrong.” We have also seen how the word is translated as “hurt,” as the Lord Jesus said, in Luke 10:19, “nothing shall by any means hurt you,” which was indicating that nothing, spiritually, will “hurt” the child of God – no false gospel, no poison “water,” so to speak. Nothing can “hurt” the true believer because we are granted eternal life.

Then we saw what really is in view regarding this word “hurt” and this is the verse which really defines it, in Revelation 2:11:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

That would be the ultimate injury or the ultimate harm that could be done to an individual: to experience the “hurt” of the second death and that “hurt” God will bring upon every unsaved individual. That is the context of Revelation 7 as the angel that was ascending from the east cried, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” That is the “hurt” that will finally come with the second death at its conclusion and it is not to be unleashed until God has “sealed” his servants (saved His elect).

Well, let us look at a few other places in Revelation where the same word “hurt” is used. I want to look in this Book because it is going to help us understand where this word is found in other places and that is the whole purpose of our Bible study in this Book: to understand the Book of Revelation better than we do now. We want to understand it as much as we possibly can and as much as God allows, as He opens our understanding.

We read in Revelation 6:5-6:

And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and *see* thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

We went over these verses when we studied Revelation, chapter 6, and we saw that the third seal and the black horse relate to the Great Tribulation period and, here, God is giving instruction concerning what is not to be “hurt,” just as we are reading in our passage in Revelation 7. He says, “See thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” Now “the oil and the wine” would be the fruits of a harvest or fruits of the earth. They, therefore, typify God’s elect and this is basically similar to Ezekiel, chapter 9. It is spiritually the very same idea. In Ezekiel 9 God is beginning to judge the “sanctuary” and we read in Ezekiel 9:4-6:

And JEHOVAH said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old *and* young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom *is* the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which *were* before the house.

This is the Old Testament passage that really helps us define 1st Peter 4:17. It is a commentary which aids us greatly in understanding what God means when He says, “Judgment begins at the house of God.” It means it is the corporate body: Israel of old or the churches of the New Testament era. Notice that God very carefully (before beginning the process of judging at the sanctuary and slaying all the people of the city) made sure a “mark” was set upon the foreheads of those that “sigh and that cry,” which would be indicative of the elect that were within. Once they were “marked,” then the order could be given to go forth to slay and kill, but do not hurt or harm any that had the mark. That is what Revelation 6:6-7 are saying when it says to “hurt not the oil and the wine,” and it is what our verse in Revelation 7 is indicating: “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” Once the “mark” of salvation has been applied, then the judgment can begin. Once God saved all the firstfruits that would come out of the church age, then He could begin judgment on the churches. Once He has saved the last of the elect whose names were recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life, then He can begin the judgment on the world and that is what happened on May 21, 2011.

Let us also go to Revelation 9, where we read of locusts that come out of the smoke of the pit, as it says in Revelation 9:3-4:

And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

We see how this is a similar command to the four angels in Revelation 7, except in Revelation 9 they are in the process of going about to deliver this “hurt” on the people. The difference is that in Revelation 9, the grass of the earth and green things and the tree are those that would typify the elect, but those that “have not the seal of God in their foreheads” are those that are not saved, not elect and never were born again; they may profess to be a believer, but in reality, in their hearts, there has been no change; they are the ones being “hurt.” As we read in Revelation 9:10:

And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power *was* to hurt men five months.

This is referring to the true believers that are likened here to a plague of locusts that are coming upon the earth. Locusts swarm in great numbers and God saved a “great multitude” that came out of Great Tribulation, so the locusts are likened to these creatures that have “tails like unto scorpions.” Now why would God say that the locusts (if they do, indeed, represent the true believers) have tails like scorpions? After all, we know that the Bible has little good to say (if anything) about scorpions. It said, back in Luke 10:19:

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Now, here, the Lord is indicating that as the seventy return rejoicing because the devils were subject unto them through the name of Christ, that this was very much like treading on “serpents and scorpions,” so the devils (those in opposition to God and enemies of His kingdom) are likened unto “serpents and scorpions.” So why would Revelation 9:10 say they had “tails like unto scorpions,” if the locusts were truly the elect? It says in Revelation 9:10:

And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power *was* to hurt men five months.

Well, the reason is that false gospels…and there are just multitudes of them today. They are so numerous that if someone were to try, they probably could not catalog them all or list all their various errors and their various “twists” and variations from the truth. Really, I think it would be almost an impossible task because every church has different errors; every website has different errors; every TV evangelist has different errors. This applies to every false gospel (which would be typified by serpents and scorpions), no matter how close they can get to the truth, or no matter how far away they are from truth.

Sometimes, as believers, we hear of a gospel like the churches that involve themselves in “holy laughter” and they are falling down and laughing in the aisles or maybe they are dancing in the aisles. We shake our heads because that is so far from the truths of God that we wonder how anyone could be deceived by that.

There is a wide spectrum of errors; it goes from a gospel which is as “close as possible” to truth, where God even says that they might deceive the very elect if that were possible (Matthew 24:24), but it is not possible because God prevents that; He will not allow His people to be deceived in that way; He gives His people “ears” to hear His voice. Then there is the other end of that spectrum, where we find the most ridiculous and far out teachings imaginable.

Whether it be adding to, or subtracting from, the Word of God, or whether they believe God is still bringing divine revelation, or whether they believe their church is the authority, or whether they believe a man can do a work to get himself saved, they all have one thing in common and that is that none of them can “save.” None of them can deliver a sinner from their sins.

There is no salvation possible with any false gospel and that is why God is saying the locusts have “tails like unto scorpions,” because in these days of judgment (and there is a good possibility it will continue for 1,600 actual days), typified by the five months, there is no salvation possible. And even as God’s people share information from the Bible and even as we declare the things we learn (like we have always done) and even as we share truth with one another and we broadcast that truth in order to reach out to feed God’s sheep, there is no salvation and, therefore, it is like we have “tails like unto scorpions.” The true believers who share these truths from the Bible in this Day of Judgment have that in common with every “false gospel;” that is, there is no salvation anywhere. So God picked up on that “figure” to help us understand, once again, that there is no more salvation. Notice back in verse 5, as it says in Revelation 9:5:

And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months:…

That would be the “hurt,” as God describes this “hurt” as torment.

…and their torment *was* as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

The “death” this is referring to is the “death” in Christ when the Lord saves someone; it is as though they have died in Him, as Romans 6 discusses in some detail. It is to be baptized into His death.

In those days, men shall seek “death,” or seek identification with Christ’s death (in other words, they will seek salvation) and they shall desire to “die in Him,” but “death shall flee from them.” We could substitute the word “salvation” here: “And in those days shall men seek (salvation), and shall not find it; and shall desire (to be saved), and (salvation) shall flee from them. There is no salvation and notice, again, how God refers to the “torment” of a scorpion when he striketh a man. This was a typical reference during the day of salvation to the scorpions and serpents as those that brought false gospels which Satan used in order to deceive man in hopes of destroying him.

But now it is Judgment Day and God is judging the world and all the saints with Him, so He has come, spiritually, in judgment and He is using the fact that He has saved all the company of the elect as a means (as a hammer or as an axe) to bring that judgment on the unsaved, so He likens all of the elect to locusts that bring “torment” as a scorpion, because there is no salvation. So we can see that this is the consistent teaching of the Bible: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven,” which is teaching: No salvation, no salvation, no salvation.

On that day of May 21, 2011 – 7, 000 years from the flood to the very day on Noah’s calendar of the 17th day of the second month and 7,000 years later the underlying Hebrew calendar date was 2-17 and that was the very day that God shut the door of the ark. And when we read of the door (and Christ is the door) being shut, that means “no salvation.” The Bible speaks of, “The light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee,” when referring to the judgment upon Babylon (this world), and that means “no salvation.” The Bible speaks of, “The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee,” and that means “no salvation.” It is very consistent. It is awful and terrible, yes, but that is because it is the Day of Judgment and it is a very consistent message of the Bible. This will be the characteristic of Judgment Day.

Let us also go to Revelation 22:10-11:

And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

Let us stop there before we go on to verse 11. We know that God said to Daniel, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, to the time of the end.” The Word of God, the Bible, was to be sealed until a particular time in history known as the end of the world. The end of the world began once judgment began at the house of God. That began the end time judgment program of God for the 8,400 days of judging the churches, to be followed (it very much appears) by 1,600 days of judging the world, to bring it to a total of 10,000 days of overall judgment upon mankind for their sins. From the beginning of the judgment at the house of God on May 21, 1988 when God ended the church age and the judgment on the churches began, God “unsealed” the Book, the Bible. We have been learning all kinds of spiritual truths since then.

So, when we read, “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand,” this indicates that what is being said has to do with that period of time at the very end of the world – with Judgment Day.

Then it goes on to say in Revelation 22:11:

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Now what does this mean? Why is God saying this and why is He saying it here, after having said: “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand”? Well, the word “unjust” is an English translation of the same Greek word translated as “hurt” in the verses we have been looking at. So, here, God is saying, “He that is hurt, let him be hurt still.” That is really saying (if we take into consideration the other passages we have looked at) that only those without the seal of God – after all others have been sealed – can be hurt. Therefore, this is saying, “He that is hurt;” that is, the individuals that now are the objects of God’s wrath because He has already sealed all of His elect: “He that is hurt, let him be hurt still.” There can be no change now: “And he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still.” This is indicating that it is all “set.” Each one’s eternal condition has been established by God; God has concluded His salvation program; He ended it after the outpouring of the latter rain when the Great Tribulation concluded on May 21, 2011, after an exact twenty three years. Once that was concluded, that was it.

Now there are no more to be saved, so, therefore, anyone in their sins will remain in their sins and anyone that has been saved and has the imputed the righteousness of Christ will remain righteous. It is a statement indicating that each person’s eternal condition is “fixed,” as it says in Luke 16, “there is a great gulf fixed” so that one cannot come near the other. There is Lazarus in “Abraham’s bosom” and there is the rich man in hades (in the grave) and there is a great gulf fixed between them. There is no going from one place to the other. You can not come from hence and those that are here cannot go to you. Now the spiritual condition of all mankind is finally settled and will never change. Of course, this is grievous. There is no getting around that. This is very grievous for all.

For God’s people, in that parable in the Gospel of Luke, they would desire to “come from thence.” And we do have that desire: we loved sharing the Gospel with individuals during the Day of Salvation and we would desire, if it were possible and if God would allow, to bring a “drop of water” to any that are parched and in such an awful condition and, yet, we cannot. The great gulf has been established by God. The door has been shut by Him. The light has been put out by Him. The voice has been silenced by Him. How can we dare to go against what God has done?

Revelation 7 Series, Study #4

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 7, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #4 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are continuing to look at the first three verses. It says in Revelation 7:1-3:

In this study, hopefully, we will have an opportunity to look at this word “sealed,” and then we will look at the “four angels,” or messengers. I think that we will be able to see, fairly clearly, who the “four angels” represent and we ought to have a better understanding of these verses and also of some other verses found in Revelation, chapter 9.

But let us begin by looking at a few places where the Greek word translated as “sealed” is found and the word is also translated as “sealed” in these verses. It says in 2nd Corinthians 1:20-22:

For all the promises of God in him *are* yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, *is* God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Here, notice that God has “sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts,” so, clearly, to “seal” is identified with receiving the Spirit of God – the Holy Spirit.

Also, we see a similar idea in the Book of Ephesians 1:12-13:

That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also *trusted*, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Wow, what a wonderful Biblical truth God is giving us here. He is telling us that individuals that heard the Word and “believed unto salvation” (and, remember, it is not only confession of the mouth, but confession of the heart; and God is the One that does the saving so a person can believe unto salvation) were “sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”

And why is it a “holy Spirit of promise”? It is because when God saves a sinner by granting them a new spiritual soul and a new heart, they have received the “promise” of the Father, the promise of the completion of that salvation plan. At the point of hearing the Gospel and becoming saved, it is only the “soul,” or the invisible heart of man, that is saved; he still has an unsaved body and that, too, must be completed (at a later time) with the resurrection of the new spiritual body. Then that person will be a “whole personality,” born again in both soul and body, and will also have the promise of the new heaven and new earth and all the glorious things that accompany salvation (that are beyond our ability to imagine) and all the wonderful blessings that God has in store for His elect people. This is all involved with receiving “that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” In other words, the Holy Spirit is a “down payment” of God’s salvation program. If you are a child of God, then you have come to know that God has saved you and there is evidence of that; or maybe you lack “total assurance” and maybe you are still unsure of your salvation, but, for some, they know – God has granted them assurance of faith. For others, they may see evidence of the working of God in their hearts and in their lives. Whether you “know,” or whether you see evidence that leads you to hope that God did save you before He shut the door of Heaven on May 21, 2011, this is the “earnest of our inheritance,” if we are truly saved.

We have received that “holy Spirit of promise” and the fact that the Holy Spirit does indwell the child of God is evidence that God will complete His entire salvation plan; that is, the Holy Spirit is the “earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” It is the redemption of our bodies (which have also been purchased by Christ) and the redemption of this world. The Spirit of God is our comfort and our encouragement that God was faithful in saving us and bringing His Spirit into our lives and transforming us from our former nature (from the way we were going and the sins that easily beset us). Since the Holy Spirit has accomplished this “down payment,” as it were, concerning all that God has said, the complete promise of His salvation is sure. We are greatly encouraged and we can wait on the Lord, with great expectation and hope, “that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” God has shown Himself true and faithful in everything thus far, in granting us His grace and bestowing His Spirit upon us and that is evidence that He will be true and faithful with everything else.

Also, we will look at another verse in Ephesians and this is the last verse we will look at. We read this word “sealed” in Ephesians 4:30:

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

That “day of redemption” would be the last day of the period of Judgment Day; it is the day of the resurrection of the dead and the rapture of those that are still alive and remaining upon the earth. It is the day we hope will come shortly. So, we are “sealed” by God’s Spirit and, therefore, God says, “Grieve not the holy Spirit,” and the holy Spirit dwells within the child of God, mysteriously. Also, God has given us a new heart and spirit that is perfect and, as a result, when we fall into sin and transgress the Law of God, we will be sorry for our sin, as King David was moved to write in the Psalms. We will take no pleasure (or, increasingly less and less pleasure) in the sins we once spent a great deal of time in and enjoyed much more than we do now.

Let us return to Revelation 7. Again, the ascending angel from the east (who is the Lord Jesus), in verse 2, is the one “having the seal of the living God.” Now we can see what that is all about. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that entered into the lives of those that were chosen before the foundation of the world, foreordained to receive God’s grace and be “born again.” So, here, it says that this angel ascending from the east possesses the “seal of the living God.” That means He has the power to save; He has the power to deliver individuals from their sins.

It goes on to say:

…and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

Remember, we looked at the word “hurt,” and it said back in Revelation 2:11:

… He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

This really involves not being saved and, so, experiencing the wrath of God; the ultimate “hurt” is to be destroyed for one’s sins. Here, the Lord Jesus Christ, the ascending angel from the east, is crying to the four messengers that are holding back the four winds of the earth, telling them: “Hold off! Hurt not the earth, sea or trees until we have sealed (or saved) the servants of our God in their foreheads.” The seal is said is to be in the “foreheads” because that is where our minds are and, in the Bible, “heart, mind and soul” are synonymous, so it indicates that they have become “new creatures” and their wills are now the will of God; their wills have been turned over and now they desire to do the will of God.

Just to make another point, we will read later of those that receive the “mark of the beast” in their “foreheads;” and that is the same idea, but in a negative way. The will of the unsaved is given over to Satan and sin and to everything “ungodly” and this is coming forth from their “hearts, minds and souls.” They are completely in agreement with sin and iniquity and transgressing the Law of God in both body and soul.

I think we can see very clearly what God is saying in these verses, but let us take a “step back” and look at the “four angels.” If you remember our previous study, we saw that the “four winds” had to do with the elect, especially in Zechariah 2: 6-7, where the elect were scattered to the four winds as they came out of Babylon. But, who are these “four angels” that hold the four winds of the earth? The implication is that once the Lord Jesus, the ascending angel from the east, accomplishes His purpose of sealing (saving) the servants of God in their foreheads, the “four angels” may proceed to “hurt” the earth and trees and sea. Hopefully, if we have time, we will look at the word “earth” and see what that relates to.

But, for now, let us take a look at the “four angels.” We will go first to Revelation 9:12-14:

One woe is past; *and,* behold, there come two woes more hereafter. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

Outside of Revelation 7, the only other place that speaks of “four angels” is in this passage, so that would mean that these passages are related. Let us keep reading in Revelation 9:15:

And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

It is also interesting that the “four angels” are said to be “bound” and if you are bound, you are “held back” and that is the idea in Revelation 7, where they were on the four corners of the earth, holding the “four winds” and it was commanded that they should not (yet) hurt the earth – they had to wait, so in that sense, they were “bound” and there was a force that was holding them. Now, in Revelation 9, they are “bound” in the great river Euphrates and the “four angels” are loosed, just as the implication in Revelation 7 after all the servants of God are sealed, you will be loosed so you can “hurt.” Well, what happens here? It says in Revelation 9:15-19:

And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen *were* two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses *were* as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails *were* like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

There is that word “hurt” again. It is the same Greek word that is translated as “hurt” here in Revelation 9:19. So the “four angels” are bound and then the “four angels” are loosed, and is it not interesting that in verse 15 we read of the “four angels” being loosed to “slay the third part of men”? Then that is the last we read of the “four angels in this chapter – we loose track of them; well, not so much that we loose track of them, but God, apparently, changes the subject. Or did He? (repeat) Or did He? Where did the “four angels” go? We read about them in verse 15 and the next thing we know is we read in verse 16: “And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand.” That is 200 million horsemen. Then we read of them that sat on the horses: “and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.” Then notice verse 18: “By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone.” Now what did God say of the “four angels” back in verse 15? “And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.”

Oh, that explains it – the “four angels” and the 200 million horsemen are one and the same; they are the same entity, but God just picked up a different “figure” to refer to them. They are the “four messengers” that are bound in the great river Euphrates and the number “four,” which represents to universality, would point to all of the messengers of the God (all of God’s elect), which are also typified by 200 million horsemen; and we read, in Revelation, chapter 19, that the Lord Jesus Christ comes riding on a white horse and the army in heaven are also upon horses and those armies are the true believers; they are clothed in white; they are clothed in the righteousness of the saints. This is the army of God – this is the sum total of all of God’s elect.

At this point, we are not going to get into whether 200 million is a literal number, or not, but it does represent all of the elect, all whose names were recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life. This represents the totality of everyone that the Lord Jesus died for. They are typified by the “four angels” or “four messengers” that are, at first, bound in the great river Euphrates and then the “four messengers” are loosed. Once they are loosed and they are no longer held back, they go forth to “slay the third part of men” and they had “power in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents.” It is very similar to the locusts which also had “power in their tails” to “hurt” men, it said back in verse 10: “And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power *was* to hurt men five months.”

Remember, again, Luke 10:19, where the Lord Jesus Christ joins together “scorpions and serpents” in the context of referring to the forces of Satan’s kingdom, the enemies of the kingdoms of God (false gospels that have no ability to save or to deliver a soul out of sin). God is indicating that in the Day of Judgment, His elect, His great army – first typified by locusts and then typified by the “four angels” and by the 200 million horsemen – will go forth. They will have “power in their tails” like a serpents (in the case of the 200 million) or like scorpions (in the case of the locusts), meaning there will be no more salvation because all to be saved have become saved.

Revelation 7 Series, Study #5

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 8, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #5 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to continue to look at the first three verses. It says in Revelation 7:1-3:

I will stop reading there. We know that the “sealing” of God’s servants points to salvation and God is telling us that His judgment will not come until He has saved all His elect people which He had planned to save; this was true of all those to be saved during the church age. God did not bring about the end of the church age until all the “firstfruits” were gathered and once that was completed, then judgment began at the house of God. Likewise, God would not bring judgment on the world until all the elect had been saved whose names were recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life from before the foundation of the world, as God elected these people to be recipients of His grace and salvation. But not until each and every one of these elect heard the Gospel and had the Word of God applied to him or her in a redemptive way (until God would save them by creating a new heart and spirit) could judgment begin on the world.

May 21, 2011 was the day of transition from the judgment which had been upon the churches for twenty three years to judgment upon all the unsaved inhabitants of the earth. This statement is true of both judgments: the judgment on the churches and the judgment on the world. But, first, the elect had to be found and “sealed” with God’s Spirit, the “earnest of their inheritance,” the down payment of God’s salvation program which guaranteed that He would complete it and that He will finally give them a new resurrected body and He will fulfill the promise of their eternal habitation in the Kingdom of Heaven.

We know that this is true; this teaching is confirmed elsewhere in the Bible. For instance, the Epistle of James confirms it, with the language that the husbandman (who is God the Father) has long patience until He receives the early and the latter rain. The early rain identifies with the outpouring of the Gospel during the church age, in which the “firstfruits” were gathered in. The latter rain identifies with the outpouring of the Gospel a “second time” during the little season of the Great Tribulation, in which a great multitude became saved from every nation of the world. Then the implication is that the husbandman (the Father) will no longer be patient and longsuffering in putting up with the sins of man. And that is exactly what happened, as God shut the door of Heaven, in anger – in an outpouring of wrath – upon the unsaved people of the world on the Day of Judgment, the very day that He proclaimed to the world that He would do this.

Now we want to look at the language regarding what is to be “hurt,” as we read here that the four angels are “holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.” Then verse 3 re-emphasizes that: “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” What is in view? We understand what this “sealing” of the servants of God means, but what is in view with the language of “the earth, the sea and the trees”?

Let us look into each one of these words and, as we do, we will see a consistent pattern emerge, as each of these terms is pointing to the same thing. Let us start with the word “earth.” Back in Genesis 6, in the days before the flood, we read in Genesis 6:11-13:

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Notice that, God, in verse 11, says the earth was corrupt before him and filled with violence. Maybe we have not slowed down enough in the past to consider and think about what God is saying, but it is almost as if God is saying that the earth itself (the literal, physical earth) is corrupt. We know that is true to some degree because when mankind fell into sin, God also cursed the creation and, therefore, it is seeing corruption.

But that is not what God has in view here. It is as though He is looking down upon the world and He sees the corruption (because men are consistently doing evil in the earth and that is why it says the earth is filled with violence) and “God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt,” and then He explains why in this phrase in verse 12: “for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.” That tells us that God is identifying “earth” with mankind. God is identifying the sins of mankind as if the earth itself had committed those sins and, finally, He pronounces the judgment upon both, at the end of verse 13: “behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” So the earth also experiences the judgment and this is a consistent teaching of the Scripture as we go through the Bible, for instance, in Isaiah 34, which is a chapter which also describes Judgment Day. We read in Isaiah 34:1-2:

Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of JEHOVAH *is* upon all nations, and *his* fury upon all their armies…

Now, notice again, verse 1: “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear.” How can God say, “Let the earth hear”? The “earth” cannot hear. It does not have life, like people have life, and it does not have understanding, like people have understanding. It is obvious what God is doing: He is making nations, people and “earth” synonymous. They are all saying the same thing: “Come near, ye nations” (all the political nations); and “hearken, ye people” (all people of the world that inhabit the earth); and “Let the earth hear.” This is a worldwide universal command; it includes every individual upon the face of the earth, but God is just referring to them as the “earth” itself, yet, He is speaking to the people of the earth. Only the people of the earth can hear with any kind of understanding of what He is saying and that is important for us to understand because God says, in 1st Chronicles 16:32:

Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all that *is* therein. Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD, because he cometh to judge the earth.

Is God coming to judge the ground? Is He coming to judge the mountains? Is He coming to judge the rocks and the seas and the things of the earth? Well, that would really be only a “side effect.” It will happen that God will finally destroy this earth at the very end because it was necessary to bring it into corruption – you cannot have a perfect earth with imperfect, sinful men dwelling in it and ruling over it. So God had to create “equality” between them, so both man and the “earth” became corrupt, but when God says, “he cometh to judge the earth,” what do we immediately think of? We think that He is coming to judge people and that is exactly what He means. We read in Isaiah 11:4:

But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

This is an example of Hebrew parallelism: the first part of the statement (“he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth”) is equal to the next part of the statement (“and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked”). The “rod of his mouth” and the “breath of his lips” both point to the Word of God; and the smiting of the earth points to slaying the wicked. They are one and the same – they are synonymous statements that help us understand how God often refers to the “earth.”

Sometimes, mysteriously, there are a few verses (especially those dealing with the end of time and Judgment Day, the time we are now living in), which theologians or any Bible students that were studying the Bible in depth would have had to “scratch their heads” at what God was saying. It is only once we understand that Christ spoke in parables (and Christ is the Word and, therefore, the whole Bible is a parable) that we realize the possibility that the Lord is saying something spiritual, but then we have to look and try to discover what spiritual meaning there could be. Even in looking for a spiritual meaning, we would have had difficulty, until now (in our present day); and now we can understand that as we are looking at the word “earth,” that it can simply be a way of referring to the people of the earth. And if God is speaking of judging the “earth,” of course, He is speaking of judging the unsaved people of the earth.

In Isaiah, chapter 13, in a chapter that clearly outlines Judgment Day, we read in Isaiah 13:11-12:

And I will punish the world for *their* evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

Now verse 11 is plainly stating that God is punishing the world and in verse 12, where He says, “I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir,” He is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ who will not be found at that time and, therefore, will be as rare to find as fine gold, because salvation is no longer able to be found.

Now let us look at Isaiah 13:13-14:

Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of JEHOVAH of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.

Now, do you see what the Lord did here in verse 13? He speaks of “shaking the heavens,” and we spent some time on this as we went through Revelation, chapter 6, where we realized that God’s Word, the Bible, established the spiritual heavens – the lights of the Gospel – typified by the “sun, moon and stars,” so we can understand very well what it means by “shaking the heavens,” but then He says, “and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of JEHOVAH of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” We wonder: what does the “earth” represent? We have a very excellent idea what the heavens represent, but the “earth removing out of her place” is a bit more difficult to gain a proper understanding of, until now. Now we are seeing that the “earth” was corrupt before Him in the time before the flood and now we are seeing that this has to do with the “people” of the earth – the wicked of the earth. So, the “earth shall remove out of her place,” then notice verse 13 of Isaiah 13: “And it (referring back to the earth) shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they (referring, again, back to the earth) shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.”

Now we can see that the “earth” refers to the unsaved inhabitants of the earth – the wicked people. They will “remove” in the sense of a “chased roe.” And the word “chased” is sometimes translated as “outcast,” or that which is discarded. And the earth will be “as a sheep that no man taketh up.” Who would take up a sheep but a shepherd? This is telling us that those that are left in the world that have not been gathered (the word “taketh up” is also translated as “gathered), have not been saved by their Good Shepherd and brought into the fold and placed under His protection. He is the Shepherd that did not gather them or did not “take them up.” That is the condition of the “earth” and, as a result, “they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.” As Revelation 22 says, “He which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still.”

Now the spiritual condition of every man, every woman and every child is established. If you are saved, you will be saved still. Of course, we can never lose salvation. If you are unsaved, you will remain unsaved still. There can be no further change in one’s spiritual condition; everyone goes to their own people and their own land – to their own kingdom, whether you are in the kingdom of darkness or in the Kingdom of God’s dear Son.

This is what God is describing here as a “chased roe” and a “sheep that no man taketh up,” as the earth removes “out of her place.” Of course, that would also help us in Revelation 6, as we read in verse 14:

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

We had looked at the word “mountain” as a reference to kingdom (and it is), spiritually. But “island,” which would typify the continents (as each continent is an island) and, therefore, the earth itself we had a bit more difficulty with, but now we have a better understanding due to this language where the “earth” represents the people of the earth.

Let us just look at one last place in Jeremiah 50. We are continuing to look at the word “earth” to see what the Bible has to say about the spiritual meaning for this world. It says in Jeremiah 50:46:

At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.

Again, we have that Hebrew parallelism. When it says, “At the noise of the taking of Babylon” points to the fall of Babylon which occurred after the seventy year period, which typified the Great Tribulation and, therefore, it points to the end of the Great Tribulation period and May 21, 2011, was the end of the Great Tribulation – an exact twenty three years in duration. The “noise” or the “report” of the taking of Babylon went into all the world; it was broadcast far and wide. At the “noise” of the taking of Babylon (the kingdom of Satan and this world), the “earth is moved.” What does that mean? Was there a great earthquake? Was there a tremendous shaking of the ground? No, there was not. You see, that was our mistake in thinking that, rather than letting the Bible define this term, as it does in the next part of this verse: “and the cry (or the noise or report) is heard among the nations.” Again, “At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved,” and that is identical to, or parallel to, “the cry is heard among the nations,” as the people heard the witness of the Word of God and the declaration that May 21, 2011 would be the Day of Judgment. This is what “shook” the people of the world.

You know, we said that. We recognized that and we said, “The whole world is shaken by the news of May 21, 2011.” They had never heard anything like that ever before in history, to such a degree. It went worldwide and billions of people heard this news. No one could do what man normally does and “ignore it” or “dismiss it” or “get away from it,” because everywhere they turned (as men scurried away from the light into their darkness), there it was again. And, at that “report,” or at that “cry,” and at the sound of the trumpet, as the watchmen blew the trumpet to warn the people, truly (the Bible teaches) the “earth was moved.” The nations heard this report and they were troubled by it. That is exactly what the Bible teaches.

Well, now we can understand the first part of what God is saying in Revelation 7:3: “Hurt not the earth.” He is not, in the first instance, talking about the physical earth, but He is referring to the unsaved inhabitants of the earth, which is exactly our understanding of God’s Gospel program. God will not bring about that Day of Judgment until He saves all of His elect and that is what He is saying here: “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”

Lord willing, when we get together in our next Bible study, we will look at the next word that God says is not to be hurt: “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea.”

Revelation 7 Series, Study #6

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 11, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #6 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading Revelation 7:3:

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

As we have been following along in these verses, we have seen that this is speaking of God’s end time judgment – His program of judgment: first, He will save all His elect people and that was the “sealing” of “the servants of our God in their foreheads,” and then following that, it was always God plan to bring judgment on the unsaved people of the earth.

In our last study, we looked at the word “earth,” as it said: “Hurt not the earth,” and we saw that this is a way of addressing the unsaved people of the earth, as we saw in Isaiah 34, where the Lord was speaking to the nations and He said, “Come near, ye nations,” and then He said, in the same verse, “Let the earth hear.” It was a synonymous statement with “nations.” So, when God is saying, here: “Hurt not the earth,” He is not (in the first instance) talking about the physical creation of this earth, but He is speaking of the unsaved inhabitants of the earth – mankind that has rebelled against Him; they are the ones that are under His wrath, even though it will finally work out that the physical earth itself will be destroyed, due to corruption, when mankind fell into sin in the Garden of Eden and God cursed the earth. Finally, the consequence will be its destruction, but that is not the spiritual emphasis in Revelation 7:3: “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea.”

We are going to look up the word “sea” and see how it is used in other places in the Bible and we will see that the word “sea” takes on the same spiritual meaning here as the word “earth.” For instance, it says in Habakkuk 1:14:

And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, *that have* no ruler over them?

Here, God is talking about the fish of the sea, but if you hurt the sea, then you would also hurt the fish within. More specifically addressed to the “sea,” we read in Psalm 114:1:

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was his sanctuary, *and* Israel his dominion. The sea saw *it*, and fled: Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, *and* the little hills like lambs. What *ailed* thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, *that* thou wast driven back? Ye mountains, *that* ye skipped like rams; *and* ye little hills, like lambs? Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; Which turned the rock *into* a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.

Of course, we can see that God is using the “sea” and “mountains” and the “little hills” in a spiritual way. He is not literally saying “the mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs,” and He is not saying that the “sea” had some literal “fear” and that is why it was “driven back.” He is assigning “personality” to the sea and he is using the sea in a figurative way.

And all of these verses, even though they are somewhat different when we consider how this particular word “sea” is used in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, we will slowly be able to develop an understanding for this word. We also find in Isaiah 5:25-30:

Therefore is the anger of JEHOVAH kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases *were* torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand *is* stretched out still. And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: Whose arrows *are* sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: Their roaring *shall be* like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry *it* away safe, and none shall deliver *it*. And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if *one* look unto the land, behold darkness *and* sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

Now, here, God is giving very descriptive language of His judgment and He is referring to this spiritual battle and He speaks of them “roaring like the sea.” He is referring, ultimately, to people – people are likened to the “sea.” And that is what we find later, in Isaiah 57:20-21:

But the wicked *are* like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. *There is* no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

This picture is very clear. The wicked (unsaved) people are like a “troubled sea,” not a calm, smooth sea. Remember that beautiful Psalm, where it says in Psalm 23:1-2:

JEHOVAH *is* my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Here is a wonderful picture of the Gospel of God. It is very peaceful; it is still and calm. When Christ was asleep and a storm arose at sea, He arose and He “calmed” the waves: “Peace, be still,” He said to the waves of the sea. And that actually can be a picture of salvation, because “the wicked are like the troubled sea...whose waters cast up mire and dirt.” They are like a storm at sea. There is no rest. There is no peace because Christ, the Bible says, “is our peace.” The wicked have not Christ and they do not have the peace of God; they have no peace between themselves and the one they have offended, their Creator, Eternal God. So they are typified by a “troubled sea.”

God uses that picture to speak of false prophets in the Book of Jude (the little Epistle that comes before Revelation), where it says in Jude, verse 12:

These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds *they are* without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

This is all language describing unsaved individuals that take the Word of God into their mouths, like the examples given there of Baalam and Korah that represent all those that come with “another gospel” and that take the Word of God in their mouths, but they are not true children of God. They are like “raging waves of the sea” because they are still “troubled.” There is no peace to them, so they are the wicked that are “like the troubled sea.”

Let us look at one more verse in Isaiah. Once we understand that God can use the “sea” to represent unsaved people, this verse in Isaiah, chapter 60, then begins to make much more sense to us. Here, God is speaking of the Gentiles coming to they light and He says in Isaiah 60:4-5:

Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at *thy* side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

The Lord goes on to speak of the flocks of Kedar and the rams of Nebaioth (who were sons of Ishmael) and God is indicating He will fulfill a promise given back in the Book of Genesis to bring salvation to the descendents of Ishmael, which He did do when He sent forth the warning message of Judgment Day in the days leading up to May 21, 2011; we can expect that out of the “great multitude” that God saved from all tongues and peoples and nations, that many were “sons of Ishmael.”

And in this context God says, “The abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee,” which would have to be “unto the Lord Jesus Christ.” The “abundance of the sea” represents a great number of wicked, which are like the troubled sea, and their “sea” was calmed by Christ, as there became peace between themselves and an angry God. Now God was content and He was no longer wrathful toward them, as His wrath was satisfied in Christ as the Lord Jesus applied the redemption He had purchased for them from the foundation of the world when He paid for their sins; now they have “peace with God,” through the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we can see how the “sea” is used as a figure for those that are converted – for sinners that have become saved.

Once we realize that the “sea” (like the “earth”) can represent people, then we can understand the statement in our verse in Revelation 7:3: “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea.” In both instances, people are in view – the unsaved people – and they are not be “hurt” (that is, Judgment is not to come upon them) until God has accomplished His salvation program and has saved the last of His elect.

Then what about the trees? “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees.” Once again, we will find that this word “trees” also has to do with “people.” In Mark, chapter 8, there is an interesting healing which the Lord performs upon a blind man. It says in Mark 8:22:

And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put *his* hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell *it* to any in the town.

This is a wonderful picture of God’s salvation program as He heals this blind man in “two steps.” Of course, Christ could have spoken the Word; He did not need to spit on the man’s eyes. And, certainly, He could have healed him and given him sight on the first try, as He had done with others. Someone reading this might think, “This is a particularly bad case. What is wrong with this man that he could not be healed by the Lord the first time?” But it helps us to understand other Scriptures, like Isaiah 11:11, where God says He will “set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people,” as the healing of the blind typifies salvation. So God did it once; then He did it a second time. He sent forth the Holy Spirit the first time during the church age when there was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Then He did it a second time when He sent forth the latter rain in the period of the Great Tribulation. (That is one of the spiritual meanings we see here.)

But when this man has his sight restored partially, he was asked if he saw anything, and he looked up and he said, “I see men as trees, walking.” Yes, that meant his sight was not completely restored yet, but it also gave God an opportunity to assign a spiritual meaning to “trees,” to demonstrate “men as trees.” He used this opportunity to help us get the spiritual definition of “trees.” We find, as we search the Bible, that this is actually very common in the Word of God. It says in Deuteronomy 20:19-20:

When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field *is* man's *life*) to employ *them* in the siege: Only the trees which thou knowest that they *be* not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.

Is it not amazing how God has written the Bible? It is just a couple of verses where God is giving, seemingly, basic instruction concerning warfare and we would have to say God is giving some stipulations similar to the Geneva Convention: there are certain “do’s and don’ts” when you do battle. So one thing we could say is that God is showing great compassion when he says not to destroy the trees that bear fruit (“for thou mayest eat of them”), and then He says, “for the tree of the field is man’s life.” Then He says to destroy, “Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat;” that is, trees that bear no fruit.

Do you see how God has hidden the Gospel message in this way? Who would even think to look in the Book of the Law and here are a couple of commandments that would, seemingly, have very rare application – only in times of ancient warfare, or even modern warfare – but there is so much more to it than that! For instance, let us compare what the Lord said here with what we read in Matthew 7:15-20:

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither *can* a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

And the implication is that if you bear good fruit, you will not be cut down and cast into the fire. That is what Deuteronomy 20 was telling us: a tree that bears fruit is not to be cut down (and, in that case, used for warfare), but a tree that produces no meat is to be cut down. But God also gave us the curious statement (if you heard it earlier), in Deuteronomy 20:19: “and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life).” We are likened to a “tree of the field,” a tree that either will bear fruit or that will be fruitless – one or the other. If we are fruitless, we will be cut down, or as Matthew 7 says, if we bear “evil fruit,” we will be cut down, but if we bear “good fruit,” we will not be cut down. And, because His people will bear “good fruit,” God says, in Isaiah 65:22:

They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree *are* the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

You see, God is using earthly language to describe eternity and what could you pick out of this temporal world which could aptly be used to describe that which is eternal (since everything in the world passes away)? Well, I suppose you could pick a “tree,” because a tree can live for quite a long time – sometimes, for hundreds of years – and that is about as good as you can get to describe the eternal life that God has in store for His people.

God also says, in Isaiah 61:3:

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of JEHOVAH, that he might be glorified.

So, God has planted “trees” and they are “trees of righteousness,” and they will bring forth fruit and they will produce good fruit and they will live long lives (they will live for evermore) because God’s “trees of righteousness” are planted where? Well, it tells us in Psalm 1:3-6:

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly *are* not so: but *are* like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For JEHOVAH knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

So we see, oftentimes, that God likens His people to “trees,” but they are trees that bring forth fruit. For instance, when the Lord Jesus went to find fruit on the fig tree and there was no fruit (it did not matter that it was not the time for figs, but all that matters is that God went looking for fruit and there was no fruit), He cursed the fig tree that it withered away immediately; and that was the judgment of God. And, there, the fig tree represented national Israel and they, in turn, represented the New Testament churches and congregations. The cursing of the fig tree points to the fact that Israel bore no fruit, so God cursed it so that it would produce no fruit “henceforth for ever,” since God divorced national Israel back in the first century A.D.

Likewise, God has cursed the churches and congregations, once the church age ended, and never again would they bear fruit. So we read language in Matthew 24 regarding the “fig tree” being in leaf (it is not bearing fruit) and we will know that Christ is at the very doors; all is “at hand” for the judgment of God. That is exactly what we do know, since Israel became a nation again among the nations in 1948 and, since that time, has produced “no fruit.” They continue to turn from God. And forty years later, in 1988 (in the 13,000th year of the world’s history), the church age ended and God cursed the churches and congregations, and they also would never again bear fruit.

So we see language, as we do in Luke 21, where God speaks of the fig tree, in Luke 21:29:

And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.

So, you see, it is not just the fig tree, but all the trees, which God is referring to here and that is a reference that takes us back to the Book of Joel. We will have to wait until the next Bible study and we will continue to look at this word “trees.” It is a very interesting word, as it is used in the Bible, and it leads us a to wonderful, deeper meaning, as God instructs us by His Word as we follow a word through the Scriptures.

Revelation 7 Series, Study #7

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 12, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #7 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to begin by reading Revelation 7:3-8:

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which *were* sealed: *and there were* sealed an hundred *and* forty *and* four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin *were* sealed twelve thousand.

I will stop reading there. As we have been discussing in our previous studies of chapter 7, the angel that ascends from the east gives the command to the four angels (or messengers) to “hurt not” the earth, sea or trees until “we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” We saw how to be “sealed” in the foreheads is language indicating salvation – to be “sealed” by the Spirit of God is to become saved and to receive the “earnest” of God’s salvation program.

So, now, the sealing is taking place, as the Lord Jesus Christ (the one who is in complete control of His Gospel program) sends forth His Word into all the world through the churches and congregations, commanding them to teach all nations, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;” that is, bring the Gospel to the people of the world and He will save those among them that are His elect.

This language in verses 4 through 8 describes 12,000 sealed from 12 tribes of Israel and notice how God says in Revelation 7:4:

And I heard the number of them which *were* sealed: *and there were* sealed an hundred *and* forty *and* four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Let us ask the question: Did God, here, name all the tribes of the physical nation of Israel, the tribes that we read about in the Old Testament? The answer is: no, He did not. He names 12 tribes and one of the tribes that He names is “Joseph,” and Joseph is actually not the name of a tribe, but we can understand that God is referring to the tribe of “Ephraim” as “Joseph.” He does make mention of “Manasses,” which is another one of the sons of Joseph, as Joseph was given two tribes, but He does not mention Ephraim by name; so we will grant that God is referring to “Ephraim” by the reference to “Joseph,” but that still leaves another tribe that is not named and that is the tribe of “Dan.”

God often does this when giving a list of the tribes; He will leave one tribe out, and He did that here, so it is actually not a list of all the tribes of physical, literal Israel, but “spiritual Israel.” The “Israel of God,” as Galatians 6:16 refers to her, is the people of God that become saved from all the nations of the world. They could be Jews, but the vast majority of them are not – they are from China and India and Africa and the Americas and all over the world. God can refer to these people as “Jews” or “tribes of Israel” because, as He explains to us, in the Book of Romans 2:28:

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither *is that* circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

Now that may come as quite a surprise to many Jews today and to Jews all throughout history that are physical, blood descendents of Abraham, but it is a fact because God is saying it. He is saying to them, “Look, you are not a Jew just because you are a descendent of Abraham or just because you are circumcised.” I am sure they would shake their heads in complete disbelief: “Of course, I am a Jew!” Yes, you are a “Jew” in the sense that you are of that people or nation, but you are not a “Jew” in the sense that God is referring to in Romans 2:29:

But he *is* a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision *is that* of the heart, in the spirit, *and* not in the letter; whose praise *is* not of men, but of God.

This defines the spiritual meaning of a Jew in God’s sight, as He looks upon His people that He has saved. He looks on those He saved within Israel and He looks on those He saved from the rest of the world (the Gentiles) and God likens them all to “Jews,” if they are one “inwardly” and they have that “circumcision of the heart.”

Now, of course, circumcision is the “cutting off” of the foreskin of the reproductive organ and it is a literal, physical circumcision, but “circumcision of the heart” is the “cutting off” or the removal of the “heart of stone” and the giving of the “heart of flesh,” as it says: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” If God has done that (and that can only be done by Him through salvation, as He grants grace and mercy to a sinner), then that individual becomes a Jew “inwardly” and becomes a part of the “Israel of God.” So God can say, as he does in James 1:1:

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

Now James was writing this some time after the church age was established and after Pentecost in Acts, chapter 2. He is writing to the “twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.” Yes, it can have application to Jews that are true believers of the tribe of Israel, but it also has application to spiritual Jews that are amongst the nations of the world – God’s elect people – and that is what God is describing in Revelation, chapter 7. Of course, this would totally ruin all of those theories held by individuals who think this is referring to literal Israel or literal Jews and that God has a plan to save a literal 144,000 Jews. No – they are wrong on every count. He is not referring to literal Israel; He is not referring to literal Jews and 144,000 is not a literal number. We have to look for spiritual meaning and this is the only way we can understand these verses (or understand the Bible).

So 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel refer to God’s elect, but now the question is: Is it referring to all of God’s elect (all that He has ever saved)? Let us put it this way: Are all those whose names are recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life in view? Is every single one of them in view, typified by the 144,000? You will hear some people make that claim. You will hear some that will say, “Yes, this is pointing to all of the elect.” And they point to the number and they say, “It is 12,000 out of 12 tribes.” Obviously, the number “12” points to “fullness” and the number “10” points to “completeness,” and it does point to the “complete fullness” of those that are in view, but their mistake is that they have not taken else that the Bible has to say into consideration before coming to that conclusion. For instance, we read in Revelation 14:1:

And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty *and* four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

So, here, we definitely have the same group in view: 144,000 (12,000 from 12 tribes of Israel) and they also have their “Father’s name written in their foreheads.” So this means they are sealed with the Spirit of God. Then it says in Revelation 14:2-3:

And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred *and*forty *and* four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

Well, we have to take this into consideration and it seems to support the claim that 144,000 is referring to all those that were to be saved. Then it goes on to say in Revelation 14:4-5:

These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, *being* the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

Now we have more information. God has helped us a little bit more by telling us that the 144,000 which were redeemed from among men are the “firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” That is a very important statement which will help us to understand who the 144,000 represent and it will also help us to pinpoint the particular period of time where they fit into God’s timetable of “times and seasons.”

So let us follow that word “firstfruits,” and it leads us to the Book of Exodus. We want to learn of the “firstfruits” because the 144,000 are the “firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” It says in Exodus 23:16:

And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours…

God is talking about the harvest and the “firstfruits,” so this involves the 144,000. We can see why the Lord would refers to these souls that He has saved (the 144,000) as “firstfruits,” because He likens Himself to a “husbandman” and He sends rain to produce fruit and when He saves people, He considers them “fruit.” And, here, the “feast of harvest” is mentioned, and it says:

And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, *which is* in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

This verse makes it clear that “harvest” is a two-part process: the “feast of firstfruits” or the “first fruits of thy labours” and there is also the “feast of ingathering in the end of the year.” And it makes sense that “firstfruits” would not come in at the end of the year, but at an earlier period. So God is revealing that there are two stages to His spiritual harvest, as these feasts certainly involve God’s salvation plan. We know the third feast (where all the Israelites were to appear before the Lord in Jerusalem) was the Feast of Passover, or unleavened bread, and at that time the Lord Jesus fulfilled that feast by going to the cross, and so we know that the other aspects of these important feast days would also involve spiritual fulfillment. So there are “firstfruits” that come at an earlier period, followed by a second part of the harvest. Both “firstfruits” and “ingathering” are parts of the feasts and harvest; it is all one harvest, but it is gathered in two different stages: “firstfruits” and then the ingathering at the end of the year.

Also, we have another reference to this in Exodus 34:22:

And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.

So we have a similar statement, likewise showing that the gathering of fruit is not done one time, but it is done two times in the year. The year would also spiritually point to salvation, as God speaks of a “day” or a “year” as the “the acceptable year,” as far as a time in which He saves. Exodus 34 supports what we learned in Exodus 23:16: that there is a two-part harvest. Also, here, we find out that “firstfruits” is known as the “feast of weeks.” It says: “And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest.” So that is some additional information, as the “firstfruits” referred to the 144,000 and are the “firstfruits unto God,” and they now are, in turn, identified with the “feast of weeks.”

So let us take a look at that term, “feast of weeks” and see where that leads us. We read in Deuteronomy 16:9-10:

Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from *such time as* thou beginnest *to put* the sickle to the corn. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto JEHOVAH thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give *unto JEHOVAH thy God*, according as JEHOVAH thy God hath blessed thee:

God is speaking of “seven weeks” as part of the “feast of weeks,” which identifies with “firstfruits.” Now let us also to Leviticus 23:15-16:

And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto JEHOVAH.

Now the “feast of weeks,” which is “firstfruits” (they go together), involves the fifty-day period; fifty days encompasses the “feast of weeks.” The number “fifty” is why we find in the New Testament the word “Pentecost,” which is taken from the Greek word for “fifty,” so it is really referring to the “feast of weeks.” We read in Acts 2:1:

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come…

Pentecost would be when the fifty weeks had fully come, or the time of “firstfruits” was fully come. What would God mean by that? Spiritually, He has in view the fulfillment of the “feast of weeks” or “firstfruits,” that feast He instituted to be held every year (and it was, as far as we know, by the Jews) would be fulfilled spiritually in 33 A.D. after the Lord Jesus Christ had gone to the cross; then there was that period of “weeks” and, finally, the Day of Pentecost was “fully come” and on that day God poured out His Holy Spirit and saved 3,000 souls that heard the preaching of Peter and the other disciples. (And while Jesus Christ preached for 3 ½ years and there were only a relative handful believers.) Satan was bound and it was God’s intention to evangelize the world by sending forth the Gospel through the churches and congregations He would establish, and it all began on the Day of Pentecost (the outpouring of the Holy Spirit) with the firstfruits unto God. So that means that the firstfruits of those that would become saved throughout the New Testament church age were identified with that feast.

So when we read of 144,000 in Revelation 7 and as we have this statement in Revelation 14 (that the 144,000 are the firstfruits unto God), this means that these souls that are represented by the 144,000…we do not know the actual number; maybe it was two million or five million people that God saved from 33 A.D. to 1988, the 1,955 years of the church age. Whatever the number, they are typified by the 144,000 and they represent the “fullness” of all those redeemed from amongst men during the church age – during that particular period of time.

Then God ended the church age and ended that evangelization of the world, as we read in Revelation 11, when the “two witnesses had finished their testimony.” That signified the end of the sending forth of the Gospel via the churches and congregations and, yet, God’s salvation program was not finished because there was another part of the “harvest” that the Bible speaks of, as we read in Exodus 23:16 or in Exodus 34:22. The harvest is two parts and that would mean that God had another plan to evangelize the world a second time and He did do that, as we have learned. He did that after 2,300 evening mornings that began the Great Tribulation period and those 2,300 evening mornings came to a close on September 7, 1994 and that began a “second stage” to gather the precious fruit of the earth, a final gathering of God’s elect during the time of the Great Tribulation.

That is why we read in Revelation 7:8:

Of the tribe of Manasses *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph *were* sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin *were* sealed twelve thousand.

Then, after it tells of those that were sealed, it says in Revelation 7:9:

And when they were seen, the Lord was asked the questioned (which many have wondered), in Revelation 7:13:

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

Whence came they? They are not of the twelve tribes of Israel! They are not part of those sealed out of each of the twelve tribes. They are not part of the 144,000. They are not part of the “firstfruits unto God;” they have nothing to do with the church age. Who are they? Where did they come from?

It is a wonderful answer that the Bible gives us and, Lord willing, we will look at this “good news” when we enter into our next Bible study.

Revelation 7 Series, Study #8

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 13, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #8 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading Revelation 7:9-10:

We were looking in our last study at the 12,000 that were sealed from each of twelve tribes of Israel and we saw how they are a spiritual picture of all those God had saved during the church age. God had indicated at the beginning of this chapter that there were four angels, or four messengers, that were “standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree” until “the servants of our God” were sealed in their foreheads.

This statement has application to both the completion of the sealing of the elect that were saved throughout the church age (then at the end of the church age, God brought judgment upon the churches and congregations) and also to the “great multitude” in Revelation 7:9: “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude;” that is, after the 144,000 had been sealed (which were the firstfruits unto God and completely identified with the Feast of Pentecost and, therefore, with the church age), there is another group of people that are not said to come of the tribes of Israel (and that is one thing we notice, as we read verse 9), but they are found “of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.” God is not saying they are of the tribe of Dan or Judah or Levi; He is not saying they are “of Israel,” even though they are, likewise, saved, as were the 144,000, and, therefore, they are also “spiritual Jews.” Yet God is not using that figure to represent the “great multitude.” Why not? It is because the tribes of Israel, or Israel itself, as God uses them as a type or figure in the Old Testament, “picture” the New Testament churches and congregations, so it is very natural to carry that figure over as He is describing the fruit that would be saved during the church age and to identify them with the twelve tribes of Israel.

But, what is God to do when He has ended the church age and, yet, He has a plan to complete His harvest, as we saw in Exodus 23:16 and Exodus 34:22? The harvest is two-part: there are the “firstfruits” and then the fruits that come in during the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end and Ingathering is held simultaneously with the Feast of Tabernacles. So God cannot continue to speak of those He has saved as being “of the tribes of Israel,” as that could cause some confusion. So He differentiates them and He says that the “great multitude” is “of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,” in order to let us know that these are coming out of Great Tribulation, the time when the church age was over. He did not use the churches to bring about their salvation, but He sent forth His Word to these people located outside of the churches and congregations of the world – they are the precious fruit of the earth at the final harvest at the “end of the year,” which points to the end of time during the little season of the Great Tribulation, when God would pour out the “latter rain” to bring in the end of the year harvest. So we need to recognize this.

Also, God is not using the language of “sealing” of the “great multitude.” He uses different language, more than likely, to make a distinction between the two groups, but we also must realize that everyone that is saved is “sealed” by the Holy Spirit of God; the 144,000 are explicitly said to be “sealed,” so we might miss the fact the “great multitude” is also “sealed” by the Spirit of God, because it is not directly stated. When God says in Revelation 7:3, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads,” this would have application to the completion of God’s salvation program up until He saves the last of the elect which took place during the Great Tribulation when the Gospel was going forth into the world outside of the churches to save the “great multitude.” In other words, when the last individual whose name was recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life during the time of the Great Tribulation (it could have been May 20th or May 21st of 2011, right up until God shut the door of heaven), then all of God’s servants were “sealed in their foreheads,” and then the “hurting” of the earth and the sea and the trees – figures to represent the unsaved people of the earth – could begin. And that is what God did, as May 21, 2011, was the beginning of Judgment Day for this world.

Well, let us read, again, Revelation 7:9:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number…

The Greek words for “after this” are “meta” and “tauta.” “Meta” is Strong’s #3326 and the Greek word “meta” is a preposition for which the meaning changes according to the “case.” When using the genitive case, as we find it in Matthew 1:23 where we read, “God with us,” it is translated as “with.” That is when it is used with the genitive case. But when it is used with the “accusative case,” it means “after.” An example of this is found in Matthew 24:29:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days…

Now the word “tribulation” is in the accusative case and, so, it is properly translated as “after.” Sometimes, people get this confused and they just look up the Greek word “meta,” (Strong’s #3326) and they see that it is translated most often as “with,” and they think, “Alright, we can substitute the word ‘with.’” For instance, in reference to Matthew 24:29, instead of saying, “Immediately after the tribulation,” they try to make that substitution, “Immediately with the tribulation,” and that changes the meaning of the verse; it is not permissible to do that. This is a rule that God establishes; when we search the Bible and we find that these “cases,” it determines whether it should be translated as “with” or “after.”

Another thing that we notice is that whenever “time” is in view (or a proper order of things that involve time), the word “meta” is translated as “after.” For instance, it says in Revelation 11:11:

And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them…

The word “after” is “meta,” because it involves “time.” Please feel free to look up every time you find a time reference with the Greek word “meta” and it will never be translated as “with,” but is always translated as “after.” So, when we have this word in Revelation 7:9, it is properly translated as “after” because it is a sequence of events and, it really involves time: the 144,000 are saved first, and then “after” this, or following this, there is a great multitude and this great multitude makes up the total harvest: there are the firstfruits that make up the 144,000 and then there are the final fruits that are taken up at the year’s end. And it is significant that God has the questioned asked in Revelation 7:13:

Now that identifies the “great multitude,” because the question specifically dealt with them; they were the ones clothed in white robes, and the question was, “Where did they come from.” The answer was that they “came out of great tribulation.”

Now the two Greek words for “great tribulation” (“megas” and “thlipsis”) are only found a few times in the New Testament and in every case they deal with the period of time that comes at the end of the world. We read in Matthew 24:21:

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Remember, Jesus is speaking of “great tribulation” in response to the disciples’ question at the beginning of the chapter: “What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?” And, in that context, we read of “great tribulation.”

The “firstfruits” began to be gathered all the way back to 33 A.D. at the beginning of Pentecost. They were not associated with “great tribulation.” Oh, they would have association with “tribulation,” as Jesus said to His disciples and, really, to all believers: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” So “tribulation” is normative for the child of God in this world – we will experience tribulation for the sake of the Gospel. But “great tribulation” is anything but normal, as Matthew 24 indicated. Let me read Matthew 24:21:

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

It is not the typical “tribulation” that God’s people have experienced throughout time, but it is something “reserved” for a certain time – it has increased to become “megas – thlipsis,” or “great tribulation.” That identifies with the twenty three year period that we just went through, from May 21, 1988 through May 21, 2011. Therefore, the “great multitude” identifies with the time of the end of the world, just as the 144,000 identify with the church age. They are two distinct groups, both saved, that are in view in Revelation, chapter 7, and the word “after this” really emphasizes this distinction between the 144,000 and the “great multitude.”

Let us continue reading in Revelation 7:9:

… a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues…

Here, God is making reference to four different people groupings: nations, kindreds, people and tongues. But it is really all referring to the same thing – there are “four” in number because it has reference to the four points of the compass; that is, these people come from the North and they come from the South and they come from the East and they come from the West. They come from all over the world – the “great multitude” is not just in America and it is not just in Canada, but it is in every nation. They do not just speak English. They speak all languages, as God has saved His elect from the four corners of the earth and these people have various backgrounds, kindreds and tongues, and so forth. It is language that is indicating that this is universal and they are those that are saved outside of the churches. We know that God sent forth the Gospel in a mighty way (as we were privileged to witness) in the days leading up to May 21, 2011, as the Gospel was carried to the far reaches of the earth. It really was a wonderful thing that testified to the glory of God – that He was faithful to bring the warning of Judgment Day to all the earth. And we knew it in advance because the Bible told us that everyone would hear, as it says in Matthew 24:14:

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

And that is exactly what God did. He orchestrated events and controlled circumstances to bring this about. First of all, He ended the church age and you would have thought, “Well, now, it is just impossible to get the message to all the world, as those in the churches numbered nearly two billion, and, maybe, if they had all been on the “same page” and if they could have all gotten together and warned their flocks; and then they had their flocks go out and warn the rest of mankind outside of the churches; then maybe you could get the message to all the inhabitants of the earth.”

And, yet, that is not how it worked. God distanced Himself; He cut off the churches and congregations. They no longer were His representatives. Their testimony was finished and He did not use them at all. As a matter of fact, they fought against the news that was coming forth from the Bible, at just about every turn. They denied that you could know “the day or hour” and they gave people false encouragement and they rejected the proofs of the Bible. God did not use them; He testified against them.

Instead God used the electronic medium that He had opened up for this time. He had kept this in reserve; that is the only thing we can say, because the world has been around for thousands of years, but only recently (in the last 150 years or so) have the scientists and brilliant minds of men been able to understand many of the possibilities that could come forth with technology in the electronic medium. And why was that? Are men smarter today? Well, no, I think the actual evidence today, as we look at tests that students take, is that man is not as smart (individually) as they used to be. When we look at some of the people that lived centuries ago, many of them would know several languages. They would not be distracted with all of the “things” that we have to distract us today. They could spend their time concentrating on study and they felt that having an education was extremely important. Some of these men were the most brilliant men you could find, yet God hid certain secrets regarding light waves and radio waves and internet; all these things were kept from them because it was not “the time.” Again, it was only about 150 years ago that God began to build the structure that would finally produce an electronic medium that could reach masses of people (just incredibly large numbers) quickly, in an instant.

Just read the Book of Acts and read of the struggles and trials of the Apostle Paul and the other missionaries, as they took ships to carry the news of the Gospel. They would be gone for months and, sometimes, years, and they would only be able to reach a few cities in the same region of the world. And now any individual today can get on the internet and he can post a teaching from the Word of God and, potentially, reach tens of thousands of people, or more, and those people could be in any village, town, city or nation of the world. What an incredible thing that we can speak over the phone, or that we have radio signals and television and internet.

All of these things began to be developed where they could be used in this tremendous way to get out the Gospel at precisely the time the world’s population was reaching nearly seven billion people; and at precisely the time the church age was ending; and at precisely the time of the Great Tribulation; at precisely the time of the end of the world was beginning; and at the time that the “latter rain” was to be poured out. What an incredibly brilliant plan God had, in His great wisdom, where He could set aside a corporate body that had been established in every nation and say, “I am not going to use you at all. I am going to use my people – my elect – the few. And even though there are not many of them compared to the numbers in the churches and even though they lack the funds, I have going to be with them and they will be able to reach out into all the areas of this world and the world will hear.” That is exactly what God did, as He blessed a ministry like Family Radio in those days, more and more, as they were able to spread the true Gospel, up until the point of God shutting the door of Heaven.

God stirred up within His people a great desire to “will and to do of His good pleasure” to get that Word out, as the Lord’s people heard the voice of Christ and they knew (without question) that this was it – this was Judgment Day. The Bible guaranteed it, as the Scriptures locked into place. There just was no doubt and, so, God’s people went forth in missions like “Project Jonah” or the caravans or individuals going about their own neighborhoods, handing out as many tracts to as many people as they could. They were wearing Judgment Day t-shirts and hats and jackets and handing out cards and talking to people. Billboards proclaimed it. Buses proclaimed it and all kinds of advertising proclaimed the approaching Day of Judgment, until the entire world could not ignore what they certainly longed to ignore – that there was a proclaimed date that they would have to take seriously (or, at least, take note of) and it was coming forth from the Bible.

So a great anxiety came upon the world at that time. God made sure that His people – this great multitude that was out there in all nations and tongues and tribes – heard this news and He saved them through the hearing of His Word.

This is a wonderful verse to encourage us in the fact that we are not alone. That is what some people would have us think, “Oh, there are very few true believers.” That is far from the truth; there is a “great multitude, which no man could number.”

Revelation 7 Series, Study #9

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 14, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #9 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading Revelation 7:9-10:

We are continuing to look at this verse and this is one of those wonderful verses in the Bible in which God talks about saving a “great multitude.” A little further on, He tells us that this great multitude came out of “great tribulation” and that distinguishes them from “firstfruits,” which identified with the church age. So this lets us know that God had a two-part salvation program to bring in the fruit of His harvest, and that was exactly the case when we looked at Exodus 23:16 or Exodus 34:22. There are the “firstfruits” and then the fruits that come in during the Feast of Ingathering at the “end of the year.” Revelation 7 is laying out that two-part harvest of souls and, here, we see this “great multitude, which no man could number,” and later on in Revelation, chapter 9, we will read a number of “two hundred million,” and that is a possibility for the actual total number of God’s elect which He would save.

All of the “two hundred million” would not have been saved during the Great Tribulation because some would have been saved during the Old Testament time and some would have been saved during the church age. But we can know that a high percentage of God’s elect were reserved and kept for redemption until the “little season” of the Great Tribulation period. It is true that we cannot “number” them. We cannot tell exactly how many people God saved during the approximate 17-year period of the “latter rain” which fell during the Great Tribulation, but we do know that it was a tremendous number of people out of a world of about seven billion people – God saved scores of millions of people which came from “all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues;” the “four” groups are mentioned here to indicate it was “worldwide,” to the far reaches of the earth.

Then it says that they “stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” Now let us think about this word “stood,” because every word in the Bible has meaning. What does it mean that this great multitude “stood” before the throne of God and before the Lamb (which is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb which taketh away the sins of the world)? Why does God tell us that they “stood” before Him?

Well, let us turn to Romans, chapter 5. We are going to look at three different verses in the Book of Romans, beginning with Romans 5:2:

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Now, here, God is indicating that we “stand” in grace.

It says in Romans 11:19:

Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

Again, we (the saved Gentiles) “stand” by faith. Now we have to turn elsewhere in the Bible to discover that it is the faith of Christ and not our own faith; we do not stand by our faith, but by the faith that saved us and that was Jesus’ faith. Yet, we “stand” by faith, just as we “stand” by grace: “For by grace are ye saved, through faith,” Ephesians 2 tells us, “and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

And, also, it says in Romans 14:4:

Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

Before God, we are either going to “stand” or we are going to “fall.” If we fall, we will be destroyed and that will be a result of our sins. But, if we stand, “God is able to make us stand,” by granting us grace – by granting us salvation through the faith of Christ. Therefore, we “stand,” and that is exactly the picture that we find in our verse in Revelation 7:9: the great multitude “stood” before God and they are not standing before Him based on their own righteousness or their own goodness (or the keeping of the Law), but they are “standing” by the grace of God. It was God’s mercy that He bestowed His grace upon them, allowing them to “stand” before Him.

Now contrast that with what we read in Revelation 6:17:

For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

And the answer is that none of the wicked shall stand – none that have no Saviour and none that have their sins remaining upon themselves. They will not be able to “stand” or “withstand” and to endure the “day of his wrath,” that evil day that God referred to in Ephesians, when He spoke of putting on the armour of God, in Ephesians 6:10-13:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high *places*. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

All the “spiritual armour” that permits us to “stand” comes as a result of salvation; it comes as a result of the grace of God and the faith of Christ; and that permits us to “withstand” these forces that are at work in the Day of Judgment. We will not endure and we will not be able to withstand the spiritual fire that has been lit in this terrible day of the wrath of God, unless God keeps us and unless He holds us fast and causes us to endure to the end. And He will do this for each one that is a true believer.

I think we looked at some of these verses when we looked at Revelation 6:17, but it is always helpful for us to go over them again, especially when it is new information. God says in Malachi 3:2:

But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?

It is the same question that Revelation 6:17 asked. The day of God’s wrath is here and who shall stand?

…who shall stand when he appeareth? for he *is* like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit *as* a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto JEHOVAH an offering in righteousness.

The gold and silver represent the elect of God and so do the “sons of Levi.” Here, God is explaining that in the day of His wrath, He will purify His people. The same fire that was kindled in His anger (to punish and, finally, to destroy the unsaved) is not going to have the same result in His people, but it will accomplish “good” in purifying them and in bringing them forth to glorify God.

Let me just read one more verse in Luke, chapter 21, which is a chapter that relates to the Great Tribulation and the end of the world. It says in Luke 21:34-36:

And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and *so* that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

God is using that figure for those that are caught in the “snare” of Judgment Day, as He brought Judgment Day as a “snare” upon the whole earth: “on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth,” upon both the believers and the unbelievers.

We believers did not know – we had no idea of God’s plan for us; we thought we would have been raptured, so it was a surprise to us also, and that was part of the test that God had designed for His people “in those days after the tribulation.” How are they going to react? How are they going to respond to the idea that the Bible confirmation of May 21, 2011, did not happen as it was proclaimed to be: “Judgment Day – the Bible Guarantees It”?

Believers had put much “one the line” in response to that message; they used their funds, their resources and their time; they could have put their reputation on the line with their family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. And when it did not happen that they were raptured and taken out of the world, but they remained in this world on May 21, 2011 (and after), then how are they going to react? Are they going to return to the Bible and continue to study? Are they going to continue to check these things out, as they wonder what did happen? Are they going to go back to the information they received and examine it again?

And when they see that the Biblical calendar of history still insists that May 21 was the Day of Judgment; and when all the other information continues to point to that particular day; and when they realize that they believed it to the degree that they did because they heard the voice of God and because God confirmed it with infallible proofs; and, yet, it did not happen as they thought, will they then be open to continuing to study the Bible? Will they recognize that the only solution that maintains the integrity of the previous studies (which have not been proven false), the integrity of the declaration of Judgment Day and the integrity of the calendar of history that came from the Bible, is a “spiritual judgment.” And a “spiritual judgment” follows the pattern that God has performed in times past with the major judgments in the Bible – from the Garden of Eden, to the Garden of Gethsemane, to the judgment upon the churches and congregations; they were all spiritual in nature. Will they be open to humbling themselves before the Word of God, once again, or are they going to have their pride get in the way? “That is it. I have had enough.” They had believed that May 21, 2011, would be Judgment Day, but had thought they would be taken out of the world, and now they are not going to believe anything further regarding the timeline. They are going to join the churches and congregations and say, “Yes, they were right. ‘No man knows the day or the hour.’ I do not want to hear anything further about Great Tribulation, about timelines, about the end of the church age, about the end of the world or the coming of Christ. I am going to go back to basics – I am going to read my Bible and pray. I am not going to listen to teachers any more.”

That would be a complete failure of the test that God has been putting us through, because God has graciously opened up the Scriptures at the time of the end. It was those in the churches and congregations that denied those truths and resisted those truths. So, now, for individuals that had previously accepted these truths to turn back (to return to the position of the corporate church and the position held by traditional doctrines) is nothing but a failure of the test that God has put us through. The true believer will not do this. How can they deny truth? How can they deny the confirmation of the Word of God concerning these doctrines? So, they will be open to receiving these things from the Word of God.

Now it may be that their understanding of what God has done will take some time. For some, they may immediately understand; some, after a little while, will begin to acknowledge and understand; and some may take a longer period of time to understand. Just as it was at the end of the church age, God is in control of when they come to truth, but God’s people will understand these things.

Let us go back to Revelation 7:9:

…a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

Let us look at this clothing that the great multitude is wearing, where it says they are “clothed with white robes.” If we go back to Revelation 3 (and we went over this when we went through this chapter, verse by verse), and it says in Revelation 3:4-5:

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Here, the “white raiment” is clearly identified with salvation because their names will not be blotted “out of the book of life,” which means they will live, and that is salvation; that is eternal life. The white garments typify and picture the fact that their sins are forgiven – their sins are washed away and they are made “pure” by the blood of Christ; there is no spot or blemish.

In Revelation 19, we also read of “white garments.” It says in Revelation 19:7-8:

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

This is describing the “bride of Christ,” which is made up of all the elect; all that God will save are the spiritual bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the bridegroom and we are the bride and the bride is “arrayed in fine linen, clean and white.” It is that beautiful picture that our human institution of marriage emulates, as the bride, historically, would dress in “white” to demonstrate her purity and be joined with her husband. This idea is taken right of the Bible, as God uses this picture of His elect that (previously in their lives) may have been some of the vilest, filthiest wretches you could ever think of, committing the most abominable sins (things we would not even want to think about); these are the “chief of sinners,” as God causes them to realize this after they are saved. Previously, they may have thought they were “good people,” but after salvation, they see the multitude of sins the Lord took from them and washed them with the “baptism” He was baptized with when He went through the wrath of God from the foundation of the world; He died for their sins, purging away all iniquity, washing these filthy sinners from all of their sins, in the sight of God, and now they are “clean.” Whether an individual is presently alive and born again, or whether they previously lived, all sin (past, present and future) was paid for and purified the sinner.

Now they are “arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” What is the “righteousness of saints?” The righteousness of a saint is the righteousness that is given to us “by the obedience of one,” by the Lord Jesus Christ as He was obedient to everything the Father would have Him do, in submitting Himself to the will of God in suffering and dying for our sins and, thereby, making us righteous through His righteous obedience. This is the “white” clothing. It says in Revelation 19:13-14:

And he *was* clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies *which were* in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

That helps us identify the “armies in heaven.” It is the bride of Christ; it is made up of all of God’s elect, as Jesus comes to judge the world “and all the saints with Him.” And that is what God is doing now. He is judging the world with all His saints, with the “great multitude” that was saved and came out of great tribulation. They are the armies of heaven. They are the bride of Christ. They are God’s weapons – His battle ax – in the day of battle against the enemies of the Kingdom of Satan. The primary means of God’s judgment upon the unsaved people of the earth is the fact that He has saved everyone that was to be saved, which permitted God to shut the door of Heaven and to put out the light of the Gospel – something He could not have done until “all the servants of our God are sealed in their foreheads,” or until the Holy Spirit had been received by everyone whose name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (an earnest down payment of the coming redemption, that God will complete his salvation program and equip His saints with new resurrected bodies and place them in the new heaven and new earth).

So, these are those that are standing before the throne and before God and they had “palms in their hands.” And that is interesting that they had “palms in their hands,” as we find another time in the Bible when “Jews” were before the Lamb (the Lord Jesus Christ) with “palms in their hands.” Of course, in Revelation 7, because the “great multitude” comes from every tribe and nation, they are “spiritual Jews,” but it is the same idea that we read of in John 12:12:

On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed *is* the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

“Hosanna,” they were crying to the Lord Jesus Christ and then they laid down their “palm branches” to prepare the way before Him. And what does “Hosanna” mean? It means, “Oh, save,” or “Oh, Saviour,” the One who saves His people from their sins. Notice that the great multitude that was standing before the throne and before the Lamb, and with palms in their hands, was crying, in Revelation 7:10:

…Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

It is very similar to crying, “Hosanna, Oh, Saviour.” What a great Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ is, to have redeemed us from our sins and from this world; and to have spared us and delivered us and brought us this glorious salvation.

Revelation 7 Series, Study #10

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 15, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #10 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading Revelation 7:9-12:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and *about* the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, *be* unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

We were discussing this in our last study. We began to discuss this “great multitude” that was before the throne of God. Keep in mind that “before the throne” would be the “footstool” and God speaks of the earth as being His “footstool,” so it is very possible that this “great multitude” could be on earth, living in the Day of Judgment, and still be in view as “before the throne of God.” We will get into a further discussion of that later in this chapter.

We saw that the “great multitude” from all the nations “stood” before the throne; we looked at that word “stand” and we saw that God is able to make people “stand” before him by bestowing His grace upon them and by granting them salvation through the faith of the Lord Jesus. That salvation “clothes” sinners (who, of themselves, are spiritually filthy, dirty and polluted), with the saving work of atonement by the Lord Jesus on their behalves, they are washed with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as the Lord cleanses all sin and iniquity and sees it no more. They are now righteous before Him and that is typified by “white robes,” to represent purity and holiness and that which is without sin.

They also had “palms in their hands.” We saw that there was a reference back in the Gospel of John to “palms” when the Lord Jesus had his triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the people were crying out, “Hosanna,” and they also had “palms in their hands.” We saw that “Hosanna” means, “Oh, save,” or “Oh, Saviour!” And that was exactly the context we saw in Revelation 7:10:

And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

There are not two Gods, but one God and, of course, God shows Himself as Three Persons in the Bible, yet One God. The Lamb, the Lord Jesus, is also eternal God and to “sit” on the throne means that God is ruling over all His kingdom; He is ruling over all of these people that have now become saved; they have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. They are crying out with a loud voice, in recognition of the glorious fact that they have become saved and they have been delivered from their sins and the consequences of their sins – death; that will not happen to them, as they have experienced God’s mercy and His salvation, so they are rejoicing and joyfully crying out to the One who has done this, the One seated upon the throne: “Salvation to our God.” It is God’s salvation plan and salvation is of the Lord, the Bible says. It is not of man, as we read in John, chapter 1, where it speaks of being born again. It says in John 1:13:

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Salvation is of God. It is not performed by the will of man. God matter-of-factly and definitively declares, in John 1:13, that no man is “born again” by his own will. God declares that “free will” is another gospel – it is a lie. It is completely false for anyone to think they can exercise the will of man (the will of their own flesh) and be “born again.” It is by the will of God and only the will of God: “He will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy,” and, therefore salvation belongs to God – it is of God; it was designed by Him; implemented by Him; carried out by Him; all the works were finished by Him before the foundation of the world, as the Lord Jesus died for sin at that point.

Some people do not like to hear that and I cannot help but think that one of the reasons is the fact that Jesus was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” and this fact so far removes the possibility of man doing any work (whatsoever) in his salvation, and that it is disturbing on a deeper level to some people. And, perhaps, these people might say, “Oh, yes, God does everything,” yet they are disturbed by this beautiful truth that God did all the work of salvation before man was ever created. This would put a stamp of absolute verity about man inability to play any role in salvation because man was not even there: “Of the people, none were with me,” we read in the Book of Isaiah. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Saviour: “Hosanna to the Son of David. Hosanna to the Lamb,” now seated upon the throne; and “Salvation to our God,” is the cry of the great multitude that God has saved. We are that “great multitude,” if we are true believers living at this point in time – living in the world in the Day of Judgment – and we have come “out of great tribulation,” just as we find that this great multitude is said to have come out of great tribulation. Therefore, we are in view in this beautiful picture of all of God’s elect that are declaring praise unto Him.

It goes on to say in Revelation 7:11-12:

And all the angels stood round about the throne, and *about* the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, *be* unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

Notice that everyone is falling down “before the throne on their faces.” They are prostrating themselves; they are bowing down; they are taking the posture of humility and submitting themselves before God. That is what the posture or action of “bowing down” points to. The Bible says that anyone that bows down in this kind of way is “worshipping.” Now it may be very insincere worship – it may be superficial outward worship – to take the posture and perform the act of “bowing down,” but God still calls it worship. For instance, it says in Matthew 18:26:

The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

In this parable, this individual owed his Lord a great debt, and it says in Matthew 18:27:

Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

So he “fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.”

Then the debt was forgiven. It would really seem that this was indicative of a true believer, yet we find that not very long afterwards, he is taking his fellow servant by the throat, demanding that a much smaller debt be paid to him. So, this same man that fell down and worshipped is later judged; and his Lord is wroth with him and he is delivered to the tormenters until he would pay all that debt. Therefore, we see that this person was never saved and had never received the new heart and, yet, he performed the act of falling down and worshipping. We read in Mark 15 of some others that are taking the posture of worship, but they are definitely not worshipping. In this case, the Roman soldiers are mocking the Lord Jesus, and it says in Mark 15:17-20:

And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his *head*, And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing *their* knees worshipped him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.

Now, obviously, they were not bowing down to Christ in sincerity. They were not bowing to Him as Lord and Master or as God and Saviour. They were playing around. They were reviling and mocking Him. They were doing this because they thought He was just somebody usurping the Roman crown, making claim that He was King. Yet, of course, He was truly King of kings and Lord of lords and worthy of the worship of all mankind, including those soldiers, as God was the Creator of man – He has created every human being. Therefore, as Creator, He is due worship by His creatures. Man was created a creature that was designed to worship God and, yet, when we fell into sin, that worship of God was perverted. It was ruined because in order to worship God aright, we must worship Him “in spirit and in truth,” and let me read a section of Scripture where God discusses “true worship,” in John 4:19-24:

The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God *is* a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship *him* in spirit and in truth.

Do you see, here, how the Lord refers to “true worshippers?” We speak of “true believers,” to distinguish a true believer from a professed believer, because there is a difference with someone that is a true believer (someone whom God has made a true believer by saving them). They have a different understanding of the Word of God and a very real relationship with Him and, therefore, they are in a different category of belief. They are “true” believers.

Likewise, there are “true worshippers” and simply “worshippers” of God. The “worshippers” of God take upon themselves the posture or the action of bowing down. That is not to say that the true believer would not also perform this action, as it is very appropriate and good for a “true worshipper” of God to bow the knee, literally, or to fall down to the ground, or to bow down beside his bed and pray to God. Since God recognizes “posture” as an indicator of worship, it is very good for us to do this, even though a “true worshipper” can worship God while standing up, or while sitting down, or in any other posture. God does not absolutely require everyone to bow down every time they want to worship Him, praise Him, or speak to Him in prayer, but since the Bible lets us know that simply “bowing the knee and lowering the head” is a physical indicator of worship, there is nothing wrong with a true believer doing that. Sometimes, taking that physical posture may help us in preparing ourselves to worship God, as it is simply an acknowledgement that we are coming before the LORD of Glory, the King of kings and Lord and lords and the great God of Heaven. He is seated upon His glorious throne and we are on the earth, His “footstool,” and let us bow down.

But that is not the point here. The point is that the “true worshipper” of God is one that will serve Him and “worship him in spirit and in truth.” In the “Spirit of God,” the true worshipper will have the indwelling Holy Spirit and, therefore, God will receive our worship in a much different way than He views the worship of others that have not that spirit.

We must also worship Him “in truth.” We worship God when we believe the truths of the Word of God, as the Lord Jesus Christ is truth. Christ said in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” So we worship God in “spirit and in truth,” and both of those things identify with Christ and they identify with the Word of God. God’s word is “spirit.” The Law is “spirit,” and God’s Word is truth: “Thy word is truth.”

Therefore, we faithfully follow the teachings of the Bible and we hold onto them, no matter what man says; and regardless of what the world thinks; or what pressures are put upon us by the church or family or neighbors; or what pressures are put upon us by society because the Bible teaches something contrary to what society teaches. Whatever the circumstances, if we are standing upon the Word of God and trusting the Word of God, we will not turn from the course that the Word of God has set, but we will follow the direction of God’s Word. This is “true worship” and this is glorifying to God; and the “true worshipper” of God is worshipping God in doing this.

Before we move on to verse 13, I should mention one more thing about Revelation 7:12:

Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, *be* unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

There are seven praises mentioned here that are recognizing particular attributes of God and glorifying Him. That points to the “perfection” of all these things: the perfection that God is blessing and His word is blessing, and so, too, they are glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, and so forth.

Then it goes on to say in Revelation 7:13:

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me…

The “me” is referring to John. Remember John is receiving this vision contained in this Book of Revelation, while he was on the island of Patmos. The Lord appeared to him to give him this divine revelation.

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

Now, this is an interesting verse because one of the elders who answered John is really a reference to Christ Himself. If we were to look at this literally, in the Greek, it says: “One out of the elders answered.” First of all, God Himself could be considered the Elder, since He is the “Ancient of Days,” and since He is triune in nature (three Persons in One God), and He could be spoken of in the plural, as “elders.” But I do not think it is referring to the Godhead. It is referring to the “twenty four elders” that we saw earlier and they were round about the throne. They have been mentioned several times already in the Book of Revelation. There were twenty four elders: twelve from the Old Testament, pointing to the twelve tribes of Israel and twelve from the New Testament, pointing to the apostles that were selected to be with Christ and, therefore, the “twenty four” would point to the completeness or fullness of all of God’s elect that would be saved throughout the Old Testament and New Testament.

Who indwells these “elders?” It is the Spirit of Christ. Christ is the midst of the elders. He is indwelling each child of God. We read back in Revelation 5:5-6:

And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain…

So, there is a reference to Jesus (as the Lamb that had been slain) “in the midst of the elders.” So, we could say, as we read in Revelation 7:13: “And one out of the elders answered: What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they?” So the Lord Jesus is asking two questions of John and, of course, John does not know the answers. The One asking the question does know the answer – Christ knows the answer. That makes us wonder, “Then why is He asking the two questions?” The only answer to that has to be that He wants to draw attention to the answer to these questions; He wants to emphasize this truth; He wants us to know exactly what the questions are.

The first question is: “What are these which are arrayed in white robes?” Now that sounds awkward in the English, when it says “What are these?” because it is referring to people and we want to change it to “Who are they?” And that is permissible because the word “what” here is often translated as “who,” depending on the context. Since people are in view (the great multitude, clothed in white robes, in verse 9), it would be more accurate to say, “Who are these?” or “Who are they which are arrayed in white robes?” The Bible permits this and it is much more understandable to hear the question asked that way.

The second question is: “And whence came they?” The word “whence” is an Old English word that we do not use too often in our modern day, but it means, “from where.” So it would mean, “From where did they come?” These are two every important questions and the answer, especially to the second question, is going to help us very much in understanding something else in the Bible, as we read of those knocking in the door in the Day of Judgment, for instance, in Luke 13; one of the things said to them is: “Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.” Actually, it is not put exactly that way, but it says in Luke 13:25:

…Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:

Is that not interesting that God uses the same word, “whence ye are”? In Revelation 7, the question is: “And whence came they?”

We are out of time. The next time we get together, we will pick this study up and we will try to answer some of these questions.

Revelation 7 Series, Study #11

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 18, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #11 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading Revelation 7:13-14:

Here, we have a very important question that was asked and God Himself is the one asking the question, as He is the one referred to (literally) as “one out of the elders.” So this was the Lord Jesus Christ who answered the question: “What are these which are arrayed in white robes? Or, in other words, “Who are those that are arrayed in white robes?”

We know that since they are clothed in white, this indicates they had become saved and had their sins washed away and, therefore, this spotless, pure and holy covering of the “white robe” indicates the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yet, who are they? “And whence came they?’ And this is also a very important question because this chapter in Revelation 7 details the “144,000” that are the “firstfruits unto God.” We have been able to identify them as all those that God saved during the church age.

Then, after the numbering of twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel (totaling 144,000), verse 9 adds: “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;” Where did these come from? From where are they? They are not among the 144,000; they are not of the tribes of Israel, as God described them in this particular chapter, but they are from various peoples of the world; they are not, so to speak, “of Israel.” That means that, spiritually, the Lord is letting it be known that they are not coming out of the churches and congregations, as the 144,000 did. These people are found in the world, outside of the churches and congregations, and “whence came they?” The answer, of course, is given in Revelation 7:14:

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

(Again, the washing of their robes, making them white in the blood of the Lamb, indicates salvation.) And, even though God Himself asked the question (“And whence came they?”), it is God Himself who also provided the answer. The Lord knew “from whence they came.” These are the ones “which came out of great tribulation.”

Just as the “144,000” were identified with “firstfruits” in Revelation 14 and, therefore, with Pentecost and the church age, so, too, this statement which says this group came “out of great tribulation” identifies a specific time in God’s overall program of times and seasons. (There can be no other time period in view.) So let us look up these two words for “great tribulation,” which in the Greek is “megas – thlipsis.” We get our English word “mega” from this and whenever anyone speaks of something being “mega,” it is speaking of something “great” or “grand,” such as in the word “megaphone,” which amplifies sound and causes it to sound in a greater way.

So this is “mega” tribulation; it is not the typical, normal kind of tribulation. The fact that God calls it “megas – thlipsis,” or “great tribulation,” sets it apart from the normative, expected “tribulation” that each Christian experiences during his time of sojourning in this world; we know that the Lord Jesus said, in John 16:33: “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” That is the same word for “tribulation,” but Jesus did not say (and this is significant), “In the world you will have great tribulation.” No – it is just “tribulation,” and that is the case for all of God’s people in all time periods; in this evil world we do experience tribulation, but not “great tribulation.” Great tribulation is something reserved for a specific time period that would not be like any other time period and we will learn that when we find one of the places where the term “great tribulation” is mentioned. It is only mentioned three other times in the Bible. We read in Matthew 24:20-23:

But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here *is* Christ, or there; believe *it* not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if *it were* possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Now, here, in this passage, God makes reference to “great tribulation,” and He sets it apart with this statement: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” There is something very different about that time period which is vastly different from the typical tribulation that God’s people experience as they live their lives in this world.

God also speaks of those days of the “great tribulation” being shortened, and He makes the statement: “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” It is not until our time, after God had opened up the Scriptures, that we can understand these things in exact detail; we realize that the Great Tribulation was (I say “was,” because it is past now) a 23-year period that began on May 21, 1988 and concluded exactly 23 years later on May 21, 2011. At the beginning of that period, there was 2,300 “evening mornings,” or about six years and four months, in which virtually no one was being saved in the world, and no one at all was being saved in the churches. And if anyone were being saved, it would have had to have been out in the world. The language of the Bible allows for the saving of just a handful of people, but it also allows that it is possible that no one was saved during that time.

But God “shortened” those days; that is, He shortened the character of the 2,300 “evening mornings”. But if God had not shortened it and if the entire 23 years took upon that same character, then the elect would not have become saved and, therefore, God shortened the impact of the 2,300 “evening mornings.” Then, at the end of that point in time (in September of 1994), He stretched forth His hand the second time to recover the remnant of His people; and God began to send forth the “latter rain,” the second Jubilee (at the beginning of the Great Tribulation period), to save all sorts of people from outside of the churches and congregations, but within the churches, during the entire 23-year period, no one was becoming saved, but outside God did begin to bring the “latter rain” and bless individuals outside of the churches, saving a great many, which Revelation 7 calls “a great multitude,” during the “little season” (about 17 years) of the last part of the 23-year Great Tribulation period; that was the pouring out of the “latter rain” and the bringing in of the final harvest, the precious fruit that would be presented to God, finally, at the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. So these verses here in Matthew 24 only allow for a very different period of time than had previously ever existed. It does not allow for the idea that the Great Tribulation and the great multitude that came out of it is really referring to the entire church age or the entire New Testament era. No – that idea is contrary to what the Bible says. God clearly sets it apart. Remember that Matthew 24 is Jesus’ response to the disciples’ question: “What shall be the sign of they coming, and of the end of the world?” And, in that context, in response to that particular question, the Lord Jesus speaks of “great tribulation,” and that is because that is the time that the Great Tribulation would occur, at the time of the end.

Now another place that we find these two words (“megas–thlipsis”) is in Acts 7:11:

Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.

The two English words “great affliction” is a translation of the same two Greek words translated as “great tribulation.” It could have very well been translated that way here: “Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great tribulation.” It so happens that the historic account mentioned in Acts 7 is the time of “famine” in the days of Joseph, a seven-year famine. By identifying that famine, or dearth, that came over Egypt and Canaan as “great tribulation,” God is indicating that it is a type and figure of the Great Tribulation that would eventually come at the end of the world.

So we can look at that historical account in the Book of Genesis and learn some information about the period of Great Tribulation. And what we do learn is that, first of all, there was a “dearth” over Egypt and Canaan, which would picture the world and the churches, as Canaan was the Promised Land, the land where Jacob and his family dwelt (Israel) and that would typify the church and the famine was over both Egypt and Canaan. But then there came a dividing point in that famine. After two years, Joseph revealed himself to his brethren and arranged for his entire family, including his father Jacob, to be brought into Egypt to be nourished by Joseph for the time remaining of the famine.

That is a beautiful picture of what the Lord Jesus Christ did in revealing Himself to His people through the Scriptures and drawing them out of the churches and congregations and into “the world,” where the Lord Jesus would take care of their spiritual needs – nourishing them spiritually through His Word. So we see, again, that the Great Tribulation impacted both the world and the churches in that picture, yet the land of Canaan continued to be under the grievous dearth or famine throughout the entire seven years, but in Egypt there was “bread.” So during the 23-year Great Tribulation period, which that famine typified, there was grievous spiritual famine in the churches throughout this period (“a famine of hearing the word of God”), but outside in the world, after the initial 2,300 evening mornings, there was “bread” and God was saving a great multitude.

There is one last place (the fourth place) in the Bible we will look at. We have looked at Revelation 7:14, Matthew 24:21, Acts 7:11 and the fourth place is also in the Book of Revelation, where the two words “megas – thlipsis” are found together. It is in Revelation 2, one of the addresses to the seven churches, and it is the church at Thyatira. We need to remember that what God said to each church, He was saying to the churches (plural) and it had application to the entire corporate body of the New Testament churches and congregations. It says in Revelation 2:20-23:

Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works

Now, here, again God is joining these two words with the falling away of the churches, just as He did in Matthew 24. If you recall, after we read that there would be “great tribulation,” then the Bible immediately began to warn that there would be false Christs and false apostles in association with that. In Acts 7, there was a famine in Canaan, which typified the churches and, here in Revelation 2, God is addressing one of the seven churches, but (again) this address has application to all churches and He is telling them that they have not been faithful because they allowed this woman Jezebel to teach and to seduce God’s servant – to commit fornication – and that would be a reference to spiritual fornication which the churches did (and do) every time they are unfaithful to the Word of God and to the doctrines of the Bible. Then God says in Revelation 2:21:

And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

And that “space” was the entire space of the church age – 1,955 years. That was quite a long space in which the churches had opportunity to repent and to turn from their “high places” and to renounce the errors they upheld in their confessions and creeds and to uplift and exalt the Word of God above themselves and above the teachings of their theologians, and so forth; and they did not repent. Therefore, God came at the appointed time and “visited” the churches to see what they had done and He found them unrepentant and, therefore, He said in Revelation 2:22:

Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation…

You see, again, this is not the normative, or typical, tribulation that refers to the entire church age, but a reference to that which comes at the end of the church age – the end of the allotted space given them in which they could have repented. It is at the time of the end, when judgment began at the house of God, and it is the time which the Bible has a great deal to say about. So this pinpoints the period of Great Tribulation to a particular time and season which took place at the end of the church age. Since God has opened up the Biblical calendar of history, we can pinpoint the timing, as I mentioned earlier, to the very day: 23 exact years; 8,400 exact days, from May 21, 1988 through May 21, 2011. Then on that particular date after the complete 23-year Great Tribulation period, in the year 2,011, which happened to be precisely 7,000 years from the flood and on the exact day the 23-year period ended, on May 21, 2011; and this date also had the underlying Hebrew calendar date of 2/17 (the seventeenth day of the second month) and that day matched up perfectly with the information in Genesis 7: after seven days, God shut Noah and his family and the animals into the ark and brought the flood on the self-same day.

That is exactly why we declared that May 21, 2011 would be Judgment Day: the day that God would shut the door to Heaven; the day He would complete His salvation program because He would have saved a great multitude that came “out of great tribulation” at that point in time (they all had their salvation secured and their safety guaranteed through that salvation and, therefore, they would have entered into safe chambers where no harm could come to them, even as they remained on the earth during the (ongoing) Day of Judgment). This is really the response to the question: “From whence came they?” Then Revelation 7:14 responds: “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation.” These are the final fruits; the early rain brought the firstfruits; the latter rain brought the final fruits that would be gathered during the Feast of Ingathering held simultaneously with the Feast Tabernacles.

There are no more periods of “rain,” which means there can be no more periods of “fruit.” This is it. This is the completion of God’s salvation program. This is why it is so important for us to understand where we are in relationship to the Great Tribulation period.

Some people are very quick to say, “Well, God is still saving. He would not shut the door. He is still saving.” In fact, they insist He is still saving. They are basically just like those that are saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us,” (in the Day of Judgment), once God had shut the door.

Now let us go to Luke 13 and remember the question that was asked in Revelation 7: “From whence came they?” And the response was: “These are they which came out of great tribulation.” In Luke 13, we are going to read about the Day of Judgment and it says in Luke 13:24-25:

Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:

That word “whence” is the very same word found in Revelation 7: “Whence came they?” And there was an answer – God knew “from whence” that great multitude came. But, here, in Luke 13, at the time that the door to heaven is shut (and that completely identifies with May 21, 2011), there will come “many” that are knocking at the door and saying, “Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are.” The Lord is saying, “You are not of those that were among my firstfruits, the 144,000. I do not see you there. And, also, you are not part of the great multitude that came out of great tribulation and were the final fruit of the harvest. I do not see you there. From whence came ye?”

And, of course, they have no answer. They have no period in time which they can claim; they have no “rain” which they can point to which would indicate that there would be another period of fruit. And, therefore, the answer from the Lord is: “I know you not whence ye are.” “I do not know where you come from. You do not come from the only times and seasons in my salvation program. You are endeavoring to (it seems) begin another season and another time period in which you would force me to save – to open the door to heaven. That will not happen.”

It says in Luke 13:26-27:

Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all *ye* workers of iniquity.

The door never opens. There is no acknowledgement or recognition of these people. They cannot be placed in any period of time in which God was saving. The day of salvation ended and they were continuing as though it were still God’s program to save. Yet, God had completed His salvation program and He had gathered that “great multitude” and they were now before Him, and there are no others.

Revelation 7 Series, Study #12

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 19, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #12 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading Revelation 7:13-15:

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

We have been looking at these verses in the last couple of studies. In our last study we saw that this great multitude which is said to have come “out of great tribulation” can only identify with one period of time in history, and that is the time of the end during the “little season” that comes right before the end of the world. The Great Tribulation began the process of the end of the world, as judgment began at the house of God. God’s judgment upon the churches and congregations began the final judgment of mankind and we have already gone through that 23-year Great Tribulation period. It ended on May 21, 2011 and, therefore, the “great multitude” came “out of great tribulation,” and they were saved – that is what is meant here, as Revelation 7:14 says: “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

We have become very accustomed to looking for the spiritual meaning and identifying the Bible’s language, so that when we read this, we are very quick to understand what God means when He says they “have washed their robes.” That is figurative or parabolic language. Of course, the “great multitude” did not literally have white robes on which they had washed and their robes were not literally made “white in the blood of the Lamb,” but it is all parabolic language indicating that the “covering” of their nakedness has been cleansed, purified and “made white” and, therefore, they are righteous in God’s sight; and this has been done through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.” We quickly understand this because God has granted us understanding to make these sorts of identifications. So, the “great multitude” became saved (this is basically what that is saying) and they came “out of great tribulation.”

All of God’s people that are now living upon the earth during this time have come “out of great tribulation,” because, once again, the Great Tribulation ended on May 21, 2011 and we are living in a post-Great Tribulation period, “in those days after that tribulation,” which Matthew 24:29 speaks of; and Mark 13:24 tells us there is a period of “days” after the Great Tribulation. This is where we find ourselves and these “days” are the Day of Judgment. They are the time of God’s judgment upon the unsaved people of the world and, so, we are the ones (God’s elect, the great multitude) tens, upon tens of millions of us all over the earth, from every nation and tribe and tongue. We are the ones in view here, in Revelation 7; we are the ones that have come “out of great tribulation” and are “before the throne of God.”

“Well, hold on,” someone might say, “and look at this language. It cannot apply to God’s people now; these people are in heaven.” Let us read Revelation 7:15:

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

Someone might argue that once the Great Tribulation ends, then comes the rapture and God’s people are taken into heaven and that is the picture that is before us: that great multitude in heaven, before the throne of God, in His temple, as He is seated upon the throne. It is a glorious picture of heaven.

Well, we have to admit, this is what we had previously thought. We had understood that the picture in these verses was describing God’s elect in heaven, while time unfolds upon the earth. But, now, we have to make correction to that understanding and realize that this is speaking of our present time period and of God’s people as they live through this time period of Judgment Day when God is pouring out His wrath upon the unsaved inhabitants of the earth.

There are a couple of things that led us in this direction, to understand these verses this way. It says back in Revelation 7:15: “Therefore are they before the throne of God.” That is language that sort of causes us to think that this is taking place in heaven – if you are before God’s throne, then you must be in heaven, but that is not necessarily the case. It says in Isaiah 66:1:

Thus saith JEHOVAH, The heaven *is* my throne, and the earth *is* my footstool: where *is* the house that ye build unto me? and where *is* the place of my rest?

Let us consider what God is saying here. Heaven is his throne. He dwells in heaven and He is seated and reigning supremely from His glorious throne, as He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and the earth is His “footstool.”

Now if we take an earthly illustration of a King seated upon a throne and a footstool before the throne, we can see the exalted seat of a King, the throne and the simple footstool that lies before the throne. Likewise, God is upon His throne in heaven and the earth (the entire world) is before that throne, as God likens it to His “footstool.” Therefore, those that are upon the earth are also before His throne.

I am just going to go to one other verse and I am sure that many are familiar with this verse in Hebrews 4:16:

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

This is one of those wonderful verses in the Bible. If anyone was unsaved during the time period when it was the day of salvation, what a wonderful blessing it was for them to hear (and for God to say), “Come boldly unto the throne of grace.” And they could approach God’s throne boldly. Well, how did they do that? Did they transport themselves (somehow) into heaven? No – a man or woman could simply kneel down anywhere on earth, or they could close their eyes at any point while they lived their lives upon earth and pray to God in heaven and, therefore, they came “boldly unto the throne” of God, the throne that was granting grace to sinners at that time.

It is the case whenever anyone prays to God, that they are coming to the King of kings and Lord of lords and to the Sovereign Ruler of all; and they are approaching His throne, making requests: “Oh, Father, help me with this,” and we could ask that He bless this person or bless this situation, or whatever it is. We are coming to the throne of God and, yet, we have not left the earth; we have not been transported out of this world and we remain upon the earth. Likewise, this is the situation with the “great multitude” that we see gathered in heaven. Of course, they would all be gathered in the sense that God had saved them all; each individual who is saved is seated in “heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” so we are all in heaven in that sense.

But, as each saved person comes to God to praise him or as they are brought near before Him through the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, they are “before the throne of God.”

Now let us go on to read the next part of the verse in Revelation 7:15:

…and serve him day and night in his temple…

Again, we have a phrase that really forces us to understand that this must be happening now because it is speaking of the great multitude doing service to God “day and night in his temple.” Now, the fact that they are serving God does not mean that it is speaking of the present time, because the elect of God will continue to serve Him into eternity future – that is not what convinces us – but it is the fact that they are serving him “day and night in his temple.” The language of “day and night” ought not to be there if this word is describing eternity future – if it were describing the elect in heaven gathered together after this world is gone. Then there would be no further “day and night,” because “day and night” is a time reference. We read back in Genesis 1:5:

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And since that time, “day and night” continued from that point all through the history of this world: twenty four hours would pass (one day would pass and then night would pass) and the next “day and night” would come. It says in Genesis 8:22:

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

“While the earth remaineth,” there will be “day and night,” and the implication is that when the earth ceases to remain – when the earth is no more – then there will no longer be “day and night.” But while “day and night” continue, the earth will still be functioning. It will still be operating. We read in Job 26:10:

He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.

That is the duration of time in this world: “day and night” occur while there is “time,” and while there are the literal sun, moon and stars. What do we know about the end of the world and what God will do at that time? He will destroy the earth and the universe; the sun, moon and stars (the timekeepers) will be annihilated. This whole creation will be destroyed, including the unsaved, and all will be gone for evermore. Along with it, “day and night” will perish. The “time” that God created, along with this world, will also be destroyed forever. Eternity is outside of time and God inhabits eternity; He dwells in the whole spectrum of existence. Once this world is done and once God creates a new heaven and new earth and completes the salvation of His people by equipping each child of God with a new resurrected body; and once we turn our attention to “eternity future,” then there will be no keeping track of “time.” Time is for this world.

I do not know what God has in store for keeping track…(pause)...we cannot even imagine something “beyond time” and not related to “time.” We are creatures of “time” and we really cannot think outside of the boundaries which God has established within “time.” Yet, “time” is an element of this creation and there will be no “time” in eternity. We read in Revelation 12:10:

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.

Now this verse is significant because it is referring to Satan as “the accuser of our brethren.” Prior to the Lord Jesus going to the cross in 33 A.D., Satan had access to heaven and he would use that access to accuse the saints of God. We see an example of this in the Book of Job, as Satan accused Job before God: “Doth Job fear God for nought?” He accused Job of fearing God because God had set hedges around him to protect him. So Satan was able to accuse our brethren, but once Christ went to the cross, “the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” Satan was able to go to heaven. He is a spirit being and he was able to do that somehow – it is mysterious to us. But God does tell us this. Satan was accusing the brethren “day and night” and the reference to “day and night” is because there was an earth and time was passing upon the earth. Therefore, this reference to “day and night” can be made because the earth still existed and the accusations that Satan was making had to do with the inhabitants of the earth – with God’s people that were on the earth and living in “time.”

We had previously thought that on May 21, 2011, God would rapture His people out of this world (the great multitude) and that is how they would “come out of great tribulation.” God would take them into heaven and there they would be “before the throne of God,” serving Him in His temple, day and night. Therefore, a time reference of “day and night” could be used because we had previously thought there would still be five months of time left on the earth. We thought God would take His people out of the world so they would not have to go through Judgment Day, that awful “five month” period of torment.

We were wrong. We were wrong about the rapture occurring on May 21, 2011. We were wrong about that because we were incorrect about the idea that God would remove His people before bringing judgment on the world. It is a very similar error that many made in time past when thinking of the Great Tribulation. It was also taught by many theologians and commentators that the “church of God” would be raptured before the Great Tribulation, so that God’s people would not be on the earth to go through that time.

But we learned that is not the case at all. We did go through the Great Tribulation. God gave us a verse in Revelation, chapter 13, where He speaks of the “beast,” and that is name given to Satan specifically to describe his rule during the period of the Great Tribulation. God said in Revelation 13:8-10:

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

We now know what God is saying there – He will leave His people upon the earth and they will go through the Great Tribulation period. Of course, they must, because as we read in Revelation, chapter 7, a “great multitude” is saved during that period of history – that “little season” of Great Tribulation; and they could only be saved as God’s people carried the Gospel and trumpeted it and proclaimed it to all the people of the world. And, yet, it was an instance where it could be said, during this Great Tribulation: “Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” It will demonstrate and it will “make manifest” their patience and faith, as they endure and go through that severe period of testing – that severe trial that will come upon the world.

In the very next chapter, in Revelation 14, God is describing the Day of Judgment, just as Revelation 13 was giving information concerning the beginning of the judgment upon the house of God during the Great Tribulation, Revelation 14 follows with the “final judgment,” when the whole world will drink of the wrath of God, and it says in Revelation 14:11:

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here *are* they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

And that is a strikingly similar statement to that which we find in Revelation 13 and for exactly the same reason. With the statement in Revelation 13, God was confirming that His people were not going anywhere in this Great Tribulation; they will remain and show forth the wonderful fruit of “patience and the faith of the saints.” Likewise, in Revelation 14, God is declaring that His people are not going anywhere in the Day of Judgment, but they will remain here and, again, they will demonstrate “patience” and “the faith of Jesus.” It is a statement to assure us that it was never God’s plan to remove His people out of the world – not during the Great Tribulation period (and we know that because we have already gone through it), nor during the Day of Judgment for this world, which we are presently going through.

So, we were incorrect in thinking there would be a rapture of the believers out of this world to avoid this Judgment Day. How else could it be said that we have come “before the judgment seat of Christ”? The Bible does declare this, in 2nd Corinthians 5:9-10:

Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…

The word “appear” is a word that is (often) translated as “manifest.” We must be “manifested” before the judgment seat of Christ. This is the same word that was used in referring to Jesus who died as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, yet, He had to appear in time to “make manifest” what He had already done.

Likewise, God’s people were judged in the Person of Christ from the foundation of the world and, yet, at this time of the end (and in these days after that tribulation) in these days of judgment upon this world, we are “appearing” or being made “manifest” before that throne of judgment in order to demonstrate (since no harm comes to us and no punishment is meted out to us) that we have already stood before the judgment throne of Christ. Our endurance in coming through the fire that God has kindled in His anger at this time will be a demonstration of that fact.

Revelation 7 Series, Study #13

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 20, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #13 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading Revelation 7:15-17:

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

We have been discussing the great multitude which are said to be “before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.” This great multitude is also said to have “come out of great tribulation,” and we have seen that this can only be a reference to the time at the end of the world, right before the final judgment of mankind. Judgment began at the house of God and that is when the Great Tribulation began. By God’s grace, He opened up information to His people at the time of the end (information that had previously been sealed), and we were able to discover a very accurate Biblical calendar of history wherein we could work out the precise end of the church age, which occurred on May 21, 1988, and the precise end of the Great Tribulation, which also occurred on May 21, but in the year 2011. That 23-year period was the duration of that Great Tribulation and God saved a great multitude during the last (about) 17 years of that time when He was pouring out the “latter rain.”

These are the ones in view, here, that are “before the throne of God.” As we noted in our last study, earth is likened to God’s “footstool” and heaven to His “throne.” Therefore, as we dwell upon the earth, we are, in a sense, “before the throne of God.”

We also took note of the fact that they were serving Him “day and night” in His temple and “day and night” is a time reference that has application only as this world continues; that is, God created the timekeepers and “day and night” have continued from the very beginning and will continue until the end of the world. Then God will destroy this creation: the universe, the sun, moon, stars, earth and everything in it. “Day and night” (time) will cease at that point. Therefore, when God says that the great multitude are before Him and serving Him “day and night” in His temple, this indicates that “time” must be taking place on earth. Of course, this matches our present situation; we understand what God is saying here very well because “time” has continued after the Great Tribulation, as the Bible said it would in Mark 13:24:

But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,

This is letting us know that there is a period of time known as “those days” which occur after the Great Tribulation, and that is where we presently are in time. This great multitude is living on the earth: we have “come out of great tribulation.” The Great Tribulation period has ended and we are before the throne of God, serving Him day and night in His temple during this period of judgment on the world. We can know this is the case, because it says in Revelation 21:23-25:

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

This is speaking of the new heaven and new earth and New Jerusalem (the body of believers) that will dwell in that glorious new creation and there will be no “night” there. That means there cannot be “day and night” as we have in this world. We have the sunrise and then the sunset and then the light of the moons and the stars shine at night. That is not the case in heaven in eternity future – there is no night there. That is because night is “darkness” and God is letting it be known that since “darkness” identifies with sin, there is no sin of any kind in that glorious future that awaits His people. Therefore, there is no night. He repeats this in Revelation 22:2:

In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, *was there* the tree of life, which bare twelve *manner of* fruits, *and* yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree *were* for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

Now, here, we have some of the same elements that were seen in Revelation 7: we have the throne of God and we have God’s servants serving Him, but let us keep reading in Revelation 22:4:

And they shall see his face; and his name *shall be* in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Now we can see the difference. Even though God, of course, is still on His throne and He will always be seated upon His throne and God’s people will always serve him, but the difference is that “there shall be no night there.” There is no “day and night.” There is no 24-hour time period in the eternal future to come. Time is a creation of this present world. There are no 24-hour periods in eternity; time will end when this world ends and, at that point, “day and night” will cease.

This means that since the great multitude is serving God “day and night” it must be while there are still normal days unfolding on earth. But, again, let us remember that they came “out of great tribulation,” and, therefore, there must be time after this period of Great Tribulation. That means that any sort of eschatology – any attempt to develop a theology of the end of the world, Judgment Day and the coming of Christ – must include an answer for the verses that speak of “time” taking place after the Tribulation. Again, Mark 13:24 tells us that there is a period of time known as “those days after that tribulation,” and Revelation 7 (as it speaks of the great multitude serving God “day and night”) is letting it be known that there is “time” on earth after this great multitude came “out of great tribulation.”

Now our present situation has an explanation. We have an answer and we can harmonize these verses together by simply laying out what has happened: God saved the last of His elect; He found each one’s whose names were recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life prior to May 21, 2011; then Judgment Day came and He shut the door to heaven and, at that time, the Great Tribulation ended; then it can be said that this great multitude came “out of great tribulation,” as we entered into Judgment Day – a prolonged period of time which very well could continue for a total of 1,600 days; during this time, God’s people continue to serve Him before His throne, but we do so while on earth and we serve Him “day and night” in His temple; and He that sitteth upon the throne shall dwell among us.

Alright, we can understand much of this, but what about this statement that we “serve him day and night in his temple.” How is that taking place? How is that happening? Well, let us look at a couple of verses, as we read in 1st Corinthians 3:16-17:

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and *that* the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which *temple* ye are.

The “temple” of God is the body of believers. All those whom God has saved comprise this spiritual temple. We read in Ephesians 2:19-22:

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner *stone*; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

God is really giving us an interesting picture. It is the picture of a construction project of His holy temple, just as Solomon had a temple made, or just as they built a temple in the days of Zerubbabel. We know that much labor and work went into the construction of the temple, but there came a time when the temple was completed that God’s Spirit entered into the temple. That is exactly what happened on May 21, 2011; God finished His house, as it says in Hebrews 3:4-6:

For every house is builded by some *man*; but he that built all things *is* God. And Moses verily *was* faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Here, the Lord is indicated that we are this house of God. We are this house that God Himself has been building and He put it together over the course of history, as He saved individuals out of each generation; every time He would save a soul, it was as though another “stone” was added onto this spiritual house. This is the picture that God uses in 1st Peter 2:4:

To whom coming, *as unto* a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, *and* precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Here, it says it plainly. It is really amazing how plain God is in stating this; often, He is not this direct; He is not this straightforward. But, here, He tells us the elect are “lively stones” (or living stones) that “are built up a spiritual house.” We are the house of God. We are the temple, made up of each of the people whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Of course, it is not an actual book, but it is in the infinite mind of God – that record of all whom He had determined to save before the foundation of the world; and the outworking of this, all throughout history, as He sent forth the Gospel and applied the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ to these people, saving them out of the generations of this world. All through history, the “stones” were added and this wall is finished and now He turns His attention to the next wall; and God kept building and building until, finally, He sent forth the Gospel in a mighty way in a worldwide evangelistic program, declaring that Judgment Day would occur on May 21, 2011; with that outpouring of the Gospel to a world of seven billion people. With an intense focus on impending judgment, the news was broadcast to all the inhabitants of the world that the door of salvation would shut; there would be no more periods of time in which you could come to God to (possibly) become saved. The Lord used this to find the lost sheep of the house of Israel and to gather them together as one man, as the body of Christ, thereby completing the temple. That is the picture of the “great multitude” appearing before the throne of God, serving Him “day and night” in His temple, in the completed body of Christ, in this house, “whose house are we.” That is where we serve God.

Of course, we are all individuals and God likens us to a single house, as part of a whole, yet, we are separate. We are individuals and as we live our lives on this earth, we live as an individual and what happens is between God and us. Yet, now, we are also part of the whole “temple,” the whole house of God, as it says in Revelation 7:15, God “that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.” What happened is something that had not previously happened; God always indwelt a soul that He had saved (His Holy Spirit had always come into the life of anyone that experienced the redemptive work of Christ), but now in a special way – in a mysterious way – when once the last of the chosen ones to be saved were saved, God could now inhabit the “whole house.” The whole temple was now complete – the spiritual house He had been working on throughout time. Now it was as though the temple of Solomon’s day was complete and His spirit entered in and dwelt in that temple. Now God dwells in the whole of the body of Christ, in the whole of this spiritual house: “and He will dwell among them.”

We see this kind of language, for instance, in the Book of Joel, chapter 3. It first lets us know that the context is Judgment Day, beginning in Joel 3:12-15:

Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness *is* great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of JEHOVAH *is* near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

There are just so many tie-ins with Judgment Day in these verses, as it says, “there will I sit to judge all the heathen,” and it also says, “Put ye in the sickle,” just like we see in Revelation 14 where Christ is putting in the sickle as He judges the world. It is the day of “decision,” which is actually translated as “threshing” in one place. It is also a time when “the sun and the moon shall be darkened.” I know I have said this a lot lately, but it is necessary because of the time we are living in, but it says in Matthew 24:29: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened.” So, Joel 3 is telling us that Judgment Day occurs immediately after the Tribulation because it is speaking of the sun and the moon being darkened, and this is another proof text – it is proof from the Bible that there is time after the Tribulation; that there is time on earth in the Day of Judgment, as this passage is describing Judgment Day and locking in the time as immediately after the Tribulation; and Mark 13:24 tells us there is a period known as “those days” (plural) after the Tribulation.

Then it also says in Joel 3:16:

JEHOVAH also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem…

Now we have to be careful as we read this, as we could get the idea that it is somehow referring to the Lord roaring out as though He is leaving, but when it says, “JEHOVAH also shall roar out of Zion,” it is the same thing as the second part of the verse: “and utter his voice from Jerusalem.” Zion and Judah are synonyms and “roar” and “utter his voice” are also synonyms; this means that in the Day of Judgment, the body of believers (the temple of God, all of the elect) is in view and God is somehow speaking from them. Again, we know from our present circumstances (as the Lord has opened up additional revelation from His Word and He has opened up our understanding regarding the Day of Judgment and the righteous judgment of God) that He is having His people declare His truths (as they are Zion and they are Jerusalem); and as He moves His people to accomplish His purpose, it as though He is “roaring out of Zion” and “uttering his voice from Jerusalem.”

Then it goes on to say in Joel 3:16:

… and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but JEHOVAH *will be* the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

We should not overlook this statement either. Why is God making this statement in the context of Judgment Day: that He will be “the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel”? This is exactly what is keeping us going. This is exactly what is allowing us to go through this, day by day, in this awful, grievous time period. It is because God is with us and continues to be our hope. He continues to be our strength. It fits our present circumstances.

Then it says in Joel 3:17:

So shall ye know that I *am* JEHOVAH your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

Here, again, we see God “dwelling in Zion.” He has completed His temple. He has completed New Jerusalem. All of His elect have been saved and, therefore, Jerusalem is holy. It is not the corporate church where there are unsaved individuals. This is “heavenly Jerusalem.” It is the Jerusalem that is only made up of those that God truly has saved and, therefore, “no strangers pass through her any more.”

Lord willing, in our next Bible study we will continue to look at this passage in Revelation, chapter 7 and we will see what God has in store for us as we go, verse by verse, through the Book of Revelation.

Revelation 7 Series, Study #14

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 21, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #14 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading Revelation 7:15-17:

These are wonderful and beautiful verses and they are very comforting to the child of God. Yet, we have to regard and take note of the context. This is referring to the great multitude that came “out of great tribulation,” and we saw that they are “before the throne of God” because the earth is God’s footstool; they are serving him “day and night in his temple,” and “day and night” is a time reference that indicates that time is still taking place on earth; that is, the earth has not yet been destroyed. They are serving him in His temple and in our last study we saw how the body of believers is the temple of God. As we serve God, as individuals, we are spiritually part of the spiritual house which God has constructed as He saved each of His elect and we are serving Him in His temple: “and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.”

Once God saved the last one of His elect, He now indwells every single one that He had predestinated to become saved – the complete house of God (the complete temple) has now been finished. Therefore, just as with the earthly example of Solomon’s temple, once the house was finished, then the Spirit of God entered in. Now God indwells every single one that He had determined to save and, therefore, He “fills” the whole house, the entire spiritual temple of the body of Christ.

Yet, this “great multitude” still lives on the earth in the Day of Judgment. There is no problem to understanding this verse as having application to our time, but what about verses 16 and 17? Revelation 7:16 says:

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

Now, certainly, this must be speaking of heaven; it cannot be speaking of this present earth – or, can it? Is it possible that it could be said of God’s elect that they will “hunger and thirst no more?” Is it possible that it could be said that “the sun shall not light on them, nor any heat”? Yes, it is very possible, once we look at it in the correct way; and that is to look for the spiritual meaning of what God is saying; that is, God is not speaking of physical hunger or physical thirst, nor of the heat of the physical sun. He is not talking about those things, but it is a completely spiritual statement that has to do with salvation, for instance, as we read of in Luke 6:21:

Blessed *are ye* that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed *are ye* that weep now: for ye shall laugh.

Here, God is speaking of those that “hunger” now because they will be “filled.” But this verse still leaves us wondering exactly what God is referring to: hungering for what? It is not until we go to the parallel Gospel account that we learn exactly what is in view. It says in Matthew 5:6:

Blessed *are* they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Now we have a completely different picture than someone hungering or thirsting after literal bread and water. This is someone that is hungering and thirsting “after righteousness.” Once we understand “righteousness,” we will have a complete picture. Righteousness is really embodied by the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in 1st Corinthians 1:30:

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

Christ is made unto us “righteousness.” The Book of Romans tells us: “by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Through the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, He saved a people for Himself and made them “righteous” in the sight of God. They are then able to have the covering (or garment) of the righteousness of Christ to put over their “nakedness” (their sinful acts and thoughts and all the evil they have done); they have the covering of Christ’s “righteousness,” so, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness,” or “after the salvation of God.” If God grants salvation to anyone (when it was still the day of salvation), then this “hunger and thirst” would be filled. They would receive the righteousness of Christ.

Of course, we can see how this fits in with the “great multitude.” The “great multitude” will no longer hunger and thirst after righteousness because they have received the righteousness of God, in receiving God’s grace; they are born again and they no longer need to obtain righteousness. No longer do they have a need to become saved – they are saved. This is why God, in Revelation 22, is speaking of our present time, the Day of Judgment, and how everyone’s eternal state has been settled – God has completed His salvation plan; all the elect have been “made righteous” and all those that are not elect are still in their sins and are spoken of as being spiritually filthy or unjust. We read in Revelation 22:10-11:

And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

You see, the righteous are “righteous still,” and there can be no change to their spiritual condition and no change to anyone’s spiritual condition. The door is shut and if you are on the “earthly side of the door” (the side where there is no Saviour), then your condition is settled. If you are on the other side of the door (if you have entered in when you became saved and are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus), then your spiritual condition is settled; you will remain “righteous still.” Therefore, this great multitude that was granted this tremendous mercy to enter into the door before it was shut shall not “hunger” any more and shall not “thirst” any more because they have received the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you see how nicely that fits with our present situation? The great multitude (which we are, if we are saved) that came “out of the great tribulation” when the Great Tribulation ended on May 21, 2011, after a full and complete 23 years, and we have obtained the righteousness of Christ and, therefore, we no longer hunger or thirst after righteousness. None of God’s elect hunger or thirst after righteousness because none of them still require the redemptive work of Christ to be applied to their hearts so that they can obtain righteousness. It is all finished and done. Just as God’s program of salvation was finished and accomplished from the foundation of the world, so, too, the work of sending forth the Gospel to apply that redemption to all those individuals whose names were recorded is now finished. Another aspect of God’s salvation program has been completed.

What about the next part of the verse? It says in Revelation 7:16:

… neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

What does this mean? God is speaking of the “sun,” again, so the meaning would be Eternal God Himself, as Psalm 84:11 tells us: “For JEHOVAH God is a sun and shield.” God is typified by the sun. Christ is pictured by the sun – that is why He is the Light of the world. The word “light on” in Revelation 7:16 is only translated as “light on” here. It is overwhelmingly translated as “fall” or “fell” or some variation of “fell.” It really should read: “neither shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat.” It is the same Greek word that is in Revelation 9:1:

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth…

The word “fall” is the same word translated in our verse as “light on.” It really has in view the anger of God. When the “sun” falls on them, it is picturing God’s fury coming down upon the wicked; that is, if it were to fall on you. But, here, God is saying that the sun’s heat shall not fall on the great multitude and that is because they are not under the wrath of God. So, this is very important language, especially since God knows that His people will be alive and remain on the earth in the Day of Judgment. So it is very comforting and assuring to hear God say, “You have no worries because the wrath that is being poured out upon the wicked all around you – the cup of my wrath which they are drinking – will not fall upon you. The wrath of God will not fall upon you; you will not feel the heat of it and you will not be the recipient of my wrath. You are not the one being punished.”

We are here and the fire that is burning up the wicked and destroying them is not harming the true believer. It certainly can be a means of “trying” us; and that is happening. God is severely trying His people to see whether we are children of God, but the fire will not consume us and, ultimately, will not harm us in any way. We will come through the fire and this is a verse that assures us of that fact: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat.”

We have a verse in Isaiah where this verse in Revelation comes from. We will see that rather quickly in Isaiah 49:8-12:

Thus saith JEHOVAH, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that *are* in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures *shall be* in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

Here, we see the very similar language in verse 10: “They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them.” That is the difference – in Revelation 7, it says the sun shall not “light on” them or “fall on” them, but the meaning is that it will not “smite” them. The word “smite” is a word that can mean “kill.” For instance, it is the same word that is used in Psalm 78:51, where it speaks of the Lord smiting the firstborn in Egypt and we know that He “killed” them. There was a plague that killed all the first born and that is what it means to be “smitten” by the “sun.” And God says that those that experienced salvation during the day of salvation shall “neither hunger nor thirst,” and, again, we understand that to mean that they will not hunger or thirst for righteousness, because they have obtained it through that salvation: “Neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them.” If God does not have mercy upon you, He will “smite” you with the “sun” and “heat.”

This reminds us of the Book of Jonah, if you remember when Jonah had fulfilled his task which God had assigned him in going to Nineveh and proclaiming that they had “forty days.” Then the men of Nineveh, from the King on down, cried out to mercy and the Lord repented of the evil He had intended to do unto them and did it not. Then Jonah went outside the city and was praying and waiting to see what would happen. Then we read of that situation in Jonah 4:4-8:

Then said JEHVOAH, Doest thou well to be angry? So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. And JEHVOAH God prepared a gourd, and made *it* to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, *It is* better for me to die than to live.

In this historical parable we have Jonah, in chapter 4, as a “type” of Christ. That is why the statement is made that he “wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.” Of course, that statement is true of the Lord Jesus Christ – it was “much better” for Him to die than to live. If He did not die, He could not have saved His people from their sins. So, Jonah is a picture of the Lord Jesus under the wrath of God; and notice that the sun beats upon his head, causing him to faint and to wish in himself to die. Again, the “heat of the sun” is a type and figure of God’s wrath.

I just want to go to one more place in the Book of Revelation, to a place that describes our present period of Judgment Day. Revelation 16 discusses the outpouring of the seven vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. It says in Revelation 16:8-9:

And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Here, we find the “sun” and the vial of the wrath of God is poured out upon the “sun” and then men are scorched with fire and notice that it says in verse 9: “And men were scorched with great heat.” That word “heat” is the same word as used in Revelation 7, where it says that the sun and the heat will not fall upon the great multitude, but it will fall on everyone else, and that is what Revelation, chapter 16, is describing: the Day of Judgment, the day of the wrath of God and this time, since May 21, 2011, which (in all probability) will continue for 1,600 days and then be completed. During this 1,600 day period, the “sun” is “falling upon” the unsaved people of the earth, scorching them, spiritually, and they are being “scorched with great heat.”

The word “scorched” is an interesting word. It is interesting because it is only found four times in the Bible – two of those times are in the verse we just read that refer to being scorched with fire and scorched with great heat. The other two times – once in the Gospel of Matthew and once in the Gospel of Mark – it is found in the context of the parable of the sower. It says in Matthew 13:6:

And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

It is also found in Mark 4:3-6:

Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

This is referring to the “seed,” or the Word of God, that is sown in the hearts of men. Then God uses the picture of seed that does not find “depth of earth” and it does not go very deeply into the ground, so it has no “root” in itself. When it says, “it had no root,” it means it did not have the Lord Jesus, as He is the “root of Jesse.” Yet, it is the scorching heat of the sun that reveals this and that is the character of this time period; we are living in a time when the “sun” is bearing down and there is “great heat” (scorching heat) that will burn up all seed that has “no depth of earth,” and, therefore, “no root” in itself. Anyone that is not a true believer (a true child of God) and does not have the Spirit of Christ will be “scorched” with this burning sun that God has lit.

Of course, God speaks of this as a time of “darkness,” but this is another parabolic statement to instruct us that it is a time of intense and severe trial – the trial of our faith. The “sun” will burn up and will “fall on” the wicked and all of them that profess to be Christian; no matter what their profession was; no matter how many tracts they handed out or how often they proclaimed that May 21, 2011, was Judgment Day; no matter what they gave up of their resources and funds. Now is the time when God is trying them and testing them to see if they have “root” in themselves.

The true believers (those that are saved and part of the great multitude) are going to endure the burning sun. They are going to endure the heat. It is as if the sun will not “fall” on them, nor any “heat,” because God will bring them through it. They do have root in themselves; they do have Christ within and this will bring no harm to them. It is really a very encouraging verse for each one of us today: God is letting it be known and He is speaking to us: “Though it is difficult and though it is very trying, you will come through. You will endure to the end.”

Revelation 7 Series, Study #15

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 22, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #15 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be looking, again, at Revelation 7:15-17:

We have been looking at this passage for the last several studies and we have seen that this is the “great multitude” that God saved “out of great tribulation” and, really, it is as though we are looking in a mirror because this language is describing our present circumstances. The “great multitude” is those that God saved during the “little season” of the Great Tribulation which ended on May 21, 2011. Therefore, we have “come out of great tribulation.” We are “before the throne of God,” as the earth is His footstool. We “serve him day and night” during this time period of Judgment Day, which very well could continue for 1,600 days. We serve God, “in his temple,” the completed body of Christ.

As we saw in our last study, speaking of this “great multitude,” speaking of all God’s elect and speaking of all of us (if we have become saved), it says in Revelation 7:16:

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

Again, the verse that really helps us to understand what it means, spiritually, to “hunger” or “thirst” is found in Matthew 5:6:

Blessed *are* they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Now the great multitude has obtained the salvation of God, by His grace, and they have been filled with righteousness. They no longer hunger and thirst after righteousness because God has granted it to them. That is why it says here: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more;” and we saw in our last study how this verse relates to Revelation 22:11:

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Now, here, the word “righteous,” as well as the word “filthy” is indicating a set spiritual condition; there will be no change in those that are “filthy;” and that would refer to the wicked. And there is no change in those that are “righteous.” If you are righteous, you will remain righteous and if you are filthy, you will remain filthy. That is the condition of every individual today; the eternal state has been established for each person and it will no longer change.

In time past, during the day of salvation, there could have been a change from one station to the next because God translated His elect (once He applied the redemptive work of Christ to them) out of the kingdom of darkness – out of that filthy condition – and into the kingdom of His dear son – into a “righteous” condition. But that is no longer the case. If you are filthy and unjust, you will remain filthy and unjust. If you are righteous and holy, you will remain righteous and holy. There will be no translating from one into the other. Of course, there never could be someone going from true righteousness (or salvation) to filthiness, because when we receive eternal life, we cannot “lose” eternal life, but God’s salvation program has ended and, therefore, there is no more coming out of darkness and into the Light; no more leaving our wretched and filthy spiritual condition and obtaining the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

One interesting thing here is the word “still,” in Revelation 22:11: “and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still.” That is the same Greek word (even though we do not see it in this verse) that is in Revelation 7:16. The Greek word “eti” is found there and it is translated as “still” several times in Revelation 22:11. Again, in the English, it says in Revelation 7:16:

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more…

But, literally, according to Jay Green’s Interlinear Bible, this verse in Revelation 7:16 should read: They shall not hunger still, nor will they thirst still. This is because it is that same Greek word. And what does that mean? It is referring to hungering and thirsting after righteousness, so when we read “They shall not hunger still, nor will they thirst still,” it could just as easily be read as (if we were to use what “hunger” and “thirst” mean in the spiritual realm) that they will be “righteous still.” That is really what it is saying. They will not “hunger” or “thirst” after righteousness. They will not hunger “still,” nor will they thirst “still.” It really is saying what Revelation 22:11 is saying, and that is because it is describing the same period of time, our own time period of Judgment Day – that prolonged period of time that God refers to as a single day.

Let us continue on in Revelation 7:16. I know we looked at this last time, but this whole passage and these verses are very important to our situation today, so it is important for us to carefully go over them. It says in the last part of Revelation 7:16:

…neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

We saw that the word “light on” is only translated that way here. It is normally translated as “fall” or “fell.” When the Bible speaks of the “sun” not falling on them or “heat” not falling on them, it really is language describing that the wrath of God will not fall on them. Back in Isaiah 49:10, it said that the sun will not “smite” them and our verse appears to be a quote from that verse. So it has to do with the anger of God being poured out upon the wicked in the Day of Judgment and, yet, God’s people will not experience that wrath. They will not feel the heat of the “sun.” From here, we went to Revelation 16 (if you remember), where God is speaking of the Day of Judgment and He is using the picture of the sun bringing scorching heat upon the wicked. It says in Revelation 16:8:

Here, again, this is describing the wrath of God falling down upon the unsaved inhabitants of the earth and God likens it to scorching men with “great heat.” We also went to two other places, because the word translated as “scorch” is only found four times in the New Testament. Twice it is found here in Revelation 16, and once in Matthew 13 and once in Mark 4, in the parable of the sower; they are parallel Gospel accounts of the same parable. I want to go back to Mark 4 to consider a few more things about this before we move on. It says in Mark 4:3-6:

Then the parable goes on to speak of some other “seed” that fell in various places. In the explanation of the parable, which comes along a little further on in the same chapter, we read in Mark 4:16-17:

And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves…

The word “root” is pointing to Christ – He is the “root of Jesse.” He is the one that enables an individual to endure the scorching heat. If Christ is in us, we will be able to endure to the end. If we have no root in ourselves, then it goes on to say in Mark 4:16:

And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

We can see how this relates to our present day, as Revelation 16 is using this word “scorched” twice (in Revelation 16:8 and 16:9) in the context of Judgment Day. And as we follow the Bible’s guidelines to compare Scripture with Scripture and as we search out the meaning of that word, what do we find? We find that the word “scorch” has to do with a spiritual setting in which people have heard the Gospel and they have “received it with gladness,” in a very immediate way, yet, some had “no root in themselves.” And since they had “no root” and
Christ was not within them, they only endured for a time, but, afterwards, as soon as “affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.”

We can relate this very well to the time of the Great Tribulation when the “latter rain” was falling and God had opened up the Scriptures to reveal much truth, when a great number of people received this information with gladness. They were joyful. They were excited. They responded, “Oh, alright, this is it! We have insight into the time of the end of the world – the Bible has revealed to us the very Day of Judgment!” And there were many other things that were revealed: the end of the church age; the fact that there is no place called Hell, but that God will just annihilate mankind at the end; and all sorts of truths came forth from the Word of God that were immediately received with gladness by a good number of people, but the problem was that, of this number, there were some that had “no root.” Christ was not within them.

It was God’s plan to bring about the Day of Judgment on the world and, at the same time, leave His people on the earth to go through this Judgment Day. But God did not reveal anything concerning the fact that the elect would not be taken out of the world; they would not be raptured, but they would remain on the earth. He just did not reveal it. He could have opened up our understanding – that is how we know anything, is it not? That is how we come to truth, by God opening up our eyes and our understanding to these things.

We have to say that God’s people had followed the same methodology in studying the Word of God on these passages as we did with other passages: for example, as we learned that we are saved by the faith of Christ and not by our own faith. It was just by careful examination of the Scripture and, yet, that (doctrine) was not known until relatively recently during the period of the “latter rain.” Why was that? It was because God did not previously open up our eyes. It was according to His good pleasure that at this time period we learned the true nature of salvation: we are saved by the faith of Christ and never by our own faith. That is how it is with all truth. The Lord Jesus must open up our understanding that we might understand the Scriptures. If He does not, we will lack understanding to whatever degree things are not revealed to us.

Some people think it is just an “excuse” to say that we did not know and the reason is that God held it back from us, but that is fact. This is the case with all Biblical truth and all the information we did learn at the time of the Great Tribulation, as the Word of God was unsealed. While the world was sealed, that means that God held the information back and no one could know it until it was the proper time; then He opened our eyes.

And, likewise, this is true of God’s elect having to go through Judgment Day – to have to stay on the earth and not be taken out of it. God held that information back and He had an excellent reason for doing so. It was so that it would appear that we were “all wrong.” Why would God want that? Why would He want His people to sound the trumpet to all the world and to proclaim boldly to all the people of the world? God opened up the door for this to happen. I do not know how anyone can look at how widespread the message of May 21, 2011, Judgment Day, was and then think that the hand of God was not in it. Never before in history has a message from the Bible containing a message of judgment reached so many people of the world. Nothing has even come close; and who could do that, but God? Who could open the doors and multiply His Word to that degree, but God?

So, God did that and He utilized a ministry that He raised up for over 50 years, the ministry of Family Radio. He utilized his faithful servant, Mr. Camping, whom He carefully guided into much truth over the course of those same 50 years. God utilized the funds and resources of His people which had gathered together to send forth this Word to the nations of the world. They had pooled their limited funds and God allowed the vast majority of those funds to be expended and to be used in the proclamation of this message of Judgment Day. There is no other group of people that can be identified with the truth like these people were because the churches had “fallen away.” Therefore, all that identify with the churches have no grounds for truth and all other ministries outside of the churches add to the Bible or take away from the Bible; they do not understand the true salvation of the Bible.

They do not diligently and studiously approach the Bible, like this particular group of elect did, which identify with the truth, unlike the “professed” Christians in the world; and God blessed them in proclaiming this message to the world and God then allowed it to “appear” as if they were all wrong. Then May 21, 2011 came and there was no outward devastation or earthquake and there was no change from one day to the next, physically. Nothing which the human eye could see had occurred in the world. It was as though God had just led His people (and I say that due to the information that has come forth from the Bible) right up to the point of sharing these things and then it was almost as if He had abandoned us. Then there was nothing.

Afterwards we did not know what had happened and there was great confusion and all of this was “set up” by God. It was His doing and His brilliant workings in controlling these circumstances, in order to accomplish His purposes of bringing Judgment Day “as a snare” upon all the inhabitants of the earth, at the very time they were rejoicing and proclaiming that nothing happened; the atheists said, “See, there is no God,” and the people in the churches said, “See, we told you that you cannot know the day or hour.” All were rejoicing. All were confident that they were right and they had won the victory. And, at that very time, God brought awful grievous judgment upon every one of them by shutting the door to heaven in a spiritual judgment which has been in effect ever since. That door will never open again, as God is pouring out His wrath upon these same people in a spiritual way and they cannot even discern it is happening, just as He did to the churches when they thought all was well with them, while God was judging them for twenty three years (and they went ignorantly through that judgment). Now, likewise, the world itself is going ignorantly through the Day of Judgment upon them.

That was one purpose that was accomplished, but God had another purpose: to test His people, as they would go back to the Bible…well, some would (go back to the Bible), but some would be “immediately offended,” as we read of these individuals in the parable that, for a time, received the word “with gladness.” But, as it said, they only endured for a time, but “when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.” We can say this because we saw it unfold and we have seen these things take place with individuals that were once “hand in hand” with us, but, immediately…within a day (with some individuals), within a week (for some) or within a month (for some others)…immediately they began to turn on the teachings that God had so graciously opened up and to deny them and to turn on their fellow believers that they once stood with and to speak evil against them. This all happened quickly. Why? It was because they were “offended.” They were offended by holding onto the Word of God and by adhering to these things and they were embarrassed in the eyes of the world and in the eyes of their friends and families. They were embarrassed.

That was much of God’s purpose: When the Word of God becomes an offense, would they turn back to the Bible? If they would have continued to search the Scriptures and check out the information they once publicly proclaimed, they would have discovered that they could not make correction on the timeline because it is still correct – there was no error. We cannot say that May 21, 2011 was not Judgment Day because the Bible still points to that date and continues to insist that it was (Judgment Day). They would have seen that the “test” was to hold on, to endure and to continue steadfastly in the Word of God, in the face of ridicule and mockery, in the face of our own “eyes” testifying against it; and the eyes of all the world that would confidently declare, “Nothing happened,” because they saw nothing take place with their eyes.

This was the test. Will you stand fast and continue to hold onto the Word of God? It is as if God is saying, “You heard my voice. Christ’s sheep hear His voice. You know it was my voice. It is why you declared, ‘The Bible guarantees it,’ and now will you deny that it was my voice? Will you now turn back and turn away from these things, based on being offended at the world’s mockery and the churches mockery and their idea that they were correct?”

Well, you see, this is what God has done, and we will have to look at this more in our next Bible study.

Revelation 7 Series, Study #16

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 25, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #16 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading Revelation 7:15-17:

We have been going through these verses for the last few studies and we saw, in verse 16, that the reference to hungering and thirsting has to do with seeking righteousness, because the great multitude (which are the last of God’s elect to become saved) has obtained the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, they no longer hungered and thirsted after righteousness.

And, because they were saved and had Christ’s righteousness as a covering for their sin, the sun would not “fall” upon them, nor any heat, and that was language referring to the wrath of God.

But now we are in verse 17 and it says in Revelation 7:17:

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters…

Of course, the Lamb in the midst of the throne is Jesus Himself; He is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world; He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world and He made payment for the sins of his people, including this great multitude, from before the world began. Here, as we noted previously, this passage is describing God’s elect which “came out of great tribulation,” because verse 15 spoke of this great multitude serving Him “day and night,” and that is a time reference and, therefore, there must still be time on earth. (There is not time in heaven in eternity future: “And there shall be no night there,” the Bible says.) So we have been able to see how verses 15 and 16 apply to God’s elect living on the earth during the Day of Judgment.

Now, what about verse 17? Is the Lord Jesus, the Lamb in the midst of the throne, going to feed them? Is He going to feed the great multitude? Right away, our ears perk up and, really, they should, because this language matches exactly what we have learned from John 21. But, first, keep in mind that as John 20 concluded in verses 30 and 31, it said: And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

Now that would be a wonderful point to end the Gospel of John, but God did not end John’s Gospel there, but we have John 21, and it is a very interesting chapter; it is unlike anything else in the other Gospels. This “addendum,” or additional information, that God gives us in John 21 concerns a “fishing expedition” in which they, at first, caught nothing, but then at the direction of the Lord Jesus, they let down their nets and there was a great catch of fish. We read in John 21:5-6:

Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

That is a “great multitude.” Then it goes on to say in John 21:7-11:

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt *his* fisher's coat *unto him,* (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

Do you see how God is emphasizing the multitude of the catch of fish and that it was a great catch of fish? We have a picture of a “great multitude.” The Bible likens men to “fish.” Remember when Jesus, at the beginning of His ministry, chose His apostles and He said to some of them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They had been fisherman and, so, it was something Jesus would say to them that they would understand, but it also has “spiritual” application, where men are likened to fish and, here, there are 153 fish, or 9 x 17; or to break it down a little further: 3 x 3 x 17 = 153. As we have learned, numbers in the Bible have spiritual meaning and, here, the number “3” points to the “purpose of God.” It is God’s purpose (and this is doubled) that this great catch of fish, which represent God’s elect, be brought to heaven, as the number “17” in the Bible identifies with heaven.

So, here, we have the “great multitude,” just as we have them in Revelation, chapter 7. God gave us that glorious picture of the great multitude clothed in white (as they had their robes washed in the blood of the Lamb) and they were before the throne of God, serving Him day and night in His temple. That is a picture of the great multitude coming out of great tribulation, as May 21, 2011, ended the 23-year Great Tribulation period and they are serving God on the earth in the Day of Judgment.

Here, too, we have the “great multitude” brought to the Lord Jesus, just as the great multitude was before the throne of God where the Lamb was in the midst of the throne. So, here, in John 21, the great catch of fish (153 = 3 x 3 x 17) is brought to the Lord Jesus. So that ends it. That completes the Gospel of John. God has brought the great catch of fish and there is no more to be said and no more to be done. But, no, He does not end the Gospel of John there. After telling the disciples to come and dine, then Jesus begins to speak to them in John 21:14:

This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

Now, we should not “miss” that either. The number of fish was 3 x 3 x 17 and now it is the “third” time that Christ is showing Himself to His disciples: “This is my purpose. This is something that is according to my will. It is my purpose that these things take place and that these things will be done.” Then it says in John 21:15-17:

So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, *son* of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, *son* of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, *son* of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me?

Once, again, this is not all that incredible, because this is the Bible and when God wrote His Word and when He wanted to emphasize a particular truth, He “pulled out all the stops” to make sure we do not miss it. Remember the number of fish? (3 x 3 x 17): God’s purpose, doubled, plus it was “”the third time that Jesus shewed himself,” and now He says to Peter, three times,

asking the question, “Lovest thou me?” Three times Peter responds, “Thou knowest that I love thee.” Three times, Christ answered, “Feed my sheep” or “Feed my lambs.” So, that is a series of “three” within these statements. Jesus, addressing Peter, asks a question three times. Peter, in response, answers the question three times. Jesus, in turn, responds, again, three times. Three, three and three.

Are you wondering, perhaps, what God’s purpose is for you during this Day of Judgment and during this time period after the tribulation, when God’s program of evangelization is finished and all of God’s sheep have been found? The lost sheep of the house of Israel are no longer lost but they are all found and gathered together before the throne of God. All the elect are safe and secure. Are you wondering what it is that God would now have you to do? What is God’s purpose for your life (and for my life) at this time? What is God’s will for you and for me, as we live on the earth in the Day of Judgment? Are you just to struggle through? Are we just to endure, by the skin of our teeth? Are we just to hold on for dear life and get through the day and then make it through another day?

We are to continue to endure, yes, and we can only to do that by the grace of God. We are not to go back. We are not to return to church. We are not to return to former doctrine. We are not to turn back from following the Lord Jesus Christ. But, more than that, God gives us some positive commands. He tells us what we are to do and what our task is – what our job is and what our business should be during this time period – and what we should be using our resources to accomplish. Our resources would be our time, our effort and our finances, the same things we did in carrying out the task to get the Gospel out into the world in order that the lost sheep of the house of Israel would be found, so that they could become saved while it was (still) the day of salvation.

But, now, we are to use our resources – our time, our finances and our efforts – to “feed the sheep” that God has gathered together (those He saved). This is the purpose of God. This idea of feeding sheep is not that exciting or dramatic; it is not as interesting to some people. They despise it; they feel it is beneath them; they feel it is not worthy of service. Well, I am sorry if anyone feels that way. I am very sorry if anyone feels that they know better than God – that they know what is worthy of effort, or they know what is worthy of labour and where to put their efforts. They know better than God – they are wiser than God. They know that, yes, it was a wonderful and worthy endeavor to utilize their resources and to give up their lives in service to the Lord Jesus in getting the Gospel out to the world in order to warn them and in order that God might reach His elect.

That was truly worthy for them to do, but this task (of feeding God’s sheep) does not qualify. This does not meet their expectations; this is somehow beneath them. And, of course, this is not true. This is not true, if we are thinking properly and if we are not thinking too highly of ourselves. If we are thinking as we ought to think and we realize that we are “nobody” and we are not the ones that determine the task; we are not the ones that plot the course; we are not the ones that decide what the people of God ought to do or what direction the Gospel is to go. We are not the ones to make those kinds of decisions. We are sinners that have been saved by the grace of God – and only by His grace – and we are deserving of nothing; we have earned nothing. We are, certainly, not the ones in charge. It is not our decision what kind of Gospel is to be preached or what the object or target of that Gospel is to be. God determines these things and He has.

As the great multitude is brought in, typified by this catch of fish, then there is a discussion with the disciples and the Lord Jesus lays it out three times in “series of three’s: “Do not miss this. This is my purpose for you in this post-Tribulation time, after the great multitude is brought in: Feed my sheep. This will reveal whether, or not, you truly love me. This will be an indicator of your love.”

That is because “love” is not a feeling in the Bible. The Bible does not define “love” as an emotional feeling. Love is an act of obedience. Love is action: “If you love me, keep my commandments, even if you may not fully understand my commandments, or even if we are entering into a time wherein the commandments are unlike anything I have commanded previously.”

Nonetheless, your role and my role, as servants of the Lord that “serve him day and night in his temple,” is to keep His commandments and the commandment is very specific and the commandment is very direct. It leaves no room for discussion. It is a command to “feed the sheep,” to feed the great multitude. That is what we see in Revelation, chapter 7:17:

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.”

But, it says that the Lamb feeds them. Why do we have to feed them? It is because the Lord Jesus accomplishes His purposes through His people. Even though it is the true believers that carry the truth from the Bible at this time and they share information from the Word of God widely to all (because we do not know who God saved or where the sheep are), so we are basically in the same position we were in during the day of salvation. We did not know who the elect were and we had to share (the Gospel) with everyone and God would use His Word to find those lost sheep.

Now, similarly, we have to share with everyone so that God can use His Word to feed the sheep that have been found. This is what God would have us to do; it is the purpose of God. As we accomplish this task and as the child of God is faithful as God moves within us to “will and to do of his good pleasure,” finally, it will be said that the Lord Jesus fed His sheep. He did it through His people, just as He has done everything else through His people: “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace.” And, yet, in another place, it says “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings.” As the believers went forth with the Word of God into the world, they are the ones that physically carried the Word, yet, Christ is the one that was moving and enabling them and opening doors and causing this to happen. Therefore, it was He doing it. Likewise, now, as we do whatever we can (as God gives opportunity) and we endeavor to “feed the sheep,” finally, it will be the Lord Jesus feeding His sheep.

This word “feed” is Strong’s #4165. It is the same word as found 1st Corinthians 9:7:

Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

The word “feedeth” is the same word as “feed” in Revelation 7:17: “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them.” It is the word that is used to describe the feeding of the flock, just as in John 21:16.

By the way, when Christ said to Peter, “Lovest thou me?” and then Jesus would say, “Feed my sheep,” only once is the word “feed” the same Greek word as is found in Revelation 7:17, and that is in John 21:16.

It also says in 1st Peter 5:2:

Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight *thereof*, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

Again, it says, “Feed the flock,” so we can definitely see the connection to the language of Revelation 7. It is really amazing that as the great multitude is before God, they are brought before the Lord Jesus and He begins to feed them. It is really parallel to John 21 and the great catch of fish and the command of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not just a request and it is not just an option of many options, but it is one command – one directive – to each child of God: “Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep.” It is said three times to indicate the purpose of God for “those days after that tribulation.”

Revelation 7 Series, Study #17

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 26, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #17 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be looking at Revelation 7:17:

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

We had been discussing the fact that Christ, who is the Lamb, will feed the great multitude and we saw how that happens to be the plan of God during this time period. We learned this from John 21. This was one of the first bits of information that God opened up to us after May 21, 2011, did not occur as we had previously thought it would. It just so happened that Mr. Camping, while he was still teaching for a little while after May 21 (and he was still healthy enough to teach because he had not yet had a stroke), had begun to understand that we were living in a time when God had already accomplished the salvation of all of His elect. Therefore, God had found the lost sheep of the house of Israel and now it was time to “feed the sheep.” This was something that Mr. Camping realized, as God opened up his eyes relatively quickly after the date of May 21, 2011 came and went.

And, here, in Revelation, chapter 7, as we have been going along in our study of the Book of Revelation, we have seen that God saved a great multitude and they come “out of great tribulation.” Now we have left that period of time. The Great Tribulation was a 23-year period that went from May 21, 1988 through May 21, 2011, and now we have come out of it and we are still on the earth, living in the time of judgment – the worldwide judgment of the unsaved people of the earth.

As we have seen in Revelation 7, all the Biblical language of this great multitude being “before the throne of God” and serving Him “day and night,” is a time reference, which means that there is still “time” taking place on earth. We serve Him in His temple, as the spiritual temple comprised of only God’s elect, has been completed. God says that they will not hunger or thirst any more and we have seen how it points to obtaining the righteousness of Christ – all have obtained salvation whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Also, the sun and heat will not fall on them because they are not being punished for sin (because their sins were paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ), although they are before the judgment seat of Christ, as they are still here on earth while God is actively judging every unsaved inhabitant of the world.

Therefore, we are “appearing” or “making manifest” that we have already been judged in the Lord Jesus from the foundation of the world. And it is “made manifest” because we are not destroyed and we are not burned by this “fire” that God has kindled in His anger; but we will be purified through it, and that is only because we have already experienced the judgment in the Lord Jesus.

And, now, “the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them.” And that is our instruction. That is the commandment of God to His people at this time: “Feed my sheep.” It really is a beautiful and harmonious relationship between what we read in John 21 and what we read here in Revelation 7, concerning the great multitude that have come out of great tribulation. Then it goes on to say in Revelation 7:17:

…and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters…

Now, let us think about this. You know, there is some language in the Bible that indicates (and we will take a look at that) that on the very last day, Christ will be encouraging people that thirst to come and drink. And, here, we have a very similar statement in an unusual context because, one thing is for sure regarding this great multitude that the Lamb desires to feed and to lead to living fountains of water (whether people think this is speaking of a great multitude in heaven, or whether they recognize that this is the great multitude still on earth) is that this great multitude in view in these verses is already saved. If we look at Revelation 7:13-14:

That is unmistakable language indicating they had become saved, as the “white robes” are the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and they have been made “white in the blood of the Lamb.” All their sins have been expunged and all iniquity taken away; they are holy and without sin in the sight of God. Only someone who has had the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ applied to them is in this spiritual condition. These are the only ones in view in Revelation 7 as we continued on toward verse 17. There are no others in view; there is no other group. The “144,000” were mentioned earlier, but they were also saved. They had received the “seal of God in their foreheads,” indicating their salvation.

So, you see, when God says, “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters,” we can only come to the conclusion that this is speaking of saved individuals being led to living fountains of water. That might disappoint some people that have the idea that if God is calling you to drink of “living fountains of water,” that He is calling you to “become saved,” but that is not the case here at all; and it is also not the case in Revelation 21:5-6:

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Again, if we look at the context of Revelation 21, verse 1 speaks of a new heaven and a new earth, “for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away,” and this language certainly indicates that these people that God are referring to must already have experienced salvation. And, yet, He is encouraging them and He is still using the language that they are “athirst” and that He will give those that are “athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”

Now that helps us a great deal when we do go to John 7, as I mentioned earlier, which is referring to the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. It says in John 7:37:

In the last day, that great *day* of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

There have been some that have said, “You see, EBible is teaching that God ended His salvation program on May 21, 2011, and you are saying that 1,600 days after this is Judgment Day and God is not saving anyone, and it falls on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. And, here, on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus is encouraging people that thirst to come and drink. Therefore, He is encouraging sinners to come and be saved.”

And that is completely incorrect. Again, as has been a problem in the past, some individuals are not careful in searching out the language. If you follow this language, it will lead you to Revelation 7:17 and Revelation 21:6 and it will lead you to instances in which God’s people are already saved, yet, they are being beckoned by the Lord to “come and drink.” We will try to explain, hopefully, if we have time today, what is actually in view, but it is enough to realize this: Just as in Revelation 21:6, this could very well be referring to the last day of earth’s history and Jesus is not beseeching people to come and be saved, but He is calling to His elect to now come and enter into “eternity future” to drink of the “living water of life” anew in an ongoing and continuous way (as they had already begun to drink), but in a vastly different way because now their salvation will be complete and they will drink of that water for evermore.

We have to say, that as we look at this language, God does not just have the “water of His Word” available only for this world, but the language of the Bible teaches us that the water of God’s truth – of the Word of God – can give drink to thirsty souls in this world as they become saved and it can continue to give drink to souls that are athirst into “eternity future.” In other words, when the world ends on the last day, God is not going to stop giving the souls of His people “living water.” The “living water” will continue to nourish them.

It goes on to say in John 7:38-39:

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet *given*; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

So the “living water” has to do with the Holy Spirit – with the Spirit of God. And that is interesting, because in our verse in Revelation 7:17 the Lamb upon the throne “shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.” Now the Greek word translated as “lead” is found translated as “guide” back in John 16, in a setting where the Holy Spirit is in view. It says in John 16:12-13:

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, *that* shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Now I think we need to make some correction because I previously taught that God revealed “some truth,” (and this is true) during the church age and during the Old Testament time. There was “partial truth,” because the Word of God was still “sealed.” But at the time of the beginning of the Great Tribulation, when judgment began at the house of God, God greatly expanded the “truth” that the Holy Spirit was leading His elect into and much more was revealed.

Now the correction comes because I said that God would guide us into “all truth” and I would explain that by adding, “that is, all truth that God wanted His people to know.” God had measured out a certain degree of understanding and knowledge and truth concerning Himself and His Word; He filled it to a certain level and He would give the fullness of that knowledge and understanding to His people – not that we would know all things. And I think that was a mistake. God is talking about exactly what He says, here in John 16:12: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.” And God means “into all truth;” that is, to a perfect and complete understanding of the whole of the Word of God. If we had a complete and perfect understanding of the whole of the Word of God, then we would have a complete and perfect understanding of God Himself.

So, as God revealed Himself through His Word, at first there was partial understanding, as He moved prophets of old to write and there was the Old Testament. Then God increased that understanding with the New Testament and, yet, it was still “partial” because He had sealed the Word until the time of the end. Then He opened the Scriptures at the beginning of the Great Tribulation and He guided His people into greater truth. Then since the Great Tribulation period ended and Judgment Day began, God has guided His people into even more truth, as we read in Romans 2:5, that Judgment day is the “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” We are continuing to learn; the Holy Spirit is continuing to lead His people “into all truth,” and this will continue throughout the period of Judgment Day.

Again, the mistake was in thinking that all truth referred to this life and this world – to the limits that “time” has placed upon us – and it does not. The Holy Spirit is going to continue to lead God’s people into “all truth” in the coming world – the new heaven and new earth – and into eternity future. The Holy Spirit will continue to feed us and give us drink. We will continue to “thirst,” in that sense, and He will continue to lead us “unto living fountains of water,” which is the truth of the Word of God, as we will learn of God more perfectly.

We will, of course, be able to plumb depths never before reached in this world – and never could be – because we will have much greater knowledge and understanding of the Person of God. He will be in our very presence to teach us and guide us and we can ask all sorts of questions (however that will work out). All we know is that God loves to teach and His people love to learn about Him; and that will be one of the wonderful future joys for each one of God’s elect. It will be like a glorious Bible study where the opening of our eyes never ceases and we can joy over a “new truth” again, and again, and again, as the Holy Spirit leads us “unto living fountains of waters.”

And that is what Jesus is crying out on that last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (as we look ahead) and it appears there is excellent evidence that there is a good possibility that October 7, 2015, will be the 1,600th day (and 10,000th overall day) of judgment, and also the last day of Tabernacles, and it is as though Christ is exhorting and crying out to all the great multitude: “Come now! Come now! and let us leave this world and leave this sin-cursed earth and creation and all of the wicked. Let us turn our attention and turn our focus upon this wonderful, beautiful, glorious eternity that lies in front of us. Come and drink, and come and learn, and come and may your soul experience a quenching that it never was able to have in this world.”

Christ will teach us. The Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us into “all truth.” Is this not magnificent? Is this not a wonderful expectation, as we look ahead to the future that awaits each child of God?

Revelation 7 Series, Study #18

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 27, 2013

Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #18 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be looking at Revelation 7:17:

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

We have been looking at this chapter for a few weeks. In these last few verses, we have seen that God, here, is describing the great multitude which has “come out of great tribulation,” and He is discussing the events that are taking place on this earth, because it said, back in verse 15, that the great multitude is “serving him day and night in his temple,” which means there is still “time” on the earth. This fits our present situation where the Great Tribulation is now past; God has saved all of His elect, so we have “come out of great tribulation.” Yet, “time” continues while the Lord is pouring out His wrath upon the unsaved inhabitants of the earth.

During this time, God’s people serve Him in his (spiritual) temple, doing service to God as He commands us to “Feed my sheep.” It said, “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them,” and this is a big emphasis of the Lord for these days. We are still here and He will try us and test us severely, but He also has a great concern that His people be spiritually fed; and the way He intends to do this is through the opening up of the Scriptures, which God opened up at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, and continuing to “reveal” information from Scriptures in the Day of Judgment, as we read in Romans 2:5. It says there that “the day of wrath,” is also the day of the “revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” That is why we have been learning a great many spiritual things in “those days after that tribulation.”

Here, the Lamb is the one feeding them because He is the one that is in complete control of the process of opening up His Word and granting understanding to His people. God is the one that is also moving in His people to understand these things and to share them with others, so it all reverts back to Him because He is the one that is actually doing it. He is accomplishing these things, as He has always done, through His people.

Our verse also goes on to say that He “shall lead them unto living fountains of waters,” and we were discussing this in our last Bible study. The Greek word translated as “lead” is the same word that is translated as “guide” in John 16:13, where the Lord said that the Holy Spirit will come and “guide you into all truth.” Now we realize this statement explains that the whole outworking of God’s salvation program has been an imparting of His truth to His people: first, a little bit; then a little more with the Old Testament; then the New Testament expanded and increased that truth; and, finally, at the time of the end, there was the opening up of the sealed Word of God and the amount of truth greatly increased. Yet, it was not “all truth,” and even as we entered into the Day of Judgment, further understanding has been given to the people of God, but still it is not “all truth.” That is something that can only be completed in eternity future, so God is continuing the process of guiding His sheep “unto living fountains of water,” and that process will never, never end. We will always “thirst,” in that sense, after the Word of God – after truth – and God will always quench our thirst through the leading of His Spirit as He opens our spiritual eyes and ears to comprehend and understand the Word of God. This will continue into the new heaven and new earth.

Will it not be wonderful? Will it not be glorious when we can all be with the Lord Jesus Christ and He is our Bible teacher? It will be like one wonderful Bible conference, where Christ is teaching each one of us. He has the ability to personally instruct an individual and, yet, at the same time, instruct multitudes. I do not know how God does that. It is the same thing when we pray to him; here are hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of people praying to God all at the same time, but each one is given individual, undivided attention and concern and care from the Father above. He is able to do this with multitudes of people and no one is ignored; no one is lacking the full undivided attention of God.

When God teaches His people in the future world to come (when this world is past), He, likewise, will be instructing us concerning Himself. We just have to realize that the Bible is a Book that reveals the infinite mind of God and we are only able to scratch the surface of it.

Remember that statement in John 21 (and this is very significant when we think about what it is that God could be teaching us for evermore), and it says in John 21:25:

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

It is really incredible how God could probably take any verse, of the many verses of the Bible, and He could go into great depth and detail, analyzing everything that is stated there, and we would be in awe of the wonderful truths that God has hidden within His Word. Then we would go to the next verse, and the next verse, and the next verse. The Lord Jesus Christ will be instructing His people about Him – about the Person of God – and there is an “eternity past” in which God has existed and He has been involved in all sorts of things. We will be able to learn about this God and it will be an eternal joy for the child of God to learn of the great God that has saved us.

Just as the true believer rejoices and is happiest today when we realize something new from the Bible, this will be a big part of our joy for evermore, as we will be eternally learning about the Person of Eternal God.

Going back to Revelation 7:17:

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

God will wipe away all tears. This is repeated in Revelation 21:3-4:

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God *is* with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, *and be* their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

And I am going to read the next verse because there is an important statement there, in Revelation 21:5:

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

These are “true and faithful” words. We can count on these things coming to pass. We can depend upon it and trust in it. We can be assured of it because it is from God, who cannot lie (and, actually, it is impossible for Him to lie), and He is telling us: “This is what you have to look forward to and this is what you can expect. And, yes, I know who I am talking to. I know I am talking to creatures that live in a world where it seems, at times, there is nothing but death and sorrow and crying and pain; there is nothing but misery and disease and the ugly consequences of sin. I understand that this is the world you are presently in and you cannot imagine a world without these things. Yet, this is my plan.”

This is the plan of God for His people – to create a new heaven and a new earth and “Jerusalem a rejoicing, and his people a joy.” He will give them eternal life and this means no more death, no more disease, no more sickness and sorrow; and sin will be no more, and there will be no more pain that all these things bring. There will be no more tears. All tears will be wiped away. This is a fact and God is stating that it will happen in the eternity to come and His people will live in perfect happiness, peace and joy. They will have all the good things, all the blessings and all of the fruits of the spirit and none of the things that come through sin, because sin will be removed for evermore.

Well, that is a true statement that God is giving us and, yet, we have seen that Revelation 7 has been discussing the great multitude that are living on the earth in the Day of Judgment. We have seen how the statements that they will not hunger or thirst any more and how the sun will not fall on them oor any heat, and how this applies to God’s people living at this time. We have also seen how the Lord is desirous to feed His people and guide them “unto living fountains of waters,” and this also has application at this time, as well as into eternity future.

But how can we understand that God will wipe away all the tears from their eyes? We can understand that for the next world, but certainly now in these days after the tribulation, it has been very grievous, very trying and very troubling of mind. It has been so difficult for the people of God. God’s people certainly have shed tears over the situation in some in their family members, as they give no evidence of salvation, with the realization that the door of heaven is shut. The sorrow is present now. Tears are certainly falling now from the eyes of God’s people, so we would have to say that maybe God is just speaking in the future tense: He does say that he shall wipe away all tears. And, yes, it is true that there is going to be a literal fulfillment of that statement that God will wipe away all tears and tears no longer will be shed by God’s elect, once they enter into the new heaven and new earth.

But, could there be a spiritual understanding of this statement? “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Perhaps, a spiritual understanding could apply to the time of judgment while God’s people are alive upon the earth. But what could that be? Let us look at a few verses and see if we can begin to understand this a little bit. It says in 2nd Corinthians 2:4:

For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.

Here, God moved the Apostle Paul to declare that he has written to the Corinthians “with many tears.” We could understand this to mean that Paul has shared the Word of God, because that is exactly what Paul wrote to them – he wrote the Word of God; it was inspired, in fact, and is part of the Bible and, therefore, he was sharing the Gospel with them “with many tears.” And that idea matches what the Apostle Paul was also moved to say in Acts 20: 28-31:

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

Well, does the Apostle Paul mean this literally? Did he cry “night and day” for three full years, as he warned people (with the warnings of the Gospel)? Did he cry every single night and day every time he shared the Word of God? I do know someone that does get very emotional when he shares the Gospel and he does tend to “tear up” sometimes, but this would be highly unlikely for someone like Paul. (Maybe, on occasion, one could get overtaken with emotion with the thought that some are going to perish and one could shed some tears.) But, “night and day” for a period of three years, did he literally warn them with tears? And the answer is: no. It should not be understood literally. It is a spiritual reference to “sowing the Gospel” or sharing the Gospel and it is a sorrowful thing because so many are going to perish and so many are not going to take warning; so many remain in their sins, under the wrath of God and subject to that eternal destruction. They are all around us.

I remember the days leading up to May 21, 2011; first, the months and the weeks and then the days; as that day approached, it got all the more sorrowful because the more we shared the Word of God and we warned people that this day was coming – the day that God would judge the world – and we told people that God was going to shut the door to heaven, and as we saw so many not take warning, it was grievous; it was especially grievous if they were relatives and friends and neighbors and others we were acquainted with. Yes, there was the occasional tear, but there was not crying every day. No – this verse is referring to the sorrow in which the Gospel seed is sown and we can know this for sure because God tells us that in Psalm 126:5-6:

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves *with him*.

Here, God is speaking of one of the seasons of His spiritual harvest. There is a time to sow, or a time to plant, as we read in the Book of Ecclesiastes, and then there is a time to pluck up that which has been planted, or a time to reap. The day of salvation was a time of “sowing seed,” a time of scattering the seed of the Word of God upon the hearts of men and hoping and praying: “Oh, Father, could this be one of your chosen? Could this be one of your elect that you have predestined to hear these things and become a child of yours?” And this was done in sorrow, in a spiritual sense, with tears “night and day,” as God’s people sowed the Gospel. God identifies that as “sowing in tears,” and as one going forth and weeping, “bearing precious seed.”

But the time of reaping is a time of rejoicing and a time of reaping in joy. That is the time we are presently living in. God has ended the program of evangelization. He has ended the program of “sowing seed” so that sinners might hear and become saved and, therefore, since God identifies and associates “sowing seed” with “tears,” He can say that He has “wiped away all tears from their eyes.”

Let us “step back” again and realize the context of Revelation 7. The great multitude has “come out of great tribulation,” the final season of God’s harvest. The “latter rain” fell simultaneously with the Great Tribulation and produced that final harvest (that precious fruit) that will be brought in during the Feast of Ingathering. All the seeds have been sown and, therefore, all the tears have been shed by God’s people as they went forth with that precious seed and as they sowed the seed.

And, now, in this Day of Judgment, it is a time of reaping, according to Revelation 14, and there is, figuratively and spiritually, “rejoicing” going on. This does not mean that God’s people will not shed physical tears during these days. We have already mentioned how that is certainly not the case – we cry and we sorrow, physically and literally – but, spiritually, God says we are not to sow seed upon desolate land (upon land that has been destroyed by fire and brimstone) and, therefore, He has wiped away all tears from our eyes. He does not say it here, but this would also mean that in a spiritual sense, this is a season of rejoicing – of great joy in what God has done, as He has saved everyone He intended to save. That is a great cause for which to praise God and rejoice before Him.

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Revelation 7 Series, Study #1

by Chris McCann, originally aired November 4, 2013

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