Understanding the Book of Revelation: The Three Reapings

                 Chapter 14 discusses the three reapings and some of the events that will take place during the Great Tribulation, including the fall of religious Babylon. In the first verse, this Mount Zion is the heavenly one. The 144,000 is the 144,000 mentioned in Chapter 7, the 12,000 Jews from each tribe of Israel. The name “His Father” on their foreheads signifies that they are one with Him.  The voice is tumultuous yet solemn and pleasant. No one can learn the new song because they don’t have the same experiences of Christ as these first overcomers. When verse 3 says “from the earth” it proves that they’ve been raptured at this point. They were “purchased” by God when He sealed them and they will be raptured before everyone else. 

The Three Angels

                Now we see three more angels, each with a different message to those still on earth. The first angel proclaims the eternal gospel. It tells man to return to worship God and not be deceived by the Antichrist. He will begin the eternal judgment on the world. The second angel brings forth the message that Babylon has fallen. “Who has made all the nations drink” indicates that the Babylon being mentioned here is Rome, which is again mentioned in Chapter 17 and 18. Babylon the Great is a reference to Dan 4:30 when Nebuchadnezzar congratulates himself on his achievement: 'Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?' Immediately he became a beast and was driven from men. Rome has always influenced the rest of the world. The fury refers to her fury when the saints do not consent her fornication. The third angel brings forth the message of what the punishment will be if man does not heed these warnings. “Mixed undiluted” in verse 10 means that God won’t be light in His judgment and wrath. He’ll give to each what they deserve. Torment will not cease to exist in the lake of fire. The endurance to suffer the Antichrist’s persecution will be needed by the saints who remain on earth. There are two peoples who make up the saints at this time: the Jews who keep the commandments and the believers who keep the faith of Jesus.

The Harvest of the Earth 

 

                The dead in verse 13 are those who are martyred under the persecution of Antichrist during the great tribulation. At this point, Christ is no longer clothed by a cloud but now He is on the cloud. The Lord’s coming is now in the open and everyone will know. He is still the Son of Man, therefore He is qualified to execute God’s judgment on everyone (John 5:27). The golden crown is His crown of glory and the sickle indicates that He is the one who will reap God’s people. All believers, who since Christ’s coming have received His seed of life, make up God’s harvest. They are made ripe through their sufferings in the great tribulation so therefore they will be reaped and raptured. In verse 16, the sickle represents the angels sent by the Lord to reap the harvest (Matthew 13:39).

                This next angel in verse 17 has a sickle to reap the ones who chose not to follow Christ and chose to worship the Antichrist. In the bible, the Jews are likened to the fig tree (Matthew 24:32), the believers are likened to wheat (Matthew 13:25, 30), and now the wicked are likened to grapes, which is a counterfeit of the true vine made of Christ and His followers (John 15:1-6). The grapes, being composed mostly of water, indicates that these wicked are ripe because they are filled to the brim with sin. The great winepress in verse 19 is the war at Armageddon in Chapter 16, which is the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:9-16). All the Gentile worldly forces will be gathered there, and the Lord, with His overcoming saints, will destroy them there (Isaiah 63:1-6). The city that is mentioned in verse 20 where the winepress was trodden is Jerusalem. one thousand and six hundred stadia is one hundred and eighty-two miles, which is the distance from Bozrah (Isaiah 63:1) to Armageddon. 

Understanding the Book of Revelation: The Seven Trumpets

The Angel at the Altar      

         Chapter 8 introduces the Seven Trumpets. Christ is the angel that stands at the altar of prayers of the saints. He is the incense added so that their prayers may be found acceptable to God. The smoke rising in verse 4 signifies that the prayers of the saints become effective. Their prayers are answered for judgment on the earth which is signified by the fire, thunder, voices, lightening, and earthquake. The fire is not literal fire; God, throughout Revelation, lets us know that his judgment is represented by fire. It is fire because eternal punishment is being cast into the Lake of Fire. The first four trumpets are not judgment directly on man yet but rather a warning to repent through destruction of things vital to man’s survival. 

The First Four Trumpets 

 

                During the first trumpet, the third part of the earth probably refers to the most evil and sinful regions. Fire and hail falling upon these regions is a supernatural calamity. It’s an unusual combination but God, in his power, will allow for it to happen. 1/3 of the earth will be destroyed by fire. During the second trumpet another third of a creation of God is destroyed. This time it is the sea, and 1/3 of the creatures and ships of the sea. Some people speculate that the “huge mountain, all ablaze” is a meteorite or asteroid. The third trumpet destroys another 1/3 of something created by God. This time it’s the springs and rivers. Jeremiah 9:15 tells us that men will drink poisoned water, provided by God. Right now, even those who don’t abide in God enjoy his Creation. But, during the third trumpet, they will no longer be able to enjoy it. It’s His vengeance against man, destroying something that is so crucial to human life. The fourth trumpet will cause darkness to overwhelm most of the day and a 1/3 of the earth. 

The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets  

 

                The last three trumpets, the three woes, will occur during the last half of the Tribulation which is 3 ½ years, 42 months (Revelation 11:2, 13:5), or twelve hundred and sixty days (Revelation 11:3, 12:6). 

 

                Chapter 9 is the fifth and sixth trumpets.  The star in verse 1 that fell to the earth is Satan. The angels are likened to stars and Satan was the Daystar (Isaiah 14:12). He is given authority over the dwelling place of demons. The locusts in verse 3 are not like those in Exodus but rather these have tails like scorpions and bring harm to men (9:10)  and they are demon-possessed. Only the Israelites who have the seal of God will not be harmed by these locusts. Mankind will be made to suffer, not die for verse 6 says:

“And in those days men will seek death and shall by no means find it;

and they will long to die, and death flees from them.”

                The angel of the abyss mentioned in verse 11 is the Antichrist. The Hebrew word Abaddon means destruction and the Greek work Apollyon means destroy. In verse 13, during the sixth trumpet, the golden altar is the incense altar that the blood of redemption was put on (Exodus 30:10). This verse indicates that God’s judgment is based on the redemption of Christ because men do not believe in His redemption. The four angels that are released will kill men first for one hour then one day, then one month, and then finally one year. The two hundred million horsemen in verse 16 will join the battle at Armageddon. The horses and their riders in verse 17 bear fire and hyacinth and brimstone to kill people and cast them into the lake of fire. These horsemen are more powerful than the locusts with the tails of scorpions. These horsemen kill men, not just torment them. These woes upon men were meant to bring them to repentance, but there are still men who refuse to repent even after these traumatic events. 

Understanding the Book of Revelation: The Seven Seals and the 144,000 Sealed

                Today we will be looking at chapters 6-9 in the book of Revelation- the Seven Seals, the 144,000, and the Seven Trumpets. 

The Four Horsemen

                The opening of the seven seals occurs immediately after Christ ascends into Heaven and they concern all living creatures. The white horse mentioned in verse 2 symbolizes the preaching of the gospel, which is clean, pure, just, and approvable in the eyes of God. The first four seals consist of four horses with the four riders who are not actual people but rather personified things. Some people interpret this verse as the rider being Jesus but it is the gospel. Immediately after Christ’s ascension, the four things began to run rampant in the Earth and they will continue until Christ’s Second Coming. The gospel started spreading in the first century and simultaneously war has continued among mankind. War causes famine and famine causes death. The reason why the first rider has a bow is to fight the enemy and the crown is because the gospel has been crowned with the glory of Christ.

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the

light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

-2 Corinthians 4:4

                The second horse is the rider of war. The red color of the horse represents bloodshed which is prominent in war. When this verse says “…to take peace from the earth…” it clearly indicates war. The third horse is that of famine. The blackness of the horse symbolizes a deficiency (Jeremiah 14:1-4) and represents famished people (Lamentations 4:8-9). Here, the balance is to weigh food. Verse 6 says, “…; and do not harm the oil and wine.” because oil and wine are for man’s pleasure and tend to be in short supply. They become precious and valuable in a time of famine. The fourth and final horse is that of death. It is a pale horse because when one dies they become pale in the face. Hades is the place where the unsaved dead are kept before judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). Hades follows this horse to obtain those that Death kills. The reason why beasts are mentioned here to kill man is because one of the punishments by God upon man is death by animals, such as in 2 Kings 2:24 and 2 Kings 17:25. 

 The Fifth and Sixth Seals           

               The fifth seal discusses Christian martyrs. They are given white robes because their martyrdom was approved by God. Verse 11, when saying that the number of their fellow slaves and brothers were about to be killed, is talking about the martyrdom of the great tribulation (Revelation 20:4).  The sixth seal marks the beginning of the supernatural calamities and marks the beginning of the changing into the new heaven and the new earth. 

 

The 144,000

                Chapter 7 shows how God will still care for His people during the time of judgment. The winds mentioned in the first verse are the winds of His judgment (Jeremiah 22:22, 51:1). The angel in verse 2 is Jesus. He is a special messenger, granted power by God. Verse 3 lets us know that the Israelites whom He has chosen will be protected during the seventh seal and the seven trumpets. These are the Israelites who keep the commandments of God during the tribulation.There are 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.

                Verse 9-17 is about the redeemed ones from all nations and all generations. They are raptured to the presence of God right before the sixth seal is opened. They’re conduct has been approved by God so they’ve been washed by the blood of the lamb, hence the white robes. The palm branches in their hands signify the victory of the saints over suffering they went through in Christ’s name and the satisfaction of being watered. The great tribulation mentioned is not the one that occurs in Revelation but rather the suffering of God’s people throughout all generations. They will have no dissatisfaction once they are living in the kingdom of God.