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REVELATION CHAPTERS 14 & 15 KJV WEB See previous page Rev 14,1-5 (12h) Servant >> Bond servant >> Their indifference to the world – Most people believe the 144,000 will be virgins because of what it says in verse 4, “They have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste.” On the one hand, it doesn’t actually say they never had relations with women; it says they have never been defiled with women. Remember what Heb 13-4 says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge,” otherwise the Scripture would sound as though sex within marriage defiles a person. According to Heb 13-4, sex within the confines of marriage does not defile a person; what defiles a person is fornication and adultery. On the other hand, Paul taught in 1Corinthians chapter seven that it was better to remain single in order to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord. This point proves that the 144,000 are single, because their devotion to the Lord is complete, which brings us full-circle to the probability that these men are indeed virgins. What does this say about God’s view of sex for the Christian even within the confines of marriage? It doesn’t defile the person, but it defiles the person’s devotion to Christ! Paul said, “Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control" (1Cor 7-5). He is saying that a lack of self-control is the only reason a Christian should get married, which implies that the 144,000 do not have a problem with self-control, but are disciplined. See also: Virgins; Rev 14-4; 105c / 144,000; 50g (50g) Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations >> Second half of the tribulation >> Sealing the 144,000 Jews – The 144,000 will not remain in Jerusalem but will flee into the wilderness from the presence of the dragon. The wilderness refers to places around the globe apart from large metropolitan areas. The name of Jesus and His Father were written on their foreheads, depicting God’s ownership of them. This is symbolic, for no one really knows the name of the Father, though He told Moses His name is “I AM”, yet this was more a title than a name. We know the Father only through Christ; their names were not literally written on their foreheads, suggesting that something else was written there, not in letters but in a countenance. Ecclesiastes 8-1 says, “Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man's wisdom illumines him and causes his stern face to beam.” The world will know by sight that these men are from God by the appearance of wisdom on their faces, betraying them. Their father's name, who have taken the Mark of the Beast, will be written also on their foreheads, in a countenance of impending doom. No one will be able to look in the faces of the 144,000 without seeing a reflection of God, delineating perfection, glory, judgment and faith, all rolled into one expression, exuding the hope of Christ's kingdom finally coming to fruition. Their mission is to lead the gentile Church into victory over the beast. See also: 144,000; 113h (113h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Anointed through obedience – The 144,000 had a relationship with the Father by obeying the Holy Spirit. The fact that they have the name of their Father written on their foreheads suggests they have a very deep and intimate relationship with God, and this relationship is God's plan for their escape from the beast. Jn 12-26 says, “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” Jn 16-26,27 also says, “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.” These passages depict a high level of spiritual maturity. We need the Father’s approval to be accepted in heaven, and for this reason Jesus is our mediator by faith in His blood sacrifice as our Great High Priest. Striving for the Father’s full blessing continues into maturity in the fulfillment of His purpose by walking on the path that He has designated for us, that doing so will achieve a relationship with Him through Christ. We were introduced to Jesus on the day of our spiritual birth, and from there we follow a lifelong process of maturity through obedience. The names written on their foreheads refer to a special anointing of true knowledge that God gives to the 144,000 Jews, and the song that only they can learn escorts them into His presence in a spiritual ascension that precedes the Rapture. The gentile Church who are faithful in Christ will inherit all that they have received from God, who follow them into the wilderness. See also: Jesus was sacrificed; Rev 14,9-11; 104e / 144,000; 210h (210h) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Salvation is from the Jews >> The Jew first >> Jews lead the world to faith in Jesus – Jesus was the first fruit of the First Resurrection, then the Two Witnesses that were mentioned in chapter 11 are the first two Jewish witnesses to rise from the dead; then those of the 144,000 who have died will be next to rise, and then the gentile Church, all of mankind who have died in faith will rise with them, and last of all those who believe in Jesus and are alive and remain will follow them in the Rapture. The 144,000 are also the first fruits of God’s endtime anointing, and those who have ears to hear will listen to them, who are first fruits of His glory, the first to be persecuted and first to enter God’s protection in the wilderness. See also: Two witnesses; Rev 15-3,4; 151d / 144,000; Rev 14-1; 67l / His eternal kingdom will begin at the First Resurrection; Rev 2,26-29; 34d Rev 14-1 (67l) Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >> Name of Jesus is above every name – Jesus was standing on Mount Zion, its location known as the Eastern Hill, also known as: the City of David and the Temple Mount and finally the Western hill, being in close proximity with each other, just outside the old city walls in north-east Jerusalem. Jesus was not literally standing on Mount Zion, for the Bible says that He will physically return at the war of Armageddon, touching down on the Mount of Olives. However, the 144,000 come before this, prior to the Trumpet judgments. These Jewish witnesses will be filled with the word of God, not just the knowledge of the Bible but the word that God is currently speaking. We call the Bible the word of God, but it is shorthand for, ‘the words that God has previously spoken,’ and though it is highly valuable to us and eternal, yet what is more valuable and relevant are the words that God is currently speaking, and this is what the 144,000 know. They have God’s plan and purpose for the Church stamped on their foreheads that will enable Christians (Jews and Gentiles alike) to escape the antichrist by following them into the wilderness, though there will be martyrs. See also: 144,000; Rev 14-4; 105c (253a) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the external qualities of the Father >> Son has equal authority with the Father KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 14-2 (55i) Paradox >> Opposites >> Sounded either like thunder or harps (106a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearin g from God >> Attaining the hearing ear >> Knowing the sound of His voice >> God speaks in the darkness to shine the light (111g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Word and the power (meaning) of God >> Circumstances cannot evade the voice of the Spirit – There can hardly be a better description of the voice of God, one that shakes the hearer to his core yet the most peaceful and lovely sound he has ever heard. It is like standing next to Niagara Falls and hearing the violent roar of water falling off the cliff face, plunging into the basin like crashing thunder, yet with a hypnotic effect. The lightning brightens the sky for a split second, and soon after the loud clap of thunder reports, yet it sounds like music. It is not one or the other but both, inspiring and dreadful, boisterous thunder, melodic harpists, power and serenity mated. This voice comes with the 144,000 whom God will use in the last days to lead a Great Endtime Revival, and those who open their hearts to the voice of God will be forever changed. They will inherit eternal life and be counted among the faithful, and their names will be written in the Lamb's Book of Life. They will worship God in His temple, blessed above all creation. Rev 14-3,4 (213k) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> His will becomes our will >> We are bought with a price Rev 14-3 (168i) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world has deaf ears to God >> Deaf to the word of God from a lack of understanding (208j) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being married to God >> Knowing God >> Sharing intimacy with Him Rev 14-4 (3j) Responsibility to the Family >> God addresses both genders >> Evil women (3k) Responsibility >> To the Family >> God addresses both genders >> Good men (56i) Paradox >> Opposites >> Last is first and the first is last (93f) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> Leaving everything behind to follow Him (105c) Thy kingdom come >> Pure in heart >> Being a slave to a pure heart – These 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each tribe of Israel, are bondservants to the Lamb; they are virgins, having never been defiled with women, having never been married, having never had sex; they are pure in heart. This suggest that single people will have an easier time coping with the last days than married couples and whole families. Why does God feel this way about virgins? He gave us sex and then rewards those who never indulge in it. God values these virtues in the 144,000 because they have devoted themselves wholly to the Lord, which was Paul’s advice in 1Cor 7-1,35. He wanted everyone to copy after him, though he knew not everyone would accept it. Not everyone is called to celibacy; not everyone will make a full commitment to Christ. The call to celibacy is so steep a grade that God cannot expect everyone to go there with Him, but there are some who are called to a special relationship with God with a divine ability to devote themselves to Him, and for that they should receive a special ministry and a special anointing to accomplish their objectives that will culminate in the last days. Throughout the ages God has called men and women to dedicate themselves to the cause of Christ. These 144,000 were in essence similar to Paul, and they will be called in the last days to lead God’s Church in triumph over the antichrist, the dragon and the false prophet, and over the Beast and his kingdom that he will attempt to establish at the end of the age. These days are fast approaching, which means these 144,000 are alive and in the world today. The Bible teaches that the events of endtime prophecy will suddenly occur without warning. Jesus told us to be on the alert because we don’t know the day or the hour. We don’t know when these things will happen, but when they begin to occur, if we have not readied ourselves, we will not have time to prepare but will be swept away with the flood of events occurring in rapid succession. So the best way to prepare for the last days is to model after the 144,000 Jewish witnesses, who were the first fruits to God and to the Lamb, the first fruits of the Great Endtime Revival. First and foremost they were slaves of a pure heart (Mat 5-8). If we dedicate ourselves to the Most High and maintain a clear conscience, the events of the last days will not catch us unaware. See also: Virgins; Rev 14-12,13; 156e / 144,000; Rev 15-3,4; 151d (115l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through Good Works >> Works that God prepared for you (234i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Sold out >> Relinquishing your assets to Christ >> Dispose of every asset except Christ Rev 14-5 (41l) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Blameless before God >> Prepare to enter His presence (85i) Thy kingdom come >> Words of your mouth >> That are spoken in faith >> Will justify you – God perceives blamelessness by the words we speak. The less our tongue sins, the less we sin in every other way, for the root of sin is in the mouth. If we remove sin on our lips, we will go far to remove all other forms of sin, and our lives will change to glorify God (read James chapter 3). KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 14,6-13 (50g) Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations >> Angelic warning not to take the mark of the beast – The angels are preaching the gospel instead of the Church, because to do so would be certain death for the saints. The angels are preaching the gospel and telling people to repent because there is still hope for many. The angels are preaching the gospel in the last days for two reasons: (1) it is more authoritative coming from them, and (2) the Church has gone underground during the Trumpets. If Christians tried to preach the gospel, somebody would turn them in to the authorities, and they would arrest them and immediately send them to a concentration camp for extermination. The second angel proclaimed judgment against Babylon, and the third angel warned against receiving the mark of the beast, that they will be tormented day and night in the presence of God and His holy angels. Verse 2 says, "And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps." Being tormented day and night in the presence of God and His holy angels doesn’t sound like harps, especially not to those who have already received the Mark of the Beast, but it sounds like music to their ears who fear God, who have suffered from the demonic endtime regime that has been martyring the saints. See also: Mark of the beast, Angelic warning; Rev 14,6-11; 40h Rev 14,6-11 (40h) Judgment >> Judgment of Christ >> God’s word judges the world >> It does not obey Him – The angels are drawing a distinct line between the righteous and the wicked, between those who receive the Mark of God’s anointing on their foreheads (Rev 7-3) and those who receive the Mark of the Beast, between those who know and love the truth and those who have a reprobate mind, who have rejected Christ knowing they are damning their souls to hell, all the while mocking God as they put out their hand to be stamped a child of Satan. When the day of judgment comes, they will be without knowledge and understanding and they will die in ignorance and obscurity, and they will experience an eternity of bitterness and hatred toward God and His children. See also: Mark of the beast; 164f / Angelic warning; 162e (162e) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >> Bondage to an inability to believe – There are many who don’t believe there is an eternal hell, and there are others who believe the fire will annihilate them, putting an end to their existence, but few believe what the Bible says, “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.” The truth doesn't change if we don't believe it. This passage incorporates every aspect of hell that would strike the fear of God into anyone with enough sense to listen. Most people will say they don't believe in Jesus because they are afraid of being suckered into believing a hoax, but they have already been suckered into believing the world, and if they don't soon repent, their heart will become hardened beyond remedy, as in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, “If someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent....” Jesus made perhaps His most amazing statement of His life in reply, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” See also: Angelic warning; 164f (164f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan’s system of authority >> He is the prince of the power of the air – This chapter focuses on the Mark of the Beast and how it plays a role in endtime prophecy. An angel of God hovering over the earth warning people not to take the Mark has no effect on those who have already received it. Keep in mind that when the angel preached the gospel in mid-heaven, he was using the same airspace that once belonged to the prince of the power of the air (Satan) before he lost his place in heaven, the earth’s atmosphere by analogy, symbolizing social consciousness. That is, the angels preaching in mid-heaven is the result of the saints victory over the beast (reread chapter 12). God has taken over this airspace, so everybody knows in his heart that taking the Mark of the Beast will condemn him to hell, but many will take it anyway because of a spirit of unbelief in the world, being an example of knowing the truth without believing it. The angelic declaration seals their fate, because now they are taking the mark in full knowledge of the truth. See also: Mark of the beast; Rev 14,9-12; 207c / Angelic warning; Rev 14-7; 41a KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 14,6-9 (15e) Servant >> Angels are messengers from God >> They are sent to impart information Rev 14,6-8 (111b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit and evangelism Rev 14-6,7 (149f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Preaching the gospel to the world >> Preach "Thy kingdom come" Rev 14-6 (244h) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> The word of God is eternal >> The word of God transcends the creation Rev 14-7 (41a) Judgment >> God glorifies Himself as the judge of all – Something has happened to the Church at some point in its theological development; it has determined for itself that we do not need to fear God. We have come to this conclusion based on the fact that God loves us. Go to most churches and we will hear about God's love. That's good, it brings people into the church and the pastor takes a salary and there are many bills to pay, but for those same reasons he can’t preach the whole truth, otherwise people won’t come to church and the bills will not get paid and the pastor will have to take a cut in salary, so he preaches a flattering gospel, instead. If he preached that people should fear God as often as he preached on the love of God, which he should, people might ask why it is so necessary, since He loves us. Remember, we all had parents that loved us, hopefully, and we feared them, so if there was room to fear our parents who disciplined us as seemed best to them, how much more should we fear God (Heb 12-9,10). Somebody else may raise the question that there will be an early Rapture and that the Church is no longer in the world at the time of the angelic warning, so they say that the angel was preaching to unbelievers. However, the world doesn’t fear God, and if an angel commanded them to repent, they would not do it. On the contrary, the angel is preaching to Christians and to those who are capable of repentance. Judgment is coming, and we need to be at Jesus' side, so we’re not judged along with the world. We say God would never judge us, but Paul said He would (1Cor 11-31,32). God is the judge of all, and we need to fear Him. See also: Angelic warning; Rev 14,9-11; 47a / Apostasy (Church has become tasteless); Rom 16-5; 150a (88h) Thy Kingdom Come >> Fear of God >> Fearing the judgment of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Fear the sovereign hand of God on your life (212a) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> He is the Creator >> The creation glorifies God >> The creation exemplifies God’s sovereignty (214c) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God’s timing transcends our comprehension >> God’s time line gives the wicked enough rope to hang himself -- This verse goes with verses 14&15 (234b) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seeking the glory of His favor (252e) Worship God (Key verse) (252h) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship God >> Worship God for who He is >> Worship God for being God Rev 14,8-11 (163k) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Entertaining demons >> Disciplined by the devil as a son Rev 14-8 (134i) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Immorality >> Adultery >> Spiritual adultery Rev 14,9-12 (207c) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal security? >> God will accept you into His heaven if you overcome >> Overcome temptation to give up the faith – The perseverance of the saints is to avoid the Mark of the Beast, to avoid worshipping him and his image. A person who believes in eternal security might say, ‘If they are Christians, they won’t receive the mark,’ and some might go as far as to say, ‘If they are Christians they can’t receive the mark,’ but this is a fallacy. Those who believe in eternal security say they are predestined for heaven. It is true that those who make it heaven were predestined to go there, but that is according to God’s perspective, not ours (2Tim 2-19). From our limited point of view the future is not cast in stone. The mark of the beast therefore proves that the doctrine of eternal security is a farce. It is possible for Christians to receive the mark of the beast and thus lose their salvation. In fact, many who call themselves Christians today are prophesied to fall away from the faith (204d) and receive the Mark of the Beast on that day. If it were impossible for Christians to receive the mark, then God would not have sent His angel to warn us. This is the perseverance of the saints! The worst thing we could do as a Christian is assume the Mark of the Beast has no power to condemn us to hell. See also: Mark of the beast; Rev 14,9-11; 47a KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 14,9-11 (47a) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of sorrow >> It is a great fire prepared for the devil and his angels >> The lake of fire – To be thrown into the lake of fire for receiving the Mark of the Beast and burn forever is the most catastrophic fate anyone could suffer. The Mark of the Beast proves that God values freedom that He has given us more than we do. People will take the mark, blindly hoping there won’t be any serious consequences, though they had just witnessed an angel flying overhead warning them not to take it, as though a sign from heaven were not explicit enough. Man's freedom says they can do whatever they want, but God's freedom enables us to do His will. They will take the mark for a bowl of soup, rather than live for Christ in this life and live with Him forever in paradise. See also: Mark of the beast, Angelic warning; 51b (51b) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> Warning about hell – Whether they claim to be Christian or not, those who take the Mark of the Beast will find their place in the lake of fire. To believe in God or not will no longer matter since He has revealed Himself. In other words, the question is not whether they believe in God, but whether they serve Him, who has demonstrated His power in their presence through the fulfillment of endtime prophecy and through angels warning them from midair that if they take the mark there will be hell to pay. Yet, they take none of these things seriously, because they don’t value good over evil. They know God exists, but they don’t value God over Satan. They don't believe they were created in the image of the one true God; instead, they seek to identify with the image of the beast. Satan did not give mankind freedom; rather, he takes freedom from us, and replaces it with bondage. Freedom is one of the attributes of man that defines him as made in the image of God perhaps more than any other trait, so that taking the Mark diminishes this quality. See also: Mark of the beast; 157i / Angelic warning; 64f (64f) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God cannot directly violate the will of man – 2Pet 3-9 says the Lord is “patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance,” yet this passage says that people will take the mark, even after they have been warned by angels (Vs 6-8), and God refuses to stop them. It’s not that He can’t but that He won’t stop them, in that He refuses to violate the will of man. In fact, this is one of the stipulations of being created in the image of God; man has a sovereign will. Man is free to do whatever He wants with his eternal soul and with the gifts God has given him. It is absolutely necessary for man to be free, in that freedom defines him as being made in the image of God. Hell represents the level of God’s commitment to create a human race that is totally free. Those who have chosen not to take the mark, to instead serve the living God, will be escorted to heaven because of their decision. Today we must choose to believe or not believe, but in that day man will have to choose to take the mark or not take the mark, just like Adam and Eve had to decide whether to eat the forbidden fruit, only instead of it determining between life and death, the mark will decide between heaven and hell. See also: Angelic warning; Rev 14,6-13; 50g / Freedom from bondage; Heb 10,1-7; 43g (104e) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Purified by fire >> Hell is an eternal purifying process – Herein is a burnt offering, “And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever.” The smoke of those who writhe in perpetual torment in hell is in reference to the old covenant animal sacrifices that the levitical priesthood performed in temple worship for the remission of sin. However, in the last days since they would not receive the remission of sin in Christ’s blood, He will no less require them to make full restitution of their sins in hell, and the smoke of their torment will be a sweet aroma of perpetual incense that rises in the nostrils of God forever and ever. Many people think that an eternal hell is unjust, but God obviously thinks it is punishment that fits the crime, an eternal resting place of the dead, or He would not have made it. He perfectly understands disobedience and unbelief, but He did not create it, which defines the mystery of lawlessness, and for that reason He is not responsible for it. It is a creation of His creation, not part of Him, hence it is evil. God is not evil for creating hell; He merely created an environment that is conducive for evil. Sin is something that is so vile that it destroys everything that tries to contain it, so God made a hell which is the epitome of destruction as the only vessel that can contain evil without itself being destroyed. See also: Temple worship; Rev 15-4; 140b / Jesus was sacrificed; Rev 15-1; 38f (157i) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Having a reprobate mind – What infuriates God is not that people have a sinful nature but that they revel in it. They believe in Satan, not because it is reasonable, but because they have rejected the true God of heaven. They have developed a reprobate mind, so now they cannot believe in Him no matter how much evidence He puts in front of them. They create ruts in their minds from which they cannot escape. Every time they think of God, they follow the same rut they have caverned over a lifetime of unbelief. They have essentially worked with the demons to fashion their brains to believe a lie. Every step along the way was done deliberately and in full knowledge of what they were doing, and so they will take the Mark of the Beast likewise. See also: Mark of the beast; 186h (186h) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> Being unable to repent – Revelation chapter 14 speaks about things that are happening during the seals of Satan's wrath and are suffering through the trumpet judgments. Why don’t they give up their disobedience and believe in God? That would solve everything. They are about to be mortified by creatures that come out of the earth and hunt them like wild animals (Revelation chapter nine). They know why it is happening to them, and they even know the solution, which is to repent of their unbelief and beg God’s forgiveness and believe in Jesus for the salvation of their souls, so why don’t they do it? Mankind by that time has been reduced to a society of reprobates, so they cannot repent and be saved. They made their decision when they took the Mark of the Beast, which is irreversible. Jesus said, “If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell” (Mat 5-30). He gave the solution for taking the Mark of the Beast; if somebody receives it, he can always cut off his hand and still be saved, but the angel flying in mid-heaven testifies that nobody will take Jesus' advice, because they cannot repent of their unbelief. See also: Mark of the beast; Rev 14-12,13; 156e (189c) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Holy sacrifice >> Acceptable sacrifice (196b) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Worshipping the devil (217l) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> You cannot control the judgment of God >> You cannot control how God responds to sin Rev 14-10 (69d) Authority >> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Righteous anger >> God is angry at sin Rev 14-11 (23o) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of death (81i) Thy kingdom come >> Pray without ceasing >> Sinning from a lack of prayer (189aa) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Holy sacrifice >> The smell of death >> Stench of the dead (221i) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides his divinity from man’s corruption >> The Kingdom of God is from another realm KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 14-12,13 (87j) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Being a slave to obedience (156e) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of salvation >> You will know them by their endurance – People who claim to believe in Jesus say that God is good, but in the last days, that theory will be tested to see who believes in Him and who doesn’t, and He will use the Mark of the Beast as His dividing line. Anyone who takes the mark does not believe in Jesus, hence does not believe God is good. Regardless of their confession of faith or their love of the brethren, if anyone takes the Mark of the Beast, “their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone” (Rev 21-8). Ask the average Christian these days if God is willing for them to be martyred, and it would invariably spark the subject of the pre-tribulation Rapture. God has put up with His Church for 2000 years, in which most of the time it did not worship Him in Spirit and truth. They may have served Him on some level, but not according to His will, and the way God will call His Church to serve Him in the last days during the Great Tribulation is by refusing to take the Mark of the Beast, for this is “the perseverance of the saints.” The Church’s lack of faith merely gives Him lip service, but He will test their words to see if there is any substance to them. A complacent Christian who plans to suddenly grow strong in faith at a moment's notice is greatly deceived, though it does say about the Ten Virgins that both the wise and the foolish fell asleep and the wise reduced their lamps to a flicker to conserve oil. Before the sun set the wise were busy gathering a canister of oil in addition to their lamps, because they knew nightfall was coming; meanwhile, the foolish remained complacent. When the first trumpet sounded, the wise refilled their lamps and brightly shined their light in the darkness, while the lamps of the foolish were going out. It says there was a shout (the first of seven trumpets); their oil must last through the seven trumpets, and at the Last Trumpet Jesus will come for His people who have prepared themselves for the First Resurrection. The wise virgins collected extra oil before the Seals for the period of the trumpets. See also: Mark of the beast; Rev 14-14,15; 214c / Virgins; Rev 14,1-5; 12h / Last days (Two Witnesses); Rev 11,7-10; 199h (209g) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with difficulty >> Righteous saved with casualties Rev 14-12 (6a) Responsibility >> Jesus’ yoke of obedience >> Our obligation to keep His commandments (90j) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> We do not nullify the law through faith; we fulfill it (99n) Thy kingdom come >> Perseverance (Working to keep in motion) >> Persevere in faith Rev 14-13 (53b) Paradox >> Opposites >> Of life and death >> Death cannot hurt you – The angel said not to be afraid of death, for it will escort us to heaven, and we will be released from our misery that is compounded by the wicked, who search for us like zombies. (116m) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Rest in His yoke by dying to self >> Dying to self by the Spirit – Jesus commanded us to live this life like we will in heaven (Mat 6-10). We will be called to die to self, traversing the meaning of this statement from figurative to literal, and we will need help from God. (137j) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >> Stages of maturity are levels of accountability >> Maturity is working with God – It says we will rest from our labors, contrasting our current situation with heaven. Instead of constantly having to replenish our energy supply: gasoline in the tank, natural gas to heat the house in the winter and eating food to replenish our bodies, in heaven we will live and work by the strength of God. Just like the sun shines on the grass and causes it to grow, so God will shine on us and we will never need another thing but Him. We won’t have to work to make money to replace the things we spent. We will live in houses as a place to hang our hat, not as a place to escape from a hostile environment. In heaven we will have jobs for the fulfillment of the soul and for the perpetuation of God’s kingdom, not for survival. He will give each of us a job and authority, and we will reign over His kingdom, for He will create a people after us, who will multiply forever and increase His kingdom to infinity (Isaiah 9-7). See also: Heaven is another dimension; Mat 18-10; 15c (148d) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Natural advantage in the flesh regarding evangelism (189e) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Martyr >> Tested for faithfulness to the death – Try reading this chapter after chapter six that depicts the seals of Satan's wrath. (218j) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest in eternity – The fact that our deeds follow us into death is a blessing to the righteous but ruin to the workers of iniquity (Proverbs 10-29). The works of the righteous follow them into eternity as rewards for their service to God, and the works of the wicked follow them into eternal judgment (1Tim 5-24,25). Of all the zombie movies on TV, the ghost of Jacob Marley, Scrooge's partner in Charles Dicken's movie, "A Christmas Carol" should scare those who have not yet given their hearts to Jesus, because it is based on biblical fact. Of the wicked, their works follow them into eternity as an anchor of the soul, or as Jesus said, as a millstone hung around his neck and cast in the abyss (Mat 18-6); but of the righteous, their works follow them and are appended to their resurrected bodies by which they shine like the stars of heaven. (226i) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of heaven >> Levels of reward >> God rewards us to the degree of our labors – Those who die in the Lord any time during the tribulation period, when they are resurrected, will reign with Christ in his millennial kingdom (Rev 20,4-6). It doesn’t say everyone who partakes of the First Resurrection will reign with Christ during the Millennium, for their numbers range into the hundreds of millions. Rather, only the tribulation martyrs will reign with Christ during the millennium. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 14,14-20 (15h) Servant >> Angels have authority >> They have the power to decree an order (40a) Judgment >> Jesus is the judge >> Jesus judges the world’s unbelief (48e) Judgment >> Levels of judgment >> Judged according to your deeds >> In the day of judgment (50i) Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations >> Sixth trumpet - Demons mutate from insects to horses (55i) Paradox >> Opposites >> If you trample on the cross, He who hung on it will trample on you – God sent his Son to die for the sins of all mankind, but most have rejected His love. Now He is digging His sharp sickle into their flesh, and people think He is evil for it, but those who feel that way are evil. The angel wielding the sickle was Jesus Christ. It is not surprising that John called Him "son of man" and not Son of God, which is a title of authority, whereas son of man refers to Jesus as the youngest and servant of all. Jesus didn’t gain His authority to judge mankind based on his equality with God; rather, He gained it based on His submission to God, obedience and faithfulness to the Father. Scripture teaches that the youngest and the smallest and the servant of all has the greatest authority, so that those who humble themselves and seek the lowest place of a servant God exalts above those who have exalted themselves. See also: Son of man (humility and power go together); Mat 20,25-28; 12n (218d) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest >> We choose our actions, not their consequences >> God controls the consequences of our actions – It says in Revelation chapter 9 that the f ifth trumpet consists of demonic locust-like creatures that emerged from the earth and tortured mankind, and then in verses 14&15 it says that these insects turned into 200 million demonic horsemen with instructions to kill a third of mankind. Numbers like this would account for so much blood that it flows "up to the horses' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles." After God uses these demonic creatures to exact judgment on the world of the ungodly, He turns against these horsemen that killed people who were greater than themselves. He used instruments of judgment like this in the past, such as the Assyrians whom God used to judge Israel for their disobedience and unbelief and then turned against the Assyrians for judging His beloved people (Jeremiah 25,8-15). Rev 14-14,15 (214c) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God’s timing transcends our comprehension >> God’s time line gives the wicked just enough rope to hang himself -- These verses go with verse 18. Chapter fourteen is a summary of the trumpets, a divine series of personally hand-delivered punishments against mankind. The book of Revelation outlines three levels of judgment: the seals, the trumpets and the bowls, each with increasing intensity. The seals pertained to Satan’s wrath. The trumpets sounded against the world as retribution for martyring the saints, and the bowls were poured upon the earth for continuing in sin, against those who did not "repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts" (Rev 9-20,21). In other words, God has imposed these plagues on the inhabitants of the earth as a consequence of adopting the reprobate mind and as a result of taking the Mark of the Beast, which doubled as their vote to martyr the saints. There are very few people being saved in the days after the Rapture; in fact, only those who have not taken the mark of the beast are even eligible for salvation, and for this reason God has scheduled a series of plagues designed not to chastise the human race as the trumpets did, but to rid the world of unbelievers. The bowls of God’s final judgment on mankind pertain to the most cataclysmic time of human history. See also: Mark of the beast; Rev 15,5-8; 40c (220a) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> Predestined before the foundation of the world – The language of John is that of predestination, as it were the ripening of time. A farmer plants his seed; he tills the ground, adds fertilizer, and then waits for the harvest at the end of the year. He knows when the harvest is ready, and in this case the harvest is human flesh. Time is a funny thing with God; He doesn’t seem to care how long we must wait, as though time means nothing to Him, yet He bases His judgments on a timeline and refuses to give us the smallest hint as to when these things will happen. Time is one of only a few things He is unwilling to share with us. He doesn't look at the circumstances to see what activities have transpired; He merely glances at the clock. Instead of looking upon the earth and seeing the travesty and injustice occurring, He looks at the big hand to determine when He should plunge His sharp sickle into the flesh of their rebellion, for God has already seen what they have done to deserve these judgments long before He formed the earth. Time is all that matters to God, yet He is eternal and in no way constrained by it. Rev 14-14 (12n) Servant >> Jesus serves mankind >> Jesus is the son of man KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 14-18 (101d) Thy kingdom come >> Zeal does not count the cost >> Zeal of God has consumed me (104c) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Purified by fire >> Purified through fiery judgment – The angel who has control over fire commanded the judgment. The next chapter, fifteen, depicts a scene in heaven; it is a transitional chapter, like chapters five and ten: five transitioning to the judgment of the apocalypse and ten transitioning to the Rapture, which is the greatest judgment that God imposes on the world through the Church. Chapter Fifteen transitions to the judgment of the Bowls in chapter sixteen. We can view the judgments of the Bowls as God purifying unbelievers from their sins since they will not believe in Jesus and allow God to purify them by faith. They have opted to the second form of purification that God has prepared for those who reject Him, purification by fire. Once he is done purifying them on earth, He will send them to hell for an eternal purifying process. In hell the atheist believes that God exists, so God purifies the atheist of his unbelief in hell, along with those who are perverted and crooked and have broken His laws. Those who believe that God is evil have come to this supposition by viewing Him through their own wickedness. Psalm 18-25,26 says, "With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect. With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd." According to this verse, those in hell view Him through their circumstances; thus, they see Him as evil. In hell they only need to look around them and see all the evil and know that they must be the same. They could have taken the short cut of faith in the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but it wasn’t in their hearts to trust that God is good. Since they rejected faith in Jesus, they must spend eternity in hell, where their sins are purified in the eyes of God. Will their sins ever be fully purified so they can leave this hellish place and join God in heaven? The only place they understand God is in hell! (214c) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God’s timing transcends our comprehension >> God’s time line gives the wicked just enough rope to hang himself -- This verse goes with verse 7 Rev 14-20 (38b) Judgment >> Blood of Jesus >> God judged man through the blood of His son (160a) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit Christ _________________________________ REVELATION CHAPTER 15 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 15,1-8 (50k) Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations >> bowls of God's judgment >> Heavenly ceremony prior to the bowls Rev 15-1 (15j) Servant >> Angels execute Judgment >> In regard to the world -- This verse goes with verses 6-8 (38f) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> The Resurrection >> God judged the world, the flesh and the devil – It says, “In [the bowls] the wrath of God is finished.” The words, “It is finished” have been echoed in the past with Jesus hanging on a cross having completed the blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. The bowls of God’s judgment are a way of exacting due penalty of sin that the people have amassed to themselves by rejecting Jesus' blood sacrifice. Instead, they followed and obeyed the antichrist who led them to martyr the saints, consequently leading them into the judgment of God. See also: Jesus was sacrificed; Rev 15,5-8; 40c (49c) Judgment >> Enemies of God’s righteousness are destroyed -- This verse goes with verses 5-8. John, along with all those who love and obey Christ, view God’s justice from the vantage point of heaven. They see it as great and marvelous, but those who are earthly, natural and demonic experience the plagues as a consequence of doing whatever they want even if it turns them into monsters. They do not consider these plagues marvelous but an abomination, even as God considers them an abomination (Proverbs 29-27). Rev 15,2-4 (39e) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Victory >> Jesus overcame the world – This sea of glass in the book of Revelation represents people in a state of absolute peace, just as you would expect to see a placid ocean with no wind churning up waves. These people went through the tribulation, but now they are victorious over the beast and his image, though some were martyred. Martyrdom is certainly no sign of victory in the eyes of those who helped kill them, going against the grain of the world’s definition of victory, but it doesn't contradict God's definition of victory. He is infinite and eternal and the very epitome of life, and He doesn’t go by any of the world’s definitions or standards. He defines victory in terms of obedience and faithfulness. We can be murdered, butchered, sawed in half; it doesn’t matter what they do to us, so long as we are faithful and maintain our trust in God. We will find ourselves on the shores of heaven and enjoy eternal life in the presence of God Almighty, His Son and the holy angels. This is victory, especially in view of our enemies eternal destiny who have served Satan. (153a) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Church bears witness of the Father through Christ (237g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> The rapture >> The Church in heaven – This sea of people residing in heaven victorious over the dragon were born in heaven at the Last Trumpet, as participants of the First Resurrection. Note that John speaks of this sea of glass prior to the execution of the bowls, indicating that the Church is safe in heaven, so God can release a barrage of terror on the earth without worrying about inadvertently afflicting His beloved people, though there will be a remnant that God will miraculously protect while the horrendous plagues are transpiring on the whole earth. They will be called to migrate to Jerusalem for protection and wait in the catacombs underneath the holy city for the second coming of Christ. For those interested in watching a movie that is prophetic to the remnant's post Rapture migration, watch The Road based on the book by Cormac McCarthy. He probably did not intend to write a prophetic book, but that is what makes it all the more prophetic. Rev 15-2 (53b) Paradox >> Opposites >> Of life and death >> Death cannot hurt you (101d) Thy kingdom come >> Zeal does not count the cost >> Zeal of God has consumed me (104d) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Purified by fire >> Purified through the fiery anointing (115j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through obedience of faith >> Through determination >> Determined to obey Christ (116l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Rest in His yoke by dying to self >> Relax as God kills you (125k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Peace >> God is at peace >> The God of peace (137e) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the foundation >> Bearing fruit is the foundation of being in the Spirit (191j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Set apart >> Set apart from the world KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 15-3,4 (151d) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears witness of the Old >> The Patriarchs >> Moses – If they sang the song of Moses, then they must have gone through an experience similar to Moses and the Israelites, and God delivered them just as He delivered Moses and his people from the pharaoh of Egypt, suggesting that the antichrist is a type of pharaoh. Consequently that makes the Two Witnesses a type of Moses and Aaron (Elijah). Although the 144,000 are numerous, their anointings collectively are equal in strength to the Two Witnesses, indicating the power that God entrusted to these two men. See also: Two witnesses; Rev 14,1-5; 210h / 144,000; Rev 14,1-5; 12h (252h) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship God >> Worship God for who He is >> Worship God for being God Rev 15-3 (12k) Servant >> Bond servants the prophets Rev 15-4 (88h) Thy Kingdom Come >> Fear of God >> Fearing the judgment of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Fear the sovereign hand of God on your life (108j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of Jesus Christ >> Revelation of His righteousness (133k) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> Having an awareness of God’s holiness >> The fear of God makes us aware of His holiness (140b) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> Worshipping God in His temple – It has been written throughout the Old Testament that the nations will gather to worship God in Jerusalem (Is 2-2,3; Is 18-7; Is 60-3,5,10,11,14; Is 66-12,18; Jr 3-17; Mc 4-2; Zc 8-22,23; Zc 14,16-19). Each instance refers to both the Millennium and to the New Jerusalem in eternity. All these instances refer to an annual custom, and the fact that it has been reiterated so many times shows its significance. We don’t particularly know what God has in store for us in eternity, but we do know it will be truly marvelous. One of the few things we know about eternity is that the nations will regularly visit Jerusalem to worship God in His temple, suggesting that in eternity there will be nations that will continue to grow in population, further suggesting that God’s kingdom will continually increase throughout eternity (Isaiah 9-7), suggesting further that these annual festivals will continually increase in significance and joyful celebration when God’s creatures come together around God's throne and worship the glorious and loving King of the nations. See also: Temple worship; Rev 15,5-8; 40c / New heavens and a new earth (Our inheritance is infinite and eternal); Rev 20,4-6; 50l Rev 15,5-8 (40c) Judgment >> Father gave authority to the Son to judge the world through His blood – In the Old Testament a tabernacle was prepared and a specific form of perpetual worship was delineated to Moses and to the children of Israel throughout their generations exactly how they should worship God. There were many instruments that were used in the temple to celebrate God’s forgiveness from year to year that merely simulated the propitiation of sin, which Christ would eventually fulfill with His own blood. There was an annual sacrifice using the blood of a bull, sacrificed on an altar located outside the temple in the outer court, consisting of a fence surrounding the tabernacle made of porpoise skin. They led the bull into the courtyard and slit its throat, collecting the blood in a golden bowl and burned its flesh with fire. They took this golden bowl filled with the animal's blood into the tabernacle and sprinkled all the articles of the sanctuary in preparation to cleanse the people. The high priest once a year also entered the Most Holy Place and sprinkled the Ark of the Covenant. God used the ceremony to virtually forgive the sins of Israel until the time had come for Christ to fulfill the sacrifice with His own blood. His blood sacrifice was not a representation of anything but was the very substance of Israel's hope and forgiveness reenacted from year to year in gaining God’s approval. Now 2000 years later the world has ignored and rejected the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ to man's own undoing. As it is written, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of Two or three Witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' and again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10,26-31). Note, this passage even mentions the Two Witnesses! The burning flesh of the sacrifice on God's fiery altar represents hell, the final destination of those who have taken the Mark of the Beast and worshipped his image. See also: Mark of the beast; Rev 14,6-13; 50g / Judged by the blood of Christ (the saints); 49c / Jesus was sacrificed; Rev 14,1-5; 113h / Temple worship; 49c / Covenant (Abraham/Moses versus Christ); Heb 8,7-13; 205ka (49c) Judgment >> Enemies of God’s righteousness are destroyed -- These verses go with verse 1. There was a temple within the tabernacle in heaven, a room within a room, the Holy of Holies. The curtain was pushed aside and God revealed Himself to the world, only instead of revealing Himself as the Savior of the world, He revealed Himself as the Judge of all the earth. He was ready to show a side of Himself that His children will never see. It is what they deserve who have spilled the blood of the saints and taken the Mark of the Beast and worshipped his image. See also: Temple worship; 231i / Judged by the blood of Christ (the saints); 189f (189f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Martyr >> Martyrs bring about the judgment of God – As a result of rejecting God and His Son as their righteousness, the world has literally invited Satan to rule over them, electing him as their king. Satan’s total absence of mercy makes him more ruthless than any dictator before him. He spares no one, being determined to destroy every living thing on earth, because it is all he knows. He is like a virus that kills its host in effort to survive. He is not benefiting himself when he does this, but he can't help himself, like the virus in its haste to multiply and divide overwhelms its host, requiring the virus to find a new host to invade and conquer. People have become profuse in sin so that God has no choice but to destroy them all, except a remnant that He intends to use to replenish the earth during the Millennium. Pouring the Bowls upon the earth embodies the most vicious plagues he has unleashed against mankind. These bowls metaphorically contain the blood of the saints, and God pours their blood upon their heads in the form of judgment. See also: Judged by the blood of Christ (the saints); Rev 15,6-8; 15j (231i) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Body of Christ is the organism of God’s kingdom >> Jesus is the head of His body’s kingdom >> To be in Christ is to be in the great city – This scene suggests that the temple in heaven refers to the Father and His Son. It says in regard to the New Jerusalem, “Behold the tabernacle of God is among men” (Rev 21-3), and “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple” (Rev 21-22). The New Jerusalem is the temple of God; it is the Holy of Holies, and it speaks about the inhabitants of heaven worshipping God in His temple, suggesting that this is what it means to be in Christ. We could also say that the people are the temple, elucidating the glorious indwelling Holy Spirit, that we are in Him and He is in us (Jn 14-20). It said that no one was allowed in the temple while God was executing His judgment upon the world of the ungodly, meaning no one could be in Christ during this time of judgment. The Father had to break fellowship with His people in a similar manner that He broke fellowship with Jesus on the cross while He judged the sin of mankind through His body. God had moved from a mode of loving kindness that He continually shows the Church to a state of wrath and indignation that He did not want to share with His beloved children. See also: Temple worship; Rev 15-8; 133a KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 15,6-8 (15j) Servant >> Angels execute Judgment >> In regard to the world -- These verses go with verse 1. Again, one of the four living creatures was involved in judgment by giving these seven bowls containing judgment to the seven angels. Last time a golden bowl appeared in heaven it contained the blood of Christ, representing the wrath of God against His own Son, which the Father used to forgive the sins of the world. Now these seven golden bowls contain the blood of the saints who were martyred for their faith on a mass scale during the seals of Satan’s wrath, and their blood is about to be poured on the inhabitants of the earth. They have the blood of the saints on their hands, and God is about to judge them for it (Rev 16-5,6). See also: Judged by the blood of Christ (the saints); Rev 15,5-8; 40c Rev 15-6 (113d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Heaven’s clothes >> Garments of power Rev 15-7 (15ha) Servant >> Angels have authority >> Cherubim/Seraphim (244b) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> There shall be no end to his increase >> The Father is eternally glorified Rev 15-8 (61g) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Temple of the Holy Spirit from which God judges the world—God’s temple in heaven / Temple of our bodies (133a) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> God is holy >> The Father is holy – God poured out His bowls on the world for martyring His saints during the seals of Satan’s wrath. According to this passage, no one was allowed in the temple while He was passing judgment against mankind. However, He has ordained that man should establish a justice system that "does not bear the sword for nothing" (Rom 13,1-4), and since the sword is a weapon designed for destruction and not to merely punish or maim, capital punishment is endorsed by the New Testament. Therefore, if God has given man a right to execute a man for murder, how much more does God have a right to execute those who have martyred His saints? See also: Temple worship; Rev 14,9-11; 104e (221h) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides his divinity from man’s corruption >> He hides behind the veil See next page