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REVELATION CHAPTER 10 & 11 KJV WEB See previous page Rev 10,1-11 (50i) Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations >> Second half of the tribulation >> The seventh seal - trumpets of God's judgment >> Heavenly ceremony prior to the First Resurrection – During the “17th-century American Puritan father and son Increase and Cotton Mather” were the first to re-discover the concept of a Rapture that would happen to the Church in the last days (according to Wikipedia). Prior to that the Rapture was lost knowledge, though it clearly exists in Scripture. Chapter 10 of Revelation occurs in the timeframe between the sixth and seventh trumpets; another book comes forth, a little book, and its contents is not divulged. The seventh trumpet is about to sound; it is the last trumpet, and we all know what that means, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet… the dead will be raised” (1Cor 15-52). Dan 12-4 speaks of a book that was concealed, and later revealed to be the book of seals that Jesus opened in Revelation chapter five, but it appears the new covenant has a sealed book too. John did not write what the seven peals of thunder said, concealing its contents; why did God refuse to tell us the contents of this little book? Its missing knowledge pertains to the timing of the First Resurrection/Rapture, which is the very next thing to happen! This missing knowledge has raised such a ruckus in the Church, effectively dividing it since the 17th century when the Mather (father and son) first posited their concept of a Rapture. God wanted to hide the Rapture's sequence in endtime events, because he knew there would be a controversy over it and the majority would settle on an early rapture that promised to deliver them from the trials of the last days, and in fact deliver them from preparing their heart for those days. God's attitude is that if people want to believe in falsehood, then He will let them; in fact He will help them. The timing of the Rapture holds many secrets to God’s character and His overall plan for the Church. This little book is still open, suggesting that it is still possible to know its contents as John did, further suggesting that He is not averse to revealing it to those who seek Him, but to those who do not seek Him it remains concealed. That is to say, there will be two kinds of Christians in the last days, those who seek God and those who don’t, just like the parable of the ten virgins revealed two kinds of Christians, those who were wise and those who were foolish. See also: Ten virgins; Rev 10,4-10; 99aa / Rapture; 108i / Preparing for His return; Lk 12,35-46; 237d (108i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of Jesus Christ >> Revelation of the mysteries of God – Chapter ten of Revelation speaks of a little book that tastes good but gave John a stomachache when he ate it. The words were sweet but their implications were bitter. The angel told John not to divulge its contents. This is exactly what happened in Daniel 12-4, Daniel, whose secret book was disclosed in breaking the seals of God's judgment in chapter five, but what secret remains hidden in the little book that john ate that was sweet to the taste but was indigestible? It was about the time of the Rapture, about the apostasy and about the false brethren riddled in churches throughout the world, who call themselves Christians, who are duped in the false teachings of easy-believism, who would never believe the truth even if it were described to them. The Rapture is about to take place at the seventh trumpet, and they refuse to believe it to their own peril. There is one other thing that was contained in the little book, the knowledge of a Great Endtime Revival, starting sometime during the seals and continuing throughout the trumpet judgments. This is another truth that the false brethren will never believe; hence, they will not join this revival but will call it a trick of the devil. See also: Great Endtime Revival; Rev 11,1-6; 50h / Bitter/sweet; Rev 10,4-10; 99aa (111j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Word and the judgment of God (172a) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Devils among the saints >> False brethren among the people of God >> Antichrists among Christians – Between the ninth chapter and the eleventh chapter is obviously the tenth chapter, which often receives sparse attention in endtime prophecy Bible studies, since most people don’t know the relevance of it. The tenth chapter displays God’s foreknowledge in that He knew the Church would wax into apostasy in the last days through the teachings of easy-believism, specifically those who believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture as the very first thing to happen in the fulfillment of endtime prophecy. This is one of the most beguiling deceptions Satan has ever devised. It has led countless millions who call themselves Christians to feel there is no need to prepare for the last days, since they won't be here. Meanwhile the Rapture is not scheduled to occur until just before the bowls of God fierce wrath, which is two-thirds of the way through endtime prophecy. The Church will have to go though both the Seals and the Trumpets before the Rapture finally occurs at the Last Trumpet. God didn’t want to tell us when the Rapture would occur, except that He did. He knew that the Church would be so steeped in blinding heretical apostasy that they would not believe the truth even if He told them, and it didn't help the blind to see. He said that the Rapture would occur at the last trumpet (1Cor 15-52), and almost nobody believes it. See also: Rapture; Rev 10,4-10; 99aa / Literal manifestations; Rev 10,5-7; 215c Rev 10,1-7 (15i) Servant >> Angels execute Judgment >> For the sake of the Church Rev 10-1 (112b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Light >> Jesus’ light overcomes darkness >> The light of His power (113a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Heaven’s clothes >> Protection >> Covering (221k) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from sin >> He hides behind unbelief – If this wasn’t Jesus… do other angels have rainbows over their heads? With so many queers in the world today claiming Him to be their Jesus, Homosexuals have stolen the rainbow above Jesus’ head. God didn’t give it to them; God gave the rainbow to all mankind, symbolizing His promise that He would never flood the earth again; next time He will judge man by fire. He was clothed with a cloud to hide His glory from unbelievers. It says that His face was like the sun; we can’t look at the sun, except with a sun filter, but we can see everything else because of the sun. Nobody could actually look at this angel that descended from heaven; John said, “No one has seen God at any time.” Even if He were to come, no one could look at Him. Whenever the Bible speaks of God visiting His people, He is always behind a cloud, and that cloud represents our unbelief, in that if we did believe in Him, He would reveal Himself to us (Jn 14-21). Disobedience and unbelief are one and the same thing; this cloud represents our sin, the reason we can’t see Him. God hides behind our unbelief. This cloud also represents the veil of the old covenant Jewish temple that God commanded Moses. They placed the veil in front of the doorway of the Most Holy Place, keeping unbelief from spying on His glory. God does not hide from unbelief; he hides behind it, using it as a veil. If unbelievers saw the glory of God, it wouldn’t’ change their unbelief, and they would be obligated to obey Him, or judgment would fall on them. That is, they would continue in their unbelief, though they saw God. If that seems unbelievable, that is exactly what happened when Jesus came; people stood in front of Him and still refused to believe in Him; in that sense His flesh was the veil. If we want to see God, we must believe in Him, and then the veil is taken away (2Cor 3-16). People say it isn’t right that God should hide from unbelievers, but it is their own unbelief that is hiding Him from them. See also: Homosexuality; 2Pet 2-6; 104c Rev 10-3,4 (106h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Means of hearing from God >> Through His Son -- These verses go with verses 8&9 (246e) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> The literal mystery of godliness KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 10,4-10 (99aa) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Enduring the will of God >> Enduring the word of God >> Endure Hearing the word of God – There were seven peals of thunder, suggesting there were seven pages to the little book. When John ate its contents, it was sweet to the taste but gave him a stomachache; that is, the truth was bittersweet. What information did the book contain, introduced just before the last trumpet? Any student of the Bible immediately recognizes the phrase "last trumpet" as something the Apostle Paul said in First Corinthians chapter 15, "The last trumpet... will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable" (v52). Revelation chapter ten is a mixture of sorrow and sweet joy, because of so many people who have fallen away from the faith before the seventh trumpet is blown to become the Church's sworn enemies. The false brethren will be plentiful according to the parable of the ten virgins that depicts half the Church will be foolish at the time of the end. The true saints know their flesh is lying to them, who know the truth by the Spirit of God who dwells in them, but the false brethren don't have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them; they allowed their flame to die. See also: Bitter/sweet; Rev 10-7; 237b / Ten virgins; Rev 10,1-11; 50i / Rapture; Rev 10-4; 230j Rev 10-4 (132d) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is in God’s people >> God gives his spirit as a pledge >> His Spirit is a seal (230j) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> Mystery of the trinity >> Word of God is the mystery godliness – Something very similar was written in Daniel 12-4, “But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end.” Daniel was not allowed to write, but kept it a mystery what the angel said to him. However, when the new covenant came and the book of Revelation was written, all the mysteries of Daniel were revealed in the book of Revelation, yet in chapter 10 we see another prophecy that was kept from us, and this mystery won't be revealed until the events take place at the end of the age. At the end of chapter 11 and at the seventh and final trumpet there was near silence, accounting for the mystery of chapter 10. Six trumpets were blown; each judgment was more severe than the one before it, making the seventh trumpet the most severe of them all, as it was written after the fourth trumpet, "Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!" (Rev 8-13). Yet, when the seventh trumpet sounded, nothing much happened. The narrative merely flips to a scene in heaven, and there was lightning, thunder an earthquake and a hailstorm that also happened in Rev 8-5, nothing special compared to the previous trumpets with two hundred million demons emerging from the earth to torment and kill mankind. The Last Trumpet must have been the judgment that God commanded John not to write, and what did Paul say about the last trumpet? “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1Cor 15-51,52). So the Rapture occurs at the Seventh Trumpet! Some would say, 'That can't be right, because it says no one knows the day or the hour.' God could tell them the day and the hour, and they still wouldn't know; plus, God didn't say we won't know the year, month and week! As the judgments grow more severe with each trumpet, it makes the Rapture the worst judgment of all to those who will not partake of it, though it is the glory of the Church. Now God’s full fury is ready to be unleashed on the inhabitants of the earth in the bowls of His mighty wrath. God did not allow John to write about the Rapture, giving opportunity for charlatans to devise teachings and doctrines instructing people that God will come before anyone suffers. Martyrdom has always accompanied faith in Jesus Christ; what makes us think we will escape persecution in the last days, especially when the Bible promises it will be more prevalent than ever? 1The 5-9 says, “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” God will not subject the Church to His judgments, but He will allow us to suffer under Satan’s wrath, which will test and strengthen the true saints and chase away the false brethren, allowing the Church to finally unify, which is a prerequisite to the second coming of Christ (Eph 5-27). In order to attract people to their churches, scoundrels have introduced doctrines of easy-believism, such as the Pre-Tribulation Rapture hoax, Eternal Security and grace minus the need to obey, and those with itching ears have clambered to them, so when Christ doesn’t come when they expect and they begin to suffer from the evils of the world, they will curse God and abandon the faith. See also: Rapture; Rev 10-7; 231f Rev 10,5-7 (215c) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> Fulfillment of God’s time >> The moment we have all been waiting for – People have been waiting for God for millennia, ever since Jesus promised to return. He said that He would delay His return, and when God says He will delay, we can be sure it will be a long time. Two thousand years might be a mere delay for someone who lives in the realm of eternity, but for we mortals it is an eternity in itself. With God, time is relative. He has existed from eternity past and will live forever in the future. He has so much time, we can spend our entire lives waiting for Him and when He returns, He didn’t consider Himself late. For this angel (Christ) to say that there should be delay no longer, He was referring to the manifestation of God’s kingdom on the earth, and He meant there should be delay no longer even from a human standpoint! See also: Literal manifestations; Rev 11,3-7; 131g Rev 10-6 (151j) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Creation is evidence of God >> Living things reflect the nature of God KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 10-7 (44a) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Complete >> It is finished >> Fulfill God’s will (231f) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> Revelation of Jesus is the mystery of the kingdom >> Jesus reveals the mystery of the kingdom – The mystery of God is the Church Age. Eph 3,2-6 says, “If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” Paul just said that “the mystery of Christ” is the Church, so in this verse when it says, "the mystery of God is finished," it is referring to the end of the Church age, which is concluded by the First Resurrection/Rapture. When the seventh angel sounds his trumpet it will mark the end of the Church in the world. God will resurrect His people and gather them to Himself, marking the beginning of Christ's eternal kingdom with the commencement of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. See also: Rapture; 237b (237b) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> The rapture >> Last trumpet – In verse four of this chapter we read that God does not allow John to reveal the knowledge that he learned from the seven peals of thunder. There is another account of this in Daniel 12-4 that says, “Seal up the book until the end of time.” There is a popular saying, “The Old Testament is the New concealed, and the New Testament is the Old revealed.” By that we understand Daniel sealed up the book so nobody would understand endtime prophecy until the new covenant was written, but if the point of Revelation is to reveal the Old Testament, why was John not permitted to reveal the seven peals of thunder (Vs1-4)? When John took the little book that the angel instructed him to eat, warning him that it would be bitter/sweet, tasting like honey in his mouth but turned his stomach bitter because of what it said, he was prohibited to write that the Rapture would occur at the seventh trumpet. Had he been allowed to write, it would have cleared up a lot of confusion and prevented charlatans from inventing doctrines of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture that brought people into their churches and made them popular and wealthy, but if people wanted to believe a lie, who was God to stand in their way? Paul specifically mentioned the last trumpet in connection with the Rapture, but it hasn’t seemed to help most people in the Church understand the sequence of endtime events. “Then the seventh angel sounded.” People refuse to believe that Paul’s “last trumpet” (1Cor 15-52) is Revelation's seventh trumpet (In Rev 11-15), because it conflicts with their beloved Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory. See also: Bitter/sweet; Rev 10-9,10; 63a / Rapture; Rev 10,8-11; 40g Rev 10,8-11 (40g) Judgment >> Judgment of Christ >> God’s word judges the world >> It does not believe in Him – Most Christians these days make the assumption that the Rapture occurs in chapter four when God told John, “Come up here.” They say that the Church is never mentioned again, and of course what they mean is that the word “Church” is never mentioned again. However, in later chapters it speaks about a multitude that cannot be counted that suddenly appears in heaven, but they say, ‘That’s got nothing to do with it.’ Their doctrines are contrived based on what they want to believe and what they don’t want to believe, but if they are going to read the Bible that way, they will never arrive at the truth. God knew the Church would gravitate toward this Pre-Tribulation Rapture hoax, simply because it appeals to the flesh. They want God to Rapture them from the world’s problems that they helped cause by their omission of righteousness. They fail to remember that millions of God’s people throughout the centuries have suffered at the hands of their persecutors, and God did not insulate them from suffering, because God does not view suffering as evil, but we equate suffering with evil as though there were a direct connection between the two. Evil people certainly cause others to suffer, yet to think suffering is evil is like comparing apples to oranges. God has every intension of protecting the Church from judgment that He intends for the world, but He doesn’t have to Rapture us to do that. God has a plan, but the Church is not interested in God’s plan. Those who know and love the truth will enjoy heaven, because Jesus is there, and He is the truth, but those who resist the truth will never see heaven. See also: Rapture; Rev 10-9,10; 36a / Suffering and evil (temptation of Christ); 1Cor 10,1-6; 105la (49b) Judgment >> Nations are destroyed >> God judges the nations through the Church Rev 10,8-10 (69k) Authority >> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Executing God’s judgment by His authority – John didn’t see the one who was speaking; he only heard the voice tell him to take the book from the angel’s hand. So he received the book by the authority of Christ, knowing the angel would oblige him. Communicating in heaven flows without a ripple in a hierarchy of authority, where everyone knows his place. (123b) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Being bold in the position God has given you Rev 10-8,9 (106h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Means of hearing from God >> Through His Son -- These verses go with verses 3&4 (245k) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestations of the devil >> Manifestation of sin KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 10-9,10 (26f) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death is the fruit of the world (63a) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Righteous deception >> God deceives His people – The little book tasted sweet as honey because it was about the Rapture and the salvation of God's people, but it made his stomach bitter because the truth involved many Pre-Tribulation Rapture believers who fell away from the faith waiting for the Rapture to deliver them from their misery. John was the only person in the Church who knew what the angel said, yet individuals can seek God to learn what was written in the little book, because it remains open. The original teachings of the apostles have been maligned over the centuries by people seeking an advantage and creating opportunities to become rich and famous off the backs of church goers, who have introduced "destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves" (2Pet 2-1). The gospel was skewed through various doctrines that people have come to believe, though the truth is still plainly written in the Bible for anyone to read. The Church’s main focus is on the grace of God, which sounds like a good thing, but they have taken it to an extreme and made the Bible say that a person can live any way he wants and still be saved, so long as he believes in certain doctrines. This is not the gospel according to Scripture. See also: Bitter/sweet; Rev 10,1-11; 108i / Rapture; Rev 11,3-14; 148b (218e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest >> We choose our actions, not their consequences >> Reaping the harvest of our works Rev 10-11 (149i) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Authority of the rhema given to evangelism >> Receiving authority from God personally (152kb) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> The Church holds the position of a prophet >> True prophets >> Prophesying the future – Chapter ten ends on the note that prophesying is not complete, that is, evangelism is not complete, but “many peoples and nations and tongues and kings” must hear the word of the Lord by the mouth of the 144,000 witnesses, and then chapter eleven begins regarding the Two Witnesses. They will prophecy to the entire world with media coverage. They will remain in Jerusalem, and their ministry is to protect the 144,000, who have fled into the wilderness, whose ministry is to the gentile nations. _________________________________ REVELATION CHAPTER 11 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 11,1-6 (28c) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God protects the Church from the world – Apart from those who would wage war against the lamb, there will be a remnant that migrated to Jerusalem for refuge from the world and from its antichrist, who repented of their unbelief and did not take the Mark of the Beast. Ironically, Jerusalem will be the safest place on earth for them, though it is the place where all its enemies will gather for the Great War against God with intensions of leveling the holy city and destroying its inhabitants. When it says to measure the temple but not the outer court, the outer court refers to the natural realm, whereas the temple itself refers to a spiritual place, not located in Jerusalem but in wilderness places spotted around the globe, where God will hide His people from the wrath of the dragon, and to measure the temple means to count the people who dwell there. See also: Remnant will migrate to Jerusalem; Rev 11,3-14; 148b / Those left behind who have not taken the mark will migrate to Jerusalem between the trumpets and the bowls; Rev 20-4; 144b (50ha) Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations >> Second half of the tribulation >> Two witnesses - adjudicators of God's judgment – The whole point of miracles is to get people’s attention to hear the word of God; miracles always accompany revivals orchestrated from heaven. Revival is coming to this world, and signs and wonders will return as a divine means of ratifying the word of God and positively identifying the bearers of truth. During genuine revival we know who is telling the truth based on those performing miracles; just follow the miracles to the source and we will find the truth. The devil may try to mimic God and perform lying wonders, but those kind of miracles are more in line with magic arts, whereas the miracles that God performs are things that nobody else can do, not even the devil can replicate them, nor would he care to try. Jesus used miracles of healing and went around doing good, because it is not something the devil wanted to imitate, works that oppose the will of Satan. If the devil had the power to perform miracles, he would not use it to heal anyone but to steal, kill and destroy. The darker the world gets, the less people look for revival, yet the purpose of revival is to dispel the darkness, which can get so thick that people begin to question the existence of God, yet sure as there is a God revival is coming. See also: Great Endtime Revival; Rev 11-1,2; 210i / Mature past Christians who have been saved for years; Gal 6-1; 131e Rev 11-1,2 (140b) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> Worshipping God in His temple -- These verses go with verse 16. John was told to measure the temple of God and the altar and those who dwell in it but not to measure the outer court, “for it has been given to the nations, and they will tread underfoot the holy city for forty-two months.” The courtyard of the temple represents Jerusalem. To measure something is to give attention to certain features, but the outer court does not get this attention. The outer court of the temple consists of a gated fence surrounding the temple. This fence was originally made of porpoise skin, a durable material intended to symbolize our own skin, which the apostle Paul coined "the flesh". This suggests that anyone who walks in the flesh, will be trampled underfoot by the antichrist and his cohorts, but those who walk in the spirit will become as it were invisible to their enemies. This is Jerusalem, and during the days of the Two Witnesses whatever happens there will happen throughout the world through the trumpets of God's judgments. The gentiles will tread the inhabitants of Jerusalem underfoot for 42 months, during the period of the trumpets, because it refuses to enter the temple but remains in the courtyard, which is the domain of the antichrist, suggesting that a more spiritual form of worship will be required to protect us from the evil that is coming, but those who refuse to worship God in Spirit and truth, who are content to loiter outside the temple in the courtyard will be subject to the devil’s hoof. Rev 3,8-10 says, "Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie -I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth." God will protect His people who enter this higher realm of worship that He offers, but those who prefer to walk in the flesh will be trodden underfoot by men. He will protect His people in the last days using the Two Witnesses, who light the way to a Holy Place with God. These are "the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth." Within the temple there was a Holy Place where the lampstands light the table of showbread on the way to the golden altar of perpetual incense representing prayer, which led the way into the Holy of Holies, where we fellowship with God. See also: Temple; Rev 11,7-10; 199h (210i) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Salvation is from the Jews >> Jews are believers >> Gospel belongs to the Jew first – God will provide a way of escape (1Cor 10-13) by offering His people a doorway that leads to a spiritual place, like the the Most Holy Place in the old covenant temple of worship. The Two Witnesses will call to those who are idly standing in the courtyard and beckon them to enter the holy chambers of God’s presence. Rev 2-17 says, "To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna;" and Heb 9-3,4 says, "Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna." Shortly into the Seals God will call the Two Witnesses into a ministry of restoration of the Jews who in turn will restore the Church to the true doctrines of the faith, and they will conduct a benevolent evangelism campaign prior to the seven angels sounding their trumpets and lead the gentiles into the greatest spiritual revival the world has ever known, starting in Jerusalem. However, immediately after the First Trumpet the Two Witnesses will switch from benevolent ministers to flaming adjudicators of God's judgment, and the 144,000 will flee into the wilderness, establishing camps (how many is unknown) throughout the earth in wilderness places in third-world countries. There the gentiles will come to them by the millions, leaving the cities and joining these camps. They will be saved, and God will nourish and protect them. Jerusalem will be trodden underfoot during the seals, until the ministry of justice begins with the Two Witnesses. God will give them authority to call down fire on their enemies, attracting attention of the whole world, as a duck would steer predators away from her chicks. Whatever judgments they inflict on their enemies to protect Jerusalem God will do the same to the whole world to protect His people in the wilderness in the trumpet judgments. The fact that the two witnesses were clothed in sackcloth is iconic to the 144,000 (the woman) with the gentile Church (her children), who have fled into the wilderness for a 42-month period of prayer and fasting during the days of their prophesying (Revelation chapter 12). See also: Great Endtime Revival; Rev 11,3-14; 148b (237e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> The rapture >> Selective rapture Rev 11-2,3 (214k) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God Has Good Timing >> God synchronizes events in His time -- These verses go with verse 7 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 11,3-14 (68d) Authority >> Jesus Delegates Authority To Execute Judgment >> Against sin (148b) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Solemnly testify against unbelief – Sackcloth signifies that the Two Witnesses were not here for a party; rather, sackcloth represents fasting, prayer and repentance, and in the last days it will also represent martyrdom of the saints. Sackcloth is essentially burlap, which is a scratchy material, very uncomfortable to wear. Whenever Israel saw the end of their ways and repented, they clothed themselves in sackcloth and ashes with fasting and prayer. The Two Witnesses are not literally Moses and Elijah, though their ministries will model after them. They didn’t always wear sackcloth, but began wearing it on the day they were called to this 3½-year period of the Trumpets. Before this time their ministries were symbolized by olive branches and lampstands, representing revival in the light of God’s word. Genesis 8-10,11 says, "Noah waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth." Therefore, the olive branch represents salvation in the midst of judgment. The Two Witnesses’ ministry will bring revival in times of terrible persecution and martyrdom during the Seals of Satan's wrath prior to the Rapture. Most people don't see a revival in the last days, yet the Bible speaks of it in the book of Joel, and those who see revival coming believe it will occur after the Rapture. The popular belief is that great masses will finally awaken after they realize they have been “left behind”, but this will not be the case. The Rapture won't come until the seventh trumpet, and then some will be left behind, but their numbers will be few, and they will be required to migrate to Jerusalem before the Bowls begin and await the return of Christ. The antichrist will begin to martyr Jews and Christians almost immediately after the global economic collapse, which is the first seal, and revival will erupt almost immediately after that, resulting in Christians blowing the whistle on the antichrist, exposing him as the person of the Bible prophesied to come. The Church will proclaim that anybody who takes the Mark of the Beast will find his place in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. See also: Remnant will migrate to Jerusalem; Rev 11,3-12; 50cc / Moses and Elijah; Rev 11,3-7; 131g / Great Endtime Revival; 218c / Rapture; Rev 11,7-14; 50i (153a) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Church bears witness of the Father through Christ (218c) 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 persecution – Believing in Jesus is a matter of life and death, in that we who believe inherit eternal life, but those who don't believe will be damned (Jn 3-36). However, in the last days believing in Jesus being a matter of life and death will take a different meaning in that many Christians will lose their lives because they believe in Jesus. Currently, most people’s commitment to Christ is lackadaisical, one of a hundred low priorities in their lives. They go through the ritual of Sunday morning service, their faith being anecdotal at best, but in the last days the true saints will become part of a great revival the likes no one has ever seen. People will be zealous for God; signs, wonders and miracles will become commonplace, and people will recognize the antichrist by the light that the Two Witnesses are shining in his eyes. God will not allow mankind to be engulfed in darkness (see Joel chapter two and Mat 22,1-14). See also: Great Endtime Revival; Rev 11,3-12; 50cc Rev 11,3-12 (45k) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Subjecting your flesh >> Satan VS the saints >> Defeating Satan in weakness of sinful flesh – The Two Witnesses, having given the Church to protect for Jesus' sake and mankind to judge for worshipping the antichrist, after induced a large body of evidence that confirmed God’s existence and His love for mankind, still the world worshipped and served the devil. Man was made in God's image and was created to become what Lucifer desired and was given a position on God's throne higher than Lucifer before his transgression. (50cc) Judgment >> Last Days >> Jewish Led endtime revival >> Jews become obedient in the last days – The olive tree represents life, having received the latter rains. Olive oil has been a favorite for thousands of years. It is extracted by great pressure, sending the olives through a press and squeezing the oil from the fruit. This is precisely what will happen to the Church in the last days in a great and terrible persecution when thousands of Christians will be required to give their lives for their faith during the seals of Satan's wrath. The precious oil coming from them, the oil of anointing, will be used for their lamps that shine the light on Satan's kingdom, bringing about a Great Endtime Revival. The Two Witnesses are coming to straighten out the doctrines of the Church and to end all schisms and denominations, so that all believers become a single, united Church, huddled around one truth. Everyone participating in this revival will receive the doctrines of the 144,000, who received them from the Two Witnesses; but if anyone rejects the doctrines and teachings of the faith disseminated from the throne of God, he simply will not be part of this revival, subject to the antichrist and his mark. With few exceptions, all peoples, nations and tongues will either receive the teachings of the Two Witnesses and inherit God's mark on their foreheads (Rev 7-3; Ezekiel 3-8,9;9-4) or they will receive the Mark of the Beast (Rev 13,16-18). Those who receive neither, if they survive the tribulation, will be required to migrate to Jerusalem during the bowls of God's fierce wrath (watch the movie "The Road"). See also: Remnant will migrate to Jerusalem; Rev 11,7-14; 50i / Great Endtime Revival; Rev 11,7-14; 50i Rev 11,3-10 (201g) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Jesus is an offense >> Jesus offends the world >> The Church offends the world KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 11,3-7 (131g) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Interdependence >> Serving one another – The Two Witnesses will have the ministries of Moses and Elijah, one will confront the antichrist as Elijah confronted King Ahab and Jezebel (1Kings chapters 18,19), while the other will lead the Church into the protection of the wilderness as Moses led Israel's exodus from pharaoh. Some say the Two Witnesses will literally be Moses and Elijah; that is not true, but they will have similar ministries. For example, when it says in verse 6, “They have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire,” it takes us back to the ministry of Moses and the plagues that God unleashed on pharaoh through him. There is the first century and the last century, and everything in-between is a spiritual wasteland by comparison, on account of man’s disobedience and unbelief. We will see the Church in all of her glory, as the gospel of John chapters 14 through 17 culminate in Jesus’ high priestly prayer that He spoke possibly with tears in His eyes, knowing the Church would never obey Him to see these things come to pass for two Millennia, until the end of the age. He so earnestly desired His Church to live and walk in unity, but they denied Him generation after generation, century after century, millennia after millennia throughout the age of grace. However, God will get His way in the last days; He always does. See also: Moses and Elijah; Rev 11-5; 28b / Literal manifestations; Rev 11,3-6; 245g Rev 11,3-6 (5c) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Disciples finish the course (49b) Judgment >> Nations are destroyed >> God judges the nations through the Church -- These verses go with verses 15-17. The plagues of the Two Witnesses fit the description of the plagues that God pronounced against the world during the trumpets, suggesting that as they call down fire from heaven on their enemies, God calls down fire on the whole world, and as they turn the waters into blood in the vicinity of Jerusalem, God turns water into blood on one third of the earth. Those who seek to harm them will be fire-balled, and one of the trumpet judgments is an fiery asteroid plunging to the earth, impacting it with a force of a rock six miles across would make, traveling at ten thousand miles an hour, creating a plumb of dust and smoke that will block out the sun. So the two witnesses will have the backing of heaven. As they pronounce judgment against their local enemies in Jerusalem, God will unleash His trumpets, which will bring the same plagues against the nations, and in that sense the Two Witnesses control the trumpets, and the whole world will be wishing for their death. When they are finally killed, people declare it a holiday and exchange presents, as it were the new Christmas, the day the world killed God's prophets. The world will know that these two men were from God, yet they will seek to kill them, even as they killed Jesus, and as a result peoples’ hearts will turn to stone. These will be days when every person will either be for the Two Witnesses and join the Church and be saved, or they will be against them and for the antichrist, in which case they will damn themselves to hell with a reprobate mind, incapable of repentance and faith, with few exceptions. (69i) Authority >> Righteous judgment (Outcome of Discernment) >> Passing judgment by the authority of God (101c) Thy kingdom come >> Zeal >> For the manifestation of God’s kingdom >> Zealous for God’s works (111j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Word and the judgment of God—Spirit -- These verses go with verses 11&12 (152kb) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> The Church holds the position of a prophet >> True prophets >> Prophesying the future -- These verses go with verse 18 (245g) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s righteous judgment >> Manifestation of God’s justice -- These verses go with verse 17. Death of the Two Witnesses gives the appearance of failure; that is what God would have the world and its antichrist think. Those who have received the mark of the beast will feel vindicated that the antichrist through his power of darkness overcame them, and for three days they will believe they made the right decision to follow Satan. They will reflect on the last 3½ years and conclude that it was all an elaborate hoax, until they see the Two Witnesses stir, then slowly stand and rise into heaven. Then they will realize that what they witnessed for the last three years was the manifestation of hell itself being anxious for lost souls, demonic entities emerging from the abyss to torment and kill mankind who had the Mark of the Beast and drag their souls to hell. Those who survived the trumpet judgments will deny these things ever happened, and they will lie to their own hearts. See also: Literal manifestations; Rev 11-17; 245g Rev 11-3 (6c) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Jesus’ yoke of evangelism Rev 11-5,6 (22b) Sin >> Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for security >> The idolatry of greed Rev 11-5 (28b) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God protects us through our faith – The Two Witnesses will never leave Jerusalem, being stationed there by God to protect the holy city, and the antichrist will also be established there. They call the city Sodom and Egypt, meaning that Israel will continue acting corruptly like ancient Egypt during the days of Israel’s slavery to pharaoh, suggesting the antichrist will place the world in bondage while residing in Jerusalem. These Two Witnesses represent Moses and Elijah, and they have come to set the Church free from the pharaoh of antichrist. It also says the city will resemble Sodom, meaning it will be sexually immoral, depraved, rebellious and unrepentant, until God reins down fire from heaven as He did to Gomorrah. It is no wonder the world rejoiced when these Two Witnesses were killed. See also: Moses and Elijah; Rev 11,3-14; 148b (104c) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Purified by fire >> Purified through fiery judgment KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 11,7-14 (50i) Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations >> Second half of the tribulation >> The seventh seal - trumpets of God's judgment >> The First Resurrection – The description of the Two Witnesses coming back to life suggests they are the first fruits of the resurrection (Rev 14-3,4), and of course Jesus was the very first fruit (1Cor 15-20). According to the examples of the Two Witnesses, the First Resurrection will not happen in the blink of an eye like the Rapture; rather, life will enter the dead in Christ and they will slowly ascend into heaven in the presence of their enemies, shortly after the Two Witnesses rise from the dead, and then the Rapture will occur. The Two Witnesses will have testified of the truth and restored the Church to the true doctrines of the faith and established a global revival with millions of believers in attendance. The 144,000 Jews will have dispersed throughout the earth, having set up camps in wilderness places as leaders of a global revival, away from major cities, where many will come and be saved. It is written, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues” (Rev 18-4). No one will be able to harm them so long as they remain in these camps, representing the land of Goshen. After the First Resurrection/Rapture, the remaining populations of the earth will be curtailed to those who received the Mark of the Beast and those who did not receive it, nor did they believe in Jesus. After the Rapture most who did not receive the mark will come to believe, though they will be relatively few in number. They will be required to migrate to Jerusalem, God’s only approved safe haven, and there they will live under the city in the catacombs, and God will nourish them until He returns. See also: Remnant will migrate to Jerusalem; Rev 11,15-19; 50j / Great Endtime Revival; Rev 11,7-10; 199h / Rapture; Rev 11,11-15; 237b Rev 11,7-13 (219i) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> Predestined according to the word of God Rev 11,7-10 (16a) Sin >> The sin nature is instinctively evil >> Man’s flesh is related to the devil >> Man's sinful nature wars against God -- These verses go with verse 18. The book of Revelation depicts a time when man will give himself completely over to his sinful nature. People who live in this time will want nothing to do with God, and will graft onto a satanic replica of Him. This "god" of theirs will steal from them, kill them and destroy their world, yet they will continue worshipping him. We could prove God’s benevolent intent for mankind and still they would not repent of their disobedience and unbelief, because they hate God and have made up their minds to worship demons instead. (16h) Sin >> Man’s willingness to be evil >> Being punished for doing God’s will (25d) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Murder >> Persecution to the death >> Murder is the way of the world – A beast that has authority over the abyss is mentioned earlier in Rev 9,1-3 as part of the trumpet judgments, when the smoke of a furnace was released, and from the columns of smoke locusts-like creatures emerged that were commanded to torment mankind, and later they mutated their form and killed those who did not have the mark of God on their foreheads. This very beast that was in charge of the abyss killed the Two Witnesses. The dragon was responsible for the creatures that came from the abyss and tormented and killed 1/3 of mankind, but instead of blaming him, the world blamed the Two Witnesses and worshipped the beast that killed them. Satan always seems to walk free of accountability, and man never faults him for anything he does; instead, God and His people get the blame. (43a) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Conform to the Resurrection of Christ’s death (164j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is at enmity with God >> The world hates the Church (185c) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Mystery of lawlessness >> Having no grounds for your hate >> Hating the Church without a cause (189f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Martyr >> Martyrs bring about the judgment of God – Martyrs were named as the fifth seal; but once the trumpets began to blow, martyrdom was no longer mentioned until now, because the Two Witnesses effectively stopped martyrdom in its tracks. (199h) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> The world rejects God >> Rejecting Christ to keep the world – The world chose the antichrist over the Two Witnesses, according to the well worn path of Man’s choice of Satan over God, a never-ending replay throughout all of human history. For Jerusalem to be called Sodom means it has become a place of demons and intense wickedness. The Jewish Torah speaks blasphemously against Christ and His worshipers, like something that would come from Sodom and Gomorrah. Many Jews will not believe in Jesus and will not take part of this revival. Their influence will invite the antichrist to establish His kingdom in Jerusalem during the seals of Satan's wrath in effort to squash this revival. Satan originally established his kingdom in Rome in response to the revival, but after it became obvious that the Pope posing as Savior of the world was not curbing the revival, the false prophet killed the Pope and set his city on fire (again; Rev 17,16-18), and then he moved to Jerusalem and posed as Israel's Messiah, setting-up shop beside the Two Witnesses. He will enter the temple "(let the reader understand)," and as he exits the temple he will order both Jews and Gentile Christians to be killed (Mat 24,15-22). He will personally kill the Two Witnesses, who had transformed their ministries from benevolent ministers of the gospel, establishing the great endtime revival to fierce adjudicators of God's judgment with the aim of directing the Church into the wilderness and protecting them throughout the Trumpets. They were responsible for tormenting the nations by unleashing the trumpets on them (v10). At the end of the Trumpets, the fact that the people of the whole earth rejoiced in their death is evidence that they never repented of their unbelief. The world at large has rebelled against God from the greatest to the least of them in spite of God's manifested presence in His Two Witnesses. See also: Great Endtime Revival; Rev 10,1-11; 108i / Temple; Rev 11-19; 133e / Last days (Church wanders in the wilderness); Rom 8-15; 24a (242a) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the death >> Killing God’s prophets Rev 11-7 (214k) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God Has Good Timing >> God synchronizes events in His time -- This verse goes with verses 2&3 Rev 11-8 (135c) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Immorality >> Homosexuality – Jerusalem was called Sodom and Egypt, equating the holy city with Sodom and Gomorra, and enslaving God's people like the pharaoh of Egypt, after it had fallen into depravity, the antichrist having set-up shop beside the Two Witnesses, like a competing hamburger joint builds next to another restaurant, neutralizing the locale variable. Rev 11-9,10 (65g) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Satan unites the world for the cause of persecution – Although they have already gone through the seals and the trumpets of God’s judgment, still there is a global television network in operation that will air the death of the Two Witnesses, allowing most of the world to see their dead bodies laying in the streets of Jerusalem. This suggests that much of God’s judgment up to this point has left man’s technological infrastructure relatively intact. It is during the Bowls of God's fierce wrath that man’s fragile, modern world incurs total destruction. Rev 11-10 (19d) Sin >> Mocking God Without a cause >> Motivated by the flesh (174j) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Form of godliness but denying the truth (179d) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >> Stir up the crowd >> Stir up the crowd through jealousy KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 11,11-15 (237b) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> The rapture >> Last trumpet – The three woes that John mentioned in verse 14 he also mentioned in Rev 8-13 "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!" This refers to the last three Trumpet blasts (5,6&7). The fifth trumpet releases demonic creatures that crawled from the abyss and tormented mankind, and the sixth refers to those same creatures that mutated and then killed a third of mankind, which would be hard to top in severity. When the seals were broken the curses they released progressed from bad to worse, and when the trumpets sounded, they too progressed from bad to worse, and when God spilled the bowls on the earth, they too progressed from bad to worse, so the pattern is well established. This means the seventh trumpet must be worse than the sixth, but what happened? Lets tally up the events of the Seventh Trumpet and compare it to the sixth. There were loud voices in heaven; the twenty-four elders worshipped God; the heavens were opened and revealed the Ark of the Covenant, but all these occurred in heaven. Finally, there was lightning and thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm, but it was local. Compared to the sixth trumpet it reads like a blank page. Rev 11-16,17 says, “The twenty-four elders fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying, we give thee thinks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast, because thou hast taken thy great power and hast begun to reign,” but it doesn’t say what God did to begin His reign. This should be the most horrendous trumpet of all, yet there was nothing John reported that topped fire breathing horses with orders to kill. There is something missing, something John didn’t tell us, but why? It goes back to chapter 10 about the little book. John was ordered to “seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them” (Rev 10-4). So, what did the seven peals of thunder say? They spoke of the First Resurrection/Rapture! The Seventh Trumpet is the last trumpet, depicted in 1Cor 15-52, and it occurred after the two witnesses were raised from the dead, signifying the First Resurrection. By voiding this information, God has given opportunity for those unwilling to follow Christ to devise doctrines that would excuse them from serving Him (Lk 14,15-24). Instead of trusting Christ to the point of possibly becoming martyrs, many have adopted the Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine that falsely promises God will deliver them from going through the Tribulation. This is God screening the disingenuous from His true worshipers, who promised to test those who dwell on the earth, including and especially His Church (Rev 3-10). Those who adhere to the Pre-Tribulation Rapture know they don’t have faith to go through the tribulation, nor do they have the heart to seek God for truth. God has long suffered mankind throughout all time, especially after Christ spilled His blood for the sins of the world and no one seems to care. He has given us the promise of the Holy Spirit to live an abundant life, yet man has consistently rejected God’s plan and interpreted a more carnal and secular view of the gospel, but in the last days God will expect us to follow Him into the fire, for His kingdom is about to be manifested on the earth and those who partake of it must prove themselves worthy by giving God the reverence He deserves and follow Him wherever He goes. If we get the sequence of the Rapture wrong, almost nothing makes sense of endtime prophecy. See also: Rapture; Rev 11-11,12; 38i Rev 11,11-14 (49f) Judgment >> Enemies of the prophets are destroyed -- These verses go with verses 18&19. The first woe is Satan’s wrath, the second woe is the Trumpets that are judgments for sin that act as a diversion from martyring the saints, and the third woe is the Bowls of God’s wrath. Rev 11,11-13 (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 Rev 11-11,12 (38i) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Resurrection of the righteous – The Two Witnesses were resurrected from the dead, signaling the First Resurrection. It is not every day that people are raised from the dead. Elijah raised the widow's son during the great drought that occurred in those days (1Kings 17,17-24); Jesus raised Lazarus and others from the dead during His ministry, and the early apostles raised a handful of people from the dead during their ministries, and it is even possible that others were raised throughout the 2000-year age of grace, but none of them ascended to heaven except Jesus (Jn 3-13) and the Two Witnesses, proving that this is indeed the First Resurrection, spoken by Paul (1The 4,13-18 & 1Cor 15,50-58). After God raised Christ from the dead, He ascended to heaven as the first fruit of the resurrection (1Cor 15-23), and then the Two Witnesses ascended to heaven as the first fruits of Church's resurrection (Rev 14-4). Their resurrection/ascension occurred just prior to the Last Trumpet, and when it sounds, those who have died in Christ will follow the Two Witnesses to heaven in like manner. The First Resurrection cuts in two ways: from the standpoint of the wicked as the seventh trumpet it is the most severe trumpet judgment of all, and from the standpoint of the righteous it is the greatest blessing of all time. Proverbs 10-29 says, “The way of the LORD is a stronghold to the upright, but ruin to the workers of iniquity.” Therefore, the wicked hate the righteous for what they hope. See also: Rapture; Rev 11,15-19; 50j (111j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Word and the judgment of God—Spirit -- These verses go with verses 3-6 (237i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> The ascension >> Believers’ spiritual ascension Rev 11-13 (40m) Judgment >> God is glorified >> God defends His righteous ones through judgment KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 11,15-19 (50j) Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations >> Second half of the tribulation >> The seventh seal - trumpets of God's judgment >> Seventh trumpet - Rapture of the Church – To the ungodly and to the false brethren and unbelieving, the First Resurrection/Rapture will hit them harder than all prior judgments combined; it will be more horrific than stinging demons and fire-breathing horses gallivanting the countryside killing one third of mankind. They were faced with the stark reality that they were wrong about serving the antichrist, and they were wrong about killing the saints and about taking the Mark of the Beast, and now they must face the bowls of God's fierce wrath, and afterward they will become constituents of God's eternal judgment in hell. However, not everyone who faces the bowls is doomed to hell, for there will be a remnant who will be saved, who didn't take the mark of the beast, whom God will call to Jerusalem where they will find safety and protection from the bowls. Jerusalem is the only safe place on earth, for God promises to protect her in order to establish His thousand year reign upon her ancient ruins. Ironically though, from a human standpoint, Jerusalem will also be the most dangerous place on earth in that all the nations will gather together to destroy the antichrist who has chosen to harbor in Jerusalem, and the world will have realized that he has deceived and betrayed the world and will come seeking vengeance, but God will stop them from killing the remnant who have come there for refuge, for He has plans for them and personally wants to take vengeance on the antichrist. See also: Remnant will migrate to Jerusalem; Rev 11,1-6; 28c / Rapture; Rev 11,15-17; 49b Rev 11,15-17 (49b) Judgment >> Nations are destroyed >> God judges the nations through the Church -- These verses go with verses 3-6. This passage occurs immediately after the seventh and final trumpet that Paul said would signal the resurrection of the righteous and the catching up of the saints. The elders worshipped God, saying that He has taken His great power and begun to reign. Before this, God assigned seven angels to blow their trumpets and released the seven plagues that were prepared for the wicked in those days, each being a more severe judgment than the previous one. There were five seals, representing the antichrist’s reign of terror; the sixth seal was a tremendous earthquake, initializing God's involvement in endtime prophecy with the seventh seal containing the seven trumpets, but when the seventh trumpet sounded, John was silent about what happened. This is when Jesus said in Mat 24,29-31, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the son of man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” This passage is a summary of God's judgment starting with the sixth seal, which is a colossal earthquake, and extends to the last trumpet that signals the First Resurrection and the Rapture of the Church. The sign of the son of man refers to clouds, only not white, puffy clouds but an ash plume after a giant asteroid strikes the earth, and Jesus will be riding on the shockwave that will circle the earth in a matter of hours, collecting His people just before it reaches them. Rapture; Rev 11-15; 136i Rev 11-15 (15i) Servant >> Angels execute Judgment >> For the sake of the Church (136i) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ is the Church – This is the last trumpet, which designates the Rapture, but a lot of people don’t believe this, though Paul clearly stated it in 1Cor 15-51,52. The saints in heaven and on earth have been anticipating this day since the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The First Resurrection/Rapture is the greatest day of the saints, but it is the worst judgment of the seven trumpets, even worse than the slaughter of one third of mankind, in that the other two-thirds will realize they have been tricked by the devil, and it will be too late to repent of those who have received the Mark of the Beast. See also: Rapture; 237g (229a) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Kingdom grows by itself >> Growing In Numbers Corresponds With Spiritual Growth >> Kingdom slowly spreads and overtakes darkness (237g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> The rapture >> The Church in heaven – The seven trumpets increase in severity with the fifth angel opening the bottomless pit and demonic creatures crawling out and tormenting people who did not have God's mark on their foreheads. The sixth trumpet was even worse; it released four angels that released an army of demons riding fire-breathing horses that killed a third of mankind. Therefore, when the seventh angel blew his trumpet, something worse than these things should have happened to fit the pattern of escalating judgments, but the Scriptures merely depict a scene in heaven and an earthquake that killed seven thousand people, a mere fraction of the two billion that were killed throughout the trumpet judgments. The loud voices in heaven were saying, 'Come up here!' God was in the process of manifesting His kingdom in the natural realm, and the resurrection of the Church was the first step, and Rev 10-4 explains the silence. See also: Rapture; 237g (237k) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> Transferred from darkness to light – In Rev 8-13 the eagle (Cherub) said, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!” signifying that the remaining trumpet judgments will be far more severe than the previous ones, suggesting that there will be a graduating scale of intensity from one trumpet to the next, making the seventh trumpet the most severe judgment of all, and what was the great and dreadful judgment of the seventh trumpet? “There were loud voices in heaven” and an earthquake. Trumpets five and six were horrendous, but the seventh trumpet, which should have been the worst, appeared to be a dud. What was the seventh trumpet's judgment? Paul said that the First Resurrection/Rapture would occur at the last trumpet. While the world followed Satan and committed its atrocities, they believed, at least in part, that they were doing the right thing. We don’t know how they could believe that, but this has already happened in the past. Look at Hitler’s regime; people followed him believing they were doing the right thing. Also, people who get sucked into a cult think their church is godly and preaches the truth, when in fact the opposite is true. People can get deceived. The antichrist deceived the whole world into following Him, and the First Resurrection/Rapture woke them from their delirium to realize they have been following the wrong person. Taking the Mark of the Beast has sealed their fate, and they will realize there really is a God and they have been martyring His people, and they are really going to hell, and the First Resurrection made them realize that, and so the First Resurrection is indeed the worst day of their lives. See also: Rapture; Rev 10,1-11; 50i (243o) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> There shall be no end to His increase >> He shall reign forever and ever – This verse refers to the Rapture of the saints, leading to the Millennium, which is only a thousand years long, yet it says, "He will reign forever and ever!" This indicates that the Millennium is the first thousand years of an eternal kingdom. The Millennium pictures man populating the earth. Therefore, maintaining the pattern of the Millennium, God will also have a likeness of man populating the universe in eternity. This "new man" that God will create after our image will display the differences and similarities that we have with the angels, being equally different and similar to us. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 11-16 (140b) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> Worshipping God in His temple -- This verse goes with verses 1&2 Rev 11-17 (245g) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s righteous judgment >> Manifestation of God’s justice -- This verse goes with verses 3-6. God’s kingdom will forever represent Him to His creation. God always was, and He is now, and His kingdom will remain forever. God gave the earth to man and commanded him to take care of it, but during the tribulation of the last days after man made a bloody mess of everything, God proceeded to take control of the earth, quelling the rebellion and destroying those who destroy the earth. When the dust settles, the only one standing will be Christ and His people. He will place all His enemies under His feet. It is something He has always known; He never questioned His own ability to overcome darkness and evil. Light is greater than darkness; truth is greater than error, and love is greater than hate. The principles He uses to establish His kingdom will ensure He will reign forever. No created being will fall into sin again, because He has reestablished order in His creation so these things cannot happen. He could have kept sin from taking root in the first place, but that was not His plan. God could have merely told man about sin, but He would have gotten blank stares from His audience. No one would have understood what He was saying, but now we know about sin: it is direct rebellion against God, and now man knows the consequences of sin, that it causes separation, which is the definition of hell. Sin is doing what we know is wrong, reigning by our own authority and building kingdoms that glorify self to the exclusion of God. When we are under God’s authority, we are living under His righteousness, but when we use our will to rebel against Him, nothing we do will stand. The Bible teaches that sin will never raise its ugly head again; we will have learned our lesson; sin will become a distant memory. We will teach God’s creation that obedience is the only real choice we have, and if anybody wants to dabble in rebellion against God, we will be there to correct them, for if God corrected them we would be right back to the Adam and Eve story. See also: Adam and Eve / Literal manifestations; Rev 11-18; 24g / Holy Spirit (anointing) is the essence of God's Kingdom; Act 4,8-12; 110l Rev 11-18,19 (49f) Judgment >> Enemies of the prophets are destroyed -- These verses go with verses 11-14. There were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder, and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. These were local events that happened on earth, no doubt above the head of the antichrist who was located in Jerusalem. We can be sure of one thing: this is not the extent of judgment resulting from the seventh trumpet. Rev 11-18 (12k) Servant >> Bond servants the prophets (16a) Sin >> The sin nature is instinctively evil >> Man’s flesh is related to the devil >> Man's sinful nature wars against God -- This verse goes with verses 7-10 (17m) Sin >> Unrighteous judgment >> Discerning by the flesh >> Judging the sins of others that you practice (24g) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Envy >> Angry at God because of their poverty – It says the nations were enraged with God. This is why they were seeking to destroy the saints: they hated God and everything that belonged to Him. The last days will be a time of literal manifestations; in this case people will manifest their absolute hatred of God. The more He punished them, the more they hated Him. Man has always hated God. Adam and Eve eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was an affront to His absolute authority. That tree was their only means of sinning, and ironically it was their only means of expressing an interest in being more like God (according to the devil), though they were originally created in His image. What made eating the forbidden fruit so evil was not man's interest in being more like God but an interest in replacing Him. He gave them the world, but it wasn’t enough; they didn't want to be under His authority; rather, they wanted authority of their own, and they despised God for having authority over them; it made them feel impoverished. Their eye became envious of God, just like Lucifer, and they would never rest until they got what they wanted, and when they bit into that fruit in defiance of His authority, they obtained what they sought, but it didn't make them happy. The world has not veered from the course that Adam set for man, and at the end of days the fullness of evil that eating the forbidden fruit represented will finally be realized. See also: Literal manifestations; Rev 10,1-11; 172a / Adam and Eve; 157e / He chose Eve over God; Mat 24,37-39; 168d (26h) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death is the result of sin – God will reward His bondservants, the prophets, the saints and those who fear His name, the small and the great, but those who do not believe in Him are dead. That is how Jesus put it in His parable of the rich man and Lazarus, saying that Lazarus died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s bosom, but when the rich man died, he was just buried (Lk 16-22). The rich man’s soul was already dead before his body died, because he was separated from God, and that which is apart from Him is dead (Eph 2,1-3). When the rich man died, his soul had nowhere else to go, so he bypassed the grave and went straight to Hades. The White Throne Judgment will judge the wicked between creations, after He destroys this present creation and before He creates the new one, according to Rev 20-11, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.” God gives everyone a multitude of opportunities to repent of their unbelief, for there is every reason to believe God exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11-6), but when a person dies without Christ, he is condemned. Repentance is taken off the table, hence redemption is impossible. (48b) Judgment >> God judg es the world >> Eternal judgment – This verse is saying that the kingdoms of men have come to an end. That was the message of the seventh trumpet; it marked the end of man’s reign on earth. The tribulation is over for the saints. They call it the seven-year tribulation because of Dan 9,25-27. The Church will be here during those seven years encompassing the seals and the trumpets, defining the tribulation of the saints. All that is left is to finish the bowls, which will be a hellish time on earth. The first four Trumpet judgments afflicted only 1/3 of the earth, and the fifth and sixth Trumpets did not target the saints, whereas the bowls will afflict the entire earth, so there will be nowhere to hide, and for this reason God raptured His Church. (55h) Paradox >> Opposites >> People preserving the earth will destroy it (152kb) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> The Church holds the position of a prophet >> True prophets >> Prophesying the future -- This verse goes with verses 3-6 (157e) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Being displeasing to God >> Walking in disobedience – God will reward His people for their faithfulness with the First Resurrection, but He will destroy those who destroy the earth. Subduing the earth is one thing, as He said to Adam (Gen 1-28), but destroying it is another, and man doesn’t seem to know the difference. Animals have various means of survival, and man has civilization. God removed man from the Garden of Eden and shoved him into nature, and man and nature incompatible, so he must create civilizations for the purpose of survival, and in his empires he thrives, but he tears down and destroys nature in the process. Nature has rejected man, so he builds civilizations from materials he finds in the earth, which calls for a restructuring of nature, and in his greed-driven restructuring he destroys the earth, polluting lakes, streams and oceans and cutting down every tree for thousands of square miles of virgin forest, and then he goes to war. This has happened throughout man's barbarous reign, and Christ is coming to end the perpetual carnage. See also: Adam and Eve; Rev 11-17; 245g (172d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Communion between the world and the Church >> Worldliness in the Church (226f) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of the Kingdom of Heaven >> Reserved in heaven >> Eternal rewards KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 11-19 (133e) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> The body of Christ is holy >> The temple of God is holy – It says that the temple of God in heaven was opened and the Ark of the Covenant appeared in His temple. Paul said, “We are the temple of the living God” (2Cor 6-16). We go to church and sing songs and give tithes and hear sermons, shake hands, socialize and go home, and we say this is church. It gives everyone the impression that Church is a building when in fact it is the people. Moreover, heaven is technically the New Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem is His temple, and the outer court is the wall of costly stones that surround the holy city; in Moses’ day the outer court was made of porpoise skin. There is the temple consisting of the people and the temple building in heaven, and the two are one. Just as there was an Ark of the Covenant that resided in the most holy place of the earthly tabernacle that God commanded Moses, so there is also an ark of the covenant in heaven. It is the most holy feature of the temple; it is God’s throne. When the New Jerusalem descends upon the earth, it will be called the Most Holy Place (Rev 21-2,3), and earth will be called the Holy Place, and the outer court will be the entire universe. The greatest mystery of heaven is the substance of the new creation; our bodies will never get old or wear out. It is impossible to wrap our heads around something that time cannot destroy. In the natural realm, just sitting here, we are getting older, and eventually we will fall apart like everything else, including mountains of solid rock, but the new creation will support God's kingdom that He will establish on the new earth that will remain forever and ever. See also: Temple; Rev 11-1,2; 140b See next page