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The Delay Terminated

I believe the Sabbath millennium described in Revelation 20 will begin on time because God’s Sabbaths are never early or late. When Earth reaches a day that is 1,335 days from the end of the six thousand years of sin, the Great Tribulation will begin. At this time, no one knows precisely where the sixth thousandth year is, but we cannot be very far from it. Take a closer look at the chart below:

When the appointed day arrives, the four angels in Revelation 7:1-4 will be released to do their harm. This release is described in Revelation 10. “Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to Heaven. And He swore by Him who lives for ever and ever, who created the Heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, ‘There will be no more delay!’” (Revelation 10:5,6) Just before the delay is terminated, Jesus will seal 144,000 servants. Then, He will announce the end of the delay in a thunderous voice. (In fact, this announcement will be the first of seven thunders that the 144,000 will hear and understand. See John 12:28-30.)

Jesus imposed a delay in Revelation 7:3 and Jesus will terminate the delay when He declares, “There will be no more delay!” Until Jesus grants permission, the four angels cannot hurt Earth. After Jesus declares there will be no more delay, no one will be able to turn the hands of God’s clock back or stop the arrival of His oncoming judgments. God’s wrath is overdue, but the 1,335 days necessary to conclude the 6,000^th year have not arrived. Please examine the next chart below and notice the vertical alignment of three prophecies.

Revelation’s Matrix Grows

Prophecy #1 Revelation 4:1-6:17: The worthiness of Jesus and the six seals

     1^st seal     =    Salvation through faith in Jesus alone

     2^nd seal    =    Translation and distribution of the Bible

     3^rd seal     =   The judgment bar of Christ begins

     4^th seal     =   Great Tribulation begins

     5^th seal     =    Martyrdom of prophets and saints

     6^th seal     =    Second Coming  

Prophecy #2 Revelation 7:1-8:1: The 144,000, the numberless multitude, and the seventh seal

              A     =    Four angels of God given power to harm Earth

    Waiting    =    Currently we are waiting for the arrival of the appointed day to seal the      

                            144,000

              B     =    The numberless multitude standing around the throne after the Second  

                            Coming

              C     =    Seventh seal broken at the end of the millennium

Prophecy #3 Revelation 8:2-9:21: The six trumpets

                 X   =    Global earthquake

   1^st trumpet   =    Fiery hailstorms 

   2^nd trumpet  =    Asteroid impact on an ocean

   3^rd trumpet   =    Asteroid impact on a continent

   4^th trumpet   =    Ring of Fire erupts – volcano ejecta causes darkness 

   5^th trumpet   =    Lucifer appears

   6^th trumpet   =    Lucifer’s four angels kill one-third of mankind

Specification #3 – The Sealing

We will examine three specifications of the 144,000 in this segment. First, the 144,000 will be presented to the Father and the Lamb as firstfruits of Earth’s harvest. (Revelation 14:4) Second, women will not defile the 144,000. (Revelation 14:4) Third, the 144,000 will be the first ever to receive the seal of God. (Revelation 7:3) With these three specifications in mind, let us take a look.

No one has yet received the “seal of God” described in Revelation 7, because the 144,000 will be the first to receive it. Two statements in the book of Revelation highlight this point. First, the four angels are told to hold back the four winds of the Great Tribulation until the 144,000 are sealed. (Revelation 7:3) In other words, when the 144,000 people have been sealed, the fourth seal will be broken and the Great Tribulation will begin! Second, Revelation 14:4 says the 144,000 will be presented to God and the Lamb as firstfruits of Earth’s harvest. Because the 144,000 will be the firstfruits of Earth’s harvest, and because God’s wrath is not released until they are sealed, they have to be the first people ever to receive the seal of God. The seal of God and the sealing of the 144,000 is an “iceberg” topic – one third of it is above surface and two-thirds are below the surface. With this in mind, let us dive under the surface and examine some controversial issues.

Judgment of the Living

In an earlier segment, we examined the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14 and the cleansing of Heaven’s temple. In another segment, we examined the relationship between the third seal and 1844. We have already touched on the essential doctrines of “soul sleep” and God’s use of “parallel temples.” A synthesis of these matters indicates that the judgment bar of Christ began in the Spring of 1844. At that time, Jesus began reviewing the records of the dead that had been “sealed” by death. Because man’s power of choice is terminated at death, death permanently “seals” the life’s record of those who die. This is why Hebrews 4:7 says, “…Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Unlike the sealed records of the dead, the judgment of the living presents an interesting challenge. How can Jesus pass eternal judgment on a person who still has the power of choice and the freedom to change his mind? At the risk of being repetitive, here is a short response to this question. One day I was discussing this subject with some friends when one of then said, “Since God already knows our hearts, why does He not judge us on the basis of what He knows about us? If He judged us this way, there would be no need for testing the people of Earth with torment and persecution during the Great Tribulation.” I responded, “Suppose Jesus were to do as you have suggested.  Suppose at the judgment you discover that you are standing among the wicked, outside the holy city. When you realize that you are about to perish by fire, you cry out to the Lord saying, ‘Lord, I did not do anything to deserve burning in hell!’ The Lord responds, ‘My child, I know you did not deserve this, but I knew that you would have if given the chance.’” Then I asked, “Do you want to be judged on the basis of your choices or do you want to be judged on the basis of God’s foreknowledge?” After a few smiles, the story surrounding the book sealed with seven seals suddenly made a lot of sense.

Four Purposes for Seals

In Bible times, seals were used for four purposes. (If possible, look up the following references.) Seals have been used to certify the authenticity of a document or transaction. (Esther 8:8, Jeremiah 32:10) Seals were used to prevent tampering or change. (Daniel 6:17; Matthew 27:65,66) Seals were used to show approval and ownership. (John 6:27; 2 Corinthians 1:22) Last, seals were used as locks to secure property or secrets. (Daniel 12:4; Revelation 5:1) When the Bible speaks of sealing the 144,000, all four uses will apply! Notice how the sequence unfolds:

The first people to stand before the judgment bar of Jesus while alive will be the 144,000. They will be selected from the twelve tribes of Israel and they will be tested, judged, mysteriously transformed, and securely “sealed” with sinless natures just before the four winds are released. The “seal of God” on their foreheads of the 144,000 means, (a) they have been tested and judged, (b) their carnal natures have been removed, (c) they are free of any attraction to sin, and (d) they are bond servants of the Father and the Lamb. We will examine this four-step process in a moment. For now, we need to understand why the 144,000 are called “firstfruits.”  

Firstfruits of the Harvest

The word “firstfruits” would speak volumes if you lived in Bible times. Basically, firstfruits were used as a tithe, a gift of 10% or more based on net increase. Presenting firstfruits to the Lord was to be both a gift of appreciation and an adventure in anticipation.  God required the offering of firstfruits to challenge the creeping selfishness of man’s carnal heart. By requiring man to “give up” the first and best part of any increase, firstfruits were designed to frustrate man’s relentless preoccupation with acquiring wealth – just as God’s seventh day Sabbath was designed to frustrate man’s insatiable need for more time to do all that he wants to do. Even more, this gift was designed to develop faith in God through anticipation. Notice how this was supposed to work: If a farmer was about to harvest a what crop, he was to search through his field and select the finest stalks that matured first and present them to the priest at the temple. The gift of firstfruits was supposed to be given with gratitude for God’s sustaining providence and the gift was supposed to represent a tithe of what the farmer hoped his new crop would produce. In other words, God designed the giving of firstfruits to be a remarkable experience, not a regular tax. Firstfruits included the first increase from wool, animals, crops and money – any type of increase.

The word “firstfruits” offers several object lessons. The quantity of firstfruits indicated the amount of increase “hoped for.” When Paul wrote, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1), Paul may have used the anticipation that went with gathering firstfruits to frame his remarks. A few verses later, he wrote, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) Faith really defines the practice of giving firstfruits to God. The difference between paying a tax and giving firstfruits is gratitude. Tax is a necessary obligation. The giving of firstfruits was supposed to be accompanied with an attitude of gratitude, and embedded in the experience was a financial anticipation. (Unfortunately, Israel did not understand God’s purpose for firstfruits and over the years it became regarded as a tax.)

The 144,000 are called firstfruits in Revelation 14:4 for two reasons. First, the 144,000 will be the firstfruits of the coming harvest to be sealed. Later on, the individuals who hear their testimony during thee Great Tribulation and pass the test of faith will also be sealed as the 144,000 were sealed. Second, the 144,000 are called firstfruits because they are a sample of what follows. If barley were presented as a firstfruit offering, the harvest that followed would, of course, be barley. The 144,000 and the numberless multitude that come after them will be identical in composition. These matters will prove to be extremely important when we examine the Jewish heritage of the 144,000 and the great multitude in Specification #8. On last comment – when the firstfruits were presented to the High Priest, they became his property. The parallel is that when the 144,000 are presented to God and Jesus our High Priest, they will belong to the Father and the Son. As a result, they will be highly exalted and they will follow the Lamb wherever He goes throughout eternity.

Jewish Virgins?

“There are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure…” (Revelation 14:4) Many people read these words and conclude the 144,000 will be sexually pure. Of course, they will be sexually pure, but so will everyone else who enters into the holy city! “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8, italics mine)

Some people read the phrase “[they] did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure” and conclude the 144,000 will be male virgins. Are women inherently defiling? Of course not! The Bible says the sexual experience between a man and woman within the confines of marriage is neither defiling nor immoral. (Genesis 1:28; 1 Corinthians 7:5; Hebrews 13:4) Other people say the 144,000 will be Jewish males that have not been sexually immoral with women. Look again! This text does not imply the 144,000 will be males! Woman can defile themselves with women! (Compare Leviticus 18:22 with Romans 1:26.) Certain groups of Christians interpret this verse to mean the 144,000 will be members of their particular church – which they believe, is the only church on Earth possessing the truth about God. This conclusion is based on a faulty understanding of the harlot’s identity in Revelation 17:5. The Bible says, “This title was written on her [the harlot’s] forehead: Mystery Babylon the Great the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth.” (Insertion and italics mine) Several Protestant churches believe (or used to believe) the Roman Catholic Church is the great harlot of Revelation. As such, this makes the Catholic Church “the mother of prostitutes,” that is, the mother of apostate Protestantism. Of course, the irony of this view is that advocates are convinced their church is not a daughter of “the harlot.” Therefore, they conclude the 144,000 must originate from within their church, which they believe is the only remaining true church on Earth! As you can see, this view is completely consistent with the egocentric nature of man’s religion. Every religious system claims to know God best. The arrogance and ignorance of religion is difficult to measure.

Beneath the surface, there is a much deeper meaning to the phrase, “[they] did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure.” This phrase is not about sexual immorality; but rather, it is a phrase describing the devotion of the 144,000 to serve the Lord. Rule Three of apocalyptic prophecy says that we should examine parallel language in the Bible to determine the intended meaning of this phrase. In so doing, we find this specification to be a superlative statement about the devotion of the 144,000 to the Lord. With this thought in mind, please consider a few words about God’s original purpose and mission for the twelve tribes of Israel.

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