“The Tribulation”
(Part VI)
Did you ever have something happen that you just didn’t understand? We all have.
John had the same experience while he was at Patmos receiving the revelation.
John was given visions but he wasn’t given names, dates, or exact details.
I think we will all agree after looking at the Tribulation in the past few weeks that is a period that no one wants to go through.
The 14th chapter of Revelation gives us a series of short scenes that will take place toward the end of the Tribulation.
In chapter 12 we saw Satan’s fury toward the earth after he was cast down out of Heaven.
In chapter 13 we were told of the two Antichrist.
And in chapter 14 we are presented with an interlude in the outpouring of divine judgment upon sinful man.
Revelation 14 Read verses 1-5
The 144,000 that we learned about in chapter 7 are with Christ on Mt. Zion.
These are the 144,000 that were preserved by Christ through the 7 years of the Tribulation.
They will be those who did not give in to the Antichrist nor receive the mark.
And we are told that a new song was sung and the ones that learned it were the virgins,
virgins in the fact that they did not indulge in the ways of Satan.
This concept of spiritual virginity is used a number of times in the Bible.
Paul says in II Corinthians 11:2, “I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I may present you as a pure virgin to Him.”
We are to be pure when we stand before God in Heaven and the only thing that can make us pure is the blood of Jesus.
Jesus spoke about the bride and bridegroom in His teachings and contrary to what society practices today, God stands by the fact that the bride is to be a virgin.
We sing the song Whiter that Snow and in the song the words say, Lord make me whiter that snow.
White meaning clean and pure. The way the Lord makes us pure is the blood of Christ.
So these are the ones who remained pure during the Tribulation and stand with God on Mt Zion.
Read verses 6-13
God will proclaim one last offer of grace before His final judgments.
The angels preaching emphasizes the fact that people are still leaving are on the edge of eternity.
And in verse 7 the angels say to worship Him who made heaven and earth and everything else.
This means the evolutionist are getting real close to learning the truth doesn’t it?
Babylon was used in the Bible in two different ways. One as a false religious system and another as the capital city of the one world government.
The angel says the word fallen twice may mean that Babylon will fall twice. Let me explain
The false religious system is characterized by the ancient city of Babylon because it is a religion based on black magic and witchcraft.
This religion originated in ancient Babylon and will have its headquarters in Rome during the Tribulation period.
As a religious system, Babylon will be destroyed 3-1/2 years into the Tribulation. This will be the first fall.
As the center of world government, Babylon will be destroyed at the end of the Tribulation which will take only one hour.
The total destruction of both Babylons proves Christ complete triumph over the evil.
We are told that anyone who worships the beast or receives his mark will drink of the wine of the wrath of God.
That simply put means one thing – That you will go to hell.
That most assuredly answers the question, can a person change their mind after accepting the mark. NO!
Once you accept Satan’s mark you have reached the point of no return.
The punishment for those who reject Christ during the Tribulation is the same as it is today.
Jesus spoke more times about hell than He did about heaven.
He did so because He wanted to warn everyone how horrible it would be and because He loved us He didn’t want anyone to parish.
I don’t understand how parents can tell teach their kids not to play with matches or never play with fire but won’t warn them of the dangers of the fires of hell.
Blessed are the dead who die in Christ because they will rest from their labor.
There is an old saying that “There is no rest for the wicked”.
In no place will it hold more truth than in hell.
Read verses 14-20
Here we are told about two harvests that will take place.
The first is when Jesus separates the believers from the unbelievers.
The second is harvest is when all the unbelievers face the wrath of God.
This indicates that there is no separation to be done because all the unbelievers are destined for destruction.
God’s great winepress of judgment is said to be outside the city. This city is Jerusalem.
It’s from these verses we get the song, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored!”
Zechariah prophesies about this. He predicts the last great war before the second coming of the Messiah.
Zechariah 14:2-3 I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of the battle.
The armies of all nations will be gathered in the area of Israel, especially around Jerusalem.
There will be at least 200 million soldiers.
Millions will be from the forces of the Antichrist.
Jesus will first strike those who have ravaged His city which is Jerusalem.
He will then strike the armies gathered in the valley of Meggido, or Armageddon.
Blood will stand to the horses bridles for a distance of 200 miles.
From the point where the Valley of Armageddon slopes down to the Jordan Valley.
From that point southward down the valley to the Dead Sea to the port of Elath on the Gulf of Aqabah measures 200 miles.
This entire area will be filled with the remains of war such as animals, bodies, of men, and blood.
Illustration: From here to Chicago.
Zechariah 2: 8 For this is what the Lord Almighty says, “After he has honored me (me referring to the Messiah) and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you--- for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye. (God’s eye)
Illustration: Little girls are the apples of daddy’s eye.
I want to be in the group that is the apple of God’s eye.
I want God to have my picture on His refrigerator and in His wallet.
Next week we will look at the 7 bowls of judgment which will be a very important message.
But you know something, there might not be a next week for some?
