Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. Revelation 14:1-3
The 144,000: Israel, God's beloved chosen son, the 12 tribes of the Patriarchs, the daughter of God and mother who birthed God's Son. In one of my very first bible studies when I was in my mid 30's, the leader of my small group was a friend that had grown up in the faith. I remember her saying that the Jews had murdered God's son and therefore were cast out of his inheritance. Another time, I remember an older very devout man stating that he had no use for the Old Testament because the Old Testament God was vengeful and not the same God that he chose to worship. Yet another time, I remember in a Sunday school class, I said that the Ten Commandments had been replaced by Christ's great commandment. Our class leader corrected me and explained to me that Christ did not negate the Ten Commandments but had in fact fulfilled them and their legal requirements.
I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! ... Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring! Romans 11: 1, 11-12
Take a moment to read all of Romans 11. Paul's exhoratation to the Gentiles is so critical to the integrity of the entire bible, to the understanding of God's Word and God's heart. The beloved child of God will be redeemed. Israel was and is the root, the olive tree and the first fruit of God's harvest: If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. Romans 11:16. We as Christians are but wild branches grafted on to God's holy tree.
The 144,000 young Jewish men who have been sealed by God will make up Christ's holy army that will go into battle with Christ to defeat Satan, his two beasts and his unholy consort, Babylon. Do you remember John's description of Christ? His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. Revelation 1:15 . Do you remember what bronze represents in the bible? Do you remember who bronze represents and why? Do you remember the many waters of the great multitude from every nation, tribe, language and people. Remember, Babylon has been sitting on these very people, smothering them with her filth.
The Jewish people are God's holy people: I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in and in this way all Israel will be saved. Romans 11: 25-26. The Trinity desires fullness.
It is Done!
I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues - last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb … After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. Revelation 15: 1-5
We are covering the highlights of Revelation 14 -20 in this lesson. Take a moment to reread these chapters. There is so much going on. The sea that surrounds the throne room is revealed to be glowing fire. Remember the symbolism of fire throughout the bible? It is an agent of both refinement and destruction? John sees in heaven the temple also noted as the tabernacle... and it was opened. This is so huge in God's story. Remember Moses' story? Do you remember how he begged and pleaded with the Lord to show his face? Do you remember why God could not grant Moses that request? Do you remember how God answered him with his glory? The purpose of the building of the tabernacle in the desert was to give God a place to condescend to dwell among God's people but God had to be separated from the people. God was and is nothing but good and perfect.
Jesus, the Son of Man, had not yet been born. Christ, the Son of God, had not yet shed his blood in payment for humanity's sin. The Holy Spirit could not yet indwell within us. Please read Exodus 25. Now, do you remember what happened to the curtain in the Second Temple after Jesus, the Son of Man was put to death on the cross? Why was it torn? When was the Holy Spirit able to indwell? Where does the Holy Spirit dwell now? Where will we dwell after the End Times? Who will we dwell with in eternity? Whose face will we be able to see?
Now John witnesses the final seven plagues of the Great Tribulation, the seven bowls of God's wrath:
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” …
... The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done. …
Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” … God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Revelation 16: 1-19
Please take a moment to read all of Revelation 16. It is a terrible and terrifiying thing to read. What a horrible series of events for John to witness: seven bowls of wrath and fury...
"It is done!" ...
The very voice of God sitting on his throne announces the end of evil and the completion of the tribulation. So like what Jesus said as his dying words, “It is finished.”
The Second Coming of Christ and The Two Feasts
”Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”…
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”
Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. Revelation 19: 6-21
Remember the two harvests described in Revelation 14? Remember how John envisioned the angels announcing those two tremendous events from the heavenly realms? From those realms, John hears the invitation to the wedding supper of the Lamb and his radiant bride.
The Bride will be wearing fine linen washed white. Who will be gathered in as the bride? Is she only those of us who are part of Christ’s church, already gathered in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet? No, Christ’s Bride will include the nation of Israel, protected and redeemed, and the great multitude from every nation, tribe, language and people. Do you remember Jesus’ first miracle, the water into wine at the wedding feast? Again do you remember Hagar and her son, Ismael, who were fed in the wilderness? Do you remember the feeding of the 4000, and the 5000? Do you remember the Syrian gentile woman begging for scraps from the Lord’s table? ... Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Psalm 23:5
Next, John's visions swing from the heavens and back to the earth as he witnesses the mighty victory of the rider Faithful and True and his heavenly army and the destruction of the two beasts and Babylon. Can you discern two feasts? Can you connect them to the two harvests of the earth? There will be a wedding supper. And there will be another feast for the birds of the earth. The great supper of God will be made up of the flesh of kings and all other inhabitants of the earth. Can you imagine the vultures circling the air and cleaning the bones of the dead.
Two feasts for and from the two harvests. Awesome and awful. But what has happened to Satan?
The Millennial Reign, the Thousand Years
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. … to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. … They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. … they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. …But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. Revelation 20: 1-10
This follows the seven years of the Great Tribulation. One thousand years will pass with Satan bound by chains in the abyss. But he will be released. Remember, he, Satan, knows that his time will be short. Satan’s power to deceive the earth will be fierce. He will be successful in winning over untold numbers of the inhabitants of the earth but that number will not be enough for him to remain in power as the lord and prince of the earth. His end is revealed in sparse words following the reporting of the destruction of his consort, Babylon and his two unholy beasts. All thrown into a lake of fire; do you remember God’s wrath of fire raining down on Sodom and Gomorrah? Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur ...
Discussion
If you've been married, what was your wedding like? Was it lovely or a less than perfect? Has your marriage been as lovely as your wedding? What is the difference between a wedding and a marriage? What do you think the marriage between us, the Bride of Christ and our bridegroom, Christ will be like?
Have you ever been to a lovely wedding? What made it so?
Have you ever been deceived? What were the circumstances?
Have you ever deceived anyone? Why?
When will God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit be victorious? This is a tricky question. Has that happened yet? If you think that it has happened already, when did it happen?
Why do you think Satan will be bound for 1000 years? Why doesn't God destroy him after Babylon and the beasts are destroyed?
What will this earth be like when Christ rules for the 1000 years? What will it look like? Remember, this will follow the seven years of tribulation and destruction.
The 29:11 Story
Can you find the orange bead of the Lake of Fire and its foreshadowing bead of God's Wrath raining down on Sodom and Gomorrah? What connects these two events?
Can you find the two refining beads of fire? The burning bush in Mose's story as God called him into his Presence. The tongues of fire that appeared and rested on the Jews from every nation on the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts.
Where are the angels in this lesson? Are they agents of refinement or of destruction? Can you find the angels in the Old Testament that foreshadowed this Host of Angels?
Closing
What surprised you today?
What new connections in the Bible did you make today?
What questions do you want to explore further about today's study?
Digging Deeper
John notes three different songs: That of Moses, the Lamb and the new song of the 144,000. Read Exodus 15, Revelation 5, and Revelation 14:1-5. What does each song commemorate in God's plan?
Have you ever wondered if your prayers will be answered? Do you wonder if they are even heard? Read Revelation 5 and Revelation 8:1-5. Can you find the prayers of God's people in this lesson? What are God's seven bowls of wrath made up of? What does this mean to you?
Read Matthew 22: 30. Jesus told the disciples that we will not marry in heaven. Why not?
Compare this to Genesis 2:18. There is a shift from the Old Testament compared to the New Testament in regards to marriage. Why?
How does Ephesians 5 help with this question?
Will the marriage of the Bride and Christ be like our marriages?
If you turn the question around: Should our marriages be like that of the Bride and Christ?
We've read how Satan desires to sift us like wheat. Let's explore a possible reason for the 1000 year reign, when Satan will be bound. Could this be a time for healing from the horrible series of plagues of the Great Tribulation? Read Revelations 20: 1-10. What will happen to the nations when Satan is released? What did God promise Abraham?
Can you define what a religion is? What other religions are there on the earth? What do each of them believe, what do they promise?
Read John 3: 16-21 and John 14: 6-7. What does this lesson add to your understanding of these well know passages? Remember, Jesus, the Son on Man, and Christ, the Son of God, one and the same.
What is the reason that religions exist?
What is happening today with people's religious beliefs? Why?
What, if anything, is replacing people's religions?
What has happened to hope and faith? Does the world still need an answer to the oldest question of all: What is the meaning of life?
Who will reign with Christ during the 1000 years? Read again about the fifth seal, Revelation 6: 9-11. Where does this full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, come from?
What is it that we want? Is that the same thing as what we need?
What do you think about dying? Does the thought about death scare you? Why or why not?
Salley's Story
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Romans 8: 22
When you are in crisis, when the brokenness of life seems overwhelming, God will give you daily manna and living water. Here are two other stories that I love. The first one was given to me shortly after William was first diagnosed. My cousin called me from my hometown to tell me that there was a mother in her Bible study group who had a daughter who had been treated for the same type of bone cancer as my son. I called that mother to seek solace and listen to her family's experience. She told me that God would give us all the affirmations that we would need as we went along. Then she shared this story:
She and her husband had to take her daughter to Charleston, South Carolina, for the bone biopsy. After the surgery, the doctor sat down with the little ten year old girl and very kindly and frankly told her, "Chelsey, you have cancer. I believe we can save you but we will have to amputate your leg."
Before they set off to return home, Chelsey said, "I want to see the ocean." Her father picked her up out of the car and set her down on top of the sea wall. A sea gull flew over and landed beside her. It flew away and then returned and landed again beside her. This sea gull had one leg. ... "Do you think God is talking to me?" Chelsey asked her mother and father.
Another favorite story happened to my daughter and husband the weekend after we had buried William. We were at the lake. The two of them were outside and they noticed a beautiful dead hummingbird on the ground. They picked him up carefully with a plant trowel. He was laying there, glowing in the sun as its light caught in his feathers. Suddenly, he lifted up and remained flying in midair, buzzing wings beating wildly between my daughter and my husband's faces!
Chelsey's mother had assured me of God's affirmations in a time of need. What a lovely assurance of His presence for her family. What a lovely gift for mine.
Chelsey is a grown woman now, I'm pleased to say...
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