Apocalypse: The Revelation of Jesus Christ
02/27/2005 - Help is on the Way
A few years ago I taught a series called What's the Difference. It was one of the most popular series that we ever offered at Valley View. And over the course of eight or nine weeks we compared the claims of Jesus to those of the major world religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, Judaism and Islam. We also looked at the New Age Movement and at other groups like the Mormon's and Christian Science and the Jehovah's Witnesses.
When we examined the teachings of the Jehovah's Witness group we discovered that their founder, a man named Charles Taze Russell, was obsessed with the second coming of Jesus Christ. Ever since he heard his first sermon on the subject, at the age of eighteen, he couldn't stop searching the Scriptures trying to figure out when Jesus was coming back. In fact in 1872, when he was only twenty, he published a pamphlet with his conclusion that Jesus Christ was going to return in the fall of 1874. Well, when the fall came and went that year with no Jesus he admitted he had made a mistake, went back to the drawing board, and moved the date forward forty years to 1914. But after forty years, still no Jesus.
After Charles Russell died in 1916, the leader of the group who followed him moved the date to 1918 and then to 1920 and 1925 and 1941 and finally to 1975 when the Jehovah's Witnesses just plain gave up putting a date on the Lord's return. Sounds like a good idea to me!
Along with this obsession with predicting the date of the second coming of Christ an essential teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses comes right out of the passage that we're going to look at this morning and it concerns the identity of 144,000 witnesses. This morning we continue our series called Apocalypse: The Revelation of Jesus Christ with a teaching I've called "Help is On the Way." If you have a Bible meet me at Revelation 7.
Look at Revelation 7:1-8, After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3"Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." 4Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. 5From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, 6from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, 7from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, 8from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
Let's stop right here and put this passage in context. In Revelation 7, God gives us a little breather from the wrath and destruction that we experienced in Revelation 6 when the seven-year Tribulation period began. In Revelation 6, if you recall, six seal judgments were opened and the first four contained the four horsemen of the apocalypse. First there was the white horse that stood for the beast. Then there was the red horse that stood for war. And then the black horse that was a picture of famine and finally the pale horse that was a picture of death. And if that weren't enough, the sixth seal contained a great earthquake that has the most powerful people in the world screaming that they want to die for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?
We said that the opening of these seal judgments will occur at the outset of the Tribulation period, but after the rapture of the church as we see in this timeline. By God's grace the church is 'outta here before all hell breaks loose. But remember, as we said last time, with God there's always hope and the possibility of triumph, even in the midst of tragedy. And the hope in this chapter comes in the form of 144,000 Jewish witnesses who are sent out by God into all the world to rescue people and bring them to Jesus. Help is on the way in the presence of these Jewish believers. These are those who will stand, in answer to the question at the end of Revelation 6, along with those they lead to Christ.
Even during the Tribulation, there will still be a witness in the world. Many people, both Jews and Gentiles, will come to Christ again after the rapture of the church and will be led to the Lord by these 144,000 witnesses personally sealed and sent out by God.
Don't miss the control that God has over the whole situation. He sends four angels to the four corners of the earth, to the north and the south and the east and the west. And he tells them not to harm the land or the sea or the trees until he marks the foreheads of his servants, 144,000 Jewish witnesses, twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. These are all Jewish believers who come to Messiah during the Tribulation period and are protected by God's seal so that no harm can come to them.
This is a fulfillment of Romans 11, which says that in the last days there will be a mass turning to God among the Jewish people. Imagine 144,000 apostle Paul's unleashed on the world all at once to bring people to Jesus! God is still working, right up to the very end, to purchase men and women from every tribe and language and people and nation to be part of his kingdom. There's still time and there's still hope because God wants no one to perish.
Just like it says in 2 Peter 3:9-10 says, The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Revelation 7 is the passage from which the Jehovah's Witnesses derive their name. However, it's their view that these 144,000 Jehovah's Witnesses are "the anointed ones" and the only ones that will end up in heaven some day. But that view just doesn't account for the many passages in Scripture that teach that heaven is the destiny of all believers, not just 144,000.
Now look at verse 9, After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." 11All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!" 13Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes-who are they, and where did they come from?" 14I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. 17For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
The scene then skips back to heaven and what appears to be the end of the Tribulation. Remember there are no clocks in heaven, so it's not always easy to tell when these events occur. But in this scene we encounter a crowd way too big to count. Apparently, it's a crowd of believers who have come out of the Tribulation, most likely led to Christ by the 144,000. And now they are out of their suffering and out of their pain and under the shepherding care of the Lamb forever and ever. The Lion who is Lamb now morphs into a shepherd to comfort these dear people. Amazing! And God will be so close and tender with them that he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Times will be tough during the Tribulation and Christ followers will go through some brutal persecution, but in the end they'll be safe at home in the presence of Jesus.
In Matthew 24:14 Jesus said, And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Jesus' command to preach the gospel to every nation throughout the world will have its ultimate fulfillment during this time. The gospel will reach every nation before his second coming. The requirement that all of the world hear the gospel before the return of Christ doesn't refer to the rapture, that can happen anytime, but to the second coming of Christ at the end of the Tribulation when he establishes his kingdom on earth. There will be worldwide preaching of the gospel during this seven-year period.
Revelation 7 emphasizes two important events. First, God is going to save and seal 144,000 Jewish witnesses, 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, to finish the job of spreading the gospel worldwide. And second, a great number of Gentiles will be brought to Christ, but many of them will be martyred for their faith. Right up until the second coming of Jesus Christ there will still be time to be rescued by God's amazing grace.
Now lets move on to Revelation 8:1-13 and the seventh seal and the golden censer, When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. 5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. 6Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. 7The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 8The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water- 11the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. 12The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night. 13As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"
In Revelation 8, the seventh seal is opened and there is silence in heaven. This is serious business and in stark contrast to the full-bodied roar of praise and worship we've already heard from 100 million angels, elders, and living creatures surrounding the throne. Now there's nothing, except sobering silence. Sometimes the most dramatic worship happens in silence, even in heaven.
And the silence sounds like a drum roll building anticipation as to what will happen next. Finally, after about a half and hour, the Lamb reluctantly breaks the seventh seal and seven trumpets are distributed to seven angels. Trumpets were commonly used in Israel to signal important events and to warn of impending danger. And that's exactly what's happening here.
As we've already illustrated with the nesting doll, the seventh seal opens up and contains seven trumpets. The seventh seal is the seven trumpets. And each of one of these trumpets is symbolic of more judgment that is about to come against the earth. But before the judgment begins something else happens.
Look at verse 3, Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. 5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
Once again we have this image of the altar of incense in the tabernacle of God. The altar of incense is the place of prayer. It was located inside the holy place, just outside of the holy of holies. It was as close to God as possible, which suggests that when we pray and talk to God we get as close to God as possible. And our prayers rise up into his presence like the smoke from the incense that burned continually on this altar. When you and I pray our prayers are like an offering of sweet smelling incense to God. They are sweeter and more precious than we'll ever realize.
The angel then took some of the coals from the altar of incense, filled his censer, and threw it down to earth and there was an explosion of thunder and lighting and another earthquake. The connection between prayer and the earthquake seems to suggest that finally God is answering the prayers of his people uttered over the centuries to judge the world and establish his kingdom on earth.
That was the prayer Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-10 when he said, This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father who art in heaven, holy be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." And now it is finally happening! God's kingdom is coming to this earth.
And that process begins with the sounding of seven trumpets. Strap yourselves in because it's going to get ugly. Look at verse 6, Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. 7The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
These trumpet judgments are severe and many believe that they occur during the last half of the Tribulation period, a time frame often called the Great Tribulation. During the seven-year Tribulation period things start off okay, but then turn ugly and finally get real bad towards the end. This is a time period also referred to as the Day of the Lord in other places in Scripture. There is nothing like it that has ever occurred on the face of the earth. It will be unprecedented death and destruction on a global scale and it's all still ahead.
Now as we read through these trumpet judgments we will notice some parallels with the ten plagues of Egypt that were called down by Moses. Certainly those who were familiar with Old Testament would recognize that immediately. But those plagues were local to Egypt. These plagues are worldwide. These judgments will affect everybody and the picture is utter chaos. The first is hail and fire mixed with blood that burns up a third of the earth and the trees and all the green grass. Exodus 9 talks about the plague of hail that hit Egypt.
Look at verse 8, The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
The second trumpet is the destruction of a third of the sea. A huge, blazing mountain, perhaps the description of a meteorite hits the ocean and turns a third of it into blood, destroying sea life and ships in the process. Water turning to blood reminds us of Moses turning the Nile River into blood in Exodus 7.
The third trumpet sounds in verse 10, The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water- 11the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
Once again, the earth takes another hit, this time from a great star called Wormwood that turns a third of the waters bitter and kills a massive amount of people. And again, readers familiar with the Old Testament would have thought of the story of Moses in Exodus 15 when he turned bitter water sweet. But now it's just the opposite. Sweet water turns bitter.
Notice that with each trumpet judgment a third of something is affected or destroyed, a third of the earth, the trees, the sea, living creatures, ships, rivers, springs, waters. We don't know whether that third is all in one place or spread out throughout the earth. But either way it's a huge amount of destruction and devastation.
Then comes the fourth trumpet in verse 12, The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
Once again another disaster causes the darkening of the sun and of the moon and of the stars limiting light during the day and at night. Each of these first four judgments has to do with nature, signs in the heavens and on the earth and in the sea. The last three trumpets, which begin in chapter nine, will focus more on people and their role in the judgment.
This is tough stuff. And it's hard to know just how to interpret all these images. For instance, what's meant by the huge mountain, all ablaze, thrown into the sea in verse 8? Is it a literal mountain, like a volcano spewing out lava? Or is it a meteorite falling from the sky? Or an asteroid? Maybe it's the image of some kind of nuclear explosion? We don't know for sure. There's mystery all through this book. And we have to be content with not knowing. But what we do know is that these judgments are catastrophic on a scale never before witnessed on the face of this planet. God is making a statement that he's had enough and that the time for his kingdom is about to come. Your prayers and my prayers are being answered.
Chapter eight opened in silence because of the gravity of these horrible judgments. And it closes with these haunting words in verse 13, As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"
Just when we think it can't any worse. It does and we'll see that next week in Revelation 9. Do you want to go through all this? I don't. And I believe we won't have to if we know the Lion who is a Lamb who is also the shepherd of our souls. Do you know Jesus today? I hope so.