Rick Joyner's Blog, page 11

The Life of a Disciple–The Book of Revelation

         This week we will cover Revelation 10:8-11:

Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, "Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land."

So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, "Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey."

I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

So they said to me, "You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings."

         The prophet Ezekiel was also told to eat the book, and then to go and speak to the people. It is required of prophets that they themselves partake of the Word and digest it so that it is part of them before they speak it to others.

         Pseudo prophets often proclaim judgments and condemnation on others as if they themselves are different and righteous. Biblical prophets used the term “we” when confessing the sins of the people. Biblical prophets did not stand apart from the people, but as one of them, interceding for them. This is the nature of Christ, who became one of us and identified Himself as “The Son of Man” so that He could be the true Mediator for man.

         Christians are called to be the salt and light of the world, so if the world has fallen to corruption and darkness in our times, it has been on our watch. We cannot compromise the truth and fail to proclaim the certain consequences of the evil and perversion growing in our time. To be true messengers of Christ, we must, like Him, identify with the people and be willing to lay down our lives for them.

         Only the death of Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, can be the propitiation for sin. Our death, whether it is dying daily as we are called to do, or our ultimate death, is the result of standing for the truth. It is the witness of the cross that will inevitably result in the salvation of others.

         Just before the Lord was taken up into heaven, He said to His disciples, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The Greek word translated “witnesses” in this text is martus, from which we derive the English word “martyr.” We are all called to be martyrs every day.

         Jesus commanded His disciples to take up their crosses and die daily. All but one ended their lives by being executed for their unrelenting declaration of the Gospel. John, the one whose death is not recorded, suffered repeated attempts to execute him, but even when they boiled him in oil he was not harmed, and they could not kill him. This is why he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos. 

         The life of a disciple would seem like a hard one, but it is actually the ultimate life. As the Lord taught, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). When we lay down our own lives and interests for the sake of serving the Lord, we will live the greatest, most noble lives. We join the greatest adventure found in this life, and we enter an eternal fellowship with the greatest souls that have walked the earth.

         The true life of discipleship is also the most freedom we can experience in this life. If we are dead to this world, what can the world do to us? A dead man has no fear and cannot be controlled by the desires and passions of this world. Just as Jesus said that He had food to eat that they did not know about, what sustains the disciples is the bread of heaven, and their fellowship is a heavenly one in the presence of the King of kings. 

The Reward of His Sacrifice—The Book of Revelation

Last week we began a discussion about the bride of Christ as distinguished from those invited to the wedding feast. Paul also wrote near the end of his life that even after all that he had accomplished, he did not think he had yet attained. Obviously he was not talking about salvation, or eternal life, which he attained the day he believed in the atonement of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. However, Paul saw a calling so high that at that stage of his life he still sought it with such single-mindedness that he said, “one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching for what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (see Philippians 3:13-14).  

 

This subject deserves a book, but we can only address it in a cursory way in this study. It is apparent that the “end of the times of the Gentiles” marks the end of this calling, when the bride is complete and this high calling is closed. Because it seems that we are in this time between the sounding of the sixth and seventh angels, we have no time to waste in running this race. This is by far the most important event at the end of the age. When this race has been concluded, we can expect the end of the age to be wrapped up quickly.

 

An important factor in understanding the bride of Christ is that it includes those who have attained from the first disciples on. Every generation had those who perceived this calling and gave their lives to running the race to attain it. Some believe that the bride is the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation. There are other indications in Scripture that indicates a specific number needed to complete the bride, so this is certainly feasible. When we perceive the qualifications for attaining this high calling, even this seems to be a very high number.

 

Many believe that it is the bride who sits on the throne with the Lord in Revelation 3. This is in contrast to the “great company” that cannot be numbered that stands before the throne in Revelation 7. This is certainly reasonable.  

 

I was introduced to this truth of the high calling as a young believer, and I have given myself to understanding it. As much as I have learned about the high calling, I am sure there is far more to know about it. It is certainly one of the most compelling subjects to study. Scripture is clear that there is this high calling; however, few specifics are given about. It seems that specifics are not needed for those running the race. What is obvious is that this is the highest calling in creation and maybe for eternity. Those who just get a glimpse of this high calling are likely to give all that they have to attain this prize.

 

Why wouldn’t the great Apostle Paul think that he had attained? Certainly he is one of the greatest examples of one who gave all for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It may be that Paul attained this, but his not knowing and continuing to press on is an example of what it takes to run the race to win. The great runners in history do not run for the finish line, but to a mark well past it. Likewise, no one running this race is prone to retire or let up at the end of his or her life. We may have to slow down physically, but that only gives us an opportunity to focus even more spiritually.

 

It seems that knowing whether we have attained to this high calling is not possible in this life or even necessary. Those who have attained such a high calling would not want to slow down just because they have attained, but they would press on for the sake of Christ and others.

 

Perhaps this is why those who claim to have attained, or are the manifested sons of God or other such things, come across as pitiful and shallow, full of presumption and self-seeking—characteristics contrary to Christ and the life of the cross that His true disciples live. By the time we have the spiritual stature to have attained this high calling, our attention would not be on ourselves enough to be preoccupied with our position or reward. Rather, we would be consumed with seeing our Savior receive the reward of His sacrifice.

 

That there are positions to be attained, and higher rewards for eternity, is certainly one thing that should compel any who have eternity in their heart. We are also likely to start out selfishly in pursuit of these, and even arrogant about how much more we do than others. Even so, these traits of the immature will not last long with any who are truly on this path. It is the path of the cross, of sacrifice, of not living our lives for ourselves, but for Him.   

The Mystery of God is Finished—The Book of Revelation

NOTE: In this Word for the Week format, we cannot cover all the details of the Revelation as they deserve without stretching this study out a few more years. Because there are redundancies in the repetition of the sevens in this prophecy, we will address the ones that are crucial for understanding the entirety of the message. 

         This week we cover Revelation 10:1-7:

I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire;

and he had in his hand a little book which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land;

and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices.

When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up the things that the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them."

Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven,

and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, Who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will be delay no longer,

but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.

This is after the sixth angel has sounded, but before the seventh. The key point here is that “the mystery of God is finished.” What mystery?

There is much debate about this among scholars, as there is with everything in Revelation. Several mysteries of God are addressed in the New Testament, but the most important is the mystery of Christ and His bride, the church. Could this indicate that the bride of Christ will have been completed between the sixth and seventh trumpets? If so, what does this mean?

It is apparent in Scripture that not all believers are part of the bride of Christ. That does not mean that those who are not part of the bride are not saved and have eternal life, but we see distinctions between those who are part of the bride and those invited to the wedding feast.

Jesus, the apostles, and the prophets disclosed many other such distinctions in Scripture. Some Bible teachers avoid addressing this because many take this to the extreme, or promote a spiritual elitism, but they are nevertheless clearly biblical. As Peter warned about Paul’s teachings, “the untaught and unstable distort” (see II Peter 3:16). This has happened with many truths, but avoiding them has not proven to be a deterrent. Anyone who actually reads the Bible will discover these truths. If they are not taught about them the right way, they will likely embrace them in a wrong way and take them to extremes. If they are in Scripture, they are there to be understood, and we must address them.

As with the repetitions of the sevens in Revelation, many of Jesus’ teachings and parables were about the same subject, but addressed from different perspectives. Jesus clearly taught the different levels of positions and authority in eternity. To be the bride of Christ and joint heirs with Him is the highest calling in Scripture. Paul wrote about running a race for the prize. One would hardly run a race for an unknown prize, so it is important for us to know it and to teach it. For this reason, we will dig a little deeper into it next week.

Our Time to Stand—The Book of Revelation

         Now we come to Revelation 9:13-21, the sixth trumpet and the army from the East:

 

Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet,

"Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."

So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind.

The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.

This is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone.

A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths.

For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm.

The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;

and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.

 

         The Apostle John would have had no concept of modern weapons and he would have naturally described them in familiar terms, such as beasts that spew fire out of their mouths. This entire scenario seems like the plight of the world through the World Wars of the 20th century. During that time, the destructive power of human weapons multiplied many times over and millions died. A key point to this is that mankind does not repent of what they have wrought, and therefore continue hurtling toward ultimate devastation.

 

         When I served on an aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy, we were told that there was enough firepower on our ship to destroy all life on earth. In the entire U.S. Navy, there was enough to destroy the world twenty-five times or more. That did not include the Air Force’s capabilities with its nuclear bombers and ballistic missiles. Neither did it include the arsenals of our Cold War adversaries or allies. Winston Churchill lamented that mankind had grown in its destructing capabilities to the point where we could destroy the entire world, but had not grown in the corresponding wisdom or character to handle this power.

 

         We have been in the most precarious place for a long time, with the most destructive conflicts of all time seeming to cascade down upon the world. Then something changed. The trend was toward increasingly devastating conflicts, and though we have had wars since World War II, they were contained and restrained. Could this be anything but the time when the Lord sends His angels to hold back the four winds of the earth until His bondservants are sealed, as told in Revelation 7? If this is true, then the sealing of the bondservants of God is the most important event taking place at this time.

 

         There are judgments of God and the wrath of God that is clear throughout the Scriptures. These seem to be the result of the extraordinary grace and mercy of God being exhausted. However, much of what is blamed on God is man’s doing, not God’s. All the troubles in history and our present are the result of mankind thinking that we could run this world without God. They could probably be more accurately called “the judgments of man.” These are the result of the law of sowing and reaping, and mankind has sown bad seed.

 

The ultimate answer to all of our troubles is for man to turn back to God. As Revelation reveals, the great troubles coming on the world do not generally cause man to turn to God. Rather, they harden their hearts in rebellion, only increasing the troubles. Even so, the bondservants of the Lord that are being sealed will also have impact, as we will see. We can expect the winds to be released and the devastation to increase at some point, but there will be great lights in the darkness and “cities” of refuge from the devastation that in some cases will be nations of refuge.

 

This being said, safety is not found in a place, but in a Person. The safest place is in the will of God, regardless of our geographical location. The Lord Himself is our fortress.

 

We must keep in mind that as the times get darker, we are promised the revealing of the Lord’s glory. Ultimately, all of the nations will come to the rising of the Lord’s people, as we see in Isaiah 60:1-3:

 

"Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

"For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples, but The Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you.

"The nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising."

 

So the most important thing we can do to prepare for these times is to:

1) ARISE. Stand up for the truth and never retreat before the darkness.

2) SHINE with His glory.

 

We must not be afraid to stand out from the darkness. This is our time to stand, as the great saints have in every age.

Interpreting Revelation—The Book of Revelation

         Now we come to Revelation 8:6-13:

And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.

The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood,

and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters.

The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.

The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.

Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven, 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!"

         Scholars that hold to the traditional Protestant view of Revelation, such as Smith, Gibbon, and Barnes, seem united in seeing the above unfolding in the plight of the Roman Empire over the few centuries after John received this vision. This seems plausible after reading their explanations using the established metaphors of mountains as governments, and stars representing leaders of the church, etc.

         The attacks by the Vandals seem to fit the first part of this narrative. They considered Attila the Hun, leader of a tribal empire of Huns, Ostrogoths, and others, as “Wormwood.” He began by crossing the Alps and used the source of many of Europe’s rivers to transport his forces. His hordes poured over the land everywhere that they went. Before Attila, to be near a river was a great blessing, but during his scourge on the land, to live near a river was a curse. Historians have compared Attila to a meteor that burned brightly across the sky and then suddenly disappeared.

         The Roman Empire was split into three parts after Constantine, and a third of it was devastated in ways that could very well fit this narrative if metaphorical. This was no doubt one of the darkest times for Western Civilization, and it would lead to even darker ones over the next few centuries, as described by the following verses in Revelation 9:1-12. This is generally believed to be a prophecy of the rise of Islam—its onslaught and threat to the West and to Christianity:

Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him.

He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.

Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man.

And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.

The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.

They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions.

They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle.

They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months.

They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.

The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

         What could be worse than the onslaught described above, and “two woes are coming after these things”? Some speculate that these next two “woes” were fascism and communism. Both forms of government made the people’s purpose to support and promote the state, rather than the state existing for the people. Communism refuted the existence of God. It elevated the state as the god of the people and made the people dependent on the state for their existence. Neither of these forms of government can be maintained without totalitarian control, which came in the most cruel and oppressive forms. So these were certainly great scourges on the earth.

         The world has been under unrelenting crises and troubles since John received Revelation. However, as the Apostle Paul wrote, “Through many tribulations shall we enter the kingdom of God” (see Acts 14:22). In the darkness of each crisis, the light of God was revealed in a deeper and greater way, and many did enter His kingdom. Each trouble helped to prepare for His day, the coming of His kingdom, which would surely dawn over mankind. 

Historical Unfolding of Prophecy—The Book of Revelation

         Now we come to Revelation 8:1-5, the breaking of the seventh seal and the seven trumpets:

When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that was before the throne.

And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand.

Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

         There are many theories about the “silence in heaven for about half an hour.” One of the most plausible is that this is when everyone burns their end-time charts. Obviously, many will face the fact that things did not happen the way they expected. Rarely has any biblical prophecy unfolded the way expected, including the most prevalent about the first coming of the Messiah. We can expect the same to be true about His second coming.

         We are told in Revelation that those who just read it will be blessed. It is a noble thing to study the prophecy of Scripture. However, it is a foolish thing to become arrogant and dogmatic about our perception of it. The Pharisees were the group with the greatest expectation of the Messiah, and they were His biggest opposition when He came. Great preachers and prophetic voices in the 1800s predicted the outpouring of the Holy Spirit but rejected it when it came. Why?

         We see in part, we know in part, and we prophesy in part. It is hard for any of us to stay with partial understanding instead of carrying it to what we consider to be logical conclusions, but that is a manifestation of the pride of man. Then we start to esteem our doctrines and predictions above what the Spirit is saying or doing, especially when it is different from what we expected. In all of our studies, we must stay humble, easy to be entreated, and correctable.  

         Literalists view everything in Scripture as literal. Much of it is literal, but to see everything as literal would mean that grass is going to hell and the Lord is coming back for sheep and goats. We will misunderstand the prophecies of Scripture if we are unable to also discern and interpret the metaphors. These can have a literal fulfillment as well—which is often a signpost that tells us the time—but the metaphor is the message. The natural often reflects what happens in the Spirit.

         Trumpets are usually metaphors for messages that go forth. Incense speaks of prayers and intercession, as explained in the Old Testament. If I stand back and look at the text above as a whole, the first impression is that this is a time of extraordinary prayer and intercession.

         At the present time we have some of the greatest prayer movements in history. When Mike Bickle started the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, there were only a handful of places on earth with 24-hour intercession and worship. In the last two decades, the number of these places has grown to over 20,000. Now there are 24-hour prayer meetings in possibly every nation on earth, and in most nations, more than one.

         We have other major gatherings of hundreds of thousands of people at events like The Call led by Lou Engle. These are not like the preaching contests that some large gatherings tended to be in the past—they are much more about intercession and worship interspersed with prophetic proclamations with an understanding of the times.

         The Promise Keepers gathering in Washington may have had a million people, all praying and repenting before the Lord. The Call gathered hundreds of thousands in Washington, and many hundreds of thousands more in multiple cities where they filled the largest stadiums for intercession, worship, and repentance. If something like that had happened in biblical times, it would have been recorded in canon Scripture. Think about how powerful it would be to read something like, “A million men gathered before the king’s palace to humble themselves before the Lord and confess their sins.” This would have been one of the most amazing stories in the Scriptures, and we’re witnessing this in our own times.

         Most of the great prayer ministries that have been raised up started out dry and laborious. The faithful persevered through the wilderness of dry places until now there is such fire on these altars that it is not hard to imagine the smoke from them filling the throne room of God. They are not only capturing the attention of the earth, but of heaven as well.

         There has never been a time of prayer and intercession like the present. The result in this text in Revelation is that the fire from the intercession on earth went up to heaven, and then was thrown back to the earth as thunder, lightning, and a great earthquake, or shaking. Thunder is sometimes a metaphor for the voice of God in Scripture. Lightning speaks of revelation, how the things hidden in darkness are revealed. The great shaking speaks of the time in such places as Hebrews 12:25-29:

See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.

And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN."

This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

for our God is a consuming fire.

         Have we built our house on the kingdom that cannot be shaken?

Prophetic Pictures for Today—The Book of Revelation

         This week we continue our study of the 144,000 that were sealed from the twelve tribes of Israel in Revelation 7:4-8. I personally believe that these are a prophetic parallel of the sealing of the twelve tribes of “spiritual Israel”—the church through the church age. How did I come to that conclusion?

         You can see a general but accurate prophetic outline of church history in the twelve tribes of Israel, from the sequence of their birth, the prophecies given over them by Jacob and Moses, and their histories. So we would take Reuben as a type of the first-century church, and proceed forward. If these are a prophetic parallel of the sealing of the twelve tribes of “spiritual Israel,” then Benjamin, the last son to be born to Jacob, would represent the last members of the body of Christ to walk the earth in this age. There are some remarkable parallels from Benjamin’s life that are relevant to the body of Christ at the end of this age.

         First, Benjamin is the only son of Jacob named by the father, not the mother. His mother, Rachel, tried to name him Ben-oni, which means “son of my sorrows” because his birth caused her death. However, Jacob changed his name to Benjamin, which means “the son of my right hand.” In Scripture, the right hand speaks of power and authority, the place where Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father.

         That Benjamin was named by his father instead of his mother speaks of those who do not take positions or responsibilities because of what the church wants or expects them to be—rather, they receive their commission straight from the Father. This is the foundation of their unprecedented authority at the end of the age. When you know that you have been called and appointed by God, you do not care what anyone else thinks of you. The last members of the body of Christ will walk in will walk in great confidence and authority because they know they were named by the Father.

         Benjamin was also one of only three people in Scripture born in Bethlehem, Jesus and King David being the other two. Bethlehem means “house of bread,” or “place of food.” How much more spiritual food has the church of this time been given over any other church period? Not only do we have some of the most extraordinary teachers of all time, we have more books and teaching series available through different media sources, including the internet and Social Media. There has never been a time like this for spiritual enrichment. The Lord likes to save His best wine for last, but this is certainly more than we could have expected.

         When Joseph met with his brothers in Egypt, but had not yet revealed his identity to them, he made them go back home and return to Egypt with Benjamin. When they had returned with Benjamin, Joseph invited them all to eat at his home. Then something remarkable happened:

Now they were seated before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.

He took portions to them from his own table, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs (Genesis 43:33-34).

         Such events are not recorded in canon Scripture for our entertainment. This is a prophecy of how Benjamin’s portion would be five times as much as any of the others. When we look at the spiritual food available to Christians today, it seems that it is at least that much more.

         Of course, a serious question would be, are we a better church because of this? Are we better Christians? Some are. Some are relentlessly in pursuit of God, to know His ways, His voice, and to know the times and His purpose in them. Such are taking every advantage of the abundance of spiritual food available now.

         Other such prophetic metaphors in Scripture point to a remarkable company of powerful messengers to be released on the world at the end of the age. Jude references them in verse 14, a quote from the Book of Enoch. We will see that the Book of Revelation has more to say about them as well, as we will see. If we are privileged to be here, we will also see the last-day church arise as the sons of His right hand—the sons of power.

         Of course, to whom much is given much will be required. Let us not waste this unprecedented opportunity to serve the King and prepare the way for His kingdom to come.

Understanding Biblical Symbolism—The Book of Revelation

         As we seek to understand the possible symbolism of the 144,000, we need to first review the principles of biblical symbolism so that we do not drift into “free association”—the claim that something is representative without fully establishing the biblical connections that lead to this belief. Without doing this, almost anyone can claim that just about anything means just about anything. This is a recipe for delusion.

         Let us also consider that biblical symbolism is rarely so ironclad that it leaves us able to be dogmatic about our conclusions. Rather, it opens us to further understanding. By its nature, biblical symbolism helps us understand more than just what God is doing—it helps us understand why. This is important to Him who is seeking His followers to be friends, and even family.

         So we will briefly consider a couple of the basics of biblical symbolism with the intent of seeing how it can help us identify the 144,000.

         In I Corinthians 10, after reciting the events of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and their journey through the wilderness, the Apostle Paul asserts in verse 11: “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” Understanding this is crucial to understanding some of the most important events unfolding in these times.

         The Apostle Paul was asserting that everything Israel went through was a prophetic metaphor, a map for those who live at the end of the age. He was not saying that these events did not literally happen. The two trees in the garden were prophetic metaphors, but that does not mean that the account in Genesis was not literal. They were prophetic events that foreshadowed a coming event or reality. Galatians 4:22-26 gives us great example of this principle:

         For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman.

         But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.

         This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar.

         Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.

         But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.

         That this account of Sarah and Hagar represent something as major as the two covenants reveals how expansive prophetic metaphors can be. Unfortunately, as Peter wrote, the “unstable and untaught” (see II Peter 3:16) will distort even the Scriptures. Some will always carry such teachings to extremes, using them randomly and with “free association,” or not connecting them properly to the biblical narrative. However, the wrong use of them does not negate their proper use, which is essential to understanding the Books of Daniel, Revelation, and other biblical prophecies.

         The subject of prophetic metaphors is worthy of a book, and some have been written, but we do not have the time to cover this subject as it deserves in this study. Even so, it is necessary to understand that many of the prophecies of Scripture, especially in Revelation, are metaphors. The twelve tribes of Israel are such a prophetic metaphor.

         In the patriarchs birth sequence, the meaning of their names, how they were named, who their mother was, the prophecies spoken over them, and their histories, all make them a remarkable parallel to the unfolding of church history. For this reason, these 144,000 could be from the twelve spiritual tribes of Israel that unfolded through the church age. The more you dig down into the details, the more sense this makes.

         As Paul wrote in Romans 2:28-29, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”

         The Apostle Paul boldly wrote that the Lord will not forget or cancel His promises to the Jewish people, which he elaborates on in great depth in chapters 9-11. He also reiterated that the Jew is not just according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, as he explains in Romans 9:6-8:

        But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;

        nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.”

        That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

         In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile (see Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). There are other factors that point to the 144,000 being the “true Jews.” These are those who are Jews according to the Spirit, and this company is composed of both Jews in the natural and Gentiles, who are one in Christ.

         It is understandable if you can’t quite grasp this yet, but I think you will as the other pieces to this picture come together as we will continue with next week.

Who Are the 144,000? The Book of Revelation

         Anyone who believes in the atonement of the cross of Jesus is redeemed and will have eternal life. However, there is far more to our calling than just securing salvation. The Great Commission is to make disciples, not just converts. When we study the Lord’s teachings about the characteristics of His disciples, we may wonder if we know any. Being a disciple of Christ is not an easy life, but it is the path to the most fulfilling life we can live. This is a life of “growing up in all things into Him” (see Ephesians 4:15).

         A disciple will discern the calling of the bondservant. Faithful servants can be elevated to being friends of God. Faithful friends can be elevated to being sons (and daughters) of God, eternal members of His household.

         The sealing of His bondservants in Revelation 7 implies that there are so many that the Lord must hold back the winds of the earth until they are all sealed. This indicates that many are maturing and on the path to becoming the sons of God that Paul wrote about to the Romans—the whole world groans and travails for their manifestation. This makes the verses in Revelation 7:4-8 understandable:

         And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

         from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,

         from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,

         from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,

         from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

         There are many theories about who the 144,000 are, and just about every school of eschatology has a different opinion. They are not likely to be literal Jews because all but two tribes disappeared, and there is hardly a Jew that knows what tribe they are from. Of course, God knows so we can’t totally rule this out, but it is more likely that the biblical tribes were prophetic models of these ones.

         Before digging down into the meaning of this, we need to briefly address two somewhat popular doctrines that are stumbling blocks to understanding this group. The first is Replacement Theology. This teaching has the church replacing and assuming all of the promises made to the nation of Israel. The second doctrine seems to have risen to counter Replacement Theology. I call it “Replacement, Replacement Theology.” This doctrine asserts that the re-born nation of Israel will replace the church and assume the promises made to the church. Both teachings are erroneous and divert us from the ultimate revelation foretold in the New Testament.

         The time between Abraham and Christ was about two thousand years. God dealt almost exclusively with the Jewish people during this time. From the time of Christ until now, almost two thousand years, we have had “the times of the Gentiles,” in which God has dealt almost exclusively through the Gentiles. At the end of the time of the Gentiles, we will not enter another time of the Jews, but rather the revelation of “the one new man”—the Jews and Gentiles united, as foretold in Ephesians 2:15.

         What does this have to do with the 144,000? Could it be that these are not Jews or Gentiles but the “one new man?” If so, how does this fit with the narrative in Revelation 7? We will examine later in this study.

         Some groups, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that they are the 144,000 in Revelation Seven. That doesn’t make much sense because there are millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I discussed this with a number of Jehovah’s Witnesses and did not find any that believed that they were a part of this company in Revelation Seven. What they claimed to believe was that they expected were that these were the saints who arose at the end of the age who would walk in the power and authority that The Lord did when He walked the earth because they would so fully abide in Him. The Jehovah’s Witnesses that I discussed this with thought that their job as Jehovah’s Witnesses were to prepare the way for this great company.

         Now Baptists can have many different opinions about such things among themselves, as can Catholics, or any other group, so I do not take the Jehovah’s Witnesses that I talked to as a reflection of what they all believe about this, but it was noteworthy to me that there were as many as I did find. When I told them about the miracles I had personally witnessed, and the growing number of people who now have signs and wonders following them, the Jehovah’s Witnesses I talked to got very excited, thinking that they great company was about to become manifest.

         I also found similar beliefs among some Mormons I talked to. Like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, I have no idea what percentage of Mormons hold to this belief, but it seemed that it could be many. This confirmed in me what I had been shown as a young believer. I was told that as the Samaritans, who had errors in their beliefs, but were the most responsive to the Lord when He came, and to His gospel when preached to them as Philip did, that the groups like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons that today have a mixture are going to experience great revival and salvation at the end of the age.

         Even so, because there are so many different opinions about this 144,000 we will take another week to establish the roots of the biblical symbolism that can establish more clearly who this group is because of their great importance.

 

Avoiding the Beast's Mark—The Book of Revelation

         We continue here our study of how Revelation was given to the Lord to give to His bondservants. In Revelation 7, we are told that the Lord will hold back the four winds of the earth until His bondservants have been sealed. Therefore, only those who have embraced the life of a bondservant can fully understand this vision and are assured of not taking the mark of the beast.

         One question some have is, does the life of a bondservant mean that we never do anything for ourselves? No. On the contrary, there is no greater freedom that we could ever know than being the Lord’s slave, nor is there anything more fulfilling in life than when we put His interests first. He is the most wonderful Master we could ever have, and He showed how great His love for us is by the price He paid—His own sacrifice on the cross.

         It is written that the Lord knew us and formed us before the foundation of the world, and His ultimate purpose that we become all that He created us to be. However, as He taught, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).

         We are made in the image of God, or more accurately, we are made in the nature of God. His nature is to love, and through love, to give. He so loved the world that He gave the world His best—His only Son. That is the highest expression of His nature, and likewise the highest expression of who He created us to be is found in giving.

         The Book of Revelation is clear that the time is coming when anyone who will not take the mark of the beast will not be able to buy, sell, and trade, but those who have become bondservants of the Lord will not need to because they have the Lord as their Source. So the main thing we can do to prepare for this time is grow in our trust in the Lord as our Provider.

         This does not mean that we will not be called to do some things in the natural, such as storing provisions, to prepare for these times, , but we will do these things out of faith, not fear. Above all, we must learn the lesson Jesus taught in John 4:32-34:    

       He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."

       Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?"

       Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 

         When we do our Master’s work, He will sustain us. Jesus walked in a place where He did not even need natural food and He came to show us how we too can live. Even if it comes to the place where we cannot eat without taking the mark of the beast, then we can count on Him to either provide for us or sustain us without natural provision.

         We should resolve, like Daniel’s three friends who would not bow to worship the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar, that the Lord can deliver us from anything. Even if He chooses not to deliver us, we will not worship anyone but Him.  

         Being a disciple of Christ is not an easy life, but it is the path to the best, most fulfilling life we can live. This is a life of maturing in Christ by “growing up in all things into Him” (see Ephesians 4:15). After salvation, if we go on to become a disciple, we will discern the calling of the bondservant. Those who are faithful servants can be elevated to being friends of God. The faithful friends can be elevated to being sons and daughters of God—eternal members of His own household.