Continued from previous post:
Twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel are
sealed and comprise the 144,000 mentioned here in Revelation 7. Some people believe this is a literal number
of people from the literal country of Israel who will be converted to
Christianity and saved at the end of time.
Others believe this is simply a number signifying completeness and
perfection of the saints at the end of time and is not to be taken literally. Yet still others believe this number may or
may not be literal, but it does signify those who go through the end of time
and suffer greatly. These saints all
have different strengths and weaknesses correlating to the strengths and
weakness of the twelve men and/or tribes mentioned. No matter what this number represents, our
concern is that we be counted among the great multitude that stands before the
throne and the Lamb when all this is over.
This brings us to the mark of the beast. You have possibly heard of it and heard
people speculate that it will be tattoos of bar codes on people’s arms, or a
special ID card or implant under the skin, or any other type of visible
identification. However, for every true
and good thing from God, Satan has a counterfeit: God has a church, Satan has a
church; God has a Sabbath, Satan has a Sabbath; God marks his believers, Satan
marks his believers. We will discuss
this more in the next chapter.
At this time probation is still
open and anyone who wants to can join God’s true followers and receive his
seal.
Seventh Seal: Judgment
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… 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. Rev.
8:1-5
The angel with the censer throws it to the earth, signaling the commencement of the seven trumpet judgments.
First Trumpet:
1/3 of Earth Burned
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. Rev. 8:6, 7
Second Trumpet:
1/3 of Sea Becomes Blood
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. Rev. 8:8, 9
Third Trumpet: 1/3 of Fresh Water Made Bitter
Fourth Trumpet:
1/3 of Sky Darkened
The first question we must ask ourselves is: are these
trumpet judgments literally going to happen or are they are figurative and
stand for something else? If we look
closely at each trumpet we see that the descriptions are too specific to be
figurative language. Trees, grass,
creatures in the sea, men, sun, moon and stars are all literal things affected
by what is to come. But the reference to
Wormwood is figurative, right? Yes and
no. Webster’s New World College
Dictionary (4th ed.) defines wormwood as a plant that yields bitter
oil, but it also defines wormwood as, “…a bitter, unpleasant, or mortifying
experience.” Living during a time when a
third of the earth is burned, a third of the ocean dies, a third of our fresh
water is ruined, and a third of the sky goes dark is going to be a horribly
bitter, unpleasant and mortifying experience.
As for a third of the sky darkening, we can only
speculate. Does a meteor or a volcano
spew dust or ash into the atmosphere, blotting out some of the sky? Or is it caused directly by God? We will just have to wait and see.