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[0:00] Accept our thanks, Father, for this time, this occasion to share together, and thank you for the spiritual interest that you have put in our hearts because of our relationship to the Lord Jesus. And thank you for the answers that you've provided.

[0:13] Despite the fact that we lack many of the answers we want, you have provided for us all of the answers that you believe that we need. And we pray for a facility of understanding them and appreciating the significance of them.

[0:26] So thank you once again for the opportunity to be together and to consider this material that is going to transpire upon the earth, perhaps even within our lifetime.

[0:38] We give our time to you with thanksgiving in Christ's name. Amen. We are going to undertake chapter 14 of the Revelation, and I hope that we will be able to cover the entire chapter at one sitting.

[0:51] Even though it has 20 verses in it, we will move along as best we can. And I want to begin by providing you some material from the pen of one of my favorite Bible teachers who is now with the Lord.

[1:06] That's Dr. W.A. Criswell. He was pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas for, I think, 53 years, something like that. And one of my favorite expositors.

[1:18] And what I am going to share with you now is from his commentary on Revelation. And if any of his material is not correct, he probably knows it by now.

[1:29] But unfortunately, he isn't with us to make any corrections. So I do think that he had some very pertinent things to share regarding chapter 14. And the main thing that I want to emphasize is that, and I agree with him because I don't have a basis for refuting it or disputing it.

[1:48] He is saying that the content of chapter 14 is synonymous chronologically with the content of chapter 13.

[1:59] And we all know that Revelation can be very challenging when you're trying to establish a chronology. It isn't always as cut and dry as we would like.

[2:11] But the explanation that he has given regarding the connection between chapters 13 and 14, and you'll recall chapter 13 dealt with the revealing of the Antichrist and the false prophet.

[2:23] And the explanation connection that he gives concerning those is as good as any I have shared. It's a little lengthy, but I don't apologize for it because the content is excellent.

[2:34] So please give it your undivided attention as I share it with you. Then we'll jump into the text. As often in the apocalypse, when tragic days are delineated, there will be inserted a vision of the light of the glory and beauty of God.

[2:51] So it is in this vision of Revelation 14, containing this wondrous scene with the Lamb on Mount Zion and the 144,000.

[3:05] Revelation 12 delineates the malice of Satan and the rage of the evil one who is cast down to the earth. Revelation 13 describes the terrific and sickening horror of the beast.

[3:19] It depicts those two terrible monsters who are God's symbols of the ministers of Satan, the ultimate Antichrist and the false prophet, who delude and deceive the people on the earth and lead them into perdition and damnation.

[3:38] This beautiful chapter 14 immediately follows the horror of those darkening days. It reminds us that after the storm and rage of the tempest is over, then in the quiet beauty of the calm, God overarches the heavens with a rainbow of promise.

[3:57] The clouds have emptied themselves, the raging tempest has spent itself, and the thunders no longer roar, the lightning no longer flashes. Beyond and back of the clouds break the beautiful rays of a golden light.

[4:11] That is the situation here in the Revelation. In those terrible trying times, the Lord says, For the elect's sake, those days are going to be shortened.

[4:25] They cannot last. I will come to you. And before the time of the destruction of those two terrible monstrous instruments of Satan, the detail of their destruction is presented in Revelation 17 and 18.

[4:40] God gives us this beautiful picture of the Lamb on Mount Zion, and these 144,000 who stand before him and sing a new song in the land of the new and glorious beginning again.

[4:56] Chapter 14 is simply the other side of chapter 13. They are contemporaneous in history. These things all happen at once, and chapter 14 is but the counterpart of chapter 13.

[5:14] One side is the dark description of the beast and of Satan and of the judgment of God upon those who worship the vile image. At the same time, in contrast, is this beautiful scene of these glorious ones who serve God and him alone.

[5:33] In chapter 13 is the beast. In chapter 14 is the lamb, gentle and precious on Mount Zion. In chapter 13 are the spurious, the counterfeit, and the false.

[5:47] In chapter 14 are the true, the genuine, and the lovely. In chapter 13 is the mark of the beast, and in chapter 14, the mark of God.

[5:58] In chapter 13 is the work of idolatry, and the corruption of the earth. In chapter 14 is the worship of the true Lamb of God, and the saints' dissociation from the corruption of the world.

[6:12] In chapter 13 are those who go with the beast and the idolatrous down into damnation and perdition. In chapter 14 are those who are redeemed from the earth and who are taken up into heaven.

[6:29] In chapter 13 are those that follow the beast in all his ways. In chapter 14 are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. Chapter 13 is the number of the beast, 666.

[6:45] In chapter 14 are the 144,000, the fullness and the plentitude of the glory, the grace, and beauty of God.

[6:56] The two chapters are side by side. And if you bear that in mind, I think it will help you understand both chapters a lot more fully than you would otherwise.

[7:08] So let's begin now looking at chapter 14, and verse 1. And another of my favorite Bible teachers, by the way, is also with the Lord, so he's completely straightened out by now.

[7:20] And that's Dr. Lehman Strauss. Both of these gentlemen have written extensively on prophetic themes. And Lehman Strauss has laid out, as preachers are wont to do, a number of things regarding the first several verses here, and he utilizes the literary tool of alliteration.

[7:41] For instance, he has listed here in chapter 14, the Savior, the sight, the sealed, the seal, the song, the sealed, the separated, and the sincere.

[7:57] All of these beginning with an S, but they all really fit the text, so it is not a stretch to utilize these as he has done. So I'm going to begin reading with verse 1, and I want to remind you that in utilizing this 26 translation New Testament, that we have used consistently since we began, that it is the bold print that is the King James Version.

[8:22] And other translations that are utilized are indicated by the abbreviation that follows after each of the King James. So John says, in his first vision, and by the way, let me just inject this if I may, the first vision, or the first event, is in verses 1 through 5.

[8:43] The second begins with verse 8. And the third is, I'm sorry, the second is verses 6 and 7.

[8:54] The third is verse 8. The fourth vision, or event, is verses 9 through 11. The fifth vision, or event, is verses 12 through 13.

[9:08] And the sixth vision, each one of these, is begun by John saying, and I saw, and I looked, or and I saw, and there was thus and so. So there are these dramatic events that are taking place in succession.

[9:21] And the sixth one has to do with verses 14 through 16. So, John says, and I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on the Mount Sion.

[9:37] And the only difference here is that Sion is spelled with an S. But it is one and the same with Sion that is spelled with a Z. Mount Zion.

[9:50] Mount Zion is where the temple is located. It is where Jerusalem is built. And the psalmist says, I have set my king upon the holy Mount Zion.

[10:04] And that, of course, is the most sacred place on the globe. There is no place anywhere that compares with the geography of Mount Zion.

[10:19] And the political efforts behind the reestablishing of the nation of Israel as a client nation, or as a people, as an independent nation, is frequently referred to as Zionism.

[10:42] And the Arabs consider anyone who is sympathetic to Israel, whether they are Jewish or not, as being a Zionist.

[10:54] A Zionist is simply someone who believes that the nation of Israel is entitled to a land. And they are entitled to that land. That they are deserving of being a political entity, an independent state.

[11:11] Those who foster that and support that are frequently referred to as Zionists. Zionists. One of the greatest Zionists, of course, is Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel.

[11:25] He's a thoroughgoing Zionist. And so is Menachem Begin. And all of these, and all who live in Israel, who are Jewish, of course, believe in the Jewish state. They are Zionists.

[11:36] And it gets it from this name of Mount Zion. So we begin with John seeing a lamb. And, of course, there is no question but what this lamb has to be identified with the lamb that surfaced earlier in Revelation, who had the ability and the right to open the seven-sealed book.

[11:58] And that, of course, is the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. And with him, 144,000. I am completely baffled as to how any expositor, regardless of their view, whether they are futurists, historicists, or whatever their position may be, preterists, regarding the interpretation of Revelation, I just don't see any way possible of making these a different 144,000 than those who have already surfaced in chapter 7, who are described as 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.

[12:40] There is no reason on earth that I can think of for trying to make these a different 144,000 or make them symbolize something else. I think it has already been adequately established as to their identity, and we are simply saying that these are the same individuals who surfaces in chapter 7.

[13:00] And with the 144,000, they have the Father's name written in their foreheads. This is the seal. So we've got the Savior in verse 1, and also in verse 2, we have the site that is Mount Zion, and here in verse 4, we have the, or verse 3, I'm sorry, we have the seal.

[13:30] It is the Father's name written in their foreheads. And this is obviously something that is visible because John saw it.

[13:41] It is not some kind of an invisible mark, but it is obviously plainly visible. And then he continues in verse 3 and says, I heard a voice from heaven.

[13:53] Now remember, what he is viewing is on earth. He is looking at Mount Zion. And this, of course, is on Jerusalem. But he says, he hears a voice from heaven.

[14:08] I take it that this is somewhat along the line of the voice that was heard from heaven when Jesus was baptized. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. So, John is here recording this voice that he hears from heaven.

[14:22] And it is as the voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder. Apparently, this is a supernatural, booming kind of an announcement that is audible, apparently, to everyone.

[14:41] And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. Taylor renders this.

[14:51] It was the singing of a choir accompanied by harps. That might be a little bit of a stretch, but it doesn't say that they were singing. But on the other hand, they could have been chanting or speaking or whatever.

[15:03] But that's a minor point. At any rate, they are conveying a message through what they are saying. And verse 3, tells us that it is singing, but it is a song that the average person would be unable to identify.

[15:21] It is some kind of a mystery song. They sung, as it were, a new song before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the earth.

[15:45] Now this, to me, is completely puzzling. I have no idea what the contents of that song is. It'll give plenty to know what the lyrics are. But nobody has any appreciation for it.

[15:56] It is as if the hundred forty-four thousand have a special ear or insight to the message of that tune and nobody else has it. It's kind of like a coded message.

[16:08] And if you don't know the key to the code, you are not going to get the message. And apparently no one has that except these hundred and forty-four thousand. I take it, and I'm kind of going out on a limb here because I don't know, I don't know what else to say by way of an explanation.

[16:26] So I'm just going to take a stab and say, in my opinion, which would not be the first time if it is wrong, I think these are very literal, actual, young, Jewish men.

[16:46] By men, I mean perhaps even teenagers. Perhaps seventeen and eighteen years of age. what do I base that on?

[16:58] Well, we will see with what comes in the next couple of verses. I don't know if you are aware of it or not, but Israel has in place and has had for a long time a compulsory military training requirement.

[17:16] And in Israel, when you reach the age of eighteen, male, and I believe it applies to females also, I know it applies to males, I think it applies to females, when you reach the age of eighteen, you are pressed into compulsory military training.

[17:38] And by the way, it is this very act upon which, of course, Israel places its survival, it is it is this act that enables the tiny nation of Israel to be able to boast that it has the third largest standing army in the world.

[18:08] That's because most of its civilian population is on active reserve. if you go to Israel today, and you walk about anywhere in the land, if you go to a park where children are playing, swings and slides and things of that nature, there is a law in Israel that anytime there are, I don't know exactly what the number is, so don't hold me to this, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is low as four or five, anywhere that there are four or five children in public, there has to be an adult present who is armed.

[18:57] And you will see that all over Israel today. Children playing on a playground and there is a father, a grandfather, an uncle or a family friend standing over there leaning up against the light pole, smoking a cigarette, watching the children out there play, and he's got an Uzi on his shoulder, which of course is an Israeli machine gun.

[19:20] And you see this all over the country, but I'll tell you something, you are safer in Jerusalem than you are in New York City. Remarkably enough.

[19:33] And one wonders if there is going to be a draw of young men like this who are going to comprise 144,000. But there are significant things that are going to have to happen.

[19:46] First of all, there is going to have to be an enormous kind of messianic revival of some kind take place in order to have 144,000 Jewish men committed to Yeshua HaMashiach.

[20:05] Jesus is their Messiah. They are going to comprise this willing force of 144,000. and they are described thusly in verse 4. They are they, these 144,000, they are they, which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins.

[20:27] Now, if you take this quite literally, and I do think that the vast majority of the Revelation text is to be interpreted literally, that means there are 144,000 Jewish men, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes who have never had sexual relations with a woman.

[20:48] Someone might say that's quite a stretch to find 144,000 young men anywhere because of the sexual looseness that prevails throughout the world today, recreational sex and weekend sex and all the rest of that nonsense, but if these are young men who have positioned themselves as followers of Jesus Christ and who have been virgins and maintain their virginity, that might not be the stretch so much as we think.

[21:23] On the other hand, and by the way, the jury is out on this and I can't tell you that this is what it means. I can't tell you that this is to be taken literally and that they literally, and some people of course might be offended by looking at this and say, well, since when do women defile men?

[21:42] That's not very nice. Well, any man is defiled by a woman if he has sexual relations with her.

[21:54] She defiles him if she is not married to him. outside of marriage, it is a defilement.

[22:06] And by the way, to be honest and to be fair, he defiles her too. They defile each other. The only way to avoid defilement is within the bonds of matrimony.

[22:19] These men, whatever their age, and this is one of the reasons that I suggest the possibility that they are young men, they would be more likely to be in that category than say, men in their twenties, thirties, forties, or whatever.

[22:38] So, wouldn't that be something? If these were to represent the cream of the crop of Jewish young men who have come to an understanding, a devotion, and a commitment to Jesus as their Messiah, and I have taken the position for many, many years that I do believe, I really do believe that there is going to be a major revival among the Jewish population of the world where they are going to more and more see Jesus as their Messiah and come to faith in him.

[23:14] And I don't know if you're aware of it or not, but I'm sure that this could be corroborated by Jews for Jesus and Israel My Glory and other Christian Hebrew organizations that there have been more Jewish people come to faith in Jesus Christ in the last 30 years than there have been in the previous 300 years.

[23:36] And that could very well be significant. At any rate, these may well be literally interpreted as young men who are sexually pure.

[23:48] And in all fairness, there is a possibility that this is talking about a spiritual purity and not a sexual purity at all. And that needs to be injected into the mix as well.

[24:03] And truth be told, I don't know which of these is the correct position. I cannot be dogmatic about either. Because when you consider that in the Old Testament, God frequently accused his people, Israel, of adultery, spiritual adultery, involved with the gods of the neighbors around them, the paganism and everything, and he constantly accuses Israel as going a whoring after other gods and engaged in spiritual adultery.

[24:38] And then, even in the New Testament, in 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth and said, I have espoused you to Christ that I may present you a chaste virgin to our Lord.

[24:57] 2 Corinthians 11.2. And here, of course, he is not talking about physical chastity or sexual chastity.

[25:09] He is clearly talking about spiritual. And he is not saying that he understands or expects the people in the congregation to be celibate men and women and all unmarried.

[25:21] That is not what he is saying at all. But he is saying in a spiritual sense, I have espoused you to Christ that I may present you a chaste virgin to our Lord. And there is clearly spiritual.

[25:32] So, which is it that is being addressed regarding the 144,000? I don't know. But I lean toward the first interpretation. I just can't take it to the bank.

[25:44] But that's my gut feeling about it. And it may well be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time I'm wrong. Furthermore, and one of the things that I might add that I think gives a little weight to this, is that verse 5 says, and in their mouth was found no guile.

[26:04] What does that mean? For they are without fault before the throne of God. I think that John is saying there is a kind of innocence, naivete, purity, involved with these 144,000 that might be clearly exceptional.

[26:27] And we all know that the longer you live in this world, the greater the chance of you losing your innocence and purity.

[26:38] wouldn't it be something if these were 144,000 teenagers proclaiming this gospel?

[26:48] Kids? Could that be teenagers? I don't know. I just throw it out for your consideration. But, they are, sure, question?

[27:00] Yeah. Back in 4, when it said, these are redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb, does that mean first form?

[27:12] What does the first fruits mean? You're in verse what? Which verse? 4. The end of 4. The first fruit. They were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.

[27:25] I would take that, and I can't completely be certain of that, but I think that this is, I'll just crawl out on this limb and say, I think this is that which takes place after the body of Christ is gone.

[27:46] This is tribulational content, no doubt about that. And it would appear to me that these are among the first ones of Judaism to come to faith in Jesus as their Messiah.

[28:01] This is after the rapture, and this is found in chapter 7, where they first surface, and of course the church is long since gone there, and the tribulation period is underway, and these, if I am correct in this, these will be among the first who will come to the conviction that Jesus whom we crucified, whom our fathers crucified, is really the Messiah.

[28:32] And I don't think that they are going to be alone, there's going to be many others, but I think these are going to be among the first, the first fruits unto God and the Lamb, and I think that that too is to be taken quite literally, they are going to be believers.

[28:47] And when it says that they are without guile, it reminds me of Nathanael, whom Jesus met in John chapter 1, Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile, Christ said of him.

[29:04] And Nathanael obviously had a character and a quality about him that was known to Christ, even though they had not met personally, but he knew the kind of person that Nathanael was, and he identified him.

[29:19] And Nathanael says, How is it that you know me? Well, before you were called, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.

[29:31] And Nathanael is, he said a complete loss for words. Christ identifies him as being an individual of purity and character, and I take it that that is the same kind of description that is given here in chapter 5.

[29:45] They found no guile. They have an honesty, a sincerity, an openness, a truthfulness about them, the kind of people who would make an ideal witness unto the Lamb.

[30:00] And then, hurrying on now in verse 6, and time is getting away from us, and I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.

[30:21] I don't have any idea how he's going to do this, but it will not be a problem, and he will not be dependent upon the media. He will not be dependent upon cable.

[30:33] He will not be dependent upon satellites. I have no idea how he is going to accomplish this, and cover the breadth of the earth, but he is going to do so.

[30:44] And if I may be so bold as to say, this appears to me to be the last chance. This is the final opportunity for an unbelieving world, and those in it, to repent of their sin, and to turn to the Savior.

[31:05] And the content of the message goes on, saying with a loud voice in verse seven, fear God, give glory to him, that is credit, acknowledgement, recognition to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.

[31:26] Worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters. It is an appeal to turn their wills Godward, heavenward, and this is going to be a universal kind of an announcement.

[31:48] Nobody on earth will ever be able to say, I didn't know, I wasn't told, nobody warned me.

[31:59] This is going to be an inclusive warning that is going to encompass the entirety of the globe. And, to buttress that, the doom of Babylon is predicted.

[32:16] It's going to be realized in chapter 17 and 18, where the commercial Babylon and the religious Babylon are both going to collapse.

[32:27] They will be spelled out in the chapters that we will get to eventually. But here, their demise is predicted. And what the angel is saying is this. Up till now, you have put all of your confidence and trust in the provisions of man, the organization of man, and the beast, and the false prophet.

[32:50] You have bought the whole thing. You are put on notice that that is all doomed. It will all come to naught.

[33:01] It is all going to come down. And those of you who have confidence in it are going to come down with it. And he is announcing that in saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen.

[33:13] If that's where your hope is, it's all going to come to naught. This is a last-ditch plea to put your faith where it really belongs. Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine, of the wrath, of her fornication.

[33:34] This is all spiritual fornication. Babylon is a picture of human corruption. It is a picture of human machination. It is a picture of materialism, of militarism, of humanism, all rolled into one.

[33:55] It is the ugliness of the man-made, satanic-inspired world scene, and it is all going to come to naught. The third angel followed them in verse 9, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image, now you see the world is being put on notice here.

[34:19] They are being warned, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture.

[34:35] In other words, it isn't diluted. It is 100% wrath.

[34:46] It isn't toned down. It isn't ameliorated in any way. It is strong drink. This is the cup of the wrath of God.

[34:58] It is as full, as undiluted, as powerful as it can be. And you don't want to go that way. It is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

[35:22] And the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name.

[35:39] Now, you've been warned. There is no possible excuse for anyone dwelling on the earth to say they haven't been told.

[35:49] And then in verse 13, verse 12, here is the patience of the saints, or here is the fortitude of God's people, has its place the New English Bible renders it.

[36:06] And I heard a voice from heaven, this is again that unmistakable voice, saying unto me, write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.

[36:19] Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. And I looked, and here is the sixth vision, I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man.

[36:44] This is the last time that this phrase, Son of Man, will be used in the Bible. And it is an appellation that is frequently used by Christ himself in referring to himself.

[36:56] In fact, Jesus referred to himself with this name more than any other in the Gospels. In speaking of himself, he would say, the Son of Man, the Son of Man, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

[37:12] And so many times he uses that. This is the last time that it is used in the Bible. One likened to the Son of Man having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

[37:28] Now again, this is symbolism. But what does it symbolize? It isn't just a picture for the sake of being a picture. It is a picture that means something.

[37:40] This sickle is going to be used. And what do you use a sickle for? Well, you go out in the wheat field or the grain field and you use the sickle and you harvest it and you cut down the grain.

[37:53] And that's what this sickle is going to be used for. But it won't be grain. Let's read on. Another angel, verse 15.

[38:04] And may I remind you that we pointed out in time past that perhaps the most significant thing about the tribulation period, once it gets underway, is that there is going to be an enormous intensification and proliferation of the supernatural.

[38:28] There is going to be more obvious angelic activity and miraculous events take place in connection with this 70th week of Daniel than has ever occurred on earth before within a commensurate time period.

[38:47] The church is gone. Raptured. Out of here. The church walks by faith, not by sight. These are going to be walking by sight because they are going to see.

[39:00] There's going to be visible manifestations of all of these things. There's going to be audible reception of all of these things. Voices from heaven. How long has it been since you've heard a voice from heaven?

[39:12] Well, I'm like you. I never have heard one. Someone said, Do you think God has ever spoken to you audibly? And I said, Well, yes, I think so.

[39:24] Well, what did it sound like? Sounded just like my wife. That's the way he spoke sometimes. It was through her. It came across like the voice of God.

[39:37] being facetious, of course, but this will be the real thing. And it will be characteristic of this time period so that those, and by the way, that makes those who are hearing and seeing these things all the more accountable.

[39:59] Because there's no way to write this off. Oh, I didn't hear it. I didn't see it. there won't be any possibility of denying that. But for those of us who are walking by faith and not by sight, what do you have?

[40:14] What do you have to base your confidence on? What do you have that you have seen that you can base your confidence on? Nothing. Nothing. Just the sheer naked word of God.

[40:27] This is exactly, I think, what Jesus meant when he said to Thomas, blessed art thou Thomas, because you have believed because you have seen me.

[40:41] Blessed are they who have not seen and shall believe. He's talking about you and me and all the generations that have come from that first century time.

[40:55] We believe just on the basis of thus saith the Lord. I never witnessed that empty tomb. I never witnessed the ascension. I never witnessed turning water into wine.

[41:08] Neither did you. Why do we believe those things? Because we have an incorruptible record that was recorded by eyewitnesses who were credible people with no motivation for lying or deceiving.

[41:23] And as I pointed out before, one of the greatest validations for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is that the first people who denied it were the apostles.

[41:34] And that gives it enormous credibility. Because if anybody would have wanted it to be true, they would have. And when the women told them, their words seemed to them as idle tales.

[41:48] These poor deluded women, you know you can want something to be true so badly that you actually believe it yourself. But we know you can't create your own reality.

[41:58] and yet that's what they've done. But then of course they came to a different conclusion that it really was true. So, we read in verse 15, another angel came out of the temple crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud.

[42:22] This is a request, it's not an order, but it's a plea. Thrust in thy sickle and reap for the time has come for thee to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

[42:40] And what's he talking about? He's talking about what is going to transpire in the next chapter because it is the opening of the vials of God.

[42:56] V-I-A-L-S, sometimes translated bowls. This will be the most severe judgment of all because if my estimation of this is correct, the opening of the seals will involve man's wrath upon his fellow man, and that is depicted in the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and the war and the starvation that is going to come from it.

[43:28] This will be man's doing. And then the trumpet judgments are going to be satanic inspired. It will be the wrath of Satan.

[43:39] The wrath of man upon his fellow man will be horrible. The wrath of Satan upon mankind will be even worse. Both of those will pale in comparison to the wrath of God Almighty.

[43:52] And that's going to be the bold judgments. This will be the wrath of God. It will be the most severe, the most cataclysmic, the most devastating of all.

[44:05] Because nobody can match what the Almighty does. Whether it is for grace or for wrath, it will be the utmost. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

[44:26] And another angel came out from the altar which had power over fire, and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.

[44:48] Who are the grapes? People, human beings, they are the grapes. The symbolism is the grapes and the sickle.

[45:00] The reality is the judgment, the devastation, and the bloodshed that is going to follow, and it is going to be absolutely indescribable.

[45:11] the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

[45:28] Think of that, the wrath of God. This is as opposite as you can get from the grace of God. God. The grace of God has expired.

[45:44] It's been spent. There's nothing left but the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress.

[46:02] Sometimes the juice of the grape is referred to as blood. as the blood of the grape. And in ancient times they would take huge clusters of grapes, like the grapes of Escal.

[46:16] Remember the song where the grapes of Escal flow, and the spies went into the land of Canaan to spy the land out, and they came back with a bunch of grapes on a pole, and the guys were carrying the pole on their shoulder, one was carrying it on their shoulder, and the long pole, and a big cluster of grapes on it, and they would take the grapes, throw them into a vat, the wine vat, and it had small holes in the bottom, and they would get in there and bare feet, and step on the grapes, and crush the grapes, squeeze the blood, the juice out of the grapes, and it would be collected into a vat down below, and from that, they of course would let that settle, the leaves would go to the bottom, and the liquid would come to the top, and then they would skim that off, and that would be the future wine, once it would ferment, only the grapes here are going to be human beings, and the blood of the grapes will be blood of people, this is as depressing, and as gory, as it can be, never in the history of humanity, has there been carnage like this carnage, when men fought on three days over the fourth of

[47:44] July, in 1864, and the battle of Gettysburg, you can imagine there were 53,000 men killed, 53,000 in one battle, took place over three days, carnage was incredible, that will be as nothing compared to this, this is the world at its worst, being dealt divine judgment at its worst, the wine press was trodden without the city, blood came out of the wine press, even unto the horse's bridles, by the space of 1,600 furlongs, this is approximately 120 miles, and this is in the ravine that is frequently referred to as the great African rift, it comes all the way up from the continent of Africa, up through the valley of

[48:58] Jehoshaphat, which is also involving the Kidron Valley, and the Kidron stream that runs through that, and it goes all the way up north into Megiddo, and the plain of Esdraelen, better known by the name of Megiddo, and the plain of Armageddon, and it extends all the way down through there, clear past Jerusalem, it will be a huge area, and this is going to involve a bloodbath that will encompass 200 million people.

[49:50] Can't even get your brain around that, I sure can't get my brain around it. I mean, these are numbers that usually only Congress talks about, but 200 million people, these are going to constitute armies from all over the world that will have had a massive staging area in Armageddon, and they are going to come down from that area.

[50:17] When Napoleon Bonaparte looked over the plain of Esdraelen, when he was there in the 1800s, and Napoleon was on a roll, he looked over Armageddon and breathlessly said, what a magnificent battlefield.

[50:36] Well, it won't be a battlefield. It will be a staging area. The battle is going to be fought right in the proximity of Jerusalem, and Christ is going to arrive, if my estimation is correct, Christ is going to arrive in or around Petra, which is ancient Edom in the south, down by the Dead Sea, and he is going to march northward, and the armies are coming southward, but it will not be much of a contest, because when the Son of God unleashes his power, it is just going to be absolutely devastating, devastating to the enemy.

[51:20] Who is this that cometh from Basra with his garments stained with the blood of his enemies? And of course it's talking about Jesus Christ, and Isaiah is referring to that passage, and that will be part of the prophecy that will be realized at that time.

[51:36] It is going to be a time of just such unparalleled occurrence that we can't even begin to fathom. It is going to be. It's just absolutely indescribable.

[51:49] And we've got a few minutes left, and I'm sure you have some questions or comments that we would like to entertain. Anybody? It's also overwhelming.

[52:06] It is overwhelming. It is overwhelming. Each time I teach anywhere, and there are no questions, I always feel compelled to say the same thing, and that is, I've done such a magnificent job that I've answered any question that you could anticipate, and yet reality compels me to ditch that as a possibility.

[52:27] Maybe I have so thoroughly confused you that you can't ask an intelligent question. I hope it isn't the latter, but I know it isn't the former. Maybe we're somewhere in between. Marvis? You said that the battle really won't be in Armageddon.

[52:44] That would be the staging area? Yes. Okay. But the battle will be in Jerusalem? Well, it'll be in that immediate environment. I think it's going to be over a long period of time.

[52:57] It's going to be a stretch over several miles. We're talking about a lot of people. I don't know. There has never been in the history of humanity.

[53:08] There has never been an aggregation of people, especially an army like this. As massive as D-Day was in Normandy, that was nothing compared to this.

[53:24] I don't recall what the precise number was of Navy and Army and Air Force personnel and ships and all the rest.

[53:35] involved in D-Day. I know that up until that time, it was the most massive military gathering and invasion that had ever happened on the planet. That we know, but this is going to top that by a considerable amount.

[53:51] These are going to be numbered in the hundreds of millions. And I think that this is going to be hard on the heels of the Psalm 83 thing that we're seeing on Wednesday nights and the vision of the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37, 38, and 39.

[54:13] This is all going to come after that. So the world has already going to have undergone a time of massive destruction destruction with the valley, with Gog and Magog coming down from the north and invading the new Israel, which by that time will have greatly expanded its borders and will occupy the land that God originally gave to Abraham.

[54:40] And they never have, and they still don't today, but they will then. And all of this is going to come after that, of course. So it's going to make Israel much more expansive when these things happen, I think, than what it is now.

[54:52] Yes? 144,000, when they witness, they will have extreme witnessing powers. Are they only going to witness to the Jews?

[55:05] Or will they also witness to the Jews? No, no, it will be a worldwide evangelistic thing. It will be Jew and Gentile. The other day somebody said, no, they were only going to save the Jews. And I thought, I don't know.

[55:15] No, no, these will be Jews. 144,000 will be Jews, but their message is going to go to everyone. They're going to evangelize the whole earth. And there will be a number of Jews who will believe during that time.

[55:31] They will become believers during the tribulation. And there will be a great number of Gentiles. But they're all going to be torn. Because to do that means to reject the mark of the beast and to put yourself at great peril.

[55:46] And many of them will be martyred for that very reason. So, it is going to be a count the cost thing like it has never been before.

[55:58] And the angel here gives a warning in this chapter 14. The angel gives the warning for those not to receive that mark of the beast. And what will happen to those if they do.

[56:10] And they are warned about that. So, in other words, it's going to be crunch time for those who are dwelling on the earth at that time. You take your stand and make your choice because you're going to live with the consequences.

[56:23] Yes? I have two great difficulties here. The 144,000. The idea of rejecting the mark of the beast.

[56:37] I have a hard time picturing a father, for example, having to choose between his family.

[56:48] Oh, sure. Sure. What a great dilemma that will be. Oh, absolutely. It's going to be gut-wrenching. And the other is, I cannot picture this horde of people.

[57:02] If you just compare a mob, that's no comparison to Oh, yeah, you're right. You're right. There will be no way to control that many people.

[57:16] Absolutely. In one place. Absolutely. It has to be absolute chaos. Oh, there's no question about it. No question about these armies, these armies that are going to mass, they are a result also of a prophetic word that God has given that he is going to gather all armies together under Jerusalem.

[57:42] he's going to see to it that they're there. They won't know that he is orchestrating this. They think they are doing it of their own free will, but he is going to utilize that. He is going to bring them there.

[57:55] He is going to set them up, if you will, for this destruction. They are coming for what they think is the sole purpose of eliminating Israel once and for all.

[58:08] And one of the reasons they are going to be intent on doing that is because by the time this occurs, Israel is going to have expanded its borders considerably.

[58:19] They are going to actually annex what we now know as Lebanon and Iraq and Jordan. That's all going to be under Israeli sovereignty.

[58:31] And they are going to be looked upon as just a bunch of land grabbers, invaders, but in reality, all they are doing is taking what they should have had all along and what God promised them in the beginning, but has never been recognized by the descendants of Israel nor by the descendants of Esau.

[58:52] And now Israel is going to take what God promised to them and it's going to make the rest of the world matter than hops and they're going to come against Israel and it'll be the last thing they ever do.

[59:06] Other comments or questions? Marie? I just wondered, is there a chapter after 14 that's in chronological order or does it just jump back and forth from here?

[59:17] Well, we'll see as it goes along and there are, I wish I could give you a better answer to that question because some of it is very difficult to plot and we'll do the best we can with it, but I think for the most part it is chronological.

[59:32] Yes, for the most part it is. John? Could these armies be like under the banner of the United Nations or the European Union or any federation like that?

[59:44] It would appear that they would be. I cannot answer that definitely. I cannot say that it will be an effort of the United Nations, but if it isn't, it will be an effort of something like the United Nations, and it may well even be the UN.

[60:07] Nobody is positioned better to do something like that than the UN. In fact, no one else is positioned at all to do anything like that by way of a joint effort than the UN.

[60:23] So I'm not saying they will be, but they are the prime candidate for sure. And you know as well as I do that politically, militarily, morally, socially, there is not an institution that has arisen on the face of the earth that is more worthless than the United Nations.

[60:43] And they're anti-Semitic too. Yeah, and they are anti-Semitic. They almost always, invariably, take the position against Israel, whatever it is. Well, thank you for your kind attention, and we will continue this next week with chapter 15, so the big wrap-up is well underway, and it is a time to be whole for sure.

[61:11]  Thank you all.