Revelation 14:1-20; 15:1-8
[7/31/11]
Review:
Revelation 13:16-18) (GW) The second beast forces all people-important and unimportant people, rich and poor people, free people and slaves-to be branded on their right hands or on their foreheads.
17) (GW) It does this so that no one may buy or sell unless he has the brand, which is the beast’s name or the number of its name.
18) (GW) In this situation wisdom is needed. Let the person who has insight figure out the number of the beast, because it is a human number. The beast’s number is 666.
QUESTION: Why happens here?
ANSWER: The false prophet orders everyone to be branded with a number that has something to do with 666.
QUESTION: What might this “branding” actually be?
ANSWER: I believe it to be an ordering that all people receive a micro-chip on their right hand or their forehead.
Concerning this technology being used in humans,
“A human microchip implant is an integrated circuit device or RFID transponder encased in silicate glass and implanted in the body of a human being. A subdermal implant typically contains a unique ID number that can be linked to information contained in an external database, such as personal identification, medical history, medications, allergies, and contact information.
The PositiveID Corporation (previously known as The VeriChip Corporation; Applied Digital Solutions, Inc.; and The Digital Angel Corporation) distributed the implantable chip known as the VeriChip or VeriMed until the product was discontinued in the second quarter of 2010. The company had suggested that the implant could be used to retrieve medical information in the event of an emergency, as follows: Each VeriChip implant contained a 16-digit ID number. This number was transmitted when a hand-held VeriChip scanner is passed within a few inches of the implant. Participating hospitals and emergency workers would enter this number into a secure page on the VeriChip Corporation’s website to access medical information that the patient had previously stored on file with the company.” [Wikipedia].
NOTE: The chip has an identification number with 16 digits. I predict when the Anti-Christ uses this system he will increase the number to 18 digits; and those 18 digits will appear in 3 sets of 6 figures each; i.e., 666.
ANOTHER NOTE: The bar codes used to buy and sell contain 12 digits. A single digit, then 2 sets of 5 figures each, and then another single digit. I predict the Anti-Christ will raise the number of digits in bar codes to 18 digits, and those 18 digits will appear in 3 sets of 6 figures each; i.e., 666.
On To This Week’s Lesson:
Revelation 14:1-20) (GW) I looked, and the lamb was standing on Mount Zion. There were 144,000 people with him who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
Revelation 7:3-4) (GW) “Don’t harm the land, the sea, or the trees until we have put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
4) (GW I heard how many were sealed: 144,000. Those who were sealed were from every tribe of the people of Israel:
Revelation 3:7; 12) (GW) “To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia, write: The one who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens a door that no one can shut, and who shuts a door that no one can open, says:
12) (GW) I will make everyone who wins the victory a pillar in the temple of my God. They will never leave it again. I will write on them the name of my God, the name of the city of my God (the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from my God), and my new name.
QUESTION: Who are these 144,000 people?
ANSWER: They are the 144,000 Jews who were sealed by God.
QUESTION: Where is Mount Zion?
ANSWER: It is a reference to Heaven. They are now with Jesus.
NOTE: In the Old Testament Zion referred initially to Jerusalem, then to Israel as a whole. In this prophecy it refers to “the Jerusalem that is above” and “is free” [Wesley, Robertson].
2) (GW) Then I heard a sound from heaven like the noise of raging water and the noise of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like the music played by harpists.
3) (GW) They were singing a new song in front of the throne, the four living creatures, and the leaders. Only the 144,000 people who had been bought on earth could learn the song.
4) (GW) These 144,000 virgins are pure. They follow the lamb wherever he goes. They were bought from among humanity as the first ones offered to God and to the lamb.
5) (GW) They’ve never told a lie. They are blameless.
QUESTION: What are these 144,000 people doing?
ANSWER: They are singing a “new song in front of the throne, the four living creatures, and the leaders.
Only these 144,000 Jewish evangelists could learn this song.
QUESTION: What are verses 4-5 telling us about these people?
ANSWER: They were a spiritually pure people, unadulterated by the world. Every sin was buried in the grace of God.
6) (GW) I saw another angel flying overhead with the everlasting Good News to spread to those who live on earth-to every nation, tribe, language, and people.
7) (GW) The angel said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the time has come for him to judge. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs.”
QUESTION: Who is this angel?
ANSWER: He’s a messenger of God telling the inhabitants of earth to repent. It Could be a literal angel, or it could be a man/woman on earth chosen by God for this task, or it could be one of the two witnesses.
8) (GW) Another angel, a second one, followed him, and said, “Fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen! She has made all the nations drink the wine of her passionate sexual sins.”
9) (GW) Another angel, a third one, followed them, and said in a loud voice, “Whoever worships the beast or its statue, whoever is branded on his forehead or his hand,
10) (GW) will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured unmixed into the cup of God’s anger. Then he will be tortured by fiery sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the lamb.
11) (GW) The smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast or its statue, or for anyone branded with its name.”
QUESTION: What do the next two angels do?
ANSWER: One announces the fall of “Babylon the Great;” the other warns of the danger of taking the mark of the beast.
12) (GW) In this situation God’s holy people, who obey his commands and keep their faith in Jesus, need endurance.
13) (GW) I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: From now on those who die believing in the Lord are blessed.” “Yes,” says the Spirit. “Let them rest from their hard work. What they have done goes with them.”
QUESTION: What’s the message here?
ANSWER: Hang in there, saints, great is your reward.
14) (GW) Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and on the cloud sat someone who was like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.
15) (GW) Another angel came out of the temple. He cried out in a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Swing your sickle, and gather the harvest. The time has come to gather it, because the harvest on the earth is overripe.”
16) (GW) The one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the harvesting of the earth was completed.
17) (GW) Another angel came out of the temple in heaven. He, too, had a sharp sickle.
18) (GW) Yet another angel came from the altar with authority over fire. This angel called out in a loud voice to the angel with the sharp sickle, “Swing your sickle, and gather the bunches of grapes from the vine of the earth, because those grapes are ripe.”
19) (GW) The angel swung his sickle on the earth and gathered the grapes from the vine of the earth. He threw them into the winepress of God’s anger.
20) (GW) The grapes were trampled in the winepress outside the city. Blood flowed out of the winepress as high as a horse’s bridle for 1,600 stadia.
(CEV) The pit was outside the city, and when the grapes were mashed, blood flowed out. The blood turned into a river that was about two hundred miles long and almost deep enough to cover a horse.
QUESTION: What harvest in being spoken of in this passage?
ANSWER: It’s a harvest where the unredeemed reap what they sowed. They will face the anger of a Holy God at the Battle of Armageddon.
Revelation 15:1-8) (GW) I saw another sign in heaven. It was spectacular and amazing. There were seven angels with the last seven plagues which are the final expression of God’s anger.
2) (GW) Then I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. Those who had won the victory over the beast, its statue, and the number of its name were standing on the glassy sea. They were holding God’s harps
3) (GW) and singing the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the lamb. They sang, “The things you do are spectacular and amazing, Lord God Almighty. The way you do them is fair and true, King of the Nations.
4) (GW) Lord, who won’t fear and praise your name? You are the only holy one, and all the nations will come to worship you because they know about your fair judgments.”
QUESTION: What does the “sea of glass” represent?
ANSWER: A large group of people, in this case, the multitude of the redeemed.
NOTE: In Revelation 13:1 the 7-headed beast with 10 crowns; i.e., the Anti-Christ, came out of the sea. The sea there speaks of humanity, as does the sea of glass here.
QUESTION: Who is standing on this sea of glass?
ANSWER: The Tribulation Saints are rising out of the sea of the redeemed in Heaven to sing special worship to the Lamb for giving them victory over the beast/Anti-Christ.
5) (GW) After these things I looked, and I saw that the temple of the tent containing the words of God’s promise was open in heaven.
(CEV) After this, I noticed something else in heaven. The sacred tent used for a temple was open.
6) (GW) The seven angels with the seven plagues came out of the temple wearing clean, shining linen with gold belts around their waists.
7) (GW) One of the four living creatures gave seven gold bowls full of the anger of God, who lives forever and ever, to the seven angels.
8) (GW) The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and his power. No one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels came to an end.
QUESTION: What happens next?
ANSWER: The Temple of God in Heaven is opened. The seven angels who are appointed to pour out the seven bowls of God’s Anger/Judgments on earth come out of the Temple.
NOTE: No one will enter the Temple again until the seven bowls are emptied.