And now for something that actually has to do with the Day of the Lord!
papers #1 & 2 click here
papers #3 & 4 click here
papers #5 & 6 click here
papers #7 & 8 click here
The 144,000
The problem with the 144,000 is saying who they are. There are as many definitions of who makes up the 144,000 as there are eschatological positions. Too often, the way the 144,000 are defined comes about based upon an eschatological view of the end-times and backing into their definition by default. A basic notion of the exegesis as it applies to eschatology here is to take the Bible as it is written and not to make it conform to a preset notion. Thus a bottom up approach is used taking what the Bible says first, and making connections second.
It is interesting to review some of the various ways the 144,000 are labeled.
• John Darby’s Synopsis has them as the “perfect number of the remnant of Israel is sealed, before the providential instruments of God's judgments are allowed to act.”
• Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary has them as “the number of those who were sealed, may be understood to stand for the remnant of people which God reserved.”
• John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes says of the children of Israel — “to these will afterwards be joined a multitude out of all nations. But it may be observed, this is not the number of all the Israelites who are saved from Abraham or Moses to the end of all things; but only of those who were secured from the plagues which were then ready to fall on the earth.”
• John Gill's Exposition of the Bible says they “may denote their being the true and genuine offspring of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, holding their doctrine, and being built on their foundation; and these were of all the tribes of the children of Israel; not that these were all Jews in a literal sense, for the time of their conversion in great numbers is not yet come.”
One theme that runs through all these views and through the majority position the Pre-Tribulation school of eschatology is that the 144,000 represent Israel, the nation. When the Bible is consulted however, four major facts about the 144,000 are presented. These major characteristics of the 144,000 do not constrict the 144,000 from being strictly Jewish in the modern sense. Moreover, the interpretative view of the 144,000 being Jewish rests upon the designation of the 144,000 being the tribes of Israel:
Rev 6:4
Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
The first major fact of the Bible determines the 144,000 are from all the tribes of Israel. This is problematic. Since the Diaspora, modern lineage has been lost for some part. There is also the small matter of the “missing” tribes of Israel, even though Paul can list his tribe clearly. However, the two minor facts in the Bible make a designation of the modern Jew as representing this population difficult:
• This list of tribes in Revelation chapter 6 does not match any of the genealogies of the twelve or alternately thirteen or even ten tribes which are listed in the Bible as representing Israel.
• The 144,000 have both the name of the Father and the Son written on their foreheads
Harkening back to the study of Israel in Chapter One whereby Jesus unites Church and Israel, rather than list the Jewish nation (as opposed to the man, or the land); this may represent the new beginning of believers which occurred with Christ. While a distinct split exists between Jew and Christian, Christians are also the true spiritual Israel following the Saints of old in faith in the Lord.
This first minor fact distinction from the listing of the tribes in Revelation chapter six ought to break the equation between the 144,000 and the Jewish Remnant. If John wanted to say these were Jewish, he could have replicated any of twenty variations of the tribes of Israel in the Bible. At this first point of distinction from what the Bible actually reads, there is no specific reference in these tribes of Israel as John lists them to the Old Testament to say conclusively they are strictly Hebrew in their origin.
With the second minor fact, saying the 144,000 men are Jewish in the modern sense of the word - being of the faith but not accepting Jesus as their savior - is refuted by the double names on their foreheads. At best, if Jewish, the 144,000 are Messianic Jews. If not, if they are suddenly converted, the question is then: How is it done instantaneously? It is allowable that God could know their heart is inclined toward Jesus, but one would have to ask why they didn’t convert before. At what point did they elude the question: Was Jesus Lord, liar, or lunatic so that they did not answer as the second or third part?
The second major fact about the 144,000; the Bible describes them as firstfruits in Revelation 14:4. Jewish culture defines Firstfruits as the offering given to God before the Harvest. The very firstfruit of the winter harvest, the Omer offered in the Temple made by the Priests after the Passover on Sunday corresponds to Christ’s Resurrection; i.e., the Lamb leads the way. Following that, the very beginnings of the Church is a type of firstfruit since it began on Pentecost, which is also known as the Festival of Firstfruits. In the springtime rituals of the Feasts, and in typical fashion to an agricultural fact, barley is offered as the Omer as it ripens before the wheat. However, for each farmer though, during a specified time around Pentecost they are to bring the first of their crop which they will harvest. Thus as a whole, a firstfruit is the first of the harvest which is to follow.
In like manner, the 144,000 as firstfruits precede a wider and greater Harvest. In true sequential order, this fact is observed in Revelation 14. So if in the first examination of the 144,000 there is no reason at all to limit their assignment to be only Jewish as representing the physical nation of Israel. Indeed, there is ample room to since this listing of tribes doesn’t match any physical national listing and they have both the names of the Father and the Son written on their foreheads to suggest the 144,000 are the Spiritual Israel. The essential idea encompassed in Revelation 14:4 confirms the assignment of the 144,000 as being from the Spiritual Israel as Firstfruits precede the Harvest, which itself is only for the Elect ― those selected by God.
So, by their assignment as Firstfruits, the 144,000 must be of the same type as the Harvest, just as each farmer brought his crop to the Temple. This parallels the sequential order in the Seal account whereby the 144,000 precede the Great Multitude’s appearance before the Throne of God as well. As will be shown later as their assignment develops here, having the 144,000 be of the same nature will be replicated to the gathering of the Harvest in how they are brought together as well.
Working backwards in verse 4 of Revelation 14, the third major fact about the 144,000 which establishes their identity is this: “They follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” Thus wherever Jesus goes, the 144,000 are with Him as the simple verb in the Greek dictates. When the Lord tramples out His Wrath upon the Land on the Day of the Lord, they must by definition follow Him there. When passages are brought forth as the timeline advances which show the Lord in the Temple, the 144,000 would be in there and in Jerusalem as well. When Jesus rides out to the final battle with His army in the final parallel account of Revelation,, by definition, the 144,000 must accompany Him.
In addition, the clause: “
They follow the Lamb wherever he goes,” suggests Jesus is mobile during the one ‘seven.’ Just as Jesus was not confined to Paradise in death, but visited spirits imprisoned in the nether region of the afterlife and made an announcement to them – so too does Jesus have mobility to choose where He goes, and indeed, as indicated in Revelation 14:4, Jesus goes places. So once Jesus arrives, where He goes afterward is not limited in this eschatology. Rather, the Son of God who can descend from Heaven to snatch up the Church can deliver them to the Father can return as often as necessary for God’s Plan of Redemption and Wrath to proceed. But as established as a fact in the Bible, whenever Jesus does so, the 144,000 follow Him.
The fourth and final major fact in Revelation 14:4 identifies the 144,000 as not having been “defiled” by women. There are three ways to interpret this.
A. The first would be to take this as literally as possible. This can be done twice over with the first fact and an interpretation can be rendered and argued that the 144,000 are virgin Jewish men and ostensibly, young men at that.
B. The second would incorporate this as a stand alone condition, and while allowing the Church to be represented in the 144,000 as the spiritual Israel, would insist the 144,000 are men because as virgins, they have not been “with” women.
C. The third would be to take a figurative view which belies a literal group. So incorporating another definition of Israel would be married to the figurative use of the Church as a woman which stays faithful to Christ and does not prostitute itself to outside heretical teachings which are figuratively referred to as harlotry.
This third interpretation has some backing from various commentaries which delve into this aspect of being “defiled” by women. Sex, itself, may not be an issue here because sex by itself is not sinful. Therefore, like the listing of the tribes of Israel, a different interpretation which does not rely upon a strict literal meaning may be warranted. Like calling the anti-Christ a beast, rather than be a literal beast; the anti-Christ is best described as a beast to indicate his true nature.
John's most difficult statement about this group is that they did "not defile themselves with women." Does he mean that this group consists only of men who had never married? Or should it be understood as referring to spiritual apostasy or cult prostitution? It is unlikely that "defiled" (
molyno) refers merely to sexual intercourse since nowhere in Scripture does intercourse within marriage constitute sinful defilement (cf. Heb 13:4). On the other hand, the word "defiled" is found in the Letter of Aristeas (15.2) in connection with the promiscuous intercourse practiced by the Gentiles that defiled them but from which the Jews have been separated by the commandments of God (R. H. Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, 2 vols. [New York: Oxford, 1913], 2:109). Therefore the words can refer only to adultery or fornication; and this fact, in turn, establishes "pure" as the meaning of parthenoi ("virgins") in this context (NIV is paraphrastic here, but accurately so). In fact,
parthenos can be used of formerly married persons in this figurative way and is so used of widows by Ignatius (Smyrna 13). The same masculine plural word (
parthenous) is used in the LXX of Lamentations 2:10, which Ford suggests may be in parallel with "the elders of the daughter of Zion" (p. 242).
Kiddle thinks the reference is to actual celibacy, which alone could fit a man to be a sacrificial lamb for God (p. 268; also Glasson, p. 85). Caird connects the purity reference with holy-war regulations for soldiers who were ceremonially unclean because of sexual reasons (Deut 23:9-10; 1Sam 21:5; 2Sam 11:11). Each of these views founders because of the assumption that "uncleanness" (akathartos) is the equivalent of "defile" (molyno). Such an assumption not only fails on linguistic grounds but involves us in a scriptural contradiction, i.e., that the marriage bed is defiling and sinful. It is better, then, to relate the reference to purity to the defilement of idolatry. In fact, John seems to use molyno this way elsewhere of cult prostitution (3:4; cf. 2:14, 20, 22). ―Expositor’s Bible Commentary
Using the third interpretation again, then some would say the 144,000 will be those (male and female, Jew and Gentile) who either keep out of or come out of such churches and the system, and purify themselves through the pure gospel. This allows for women to be included in the 144,000. This could be possible because no reference to the 144,000 dictates that the firstfruits be entirely male. However, also absent in the Bible is any sense that God would use women to fight. Other than Deborah, Israel’s fighting force as always been comprised of men. To then ask what would be the make-up of God’s Army which is so clearly on display on the second half of the Day of the Lord then has to ascertain whether God would be “enlightened” in the modern sense of secular politics today and include women, or is He chauvinistic? The question can be turned around: is the person insisting upon a male army chauvinistic, or is the person insisting upon an integrated force being politically correct?
The only interpretations which have to be rejected are the ones which insist the 144,000 represent the Remnant. There is not enough in number to count as being the third of the Jewish nation which are brought through the end-times. This would also reject any notion that the 144,000 are evangelical missionaries as well. Since the 144,000 remain with Christ throughout, there is no possibility for a blanket caucusing of the Jewish nation.
Working upwards from the Bible, these conclusions are rightfully established: the 144,000 are not necessarily Jewish; they are the Firstfruits of the Harvest; they follow Christ wherever He goes; and they are pure. These facts point to the denotation of the Spiritual Israel sought by God where people worship in spirit rather than just limiting these young men to be only from the physical nation of Israel. But to answer whether men alone or called, is a circular aspect to what the 144,000 do. As mentioned just before: How would God make up His Army?
REV 14:1
Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.
The tie-in with the sixth Seal of the Seal/Scroll chronology is evident here with the 144,000 now sealed and ready. This is another marker which shows the parallel nature of the Seal/Scroll chronology of Revelation chapters 4-11 (exclusive of the side bar account of 11:1-13), which acts as a broad overview, and the subsequent, detailed account of the one ‘seven’ in Revelation chapters 13-16 inclusive.
The image of Jesus standing on a hill like the Mount of Olives paints an illustration of Him with many. This image is not the only time Jesus can be said to be on a hilltop with many people. In Isaiah, the Lord musters an army on a hilltop. This is the same image portrayed in Revelation 14. Thus, Isaiah 13 acts as a multiple account to the same event:
ISA 13:2
Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,
shout to them;
beckon to them
to enter the gates of the nobles.
ISA 13:3
I have commanded my holy ones;
I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath--
those who rejoice in my triumph.
ISA 13:4
Listen, a noise on the mountains,
like that of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations massing together!
The LORD Almighty is mustering
an army for war.
ISA 13:5
They come from faraway lands,
from the ends of the heavens--
the LORD and the weapons of his wrath--
to destroy the whole country.
ISA 13:6
Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
Isaiah 13 is married by Isaiah’s parallel account in 5:26.
ISA 5:26
He lifts up a banner for the distant nations,
he whistles for those at the ends of the earth.
Here they come,
swiftly and speedily!
In Isaiah 13, the opening of the banner raised on the bare hilltop fits a very literal sense to the Mount of Olives. It is upon that summit that Jesus returns as prophesized in Zechariah 14:4 and Acts 1:11. Jesus gave the key event of the Sun/moon/star sign in the Olivet Discourse to identify His coming on the clouds with the Day of the Lord. That same event is evidenced in the Seal chronology of Revelation 6. Again, Isaiah 13 agrees with Zechariah 14:4 and Revelation 14:1. Indeed, the final fact given in this passage and repeated later in Isaiah chapter 13 proclaims the Day of the Lord. The conclusion drawn here then is that all describe the same event which happens on the Day of the Lord.
Furthermore, these warriors being raised in Isaiah 13 are for God’s army. They along with the Lord will carry out God’s Wrath. For Israel, the Day of the Lord expresses calamities which befall Israel. One of these calamities is battle. This agrees with another depiction of an army in Joel. The Lord, who is Jesus, tramples out His Wrath on Israel on the Day of the Lord. Revelation 14:4 dictates that the 144,000 stay alongside the Lamb. On the Day of the Lord, there is also an army which acts as God’s Wrath. Therefore, these 144,000 being summoned are warriors; they are God’s Army.
To deflect criticism, the NIV does not provide a concise translation of the original Hebrew and inserts “multitude” for ‘people’ in Isaiah 13:4. The NASB or KJV translations do a proper job here as before with Joel. While the NIV is used for ease of reading, it is not the best word-for-word English version because it attempts to render the Hebrew and Greek on a thought-for-thought basis. However the noise on the mountains in Isaiah 13:4 may well reflect a multiple account of the 144,000 on Mount Zion with the Lamb as they sing a new song.
Another interesting fact about the group and the 144,000 being of the same type as the Harvest is that there is a distinct duality to their origin. They come from faraway lands and the end of the heavens. The first would indicate living individuals, while the second would necessitate a mustering from the spiritual realm beyond this life. The language of Isaiah is very similar to what Jesus uses for the Elect in the Olivet Discourse:
ISA 13:5
They come from faraway lands,
from the ends of the heavens--
MT 24:31
And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Recalling that Elect is used throughout the New Testament as a synonym for the Church, this gathering of the Elect reflects the Church. The imagery preceding this particular verse is replicated in Revelation 14 with the Harvest as Jesus appears on the clouds just as Jesus said He would in Matthew 24:30. Therefore, while this army being mustered in Isaiah 13 has the same kind of origins as the Elect, the actual gathering here is for the Harvest, not the mustering upon the barren hilltop.
However, since the 144,000 are Firstfruits to the Harvest, and that indicates of a like kind, then as Holy Ones as Isaiah proclaims in 13:3, the army being mustered is out of the book of Life. The army being mustered contains those Holy Ones who are alive at the time which necessitates that they believe in Christ first (and thus precludes this segment from being Jewish in the strictest sense) and adds to them those from Paradise, the first realm of Heaven from where the dead in Christ are resurrected. So not only are the Firstfruits like the Elect being of the same kind, they are called forth in the same manner.
This actually can unite Jew and Gentile. The first Resurrection raises the dead in Christ as Paul taught in 1st Corinthians. As covered in the first Chapter, the dead come from the first Heaven, Paradise. This would allow then for Old Testament Saints to be raised up as well as New Testament Saints. Each group would be selected by God as being worthy to be included in the Book of Life at that moment when the Rapture commences. However, for the living, those that come from faraway lands as with the mustered army or the four corners of the earth for the Elect, the only qualification to be counted Holy during the Church Age would be to be a believer in Christ Jesus first. So in both groups, the 144,000 and the Elect, Jesus would unite Jew and Gentile in accordance with Isaiah 49:6. In addition, the rescue of God’s people would also start with Israel of old and proceed to the Gentile Church in accordance with Romans 2:10.
In connecting the 144,000 to the role they play, the chronology of the Day of the Lord must be accelerated to a time beyond the moment being examined. During the second half of the Day of the Lord, Jesus tramples His Wrath out upon the Land. As a principle of God’s plan following Romans 2:9, this happens first in Israel as God cleanses the Land so as to use it as a Rock to smash the nations (Zec 12:3). This leads to some interesting scenes in Old Testament prophecy:
JOEL 2:1
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming.
It is close at hand--
JOEL 2:2
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was of old
nor ever will be in ages to come.
JOEL 2:3
Before them fire devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
behind them, a desert waste--
nothing escapes them.
JOEL 2:4
They have the appearance of horses;
they gallop along like cavalry.
JOEL 2:5
With a noise like that of chariots
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
JOEL 2:6
At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;
every face turns pale.
JOEL 2:7
They charge like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,
not swerving from their course.
JOEL 2:8 T
hey do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
JOEL 2:9
They rush upon the city;
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;
like thieves they enter through the windows.
JOEL 2:10
Before them the earth shakes,
the sky trembles,
the sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
JOEL 2:11
The LORD thunders
at the head of his army;
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty are those who obey his command.
The day of the LORD is great;
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?
The facts contained within this chapter identify it as belonging to the Day of the Lord. The day is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, just as was seen in describing the signs surrounding the Day of the Lord. The sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine just as Jesus described in the Olivet Discourse. Indeed, Joel declares the Day of the Lord is coming from the onset of the vision.
While commentaries assign this horde as originating with the Assyrians in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C., verse 2 identifies it as being as specific and unique as the time of the Great Tribulation: it is not to be repeated. Certainly Israel is scourged by the nations God sent against her again with the Babylonians and later the Greeks and Romans. So to say Joel 2 is only near-term prophecy to his age is refuted by this clause. In addition, mentioning aspects of the Day of the Lord cement this as being far-term prophecy concerning the end times.
A second particular fact of this prophetic vision which has application to the 144,000 is the calling forth of them from Mount Zion. This aligns with Jesus’ paraousia upon the Mount of Olives as delineated in the sequence of events surrounding the Day of the Lord. It also aligns perfectly with the image John conveys in Revelation 14:1; the 144,000 are arrayed with Jesus on Mount Zion. At this point, Joel 2:1 acts as a multiple account to Revelation 14:1 in that they describe the same event but from different authors and perspectives.
This passage describes the coming array in military terms. “They gallop along like cavalry,” they sound “like that of chariots,” “they all march,” “like soldiers” and “like warriors.” Twice Joel identifies them outright as an army, and at the head of this army Joel places the Lord. The previous fact from Revelation 14:4 is in perfect congruence whereby the 144,000 follow Jesus wherever He goes. The army Joel describes is following the Lord. Therefore the 144,000 must by definition be in the army of the Lord.
The NIV translation of the Lord’s army as beyond number could lead some to say this force is comparable to the Great Multitude, but the original language does not dictate such a translation. The double emphasis of much could indicate a hyperbole for how great the Lord’s army is. Indeed, the KJV and the NASB translate the phrase as God’s “camp is very great.”
Viewing the 144,000 as making up God’s Army would also be in accordance with the display of God’s power. Just as God didn’t need over 30,000 troops under Gideon’s command, or even 20,000, but could rout tens of thousands of Midianites with only 300 Israelis equipped with torches, jars, and trumpets; so too does God not need literally billions of souls to take back the earth from the nations. In this case, only 144,000 could take on millions, even hundreds of millions.
This idea goes against the Post-Tribulation view which usually incorporates everyone coming back with Jesus. To need billions would take away from the power of Christ. In Jude, the author speaks of a time when God’s Wrath will avenge the righteous as it judges the wicked. Here is an ancient view of the Lord coming back to punish the wicked:
JUDE 1:14
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones
Absent is a Great Multitude of souls. Indeed, there is no indication the Lord presses His Bride into conscript. Rather, the Bride is reserved for celebration and union. However, a small cadre of elite troops from across the spectrum of time from ancient Israel through the Church Age to include some still living made up of young men who exemplify righteousness would form an excellent nexus to follow the Lamb wherever He goes and be agents of His Wrath.
In the scene of the last parallel account within Revelation starting with chapter 19, a Great Multitude is heard cheering on Jesus and His Army as they prepare to go forth to battle at Armageddon. This too would allow the 144,000 to be the Army as the majority of saved souls from the Harvest remain in Heaven. The Church is the Bride of Christ, and while not politically correct, women do not fight in war in the Bible (although in isolated instances they can lead men to war, as a rule, women are not equipped, nor strong enough to fight in war and are left at home behind the front lines). The 144,000 on the other hand, are prime fighting material for the Lord, and as such, it is this author’s opinion that they are limited to being men only.
The Firstfruits march with the Lord’s Army. While this may be a form of circular argument; to complete the interpretation of just who the 144,000 must include the fact that Jesus has an Army which goes with Him to fight on the Day of the Lord and at Armageddon at the end of the one ‘seven.’ Coupled with the fact that they go wherever the Lamb goes necessitates that the 144,000 are part of that Army. Indeed, the argument presented here would say the 144,000 are that Army and Jesus needs no other. As a fighting force, like the Elders before God, the Disciples taking on the world before, and the 300 with Gideon, these Firstfruits are men.
___________________________________
3 Angels
The three Angels are important in God’s Plan of Salvation/Redemption. They cover the earth and make three pronouncements:
1. the Gospel message: the last call for Salvation,
2. absent that, the determination of guilt, and
3. consequence: Judgment
In Zechariah 3, the removal of sin from Jesus takes place in a Court setting. In Daniel 7, the prophet relates specifically that God’s Court sits. God sets the rules for witnesses, requiring two or more to set a matter – a legal ruling. In the legal realm, the Angels act as God’s voice, telling the guilty that they have been judged. The pronouncements of the three Angels therefore cover the legal necessities of God the Father as Judge of the world.
“Then I saw…” The Angels do not constitute another linear narrative within the book of Revelation. It is another scene within the detailed parallel account that chapters 13 through 16 represent. This portion changes scene but not focus; it just describes what the Angels say from a worldwide vantage. Chapters 14 through 16 detail God’s response to the midpoint abomination. And while the Angels do pronounce certain facts, because of the nature of the verb tense in the Greek, they cannot be read as happening at that exact moment. The events the Angels describe are “summary occurrences” and as such, can be past, present or future. Once God pronounces sentence, that end result is absolutely certain; nothing can change it. Therefore, while reading the English version that Babylon the Great (megas) is fallen – its “fall” does not happen until later as specifically delineated the account.
The Angels’ pronouncements also give reason for other aspects of the end-times from parallel and multiple accounts. The Angels’ pronouncement of God’s imminent Judgment makes the wicked people hide underground in the previous broad overview of the end-times in the Seal/Scroll chronology. While commentators pinpoint the start of God’s Wrath because that is the first instance in which the word is used by John, it is important to note that it is not strictly John who pronounces God’s Wrath is coming. John only reports what the wicked say. It is the wicked who say God’s Wrath is coming because they heard the Angels as well. However, rather than repent, still in rebellion, they hide fearing for their own lives because all they care about is that God is indeed coming for them. The wicked people’s statement in the sixth Seal that God’s Wrath is not a statement of action being taken upon them: it is only their faulty conclusion based on their own self-interest. They don’t care about anyone but themselves and their understanding of God’s plan is not only severely limited, it is extremely faulty as well; they have no understanding about what Jesus really is going to do at His parousia at that moment.
In regards to multiple accounts, Jesus gives us the Great Commission in the Olivet Discourse:
MT 28:19
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus also sets its fulfillment as a precursor for the ‘end’ of the ‘age:’
MT 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
This establishes a sequence-of-events between the final Gospel message the Angels carry as an event and the end which is not defined as the total end (as in the one ‘seven’), but an end of an era or time.
The Church cannot fulfill this prophecy, because the Church cannot completely fulfill the Great Commission. Although caring attempts certainly have been made by various Christians and Christian organizations, an Angel actually fulfills what the Church cannot possibly perform. This is not the fault of the Church; it is simply impossible for any human effort to completely reach everyone who has yet and still needs to hear the Gospel message.
REV 14:6
Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth ― to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7
He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Notice in the parallel account of the one ‘seven’ in Revelation chapters 13 through 16, that the fulfillment of the Great Commission comes after the Great Tribulation described in Revelation chapter 13, but right before the Harvest in the parallel account of the one ‘seven’ in Revelation chapter 14. The timing is critical because people are constantly being born. Past efforts neglect new souls who were born after those campaigns. It is literally impossible for man to satisfy the Great Commission, which does not lessen Jesus’ command that each Christian witness. However, only God has the ability to make a world-wide appeal in every language with divine power right before Jesus comes on the clouds so that no one can miss the Gospel message. This adds a second witness to the testimony of the Angel: it is a message from God. God will provide a way for all those He knows will come to Him even though they could never hear the Gospel message otherwise.
“The hour has come,” is, like the “fallen” of Babylon is in the aorist tense, indicative mood, and active voice. This is the nature of the pronouncement. The aorist tense has no equal in English. It describes a summary occurrence without regard to the time it takes to accomplish. Secondly, being in the indicative mood, the second Angel merely makes a pronouncement, a statement of fact of an actual occurrence. The truthfulness of the statement is from the writer's or speaker's perspective. Thirdly, the verb is in the active voice rather than be a passive description of something which has happened. What is not yet named is the actor who advances the action.
Although now stipulated explicitly, since this first Angel comes after the 144,000 but before the Harvest – the timing can be firmly pegged as happening on the Day of the Lord. Jesus states this fact in the Olivet Discourse. It is at the time of the sun/moon/star event that He comes on the clouds, which is the same image presented with the Harvest. The first Angel acts as a last call to the world as God extends His Grace to all who would receive His gift of Salvation through His Son, Christ Jesus.
As the last day of the Church Age is rapidly approaching, this is the last chance any normal being will have to escape the coming Wrath. Many peoples outside of the Kingdom of the North will accept this miraculous pronouncement of the Gospel and believe. Those of the East, in the Orient, bereft of a Judeo-Christian foundation will find solace in the Words and will believe. Some in the South, controlled by pagan and satanic religions will likewise, having a heart for God, convert in a moment, and without having to weather persecution which would otherwise wilt their newfound joy.
Furthermore, while people are being saved at the very last moment, the wicked are hearing that their time is up. So while they hide in their lairs, they quake in fear knowing God’s Judgment is about to befall them. This explains why the wicked speak of God’s “wrath” as coming while they are hiding in their liars in the parallel account of the sixth Seal in that chronology: they heard the first Angel as well. However, they still reject the Gospel message.
REV 14:8
A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."
A cursory reading in English of verse 8 seems to produce a pronouncement by the second Angel that Babylon has fallen. Reading “fallen” as a past participle in English, leads to the conclusion that a simple act has occurred and Babylon is no more. However, the word “fallen” in the Greek describes a totally different circumstance.
First of all, like the ‘hour has come,’ the lexical word for “fallen” is in the aorist tense, indicative mood, and active voice. Again, this tense has no equal in English. It describes a summary occurrence without regard to the time it takes to accomplish. Secondly, and yet again, being in the indicative mood, the second Angel pronounces a statement of fact of an actual occurrence. And likewise thirdly, the verb is in the active voice, so rather than be a passive description of something which has come upon Babylon and ruined it, the second Angel is saying Babylon actively falls. Again, the actor who fells Babylon is not mentioned. The second Angel is not telling a story of how Babylon fell, or will fall; just that its accomplishment is a statement of fact: a pronouncement.
The fallen nature of Babylon may very well indicate the depths this form of man-worship has sunk. The depth unto which Babylon has fallen is described in the detailed second parallel account of Revelation 17-18:
"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!
She has become a home for demons
and a haunt for every evil spirit,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.
REV 18:3
For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."
Note here that the Angel of Revelation 18 is not describing a city that has been wiped out, or fallen in physical ruin because of war. Rather, the fallen nature of Babylon comes as a list of her sins and generally depraved nature. Likewise the exhortation to God’s people is come out of Babylon and not to share in her sins or punishment because there will be a day for God’s Wrath to fall upon Babylon and she will be ruined. However, that day has not yet arrived. Like the first Angel, an impending sense of doom for the wicked naturally results from hearing that God’s Judgment is coming.
In the overall context of the book of Revelation, John is telling a story. The storytelling has not shifted to the second Angel; nor has the second Angel become an actor in the story to bring down Babylon megas. In the context of the sequence-of-events, at the midpoint abomination which causes ‘who is like God’ to arise, from Daniel 7:10: The court was seated, and the books were opened. God has pronounced Judgment and that decision is read to the guilty party before sentencing begins. The sentencing results in the removal of the wicked from God’s Kingdom first by their death, and then by their total elimination from existence in the Lake of Fire after the second Resurrection which occurs after the Millennium.
REV 14:9
A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10
he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11
And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."
At this time, Jesus has not yet gathered the Elect from the face of the Earth. Up until Jesus comes, the Great Tribulation with its two terrible laws (worship the image(s) of the beast or die, and take the mark of the beast or don’t buy or sell) have been in effect. This condition is still belaboring God’s people. Like the example of the five wise virgins of Matthew 25:1-13, God’s people must remain faithful until the last moment.
While the example of the five foolish virgins can be said to be a figurative parable to keep faith (oil), it can also aptly describe the great turmoil which will be foisted upon those who are Christians to maintain their vigilance in the face of real and physical discomfort and need. With supplies stretched or run out, it would be exceedingly foolish to run out, accept the mark of the beast so as to buy something one thinks they need and in so doing lose their eternal salvation by a demonstration that their faith could produce not even a seed of patient endurance.
12
This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.
Patient endurance, hupomonē, was required for the Church during the first half of the one ‘seven’ in Revelation 13:10. Now, at the end of the Church age, it is still required until the Rapture actually happens for those who are alive and are left. As Jesus said of
hupomonē during the end-times in Luke 21:19:
By standing firm you will gain life.
This “standing firm” (
hupomonē) is not a stubborn resistance, but another way of expressing the endurance Christians must exhibit from their faith. This display of endurance, as Paul informs the Thessalonians, “is inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Th 1:3). This is a faith that works.
In exercising patient endurance, there is no need to win the race ― that is, to get to the finish line of Jesus’ actual
parousia. The overriding factor for the Christian is to keep the faith, not to stay alive. It matters little to scrape by and manage to see the blessed event only to be left behind and suffer God’s Wrath because that person accepted the mark of the beast or worshipped his image(s). Better to lose your life and keep it for eternity than that. The parables following the Olivet Discourse (Mt 24:45-25:30) all speak of the need for the follower of Christ to remain faithful up to and including the time of the bridegroom’s return.
