| |
|
The Book of Revelation
Wrath
The scripture
from 1 Thessalonians 5 is often quoted as a "proof" text concerning
a rapture.
1
Thessalonians 5:9 "For God hath not appointed us to wrath,
but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ . . ."
God has appointed
us to salvation! Much of today's thinking concerning "wrath"
comes from reading (actually a shallow reading) of Revelation 16
about the "vials" of wrath. Upon closer examination, however,
it is very easy to see that the Saints will NOT suffer from these
vials of wrath. Let me explain:
Revelation 16:2 says the vial is
poured out "upon the men which had the
mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image."
Upon the Saints? NO. Upon the men who had the mark
and upon the ones who worshipped the image of the beast. Does
this mean there are those who do not worship and who do not have the
mark? That is exactly what this implies! Will
those who do not have the mark and do not worship the image of the
beast have this "wrath" poured on them? Not according to
scripture!
Read the 11th verse: Revelation
16:11 "And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their
pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds."
They still would not repent. Is grace over? Not at all.
Is mercy over? Not at all, for it is most certainly a
time when God is STILL extending a "space of repentance" to men that
they might be saved.
When we examine the words of Jesus in Matthew 24
and when we consider the Children of Israel under God's protection
in Egypt, we should not think that God cannot spare one while
punishing, chastising, or even taking the life of another!
Matthew
24:40-42 "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall
be taken, and the other left. Two
women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be
taken, and the other left. Watch
therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."
I'm well aware that these are scriptures that
have been used to try to explain a rapture, but they have been
rather "misused" and misunderstood instead. One taken: One
left. Does that imply that God CANNOT spare one and take one
even if they were working side by side? If you believe that my
friend, then you must not believe ALL the scriptures.
Exodus 12:29
"And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh
that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that
was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle."
What about the 2nd born, 3rd, etc? They
were in the same household were they not? Sure they were.
Were they killed as well? No, they were not. Would the
children of Israel also been affected except for the blood?
Sure they would, but they had the blood applied! Is God able
to take one and spare another even if they sitting on the same sofa?
Sure he is. He is God!
Examine one more passage that has far reaching
ramifications and is quite damaging to the "pre tribulation rapture"
theory.
We read verse 11 of Revelation chapter 16 which
mentioned repentance. In the 15th verse, we have the
warning IN THE MIDST OF THE EVENTS to "Watch". This is the
exact same warning Jesus gave from the beginning. Watch,
because I AM coming.
Revelation
16:15 "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that
watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they
see his shame."
Friends, the church is going NOWHERE until the
last trumpet, just as the bible declares from the beginning of it's
pages.
Now, allow me to
return to the Revelation teaching! Beginning back in Chapter 4 at
verse 3:
Revelation 4:3
“And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone:
and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto
an emerald.”
John is given a
glorious experience in this 4th chapter of Revelation.
John finds himself at the throne of God. It is of great
significance to note that John sees ONE throne. Revelation 4:2:
“And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne
was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.” (How many is
“A”? How many is “one”?) This gives us something to think about.
John saw exactly
what Ezekiel and Daniel saw! John records in the 3rd
verse the description of the throne and its immediate surroundings:
Revelation 4:3
“And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine
stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in
sight like unto an emerald.”
Ezekiel 1:26-28
“And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness
of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the
likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a
man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the
appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his
loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even
downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had
brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in
the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the
brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of
the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I
heard a voice of one that spake.”
Daniel 7:9 “I
beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days
did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his
head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame,
and his wheels as burning fire.”
Verse 4
continues: “And round about the throne were four and twenty seats:
and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in
white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.” We
then have a description of the throne and its immediate surroundings
in verses 5-6.
The question is
often asked: “Who are these Elders”? That is a somewhat difficult
question to answer and it is much easier to explain who they are
not!
It is often
stated that these elders were “raptured” and were part of the
catching away of the church (this goes hand in hand with the
discussion of verses 1-2 of this 4th chapter.
I must completely
disagree with the supposition that these elders are Saints of God
who are “caught up” at the coming of Jesus. Let me give you my
reasons.
One of the main
reasons is simply the nature of the comparisons made in the Book of
Revelation. These elders are never represented as being anything
other than what they are: 24 Elders. In nearly every single
passage of scripture that uses symbolism, the symbolism is also
explained. Do you NOT believe that? Take a look at these verses:
Daniel 7:17 “These
great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall
arise out of the earth.”
Daniel 7:23
“Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon
earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall
devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in
pieces.”
Daniel 7:24 “And
the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall
arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse
from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.”
Daniel 8:20-22 “The
ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media
and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and
the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four
kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his
power.”
Revelation 1:20
“The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand,
and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels
of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou
sawest are the seven churches.”
Revelation 4:5
“And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and
voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the
throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.”
Revelation
17:9-12 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads
are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are
seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet
come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the
beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the
seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou
sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but
receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Revelation 17:15
And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the
whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and
tongues.
Revelation 17:18
And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which
reigneth over the kings of the earth.
There is never
any explanation that these elders were anything other than what they
are described to be. Elders.
Even when we read
of the great multitude that no man can number (Revelation 7:14) we
have an explanation of just who they are: “And I said unto him,
Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came
out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb”. There is no such explanation
for these elders. We already know from the bible that Moses and
Elijah appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. We know
Enoch was taken to heaven and we know that Abraham is there (Luke 16
tells us so).
Is it so hard to
believe that others could be there as well? Perhaps there are some
of the Saints of Matthew 27:50-54 that are numbered among these
elders? The truth is, we just don’t have a lot of information
telling us exactly who they are.
It is quite often
suggested that these elders are “raptured” saints. There is a grave
error in suggesting this avenue of approach.
We are told that
we will receive immortality and eternal life
AFTER Jesus returns. 1
Corinthians 51-54 tells us this. Revelation 20:4-5 is very clear
concerning the FIRST Resurrection. The question then remains: If
there is a first resurrection, are there others to follow (there
are, but we will cover this later)? If these are “raptured”
Saints, when were they raptured? They were already on thrones when
John got there. Read Revelation 20:4-5: “And I saw thrones, and
they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the
souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for
the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither
his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in
their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand
years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand
years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”
If the first
resurrection consists of those “which had not worshipped the
beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their
foreheads, or in their hands”, then these elders CANNOT have
been part of that first resurrection since at this point in the
scriptures, the Antichrist has not even been revealed!
Revelation 6:11
also poses a problem since the martyred saints are included in the
FIRST resurrection. If the elders on the thrones were “raptured
saints”, then the martyrs of Revelation 6:11 would have been
included in heaven since the martyrs cry out after the
opening of the 5th seal. Now, I ask you: At the point
John sees the elders, has the 5th seal been opened? Not
at all. In fact, John doesn’t even know anything about a seal!
Another issue
with the “raptured elder” theory:
Revelation 4:4
states these elders were clothed in white raiment and had “crowns
of gold” on their heads. What does the bible say about crowns?
We know the redeemed will receive crowns, but what kind?
We do not read
anywhere in the Word of God that the Redeemed of the Lord will ever
receive crowns of GOLD. We do read the following verses concerning
crowns:
1 Corinthians
9:25: Incorruptible Crown
1 Thessalonians
2:19: Crown of Rejoicing
2 Timothy
4:8: Crown of Righteousness
James 1:12:
Crown of Life
1 Peter 5:4:
Crown of Glory
Revelation 2:10:
Crown of Life
These elders had
crowns of gold, not crowns such as the saved are given. In
Revelation 7:13 the elders are quite obviously separate from the
rest of the redeemed people.
These elders
could not have been “raptured” at this point! Who are they? There
is no specific information to give us a clear answer. Could they be
12 Apostles (NT) plus 12 Patriarchs of Israel (OT)? I suppose they
could be. Could they be 24 godly men we’ve never heard of? I
suppose they could be. Could they be those of the “firstfruits”
mentioned in Matthew 27? They could be. There is no clear answer,
however to who they really are, but one thing is certain: They do
not fit the description of “raptured, redeemed” saints.
Revelation 4:6-9
gives us a description of four beasts around the throne.
The first beast
was “Like a Lion”.
Second Beast
“Like a Calf”.
Third had a face
“Face as a Man”.
Fourth “Like a
Flying Eagle”.
It is not immediately clear why these beasts are the way they are,
but they
COULD
(and I stress ‘could’... read that as just one opinion) represent
All wild beasts
of prey; (like a Lion)
All domestic
animals, (like a Calf)
All humankind
(Face as a man)
All the fowls of
the air (Like an Eagle)
The
understanding of
such thinking concerning symbology would be that these are simply the highest order of
their “kind”, for example:
The Lion is king
of the Wild Beasts
The Calf is king
of Domestic Animals
The Human is king
of the Earth
The Fowls are
king of the Air
In this
rendering, we would see that they represent Every living creature on
the earth that now gives God glory!
This is, of
course my opinion, but I have no other explanation for it. I have
often been asked about the “fish”. Don’t dismay: Read Genesis 1:20
very closely and you’ll find your answer. The waters brought forth
what?
In the remaining
verses of chapter 4, (verses 10, and 11), we see the elders casting
their crowns before the throne and we see glory and honour given to
God.
Α Ω
|
|
|
 |
Website by:
T. L. Tuberville
|
