Revelation 34

He sends us out to fulfill mighty tasks that are well beyond our capacity but yet His presence makes them possible. 

In the days of the seventh trumpet, an intense series of events will unfold. Israel will be delivered by the second exodus, The elect will be raptured and the dead resurrected. The enemy will be defeated and Jerusalem liberated. And the Kingdom of our Lord will be established on the earth.

But the first four trumpet judgements have only brought partial devastation. God in His mercy still offers the hope and promise of redemption to those who repent from their ways. 

One has the feeling here that God is kicking away the struts that support the world itself. And it will get even worse. 

Some will argue, perhaps with good reason, that the trumpet judgements are simply God allowing the natural greed of man to destroy his environment and suffer the consequences of his evil ways.

The silence of half-an-hour marks a moment of dreadful intensity before the outpouring of the trumpet judgements that will have such a devastating effect upon this earth.

God will watch and observe how individuals, churches, and the nations of this world will react to the plight of the Jewish nation during the tribulation. Many will distance themselves from Israel for fear of being identified with them. And many will take them in and protect them, even though they endanger themselves. 

The tribulation will undoubtedly bring great food shortages, as the end-time beast imposes his strangle-hold upon the Middle East.  Life in exile or under siege will be hard  indeed. But yet the tribulation will serve its purpose and when it is brought to its end the Lord will be there to gather his children and bring them to safety.

The great multitude, dressed in their white robes of salvation,  stand before God who is seated upon the throne and for ever and a day we will give thanks for this salvation that we did not deserve but that has been achieved by the Lamb upon the cross.

This past week we have explored the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and I just love the faithfulness of God towards His beloved children, sealing andThis past week we have explored the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and I just love the faithfulness of God towards His beloved children, sealing and protecting them through the days ahead. And they are just the first-fruits!

But for me, the main message here is that God has chosen a number of Israelites, 144,000,that they are the first-fruits of many others, that they are sealed by salvation into Christ Jesus and they will be protected by their faithful Father.

The 144,000 are the first-fruits: they go ahead of the multitude of Israelites who will wonderfully receive Christ Jesus as their Messiah when he returns in power and glory.

One of the most valuable lessons to understand when reading Revelation is to approach it simply, without being too clever. If it says that the 144,000 are from all the tribes of Israel then that is exactly who they are!

The four winds describe the trumpet judgements of chapters eight and nine of Revelation.But yet four angels are posted to keep these winds blowing until God decrees that the right time has arrived. These judgements will bring immense chaos and disorder to this world yet God is in sovereign control. 

So the end-time sequence of Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 are the same: the tribulation, then the disturbances then the return of Christ. Once again we see that Revelation 6 runs remarkably parallel with the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24.

Many have argued, quite rightly, that Revelation chapter six runs remarkably parallel with the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24. Therefore, the cosmological disturbances of Matthew 24:29-30 are one and the same with the cosmological disturbances of Revelation 6:12-15. Both mark the exact same point in time.

Fallen man has always preferred to deny the existence of God, hoping in vain, that they will somehow escape his wrath. But the cosmological disturbances, the darkened sun, blood-red moon and falling stars, have concentrated their minds and they are forced to recognise His throne and His wrath.