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Readings in the Book of
The Revelation
We have seen the “type” prophecies of two “woes”:
the first was (is to be) a long war between religions;
the second was (is to be) a difference between those in the sanctuary and those in the courtyard, shown by their actions.
Now it’s time to look at the third and last “woe”.
We were told previously, “In the days of the voice [trumpet] of the seventh angel, when he shall BEGIN to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He has declared to His servants the prophets”. Revelation 10:7. We have come to that time in our reading.
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Revelation 11:
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our LORD, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever”.
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This is that time which we have been calling the close of human probation, the time when the preaching of the offer of mercy stops because no one in the whole world will choose to accept it anymore. (God never gives up of His own accord, but when He is rejected completely He must stop trying!) We, as individuals, may not necessarily be aware that the worldwide time has come because it will simply be that there is no interest (except maybe argument) in those around us.
Here are some texts on that “mystery”:
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Mark 4:
11 And He said to them, “To you [in the church] it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but to them that are without, all these things are done in parables” . . .
Romans 16:
25 Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began [a mystery is an unsearched-out truth], 26 but now is made manifest [the fact that God has no favourites], and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith . . .
1 Corinthians 2:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world to our glory: 8 which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the LORD of glory . . .
Ephesians 1:
9 Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself: 10 that in the dispensation of the fulness of times [the last dispensation] He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him . . .
Colossians 1:
25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints: 27 to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is “Christ in you”, the hope of glory: 28 whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus . . .
1 Timothy 3:
16 And without controversy [without argument] great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
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These words should be sufficient for us to realise what He meant when He said, “the mystery of God should be finished”. At the sounding of the trumpet “the dispensation of the gospel” will cease, and be taken over by “the dispensation of the fullness of times”.
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Revelation 11:
16 And the twenty-four elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 17 saying, “We give You thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which are, and were, and are to come; because You have taken to You Your great power, and have reigned.
18a “And the nations WERE angry,
and Your wrath IS come, [note the tense]
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The voices in heaven say, “God and His Son have taken back their lost earth”, starting with the resurrected people. Many lines of prophecy meet at this point and those who were watching the unrolling of the scroll now make reference to this. The church/state combinations have done their worst and the sealed saints of God have come through their test with flying colours. All the universe knows now that what God has said about a man being more precious than fine gold is absolutely true. Isaiah 13:12.
The elders refer to the fact that God’s “wrath” is come, because the seven last plagues have begun to fall. But “the precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold . . .” are being protected during these seven LAST plagues. Lamentations 4:2. The fact that they are called the LAST plagues makes it evident that there were others before them. Jesus told us, “Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and PESTILENCES, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows”. Matthew 24:7-8.
Therefore the last seven will not necessarily be seen for what they are, the “wrath” of God, by either the rejecters or the saints of God, until just before the advent. But His protection will have been totally removed by the action of the rejecters and there will be nothing that He can do for them. This will be a small taste of the time when “The wine of the wrath of God . . . is poured out without [the] mixture [of mercy] into the cup of His indignation . . .” Revelation 14:10. From this point on there is no hope for any of the rejecters for they will not change their minds.
In the following texts the LORD makes the distinction between those who have suffered for His cause, and those who have turned away from Him.
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Psalm 75:
7 God is the Judge: He puts down one, and sets up another. 8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture [of mercy for one group]; and He pours out of the same [for them]: but the dregs thereof [that which is without mercy], all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
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Now that the second period of persecution is nearly over the LORD says:
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Isaiah 51:
22 Thus says your LORD the LORD, and your God that pleaded the cause of His people, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of My fury; you shall no more drink it again: 23 but I will put it into the hand of them that afflict you; which have said to your soul, ‘Bow down, that we may go over [you]: and you have laid your body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over’.”
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They have nearly passed through that period which is known as “Jacob’s trouble”. There is only a little of it left, although they do not know that. Like their Saviour who went through the agonies of Gethsemane before the crucifixion to receive His crown, they must suffer a little longer in their acceptance of His will.
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Matthew 26:
38 Then said He to them, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even to death: tarry you here, and watch with Me”. 39 And He went a little farther, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as You will”.
40 And He comes to the disciples, and finds them asleep, and said to Peter, “What, could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak”.
42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Your will be done.
43 And He came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
44 And He left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then comes He to His disciples, and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners”.
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Revelation 11:
18b and the time of the dead [has come], that they should be judged,
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The time of the judgment of the rejecters has arrived, the investigative judgment of the 1,000 years. “And I saw thrones, and they [the saints of God] sat upon them, and judgment was given to 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 [the rejecters] lived not again until the thousand years were finished”. Revelation 20:4-5.
This judgment is not, as many have assumed – a time of condemnation and giving out of sentences – it is an opportunity for the saints to find out why those whom they have known and expected to be in heaven with them, are not there. It is an opportunity to see the countless number of times the LORD has pleaded with the rejecters to accept His gift, and the neglect and outright refusal which met His attempts before their deaths. It is a time to see that God is absolutely just in that He is giving them that which they want – to die rather than exist with Him. “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?’” Revelation 6:15-17. “All they that hate Me love death”. Proverbs 8:36.
The saints of the last generation will also see that their friends and relations had decided fully against Him before the close of probation, even while professing to be Christians, preferring Baal the god of force as their lord.
During that time of judgment there will be many “rewards”:
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Revelation 11:
18c and that You should give reward to Your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Your name, small and great;
and should destroy them which destroy the earth”.
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There is always an “overlap” between dispensations, and at this point the last will have already started, but it really comes into its own after the second advent. That’s why there is to be a special resurrection for those who have died in it. “And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the LORD from henceforth’: Yea, said the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them”. Revelation 14:13.) For more on this see, “It will an age of rewards” in Note 1, or click http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/sanct3.html#work for the full article.
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Revelation 11:
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
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The “ark of His testament” was the box under the throne in the second apartment of the earthly sanctuary. It had two angel attendants and contained the hand-written copy of the Ten Commandments.
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Exodus 25:
10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof [about 3ft 9ins], and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof [just over 2ft], and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 11 And you shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without shall you overlay it, and shall make upon it a crown [frieze] of gold round about . . . 16 And you shall put into the ark the testimony [the Ten Commandments] which I shall give you.
17 And you shall make a Mercy Seat [a seat of mercy] of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof . . . 21 And you shall put the Mercy Seat above upon the ark [as a lid]; and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you.
22 And there I will meet with you, and I will commune with you from above the Mercy Seat [above the throne], from between the two cherubims [angels] which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.
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To see that ark was to look into the second room of the heavenly sanctuary, a place where only the high priest would normally look and enter. When this was (is) displayed for all to see, then there was (will be) a mighty flash and a shout from all the assembled “sons of God” in heaven, and then thunderings, a mighty earthquake and great hail upon the earth, the final plagues.
The two last, last plagues; an earthquake and the hail are as follows:
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Revelation 16:
18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings [in heaven];
and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath [the final three of the seven last plagues]. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent [approx. 56lbs]: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
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We’ll see greater detail about this as we read further into The Revelation, for we have now reached the end of the first section of the book. From the next chapter on we’ll explore a new angle on the future.
Bye for now, Ron
Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library. No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own. Some of these readings are available at http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/BibleReadings/books_index.html
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Note 1. From an article by O. R. L. Crozier
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http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/sanct3.html#work
It will be an age of rewards, "Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God." "Verily, I say unto you, That ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel." Our Father's Kingdom for which we now pray will then have come, when His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It will be "the day of the Lord," "the day of judgment & perdition of ungodly men;" "in which the heavens and earth which are now shall pass away, and the promised New Heavens and earth appear." This identifies "the age to come" with "the times of restitution."
"Apokalaslasis", restoration of any thing to its former state, hence, the introduction of a new and better era;" and "the times of refreshing." "Anapsuxis, refreshing coolness after heat, recreation, rest."
The identity of "the times of restitution" with "The Dispensation of the fulness of times." Ephesians 1:10, is also apparent. As Peter in Acts 3: presents the two cardinal points in the atonement, conversion present, and blotting out of sins future; So Paul in this Epistle, ch. 1:7, says, "in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." At the same time we receive the Holy Spirit of promise, the earnest of our inheritance, verses 13,14, which makes known to us the mystery of his will, "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together all things (on, in, or by,) Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth." [See Condensation]
This gathering is the future object of hope the same as the redemption (deliverance procured by the payment of a ransom) of the purchased possession. Verse 14; The things to be gathered are in heaven and earth. Anakephalaios, signifies to bring or reduce back again under one head. That is, the different and sundered parts of the Kingdom, Capitol and King "in heaven," [and] the subjects and territory "on the earth," are to be redeemed or gathered again into one kingdom under one "Head," of the Son of David, and the Dispensation of the fulness of times is the period in which it is to be done. This is the period of inheritance and follows that of the dispensation of grace, ch. 3:2,6. In it the promises of the covenants in their largest sense will be inherited.
We think it has been shown that the atonement of the Gospel dispensation is the antitype of that made by the priests in their daily service, and that prepared for and made necessary the yearly atonement, and cleansed the Sanctuary and the people from all their sins. It appears like certainty, that the antitypes of the daily ministration of the priests and the vernal types stretch through the Gospel Dispensation; [please notice carefully how Crozier distinguishes two dispensations in the next paragraph].
as that composed but part of the atonement and antitypes we have good reason to believe that the remaining antitype, the autumnal, and the remainder of the atonement, the yearly, will be fulfilled on the same principle as to time and occupy a period or dispensation of at least 1000 years. Back
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