/ / 1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb Isaiah 59:19-20 So shall they Hebrews 12:22-23 But ye are come "they sung as it were a new song / stood on the mount Zion, and with fear the name of the Lord from unto mount Zion, and unto the before the throne" / him a hundred forty and four thou- the west, and his glory from city of the living God, the The 144,000 have been gathered / sand, having his Father's name the rising sun. When the enemy heavenly Jerusalem, and to an by the Lamb on Zion following the / written in their foreheads. shall come in like a flood, the innumerable company of angels, trumpet judgments and now they / Spirit of the Lord shall lift To the general assembly and appear before the heavenly throne. / up a standard against him. church of the firstborn, which They rejoice in their redemption / And the Redeemer shall come are written in heaven,... the as they have overcome the decept- / to Zion, ... spirits of just men made perfect, ions of the beast and the false / 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, Psalms 33:1-3 Rejoice in the Ephesians 5:18-20 ...be filled with prophet. They have not been / as the voice of many waters, and Lord, O ye righteous: for the Spirit; corrupted by the fornications of / as the voice of a great thunder: praise is comely for the Speaking to yourselves in psalms the world systems that tend to / and I heard the voice of harpers upright. and hymns and spiritual songs, lead one into idolatry, sexual / harping with their harps: Praise the Lord with harp: singing and making melody in your impurity and false teachings. As / 3 And they sung as it were a new sing unto him with the psaltery heart to the Lord; firstfruits they would seem to / song before the throne, and before and an instrument of ten Giving thanks always for all represent the first of many Israel- / the four beasts, and the elders: strings. things unto God and the Father in ites who will be redeemed during / and no man could learn that song Sing unto him a new song; play the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; the last days. Have they been / but the hundred and forty and skillfully with a loud noise. I Thessalonians 3:13 To the end he resurrected? Unfortunately we are / four thousand, which were redeemed Isaiah 35:10 And the ransomed of may stablish your hearts unblam- not told so! They had been sealed / from the earth. the Lord shall return, and come able in holiness before God, to the Lamb, but we do not know / 4 These are they which were not to Zion with songs and ever- II Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous for a fact that this means that / defiled with women; for they are lasting joy upon their heads: over you with godly jealousy: they had been spared the pains of / virgins. These are they which they shall obtain joy and glad- for I have espoused you to one an earthly death. As redeemed of / follow the Lamb whithersoever he ness, and sorrow and sighing husband, that I may present you as the Lamb they are without fault / goeth. These were redeemed from shall flee away. a chaste virgin to Christ. when they appear before the / among men, being the firstfruits Malachi 2:6 The law of truth was James 1:18 Of his own will begat he heavenly throne no matter what / unto God and to the Lamb. in his mouth, and iniquity was us with the word of truth, that we their faults on earth may have / 5 And in their mouth was found not found in his lips: he walk- should be a kind of firstfruits been. / no guile: for they are without ed with me in peace and equity, of his creatures. / fault before the throne of God. and did turn many away from Ephesians 5:26-27 That he might "having the everlasting gospel to / iniquity. sanctify and cleanse it with the preach unto them that dwell on the / Isaiah 66:18 For I know their washing of water by the word, earth" / works and their thoughts: it That he might present it to him- Many scholars have proposed that / 6 And I saw another angel fly in shall come, that I will gather self a glorious church, not having this final spreading of the gospel / the midst of heaven, having the all nations and tongues; and spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; in the last hour will be provided / everlasting gospel to preach unto they shall come, and see my but that it should be holy and by modern communications methods / them that dwell on the earth, and glory. without blemish. that can easily spread the same / to every nation, and kindred, and Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord James 3:2 For in many things we offend message over the entire world simu- / to tongue, and people, is to hate evil; all. If any man offend not in word, ltaneously. For we know from the / 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear Nehemiah 9:6 Thou, even thou, art the same is a perfect man, and able Words of our Lord that this is / God, and give glory to him: for Lord alone; thou hast made also to bridle the whole body. necessary just before the end in / the hour of his judgment is come: heaven, the heaven of heavens, Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the order that all that will can have / and worship him that made heaven, with all their hosts, the kingdom shall be preached in all one last chance at redemption. / and earth, and the sea, and the earth, and all things that are the world for a witness unto all Whether this happens by earthly / fountains of waters. therein, the seas, and all that nations: and then shall the end methods or heavenly intervention / is therein, and thou preservest come. is not the most important thing. / them all; and the host of II Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore The most important thing is that / heaven worshippeth thee. these promises, dearly beloved, all that will can make the prop- / 8 And there followed another Isaiah 21:9 And, behold, a chariot let us cleanse ourselves from all er final decision to follow the / angel, saying, Babylon is fallen of men, with a couple of horse- filthiness of the flesh and spirit, Lamb. / is fallen, that great city, men. And he answered and said, perfecting holiness in fear of / because she made all nations Babylon is fallen, is fallen: God. "his judgment is come" / drink of the wine of the wrath and all the graven images of I Peter 2:17 Honour all men. Love the The three messengers (angels) / of her fornication. her images of her gods he hath brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the are announcing the final judg- / broken unto the ground. king. ments upon the earth. Finally / Jeremiah 51:8-9 Babylon is suddenly Romans 2:16 In the day when God shall has come the time that the prop- / fallen and destroyed: howl for judge the secrets of men by Jesus hets have long witnessed to, the / her; take balm for her pain, if Christ according to my gospel. final judgments and destructions / so be she may be healed. of people who could do only evil. / We would have healed Babylon, Many scholars have resisted the / but she is not healed: .... concept of an eternal torment or / 9 And the third angel followed Ezekiel 38:22-23 And I will plead suffering for those who die with / them, saying with a loud voice, If against him with pestilence the mark of the beast. But the / any man worship the beast and his and with blood; and I will rain Words that we read seem to leave / image, and receive his mark in his upon him, and upon his bands, no doubt that they will not suff- / forehead, or in his hand, and upon the many people that er brief pain and then everlast- / 10 The same shall drink of the wine are with him, an overflowing Hebrews 10:27 But a certain fearful ing death. Instead the message of / of the wrath of God, which is rain, and great hailstones, looking for of judgment and ages and ages of suffering seems / poured out without mixture into the fire and brimstone. firey indignation, which shall to be unmistakable. / cup of his indignation; and he Thus will I magnify myself, devour the adversaries. / shall be tormented with fire and and sanctify myself; and I will Luke 16:24 And he cried and said, "blessed are the dead which die in / brimstone in the presence of the be known in the eyes of many Father Abraham, have mercy on me, the Lord" / holy angels, and in the presence of nations, and they shall know and send Lazarus, that he may dip In contrast to the suffering / the Lamb: that I am Lord. the tip of his finger in water, of those with the mark of the / 11 And the smoke of their torment Isaiah 34:8-10 For it is the day and cool my tongue; for I am beast, we have the blessing of them / ascendeth up for ever and ever: and of the Lord's vengeance, and tormented in this flame. who have overcome the deceptions / they have no rest day nor night, the year of recompenses for the of satan for they will have a / who worship the beast and his controversy of Zion. John 15:10-11 If ye keep my command- eternal rest of peace and rewards. / image, and whosoever receiveth the And the streams thereof shall ments, ye shall abide in my love; The patience of the saints will / mark of his name. be turned into pitch, and the even as I have kept my Father's finally be rewarded for they have / the dust thereof into brim- commandments, and abide in his long awaited the day of final / stone, and the land thereof love. judgments when the Lord would / shall become burning pitch. These things have I spoken unto avenge the many injustices that / It shall not be quenched night you, that my joy might remain in have been performed on the earth. / nor day; the smoke thereof you, and that your joy might be We note that there are mentioned / shall go up for ever: full. two characteristics of the saints / 12 Here is the patience of the Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 So I returned, Romans 2:6-7 ...of God; in that they "keep the command- / saints: here are they that keep and considered all the oppress- Who will render to every man ments of God" and "the faith of / the commandments of God, and the ions that are done under the according to his deeds: Jesus". Are these two separate / faith of Jesus. sun: and behold the tears of Hebrews 10:36-37 For ye have need of things or possibly two separate / 13 And I heard a voice from heaven such as were oppressed, and patience, that, after ye have groups, those of the "old cove- / saying unto me, Write, Blessed are they had no comforter; and on done the will of God, ye might nant" and those of the " new / the dead which die in the Lord the side of their oppressors receive the promise. covenant"? We think not! Those / from henceforth: Yea, saith the there was power; but they had For yet a little while, and he of the "old covenant" had faith / Spirit, that they /may rest from no comforter. that shall come will come, and that Jehovah would eventually / their labours; and their works do Wherefore I praised the dead will not tarry. send the Messiah as they followed / follow them. which are already dead, more Hebrews 4:9-10 There remaineth the commandments of God and those / than the living which are yet therefore a rest to the people of the "new covenant" who are / alive. of God. redeemed through faith in the Lamb / Yea, better is he than both For he that is entered into his keep the commandments out of love / they, which hath not yet been, rest, he also hath ceased from for the Lamb! / who hath not seen the evil his own works, as God did from / work that is done under the his. "in his hand a sharp sickle" / sun. During his ministry on earth the / 14 And I looked, and behold a Daniel 7:13 I saw in the night Matthew 13:40-43 As therefore the Lord gave us a number of parables / white cloud, and upon the cloud visions, and, behold, one like tares are gathered and burned in that had to do with the concept / one sat like unto the Son of man, the Son of man came with the the fire; so shall it be in the of the fruit of harvest since this / having on his head a golden crown, clouds of heaven, and came to end of this world. was a topic that was familiar to all / and in his hand a sharp sickle. the Ancient of Days, and they The son of man shall send forth in an agricultural society. Here / 15 And another angel came out of brought him near before him. his angels, and they shall gather we have the parable of the final / the temple, crying with a loud Joel 3:11-14 Assemble yourselves, out of his kingdom all things harvest. This is not a harvest of / voice to him that sat on the cloud, and come, all ye heathen, and that offend, and them which do the good fruit, it is a harvest of / Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: gather yourselves together iniquity; the wicked. The time has come that / for the time is come for thee to round about: thither cause thy And shall cast them into a wickedness of those that dwell on / reap: for the harvest of the earth mighty ones to come down, O furnace of fire: there shall be the earth has reached its fullness. / is ripe. Lord. wailing and gnashing of teeth. The time has come that the Lord / 16 And he that sat on the cloud Let the heathen be wakened, Then shall the righteous shine will no longer strive with the / thrust in his sickle on the earth; and come up to the valley of forth as the sun in the kingdom hearts of men. All on earth that / and the earth was reaped. Jehoshaphat: for there will I of their Father. are willing to follow the Lamb / 17 And another angel came out of set to judge all the heathen Matthew 24:30-31 ...and they shall have been identified and there is / the temple which is in heaven, he round about. see the Son of man coming in the no longer hope for those that are / also having a sharp sickle. Put ye in the sickle, for the clouds of heaven with power and left on earth. Now the wrath of / 18 And another angel came out from harvest is ripe: come, get you great glory. God can be fully released on all / the altar, which had power over down; for the press is full, that remain. Verse twenty would / fire; and cried with a loud cry to the fats overflow; for their seem to preview the final battle / him that had the sharp sickle, wickedness is great. on earth in which all the wicked / saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, Multitudes, multitudes in that remain are destroyed (see / and gather the clusters of the the valley of decision: for 19:15). This chapter is seen by / vine of the earth; for her grapes the day of the Lord is near in many scholars as being a preview / are fully ripe. the valley of decision. Matthew 21:41 They say unto him, He or review of the next five / 19 And the angel thrust in his Isaiah 63:3-4 I have trodden the will miserably destroy those chapters. / sickle into the earth, and gathered winepress alone; and of the wicked men, and will let out his / the vine of the earth, and cast it people there were none with me: vineyard unto other husbandmen, / into the great winepress of the for I will tread them in mine which shall render him the fruits / wrath of God. anger, and trample them in my in their seasons. / 20 And the winepress was trodden fury; and their blood shall be / without the city, and blood came sprinkled upon my garments, and / out of the winepress, even unto I will stain all my raiment. / the horse bridles, by the space of For the day of vengeance is / a thousand and six furlongs. in mine heart, and the year of / my redeemed is come. / / / 1 And I saw another sign in Leviticus 26:21 And if ye walk I Thessalonians 1:9-10 For they them- "the seven last plagues" / heaven, great and marvellous, contrary unto me, and will not selves show us what manner of Can plagues be great and marvel- / seven angels having the seven last hearken unto me; I will bring entering in we had unto you, and lous? We are informed that these / plagues; for in them is filled up seven times more plagues upon how ye turned to God from idols to last plagues are such since they / the wrath of God. you according to your sins. serve the living and true God; are poured out on those who are / 2 And I saw as it were a sea of Psalms 147:7 Sing unto the Lord And to wait for his Son from eternally evil. The angels are / glass mingled with fire: and them with thanksgiving; sing praise heaven, whom he raised from the readied for this job by being / that had gotten the victory over upon the harp unto our God: dead, even Jesus, which delivered prepared within the heavenly / the beast, and over his image, and Jeremiah 10:10-12 But the Lord is us from the wrath to come. temple. Also the angels are / over his mark, and over the number the true God, he is the living I Thessalonians 5:9-10 For God hath splendidly dressed for this task. / of his name, stand on the sea of God, and an everlasting King: not appointed us to wrath, but to We also note that the vials or / glass, having the harps of God. at his wrath the earth shall obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus bowls full of the wrath of God / 3 And they sing the song of Moses tremble, and the nations shall Christ, are from one of the living / the servant of God, and the song not be able to abide his indig- Who died for us, that, whether creatures (beasts or seraphims) / of the Lamb, saying, Great and nation, we wake or sleep, we should live who "rest not day and night saying, / marvellous are thy works, Lord Thus shall ye say unto them, together with him. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God / God Almighty; just and true are The gods that have not made Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed Almighty". May we suggest that / thy ways, thou King of saints. the heavens and the earth, even a day in the which he will judge for God this could be a time not / 4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, they shall perish from the the world in righteousness by unlike the night when Jesus / and glorify thy name? For thou earth, and from under these that man whom he hath ordained; prayed on the mount of Olives / only art holy: for all nations heavens. whereof he hath given assurance and being in great agony "his / shall come and worship before thee; He hath made the earth by his unto all men, in that he hath sweat was as great drops of / for thy judgments are made power, he hath established the raised him from the dead. blood falling down to the ground". / manifest. world by his wisdom, .... Romans 11:33 O the depth of the For the temple is filled with / Psalms 86:9-10 All nations whom riches both of the wisdom and smoke such that "no man was able / thou hast made shall come and knowledge of God! how unsearch- to enter". Could it be that there / worship before thee, O Lord; able are his judgments, and his is great sorrow and agony as the / and shall glorify thy name. ways past finding out! Lord must pour out His final wrath / For thou art great, and doest I John 3:8&10 He that committeth upon those of His created people / wondrous things: thou art God sin is of the devil; for the who would not be obedient. The / alone. devil sinneth from the beginning. people who were created for His / Isaiah 66:23 And it shall come to For this purpose the Son of God pleasure, but who would not accept / pass, that from one new moon to was manifested, that he might the great gift of his love. Like / another, and from one sabbath destroy the works of the Devil. Jesus on earth He knows that He / to another, shall all flesh In this the children of God are must do what He must do, but there / come to worship before me, manifest, and the children of the can be no joy in such a task. / saith the Lord. devil: whosoever doeth not right- / Zephaniah 3:8 Therefore wait ye eousness is not of God, neither "for all nations shall come and / upon me, saith the Lord, until he that loveth not his brother. worship" / the day that I rise up to the John saw another heavenly choir / prey: for my determination is singing praises upon the sea of / to gather the nations, that I glass. A choir of those who had / may assemble the kingdoms, to overcome the deceptions of the / pour upon them mine indigna- beast. Since they sing a diff- / tion, even all my fierce anger: erent song we assume that this / for all the earth shall be represents a different group from / devoured with the fire of my that of the 144,000 and are those / jealousy. of all nations who did not worship / 5 And after that I looked, and, Isaiah 6:1-4 ...I saw also the the beast and possibly were martyr- / behold, the temple of the taber- Lord sitting upon a throne, ed. They are soon to be joined / nacle of the testimony in heaven high and lifted up, and his by all the dead in Christ. Some / was opened: train filled the temple. have envisioned the scene as a / 6 And the seven angels came out Above it stood the seraphims: beautiful glassy quite sea on / of the temple, having the seven each one had six wings; with which no troubling winds can blow / plagues, clothed in pure and white twain he covered his face, and and with the beautiful reflection / linen, and having their breasts with twain he covered his feet, of a magnificent sunset twinkling / girded with golden girdles. and with twain he did fly. upon its surface. A good imagina- / 7 And one of the four beasts gave And one cried unto another, tion can do wonders. The choir / unto the seven angels seven golden and said, Holy, holy, holy, is is singing "Great and marvelous / vials full of the wrath of God, the Lord of hosts: the whole are thy works", "just and true / who liveth for ever and ever. earth is full of his glory. are thy ways", familiar themes / 8 And the temple was filled with And the posts of the door from the writings of many prophets. / smoke from the glory of God, and moved at the voice of him that / from his power; and no man was cried, and the house was filled / able to enter into the temple, with smoke. / till the seven plagues of the / seven angels were fulfilled. / / / / Matters of Contention: Many scholars have tried to find evidences that Many scholars have proposed symbolism for the events described. / the final judgments have happened in past history on this earth. These attempts often seem to be rooted in a desire to lessen the / Such explanations seem to fall short of the universal nature of "cruelty" of the events described so as to make the judgments more / plagues as described. Also they must find plausible identities acceptable to the logic of man. Man is incurably religious, as he / for the antichrist and the false prophet. The number of should be. He is constantly searching for the truth as he should be. / explanations that have been offered and the great diversity of However, as he constantly tries to explain away the Words of the / them seem to discredit such an attempt. There have been many prophets, as he constantly invents false theories and religions, / tragedies and destructive events upon this earth in the past, he is readily deceived by the spirit of the antichrist. Man tries / but none seem to fully fit the events we have studied. constantly to avoid the true gospel as proclaimed by the angel, / "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is / come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, / and the fountains of waters." Is this a symbolic heaven, earth, / and sea? They are actual physical places which are involved in / the final judgments! / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /