The 144,000 Jewish Witnesses

Chapter 14: 1-5

“Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.

“These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being first fruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.”

In our last article we talked a bit about robotics and the growth and speed at which they have developed. There were examples of ‘learning’ robots that could, during a conversation, learn things about the person they were speaking with. Others still, just in the area of gaming, had the power to beat men and actually create moves on their own simply using the power in them to process information. I did not put these things in the article to scare anyone. Rather, these things are there to inform us and prepare us.

All of life is coming to a head, as they say. The ways of the world system and the ways of the heaven system are running to the same ‘end’ so to speak but with diametrically opposed results. One hopes to create a ruling class of humans that subjugate the whole world; see movies like the Mocking Jay series and the like. Even if you go back as far as Demolition Man and others, you will see the ruling elite versus the common man, the enlightened versus the ignorant buffoons. In almost all cases, the ruling elites, the enlightened never believe in God. They treat Christians as buffoons; who in their right mind would believe in God?

Christians need to stop feeling the need to fit in; we cannot and we will not. No matter how educated or sophisticated that you think you are, as long as you truly believe that Jesus is God, that Jesus came in the flesh, that Jesus is the ONLY way to be saved and that Jesus is coming back again, and soon, you will be an outcast.

I am not talking about fitting in with things like dress and haircuts. Jesus looked like all the men of His day; we know this because Judas had to identify Him with a kiss. Had he been radically different in dress or physical look, then there would have been no need to identify him in the crowd. By the way, just as an aside, Jesus is not some 6ft tall white surfer dude; he is a Jew. He looked just like all the other Jews of his day – bearded, dark skinned, he had rough hands like a carpenter, and he wore the exact same clothes that they did. What separated Jesus was what He did, said and believed.

This too is what will make us stand out – what we do, say and believe. If we do, say and believe the ways of the world, then one of two things are true; we are not saved or we are saved and choosing to live like we are not. Sadly, the latter is far too prevalent in the Lord’s churches. We have people who know Jesus as Savior yet vote for abortion, vote for socialism and vote for those that are pushing the gender issues and agenda. They sit in churches each Sunday, sing about Jesus, and then vote with the devil.

Something is wrong. I am not talking about politics; I am talking about right and wrong. This has nothing to do with politics. There is coming a time when the Lord’s people will have to make a stand one way or the other. Elijah called out Israel, Joshua called out Israel, and the same call will come to the New Testament church – choose whom you will serve.

Let’s get into Revelation.

Jesus and the 144,000, verse 1

Here we see the 144,000 that we first saw in Revelation 7:1-8. These 144,000 men are sealed by God and are commissioned to go and call the Jews from the four corners of the world to repentance. They do a very good job, and there are multitudes that repent and begin to worship Jesus as the Messiah. Further, when we meet them here, their number has not diminished at all. There are still 144,000 of them. God had sealed them with His name as we see here in verse 1. This seal served as protection for them against the anti-Christ and his minions. This also meant that they did not have to operate in secret; the seal of God served as a protection no matter where they were and no matter whom they were with.

Notice that, in the last chapter, the anti-Christ has a seal or a mark as well that was on the forehead and/or right hand of the people on earth. If you wanted to buy or sell anything, then you had to have this mark. This mark was a mark of death; if you chose this mark, you had sealed your doom as far as eternity was concerned. This was a choice to reject Jesus and go to Hell. Satan is always trying to counterfeit God – God has a mark of life, so he has a mark; his of course is of death.

These 144,000 also had their own song (see verse 3). Only they could sing this song. It was a new song that they sang before the throne and the 24 elders and the 4 creatures that lived in front of the throne of God. We are not told the contents of this song, only that it was theirs and theirs alone. In an article a while back, I had mentioned that we should all have a song that we sing to Jesus.

Today as we were driving to work, my wife and I recalled all that God has brought us through over the past year. A year ago, we were preparing to drive to Florida so that my older daughter could board a flight to Kenya as a missionary helper. She would be gone for 3 months; she had never flown before and had never been away from us for an extended time like that before. Over the past year, we have gone through illness, financial strains, family strains, a lot of tears, a lot of praying and change. The one thing that we could say that stayed the same was the Lord. He was faithful to us and provided above all we could ask or think.

What would your song say? How would your song talk about God’s presence and place in your life?

The 144,000 and Celibacy, verse 4

Many of us have grown up with the idea of celibate priests. They were not allowed to marry, in many cases, as they were married to the church. Likewise, the nuns were married to God and, as such, remained celibate. Sadly, we have come to understand that there was a lot of sexual misconduct under the guise of religion in the Catholic church for decades, if not centuries.

The call to celibacy, either for a short time or as a part of our call to the Lord, is important to explore. Like any other teaching, it is easy to distort if not handled correctly. I am married; my wife and I have 3 children. Most preachers and pastors that I know are married and have children. Inside of the marriage union, there can only be celibacy for a short period of time and for as many times as both parties agree.

In 1 Corinthians 7:3-5, we see this instruction:

“Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

A husband and wife can agree to be celibate for a period of time so as to commit themselves to prayer and fasting, but not too long so that temptation is not given a place to root. They are to resume normal marital relations as soon as possible. It is clear that both must agree, and then they can do this as often as they like. This is not a command; it is simply an observation and suggestion from the Apostle Paul. In the same chapter Paul goes on to say this:

“Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy. I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—that it is good for a man to remain as he is: Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless, such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.”

In verse 25, Paul tells us that if a man is unmarried that maybe he should stay as he is. But this is not a command; look at the very first words in this verse. And, if one does marry, he has not sinned (see verse 28). There is NO universal call for the elders, pastors, or any of the men to be celibate. It may be recommended but it is not commanded. Paul does tell us that those who marry will have trouble in the flesh (end of verse 28). Marriage can bring out the worst and best in you, depending on your relationship with God. As well, when God calls you to do something, it is hard if you have to fight with a spouse and children to fulfill that command.

It would appear, if we look at the context, that verse 7 is telling us that Paul was celibate for the cause of the Gospel: “For I wish that all men were even as I myself.” We know that some of the other apostles had wives that traveled with them (1 Corinthians 9:5), so celibacy was not a prerequisite for being an apostle. In 1 Timothy 3, elders (pastors) were to be the husband of ‘one wife at a time.’ They did not have to be married; but if they were, it had to be to one wife.

In this particular case of the 144,000, God called them to be virgins and completely celibate while they were doing their work for Him in the Tribulation. They had not been with women and most likely never would be. They were then able to focus solely on pleasing God, not having to divide their attention between God and a wife. These men do a great job of evangelizing the Jews left in the world after the Rapture; they find Jews in every tribe, nation and tongue to tell them about Jesus.

The 144,000, the First Fruits of Israel, verse 4

Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrection, we are told in 1 Corinthians 15:23. Jesus, at the time of His resurrection, actually fulfilled the Feast of First Fruits as it was being observed by the Jews. He was the first to be resurrected and was the First Fruit of the resurrection. The primary fruit that would come from this resurrection were Gentiles. The first men and women to be redeemed were Jews; but by the time we come to the middle and then end of the book of Acts, we are seeing that the Jews are often rejecting the truth and the Gentiles begin to embrace it more and more.

It is to 7 Gentile churches, representing the 7 kinds of churches that exist in the church age, that the book of Revelation is written to at first. But, with the Rapture, the church age comes to a very abrupt end, and there is a transition back to God focusing on the Jews as a nation. He, God, marks these 144,000 men from the tribes of Israel, and they go about calling millions of Jews to the Messiah.

To those of us who study prophecy, read the paper and try to keep up on current world events; it is clear that beginning with May 14, 1948, God has been transitioning His focus back to Israel. Just over 70 years have passed, and we now have Jerusalem as the capital city, now recognized by the USA and others, and we hear that there are renewed interests and growth in Biblical Hebrew, that there are men being trained in the Levitical priesthood, and more importantly that there is constant migration back to Israel by Jews and their families.

Who in their right minds moves back to an area that is the target of everyone around them? There are frequent reports that missiles are being lobbed into Israel on a regular basis. Why move back there? There seems to be an ingrown desire to move back, and many simply cannot resist it.

On October 8^th, 2018, an Iranian general threatened to ‘destroy Israel in a furious attack’ as reported in the Express News. In December 10^th, 2017, the Turkish president called Israel a ‘terrorist state.’ On March 16^th, 2018, a report on CBN News mentioned a MEMRI report which exposed an article from a Turkish newspaper that called for some 57 Muslim nations to unite to fight Israel.

The book of Ezekiel tells us that such a war will happen, and this will begin some of the troubles that Israel will face as the Gentile age comes to an end and a new age begins – one where Israel is the focus. The Bible is more current on the news than most of the news out there. They just tell us what God already told us. Even as we read, things are falling into place under the careful management of God. Trust the Lord; He has it all under control.

I leave you with Psalm 46:6-11:

“The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.”

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

 

Anti-Christ & the Trinity of Evil

Chapter 13: 11-18

“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.

“He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”

Let me begin by stating that I believe the Bible teaches that the Rapture happens before the beginning of the Tribulation. God rescues His New Testament church and other saints before the period of the Tribulation starts. Some may differ with me as to how soon after the Rapture the Tribulation begins, but it is my belief and understanding from all that I have seen that we will be raptured prior to the beginning of the Tribulation.

Some have asked if I believed that the rapture was first because of some of the warnings that I mentioned last week. Let me remind you that every apostle, including Paul, was actively looking for the rapture. But every one of the apostles was also executed for the sake of the Gospel. Nero murdered hundreds or maybe thousands of Christians in the first century because he hated them. In the book, Trail of Blood, one bishop is quoted as saying that, had not the Catholic church killed off the Anabaptist for some 1,200 years, they would have been overrun by them.

Today there are brothers and sisters in the Lord who are being imprisoned and even killed by regimes around the world. We have had pastors arrested for the sake of the Gospel in places like North Korea and other places. I can hear you say, but that is over there. Have you read the news? Have you watched the news? There are political people in Canada and the USA that are aggressively working to bring in Socialism as the predominant economic tool of the west. Look at the Socialist regimes of the 20^th Century and think of how Christians were treated in the Soviet Union, China and other places.

I am not a fear monger, but God’s people need to be spiritually prepared to have some trouble before the Tribulation. Being a Christian is not all ‘rainbows and cotton candy.’ When you are the source of truth in a world of lies, you will be hated. Don’t believe me? Then read the Gospels and look at the life of Jesus.

Today we will look at the Trinity of Evil:

In his desire to copy God and ‘be like’ Him, Satan will create an imperfect trinity just like God exists as a perfect Trinity. There will be the anti-Christ, the False Prophet and an Image that will appear to be breathing/alive. Remember that John is writing at the end of the first century after Jesus; they did not even know what electricity was, furthermore a robot. It is clear that some of the things that John wrote were truly for our time; and when we sit to study these things, we can see that we truly are, as far as we can draw from the scriptures, the last generation before the rapture and then the Tribulation.

The progress of robotics over the past 20 years has been so good that we probably do not even know how good they are. In 1984 when Terminator came out, we all loved the sci-fi idea that robots could rule the world. Now here we are 34 years later and we have robots that can run, adapt, learn, mimic human behavior, and some are getting so fast with their processors that they may soon be able to out think humans. The bane of technology is that it is only good in good hands. Like any tool, in the wrong hands it becomes a weapon and stops being a benefit.

The Lamb/Dragon, verses 11-14

The anti-Christ understands that we need something or someone to worship. From the very beginning of Creation, we were built to worship someone or something. Satan is mindful of this. Other than the US Constitution which deliberately prohibits the merging of the State and Religion, every other major dominant world government from the Tower in Babel, the Pharaohs of Egypt, the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persians, the Greeks and especially the Romans, the political leader has always demanded spiritual worship. They want to be seen as gods or at least appointed by the gods so as to stop dissension and thwart those who would challenge their position. Who in their right mind would challenge a god? To some degree, the Pope is still seen as ‘God’s representative’ here on earth and is often addressed as Il Papa, The Father, in deliberate disobedience to the written scripture:

Matthew 23:9 “And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.”

This is assigning the position of our Heavenly Father to a mere man. God alone is our Heavenly Father; and as such, no other man is to be called The Father as a title. This has NOTHING to do with being called a father when you have a child. It is an act of worship that is only allowed to be directed at the true and living God, hence the model prayer begins, “Our Father,” referring to God the Father.

The world of the anti-Christ will incorporate politics and religion in the leadership. The anti-Christ will have two (2) apparent equals, one who is the religious leader. How do we know that? He appears as a lamb. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He will appear to offer peace in a time of great turmoil, but this is just a charade. He will speak like a dragon; his words are dangerous and deadly. His job is to point the whole world to worship the beast, the anti-Christ.

Like the anti-Christ, he will be able to, or appear to be able to, call down fire from heaven; and as well, he can perform great signs and wonders. This is demonic warfare at its finest. Satan, possibly indwelling the anti-Christ, gives some of his power to this man who is his religious leader. This leader can perform signs and wonders just like the anti-Christ.

In Daniel 8: 23-25 we see these prophetic words about the ‘wonders’ of the anti-Christ:

“And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.”

Notice that this king will have power, but not of/by his own power. And, in verse 25, we see he will use “craft.” We could use the term ‘slide of hand,’ but it may be even more sinister than that. Satan has spiritual power as well, and he controls the demons and what they do. They serve him now. This anti-Christ will have powers given to him as well as his false prophet that are from Satan himself.

So, all we have left is to look at the “image of the beast.”

The Image to the Beast, verses 14-15

We know what an image is; it is a statue. In Daniel 3:1, we see that Nebuchadnezzar made an “image,” a statue that he wanted the whole world to worship. Once again, we see that political leaders often want to be seen as gods and worshipped like gods. The anti-Christ will be no different; he too will want to be worshipped as a god. So, the false prophet, the second person of the evil trinity, makes an idol and appears to empower it to breathe, to speak and to act.

In a video that I was able to watch on YouTube called Mankind’s Last Invention, there is some eye-opening commentary on the speed and the scope of the growth of Artificial Intelligence – the speed of processing information in comparison with man’s speed of processing information and how these are self-learning machines. Here is a short video from 2011. Imagine where we have come from this. https://youtu.be/UIWWLg4wLEY.

This idol – this machine – will be able to talk, converse, make decisions, be able to learn, speak and convey the information that the anti-Christ wants put out; and he/it will enforce the rules and have the power to kill people. If he is connected to the internet, then he/it will have access to anyone, anywhere that has an internet connection.

No wonder we have the governments of the world trying to get control of the internet. This is the framework of the anti-Christ.

In an article published on June 18^th, 2018, the Stratfor Worldview gave us an overview of which governments are now controlling what on the internet. By far, the US is the lease intrusive; but countries like China, Turkey and Russia block a lot of content from their citizens. They have the power to control the internet, and this is the foundation that is going to give the anti-Christ access to all. He will be able to limit what you have access to as far as information is concerned. If you refuse to worship the anti-Christ and his evil trinity, then you will be killed.

I cannot imagine the confusion that John must have had. He had obviously seen images before. The Middle East was full of them. No doubt there were idols of Caesar in the area; he had seen pagan gods before. But these all needed to be carried by men and stabilized so as not to fall. But here was an image that could speak, move and act of its own power. For sure he had never seen that before.

The Number, verses 17-18

No number in history has been more scrutinized than this number, 666. The mark of the beast. We have had movies about it and more speculation than the stock market. Simply put, this number is the number of perfect imperfection. God’s perfect number is 7; and as such, 777 is the number of perfect perfections. An example of this perfection is in Genesis 1:1,

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

In Hebrew this is a 7-word statement. It is the number of perfection. There is a lot of research online about ‘time, space and matter.’ But God established this principle in the very first verse of creation. In the beginning (time), God created the heavens (space) and the earth (matter). Perfection. God can only create perfection, as He is perfect. In the evil parallel, we have the anti-Christ and his brood who create a number; and theirs is imperfection. The world we live in today is trying to create a Utopia without Jesus and God. No such place exists. Without God’s perfection, utopia is impossible.

There is little in the text that tells us about what this mark will be. What we do know is that, whatever the number is, the people left on planet Earth will need it to buy and to sell. Many people do not get this; they are so focused on the ‘magic’ number that they don’t see the big picture. The government will control everything: food, clothing, medications, travel and the like. There will be NO purchasing or selling without this number. We do also know that the number will be on their bodies, either on the right hand or their forehead. Right now, there is work on making invisible tattoos. There are countless articles about UV Tattoos online and infrared tattoos as well.

We have become accustomed to numbers over the last century. Here in Canada we have a Social Insurance Number (SIN); all of your credit and employment is tracked with that number. You must have a SIN to be employed and to get certain benefits. The SIN number will tell the user what province (state) you are born in or entered the country in as an immigrant. Many nations employ some form of this tracking; we are being conditioned to do so. Our kids are being conditioned to buy online with a number, either a credit card or debit card. Companies like Amazon offer almost everything including food. The framework for the anti-Christ in place. All that is left is to centralize the control of these large companies to the government, and voila! – no one can buy or sell except through the government.

We see this stuff developing right before our eyes, and we are like the frog in the pot of cold water that is boiled to death as the temperature is gradually turned up.

God calls us to wisdom. See what men are doing right before our very eyes. We cannot stop what God has told us will happen. But we can see it happening and not be ignorant of the Devil and his devices. This will strengthen our faith; we can see the word of God being fulfilled right in real time.

God is absolute truth. The words of Daniel are just as true today as 2,600 years ago.

Look around you. Don’t be afraid of the devil; he is on a leash. Rather, rejoice that God is true, His word is true, and His plan is afoot. The end is near, and the enemy of our souls will soon be crushed as was promised in Genesis 3:15.

Be strong and keep the faith. God is in control.

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca