Holy Virgins

Then I looked, and behold, a^[a] Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having^[b] His Father’s name written on their foreheads. ² 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. ³ 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. ⁴ 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^[c] from among men, being first fruits to God and to the Lamb. ⁵ And in their mouth was found no deceit,^[d] for they are without fault before the throne of God.

Picture in this prophetic verse is a future Jesus, surrounded by 144,000 Jewish male virgins, 12,000 from each tribe, singing a song unique to them. They worship in front of the throne of God at Mount Zion, in the city of Jerusalem, in the nation of Israel. They are an entourage to the Savior and King of all humanity.   Their value before God has become increasingly foreign to a biblically illiterate society.   They never had sex, as Jesus never had sex.  They are virgins dedicated to the Lord’s service.

Virgins dedicated to the Lord’s service were part of many lives less than 50 years ago.  They were teachers, nurses, researchers, theologians, scientist and doctors and priest.  They were also major part of my childhood.  Their Habits and Priestly collars could be seen everywhere in my neighborhood in New Bedford, Massachusetts.   What was foreign to my French Roman Catholic neighborhood were Jews.  

Jews are not foreign to Jesus. They are family.

The Apostle Paul, a Jewish Rabbi, writes Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”  The controversy of the New Testament was not “what do we do about Jewish believers in Jesus Christ?” Until Acts 10 every believer was a Jewish believer.  The question was; what do we do with Gentile or Non-Jewish believers?  See Acts 15

The Lord’s promises to Abraham, to King David, and many of the prophets was a promise to an everlasting kingdom for the Jewish people.  Anti-Semitism and a Biblical world view are mutually exclusive!  Sexual promiscuity and holiness are mutually exclusive.  Sexual purity and holiness are intimately linked to God’s view of humanity.  In case of these 144,000 male Jewish virgins, it provides a permanent dwelling before the throne of God.  

There is another attribute to these holy men I should highlight.  They are found without deceit.  Our social, political, and home environments have become saturated with deceit.  Halve truths in political and religious rhetoric has become so much a part of lives that we are comfortable with deceit. In fact we anticipate it. 

Truth always liberates.  That is why totalitarian regimes have always suppressed the Bible.  In many countries owning a Bible is a capital offense.   To make reference to the Bible in our modern society is to be numbered among the ignorant and uneducated.  Worse it is to be identified with those who are hateful and cruel. 

Jesus, at the beginning of this verse is described as a lamb. He is the ultimate sacrifice for sin, for deceit, and for our misuse of the gift of sexuality.   The study of the Book of Revelations is awe inspiring, frightening.   When assessing God of the Bible, begin with how the God of the Bible describes Himself.  God is Love! He is always good and always just, while always being merciful.   When King David sinned, he said he was in great distress, but that it was better to fall into the hand of God, for his mercy is great!   The virgin nuns and priest of my childhood do not always understand mercy, but they modeled worship, as do the Jewish men spoken about in Revelations 14.  True worship leads to mercy because those that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth.

The truth is God Loves Us All, and His Mercy is new Every Morning!

The Author of Life or the Author of Death?

¹³ When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. ¹⁵ Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent.¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. Revelations 12: 13-17

The dragon, the devil, has lost his place.  He has been hurled to earth.  Earth is a place of life! The devil hates life above all things! Of all the life he hates, he hates human life the most! I have asked previously, why did God allow the devil to continue to be? Why did he allow him to roam? After meditating on this scripture I think it may be in order to make him see the beauty of life!  The devil is the author of death! What could be a greater punishment to the devil than to see life be fruitful and multiply upon the earth while his efforts to kill steal and destroy are thwarted! He is not satisfied that millions were killed in World War II because his desire is that all life cease!  

When the devil heard the God say “when you eat you shall die” he did all that he could the facilitate death.   Our scripture says that he “pursued the woman,” in context, most evangelical commentators believe the woman is Israel, most catholic commentators believe it is Mary.   I am not concerned with answer that question in this blog.  What I want to emphasize is that he pursues the woman, who is a type for all women! Eve is called the mother of all the living! What a title!  The woman cited in our scripture bears a male child, who is a type of all male children, but especially the Christ, the Messiah!  In all women the devil sees the woman who would bring forth the savior. In all men the devil sees Christ, because we are made in the image of God!

The earth, in our scripture, assists the woman by “swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.” Abel’s blood cried out from the ground to the Lord.  When there was death, nature itself cried out to God for the injustice of it.  There is not greater gift than life!  Whenever we facilitate the extension of life we are in cooperation with the creator. Proverbs 12:10 says, “The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.”

Our scripture also says, that the devil was “enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.”  The commands of the Lord always provide the option of choice. Deuteronomy 30:15 ¹⁵ See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.  So the question is will we identify with the author of life or the author of death?

Two Adult Pressures that Lead to School Shootings

There are two schools of thought about this issue and both have value. One school of thought is that we need more mental health treatment.  We do, but that is not why we are having school shootings.  The other school of thought is that we need more, or less, controls on gun ownership, and we do. We need more control over unstable persons having access to firearms while we also need more responsible people who know how to use fire arms in the right place at the right time, but that is not why we are having school shootings. Fire arms presence or absence is not leading to school shooting!  

We are having school shooting because we have placed pressures on teenagers that were designed for adults.  I will limit my comments to two of these pressures. One pressure is the pressure to work, the other pressure is sexual decision making. Negotiating both of these areas in our modern society is very difficult. We want work without sweat, and sex without complexity!  Work is supposed to be hard, and sexual relationships are very hard to manage.   We teach our teenagers that life is to be perpetually fun and easy and then we place adult pressures on them in every area of their lives. The contradiction between these demands causes enough pressure for some kids to kill! 

Full time work is designed to be an adult activity not a teenage activity. We have removed play from virtually every aspect of our teenager’s lives.  The demands to succeed academically, musically, athletically, and now even sexually are felt by every American kid. When teenagers are at their best they are teaching adults the joy of life.  Teenagers are not enjoying life! Most need a secretary to manage their activities. They are not having fun!  But we tell them that it is suppose to be! That contradiction creates enough pressure for some to kill.  

Sex is designed to be an adult activity! When we give teenagers simple answers to complex questions the consequences are dire! Managing the physical pleasures and emotional complexities of sex is difficult for mature adults. Yet, everything in our society pressures teenagers to enter this complex world. When the predictable consequence occurs, death is often the option. We put life and death decisions in the path of 14 year old girls and then we are surprised when some 14 year old boys make life and death decisions about their fellow students.  If we teach them that life has no value in one context some kids simply change the context.  We have not taught our teenagers to value life!

We have not taught our teenagers that the difficulty and complexity of life is what creates its value.  We have not taught them to wait and to delay gratification on one end of the spectrum, while we have demand that they get A’s in class, perfect their jump shot, and look hot while they are doing it on the other.  Most American kids are managing to negotiate this labyrinth successfully.  However, for some kids, all that work and all the sexual negotiation is simply too much. When life is cheap, and life is hard, shooting your way into a blaze of glory becomes a viable and deadly option. 

When Angels became Devils

⁴ And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. ⁵ And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. Revelations 12:4

Fools love company! The devil is the biggest fool in history and his foolishness lead one third of the angels to rebel against God.  We now call these angels, demons, for demons are truly what they have become.   These devils lead by the prince of devils believed a lie.  They believed they could dethrone God, their maker.   They are like clocks trying to rule clock makers.   Isaiah 14 provides us a glimpse into the internal conversation the devil had before he rebelled.

‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’  Isaiah 14:13-14

Apparently that internal conversation became and external conversation, consensus was gained, and the angels became devils.  You may ask yourself, how they could do such a thing in the midst of the glory of heaven.  Always sound in alarm in your spirit whenever you separate yourself from others sin as if you would never do such a thing!  Humankind has been partnering with the devil since the garden.  After a 1,000 year Earthly reign of Jesus the King; living on Earth; ruling from Jerusalem; with the devil completely bound during that period of time men rebel when the devil is released for just a short time.

“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. ⁹ They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” Revelations 20: 7-9

Jesus will be in that city at that time. He is the child that was ‘brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron,’ that child, now King, will simply burn up those ‘numbering like the sand on the sea’ but isn’t it sad!

One of the most difficult questions to resolve for the believer is why did God allow the devil to come to earth, where man would be in the first place?  Why not kick them out of heaven and cast them directly into the lake of fire?  The best explanation is as a test of our faith.  Jesus was tempted by him and defeated him with the word. Joseph defeated him with integrity of heart when no one around him knew the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Job defeated him with praise in the midst of suffering. Daniel honored him in a land where the knowledge of God was foreign; Noah built what had never been built out of obedience to the voice of God. Jesus cites John the Baptist as the greatest prophet of men simply for being a voice crying in the wilderness.  

Few of us are could be listed in this illustrious company, but this I know;

 ‘No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.’ 1 Corinthians 10:13

If Jesus rules with a ‘rod of iron’ it is because he must.  We do not even honor his attempts to provide us ways of escape! We have greatly reduced the iron in which we rule each other in our modern culture and the result is greater rebellion.  This is not because sin or the devil is any stronger than they have ever been but because we are lead away by our own desire to sin.

¹³ When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; ¹⁴ but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1: 13-15

‘And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.’ John 3:19

There will be a day when will truly understand how impotent the devil is. On that day will say,

‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, ¹⁷ who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities. Isaiah 14:16b

Our primary scripture also reads, ‘and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.’

As we struggle in this life of ours and view the works of the devil all around us, let us remember the words of some Angels that did not fall, they said;

 "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." Acts 1: 11

The Devil was caste down from heaven in judgment on a bolt of lightning, Jesus come in victory riding of the on a white horse prepared to bring justice to every man women and child.   Let us persevere to he comes!

  

With God the Future is History!

And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: ² And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. ³ And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. ⁴ And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. ⁵ And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. ⁶ And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. ⁷ And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, ⁸ And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. Revelations 12: 1-7

The Book of Revelations is full of symbolism and profound timeless truths about the nature of God.  Timeless is an apt word to use in this case because the seven verses read above move us from the birth of the nation of Israel backwards to a time prior to Adam, to a period of time in when there was a war in heaven and the devil and a third of the angels were caste to the earth.  Then we are fast forwarded to the future in a time of great tribulation when the devil and his human partners try to destroy Israel.  That is a lot of movement back and forth so let me take these verses one at a time and try to bring out the truths contained therein. Then we can make application to our faith as we progress though whatever number of blogs it takes to get through this chapter.

Revelation 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

The woman is Israel; the twelve stars are the twelve tribes of Israel.  In order to learn this we need to travel back to the time of Genesis and look at the dreams of a young man named Joseph.

Then Joseph had another dream. He told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said. “I had another dream. This time the sun and moon and 11 stars were bowing down to me.”  ¹⁰ He told his father as well as his brothers. Then his father objected. He said, “What about this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers really do that? Will we really come and bow down to the ground in front of you?”¹¹ His brothers were jealous of him. But his father kept the matter in mind.

We know that the sun and the moon in the context of Joseph's dream are his parents. The moon is Rachel, Joseph’s mother, the sun is Jacob, his father, and the 11 stars are his brothers.  This dream is fulfilled when Joseph is placed in charge of Egypt and his family bows before him in a time of famine.  If we can read a passage in the Bible that relates to history and the future shouldn’t we pay attention to such a book? If God controls history and tells the future, then truly He is God. In Isaiah 42:22 the Lord challenges his people and says,

“Bring in your idols to tell us what is going to happen. Have them tell us what happened in the beginning. Then we will think about these things, and we will know how they will turn out. Or tell us what will happen in the future.”

The Lord has revealed the beginning of the story of creation and shown us the summation of history.  Because this is true our faith in him should be steadfast and strong! We need to be steadfast and strong and trust his word because the devil has been trying to destroy mankind and in particular Israel, and the Messiah, since the beginning of time.  The Lord says to the serpent (the dragon)

I will make you and the woman enemies to each other. Your descendants and her descendants will be enemies. One of her descendants will crush your head, and you will bite his heel. Genesis 3:15

The decedent whose heel the devil bit was none other than Jesus the Nazarene. The one promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The one the Mosses told Israel to look for and the one the prophets wrote about throughout the Old Testament.

   

The dragon is the devil: In order to understand the seven heads and ten horns you have to reference another prophet familiar with dreams, that being Daniel.  The seven heads represent seven great kingdoms that have ruled the earth. They are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and a Future Revived Roman Empire. The 10 horns are placed on this Empire, based upon Daniel 7:23-25.  The 10 horns are 10 kings which arise in the future (Dan. 7:24).  This is the kingdom from which the Antichrist will arise.[1]

God made a promise to Abraham,

I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.³ I will bless those who bless you, and I will place a curse on those who harm you. And all the people on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2-3

History has been the unfolding of story of those who have blessed or cursed God’s beloved. You might ask why Abraham was so beloved?

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

We are asked to do the same.  Not based on blind faith, but based on a faith that has been repeatedly demonstrated by God throughout all of human history!  Spiritual things are spiritually discerned! I pray you have eyes to see his work in history, eyes to see His work in your life, and hope in future filled with promises!  With God the Future is History!

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[1] http://www.raptureready.com/featured/crockett/beast.html

The Ark in Heaven

“Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.” Revelations 11:19

This verse has arrested me since I read it again for this series of blogs on the book a Revelations. It is this idea that what God calls us to build on earth is reflected in heaven. In Exodus 25: 8-9 God gives Moses a command for the people of Israel. “... have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” Now the pattern and its significance are drawn out for us in Hebrews 8:5 “They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.”

Ancient Rabbinical teachers add to our understanding of these truths.

"... the structure of the Tabernacle corresponds to the structure of heaven and earth." Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 149a -

"Now, the Tabernacle below was likewise made after the pattern of the supernal Tabernacle in all its details. For the Tabernacle in all its works embraced all the works and achievements of the upper world and the lower, whereby the Shekinah was made to abide in the world, both in the higher spheres and the lower. Similarly, the Lower Paradise is made after the pattern of the Upper Paradise, and the latter contains all the varieties of forms and images to be found in the former. Hence the work of the Tabernacle, and that of heaven and earth, come under one and the same mystery."¹ Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 231a –

The fall of man meant of fall of creation and hence the Earth. This was not God’s design for men or for the earth. His desire for man and creation is that we reflect his glory. When glory is manifest, heaven is manifested as well. Remember Jesus walked with Adam in the cool of the garden.

The book of Hebrews really brings out the ‘why’ of this heaven and earth connection.  ^“ because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.  Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7: 24-25

The ark was holy as Jesus was holy. The intercession and his atonement do not make us better. They make us perfect. Therefore holy things must be approached reverently, fearfully, and discretely as they are the vows of a wedding . One Old Testament illustration and one New Testament illustration will illuminate this for us. 1 Chronicles 13:9-10 “When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, because the oxen nearly upset it. The anger of the LORD burned against Uzza, so He struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark; and he died”

The first point is that the ark was not supposed to be drawn by oxen but carried by men. The second is that we need to be prepared to touch holy things through the atonement of Jesus. Even as men carried the holiness of God properly following the death of Uzza they made a sacrifice of a bull every six steps.

In John 20:17 Jesus speaks these words to Mary Magdalene “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” The resurrected Jesus makes it clear that his Glorification is not complete until he appears before the Father in the temple with the ark in heaven. In his humanity he equates himself with Mary and with all of us. Truly, we are coming to a time in which his will is the same on earth as it is in heaven.

But before that happens we will review heaven rebelling within itself in Revelations 12 which will come next. As we get into the first verse of chapter 12 we are going to see the nature of Jesus’ intercession and Satan’s hatred of it.

1 http://www.yashanet.com/studies/revstudy/rev2.htm

Why I am Mid Tribulation in Brief

While considering the question of the mid tribulation rapture let me address the clearest objection to this position from the outset.   This objection is the immanency question.  It is thought that if you are looking for the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place this negates your eyes being set on the coming of our savior.   Steve Lemke of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary addresses the question in following manner.  

 “Because the signs of the end are events that happen periodically to some degree at all times, it will not be clear even to those who are undergoing the tribulation the precise moment of its beginning. The gradual worsening of events may be suggestive but not determinative of being in the tribulation…. like a frog in a slowly heated pot, those undergoing the tribulation may not discern the meaning of the events. The beginning of the tribulation would not be clearly noticed, thus no one would be able to set accurately the date of the events of the end based on the date of the beginning of the signs of the end. One can thus expect the return of Christ as immanent at any time.”[1] 

I will grant this is not the strongest argument but I think it is a valid one.  Who could argue against Hitler being a precursor to the antichrist?  It is not the argument against the mid tribulation coming of Christ that convinces me of this position but the argument for it.  Daniel 7:25 is a reasonable place to start.  It speaks about a King who will try to change the times and will fight with God’s people for 3 ½ years. 

“This king will speak against the Most High God, and he will hurt and kill God’s holy people. He will try to change times and laws that have already been set. The holy people that belong to God will be in that king’s power for three and one-half years.”

Why would anyone want to change the “times” or calendar?  Because our calendar is based on the birth of Jesus Christ!  This was also done during the French Revolution, another time in which the spirit of Anti-Christ took authority over part of the world.  

Two key passages in the scriptures separate out distinctive time frames in the tribulation period.

“And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.” Daniel 12: 6-8 and Revelations 12:14 “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” Time, times and a half means, three and a half years and if this three and a half year period of time were not significant why is highlighted so? 

I am a practical man when it comes to interpreting the scriptures.  I ask simple questions.  Why does God divide a seven year period of time in half? Seven years is a very short period of time in the scripture.  He does it because there are important things happening. 

Could it be the following? “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;” He is then described for us, “ Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-4.

A more thorough teaching on this topic can be found at the below link.

 http://www.nobts.edu/faculty/itor/lemkesw/personal/midtribulationism.html

 

In my view of scripture Matthew 24, Mark 13, 1 and 2 Thessalonians as well as the timing of the last trumpet in Revelations 11 are harmonious.  It is the strength of this harmony that has leads me to the mid tribulation position. Finally, one last quote from Steve Lemke to support my position.

The ‘Mid-tribulationalism position offers a better account of the scriptural division of the events of the end times in two halves than does pre-tribulationalism. Post-tribulationalists, like pre-tribulationalists, ignore or gloss over the precise language separating the signs and events of the end into two distinct periods.” 

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[1]  http://www.nobts.edu/faculty/itor/lemkesw/personal/midtribulationism.html