Table of Contents

End Time Proof

Now IN the End-Time
The Ten Virgins
The Spiritual Temple
The Man of Sin
Final Eras of the Church
Desolation of the Temple
The End-Time Elijah- Fulfilled

Unveiling the Book of Revelation

Clarifying the Seals of Revelation
First Five Seals Opened
The Sixth Seal of Revelation
The Opening of the 7th Seal
A Time for Two Witnesses

The Revelation of God's Plan for Mankind

Introduction (Plan of God)
The 7th Day Sabbath
Passover
Unleavened Bread
Pentecost
Trumpets
Atonement
Feast of Tabernacles
Last Great Day

The Sixth Seal of Revelation

The sixth seal of Revelation marks an awesomely dramatic time for all human history. It sets the way for the conclusive events that must take place before the Kingdom of God can finally come to this earth. This seal establishes the fulfillment of a very specific work that God has been doing for the past 6,000 years. It is at this time that the calling and choosing of all who will be resurrected first into that Kingdom will have been fully determined by God.

This momentous occasion is unveiled amidst the backdrop of the revelation that the time for God's end-time wrath has now come and is about to be unleashed upon this earth. But before this final time of great trouble on earth is released, the finalized total of all who will be in the first resurrection is sealed.

"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 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 sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For that great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Revelation 6:12-17).

The opening of the sixth seal is the announcement of a transition in time, when the moment for great physical tribulation has finally come, as the end of a great spiritual tribulation is finally concluding. The end-time has finally come for all mankind, toward the end of his allotted 6,000 years of self-rule, and the foundation of this earth will be shaken. Mankind is going to be brought face-to-face with an impending annihilation if God does not intervene.

This last section of Revelation 6 gives us an overview of the great cataclysm that is about to follow and the result for all quarters of mankind who will be seeking to hide and escape this wrath.

The Long Work of Pentecost

The sixth seal not only gives an overview of what is about to come upon this world, as a transition is about to take place (a focus from the Church to a focus on this world), but it also reveals the completion of a process that entails a work of God that has covered this span of 6,000 years. It is during the time span between the sixth and seventh seals being opened that this great event is finalized.

For nearly six millennia, God has called people to repentance from their own ways to the development of holy, righteous character. This has been the work of Pentecost, most of which has been done during the past 2,000 years within the Church. Firstfruits have been called by God to be in His Kingdom which will come when Jesus Christ returns as King of kings. God has worked for a long time to come to this moment for the opening of this sixth seal when this process will be finalized and all those who will make up His Kingdom will be sealed.

The seventh seal cannot be opened until this process is complete. Angels are actually held back from unleashing their phase of end-time devastation until all who are to be in the first resurrection have been made ready, chosen of God and sealed.

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (Revelation 7:1-3).

These four angels, who are being withheld from releasing devastation, are the first four angels who will sound their trumpets after the seventh seal is opened. The destruction that follows the blowing of these trumpets is what leads to the final period of three and a half years of great tribulation that begins when the fifth angel sounds his trumpet.

The first four angels of the seventh seal are held back from unleashing the beginning of physical tribulation upon this world until God has completed the final determination of all who will be in the first resurrection. All who are dead in Christ have already been determined and are in the count of Pentecost- firstfruits who will be in the first resurrection. Their destiny has already been sealed, and now, the destiny of those who are yet alive, who will have been chosen by God to be part with them, is about to be sealed.

Those who return with Jesus Christ in His Kingdom make up the work of Pentecost- those who will be part of the temple that God has been building. Because God is the Builder, that structure is very exact! God made the blueprints and has shaped every stone. These stones are exact in number- not too many and not too few, and they will fit into the temple exactly as He has fashioned them. The ability to accomplish such a feat is a glory to the awesome greatness of God and His power to perform it. This temple is exact in every detail, just as God had predetermined it, before the foundation of the world. "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestined (Greek- "predetermined") us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:4-6).

The opening of the sixth seal reveals a time for awesome fulfillment in the Work of God over the past 6,000 years. All who will become part of His family, from the first harvest of all mankind, will have been determined and sealed before final tribulation comes on this world. But before these firstfruits can enter into the family, the world must first go through a time of trouble such as it has never encountered throughout all human history.

An Exact Number in Pentecost

Just as we must count an exact number of days to know when to observe Pentecost, there is an exact number of firstfruits that make up the work of Pentecost. God is perfect in all His ways, and what He builds is exact! God has been building upon a spiritual temple over the past 6,000 years. That temple comprises all who will be the firstfruits in His family when His Kingdom comes to this earth.

"And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed a hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel" (Revelation 7:4).

This number of 144,000 is exact and complete in perfection according to God's will. Only these will be resurrected as part of the family of God at the time of Jesus Christ's return. The number twelve for perfection is used as God describes these firstfruits as being 12,000 each of the twelve tribes of Israel. This is spiritual Israel- not the physical tribes of Israel.

Paul revealed to the Church that Gentiles (those of the uncircumcision) in the Church are spiritual Jews. "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God" (Romans 2:28-29).

In like manner, the Church is sometimes referred to as being Israel, but in such cases that does not mean the physical tribes of Israel. Actually, Israelites and Gentiles will make up the family of God, but they must first become a part of the Church by being begotten of God's spirit. "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13).

Paul preached continually that salvation had come to the Gentiles. When Gentiles are called and begotten of God's spirit, they become spiritual Jews by a circumcision of the heart.

It is important to understand these basic truths concerning all who God calls. Regardless of one's background or nationality, we all become a part of a spiritual family- not a national family. Yet all will bear the name of Israel spiritually.

God reveals that the spiritual temple, which is spiritual Israel, will bear the name of twelve tribes. Even as the holy Jerusalem is described in Revelation 21, it reveals that spiritual Israel is divided into four sides with three tribes listed on each side and each entrance containing the name of a tribe of Israel. That is why God mentions the names of twelve tribes, each containing 12,000 who comprise the full number of 144,000 who are resurrected first as firstfruits.

There has been some confusion in the past because, as the Church continued to grow much larger in the late 60s, 70s, and early 80s, it was believed that 144,000 would come out of Philadelphia. Now we know this is not true, and what God has now made obvious is that this number is the total of all who will be in the first resurrection. Some of this confusion has existed because of not understanding the story of Revelation 7.

All One and the Same

It is important that we fully understand the clearest account that speaks of the 144,000. And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. (Revelation 14:1-5).

The account is clear. The number is exact! These are called firstfruits who have been redeemed from among mankind. The process is complete.

The number of firstfruits should not be difficult to understand. These are all who have been redeemed from mankind over the past 6,000 years. This clearly sets the number of those who make up the work of Pentecost.

In reality, both accounts of the 144,000 (Revelation 7 and 14) are one and the same. At the point in time of Revelation 7:4, that number has not yet been fully achieved, but it is about to be. When we arrive on the scene in Revelation 14, that number is complete, and they are now with Jesus Christ, having been resurrected.

This group in Revelation 7 is not about a specific number of physical Israelites who are going to receive physical protection from the end-time tribulation. Also, it is not about a specific number in the Church who are going to be protected.

After the twelve tribes are listed, notice what is said. "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;" (Revelation 7:9).

This is not some new mysterious group. This is neither a group of Gentiles, nor the Laodicean Church that is going to be delivered out of great tribulation in the end-time, as some still believe. This verse is simply projecting ahead in time and showing the outcome of the 144,000 that were earlier sealed in verse 3.

No man could "number" (Greek word "arithmeo") these. The point being made is that only God knows the number, since it was God who brought this number together. We have no means of knowing how many God redeemed from each millennia, but He told us the total (verse 4) which only He knows. Even if this were an account of a physical nature, no man would be able to look out over such a great multitude and number them.

Yet this multitude clearly stands in the same place as those mentioned in Revelation 14- those redeemed from among mankind. These are the same because they are clothed in white and have "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Revelation 7:14).

The question is even asked about who this multitude is. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." (Revelation 7:13-15).

This group makes up the temple of God. The following verses make it clear that they have been changed from mortal to immortal. They are now spirit- in the spiritual family of God. They did not arrive easily. All who are called and begotten into the spiritual family of God must go through intensive refining, trial, and testing in order to be molded and fashioned into stones for this tem ple.

With some of the final instruction that Jesus Christ gave us on Passover night, He said, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

Paul later spoke of the same thing when he said, "Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone; And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith: That no man should be moved by these afflictions: (same Greek word for "tribulation") for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know" (1 Thessalonians 3:1-4).

Tribulation and suffering is not new to God's people. We understand it is part of our calling. That is why the example of fire and refining of gold and silver is so meaningful to us. We know it takes much fire to try us in order for us to be transformed- to mold and fashion holy righteous character within us. As Peter said, "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:" (1 Peter 1:7).

So when we are told, concerning this great multitude, that "these are they which came out of great tribulation," we need to understand that all who are able to become a part of the family of God, in the first resurrection, must come through much tribulation in the world. That is the process whereby we are able to be transformed. So those being spoken of as coming out of great tribulation are not restricted to only those who come out of the end-time physical tribulation on the whole world. All 144,000 have had to come through great tribulation in order to be among those in the first resurrection.

Yes, before the seventh seal is opened and the end-time physical tribulation is unleashed upon this earth, the work of Pentecost will be concluded. All who are to be in the first resurrection will have been determined- all will have been sealed.

It should be profoundly sobering to understand that at the same time this book is being written, we are in the time when the sixth seal has been opened. We are at a transition in time when end-time spiritual tribulation upon the Church is about to conclude and end-time physical tribulation on this world is about to commence.

This time, between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals, is when the final determination of all who will be firstfruits- the temple of God- is completed. When the sealing is complete, great destruction will come on this earth because the first four angels of the seventh seal are no longer restrained.

Draw close to God, as His Kingdom is about to come to this earth!


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