Prophecy
11
The Rise of Babylon –
Revelation 12:7 – 14:5
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[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
-9-
Revelation
14:1
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.
{14:1} I
looked into Heaven and saw the
144,000 standing on Mount Zion with
the Lamb. Everyone was filled with
inexpressible happiness. I saw Jesus
welcoming the 144,000 with open arms.
The 144,000 had the names of Jesus
and of the Father written on their
foreheads.
John saw the
144,000 standing on “Mount
Zion” with the Lamb. I believe
this scene takes place on the 1,265th
day of the Great Tribulation and it
underscores a very interesting point.
When the 144,000 reach Heaven they
will stand on Mount Zion with
Jesus. Contrary to what millions of
Christians believe, Mount Zion on
Earth is no longer important to God!
In fact, Mount Zion on Earth is
insignificant since He abandoned Plan
A. God has created a new Mount
Zion to accommodate a new Jerusalem!
Mount Zion
(also called Mount Moriah) is
significant because God directed
Abraham to Mount Zion to offer up his
son, Isaac. God sent Abraham to a
specific spot on Mount Moriah because
it was God’s plan that Jesus
would be offered as the sacrificial
lamb on the same spot where
Abraham’s faith had been tested,
but this did not occur. Jesus died
among two criminals outside the
city of Jerusalem.
When the
Israelites were in Egypt building
pyramids for Pharaoh, the Jebusites
were building a fortress on top of
Mount Zion. Centuries after the
Exodus, David captured the fortress
that was sitting on top of Zion.[120] After
David began reigning from the city,
he changed the name from Jebus to
Jerusalem.[121]Through the
years, Mount Moriah, Mount Zion,
Jebus, the City of David, and
Jerusalem are names given to
the same geographical
place. The city has several names
because each name says something
unique about this special place on
Earth.
After David
died, God directed Solomon to build
His temple over the very spot where
Abraham had offered up Isaac.[122] At the
dedication of the temple, God’s
presence filled the temple and
Jerusalem became the seventh and
final city of refuge.[123] Under
Plan A, God intended that Jerusalem
would endure forever.[124] However,
when Jesus came to Earth, He found
Jerusalem to be a city of apostasy
and blasphemy. Jesus did not die on
the Altar of Burnt Offering as
originally planned.[125] Jesus
did not die where Abraham offered up
Isaac. Plan A was abandoned because
of Israel’s apostacy and
according to the terms of His
covenant with Israel,[126] God
sent the Romans to utterly destroy
Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Centuries
later, God eliminated any possibility
that the Jews would build another
temple on Mount Moriah by allowing
Moslems to build a mosque (The Dome
of the Rock) there.
When Israel
failed to receive Messiah, God did
not give up on humanity. Instead,
Jesus implemented Plan B which is
based on a New Covenant.[127] Forty
days after His resurrection, Jesus
returned to Heaven to prepare a new city
of refuge there. This city is
called new Jerusalem
because it will replace the original
Jerusalem. A new Jerusalem became
necessary because God had made a
promise to Abraham.[128] God
told Abraham that He would someday
build a new city and Abraham and his
descendants would live there forever.
This promise explains why the
patriarch looked forward “to a
city whose builder and maker is
God.”[129] The
significance of the 144,000 standing
on Mount Zion in Heaven is
a picture worth ten thousand words.
They are victorious over Babylon and
the great red dragon. Their presence
on Mount Zion in Heaven validates the
certainty of Plan B. There is
redemption and refuge on Mount Zion!
God’s promise to Abraham will be
fulfilled and together with his
descendants and the 144,000, they
will worship the Father and the Lamb
in the eighth city
of refuge. New Jerusalem is a reality
and it will endure forever! Nothing
impure or that defiles[130] will
enter this city and its High Priest
will be Jesus Christ Himself.[131]
John also saw
another interesting feature about the
144,000. He saw the 144,000 wearing
the names of the Father and Jesus on
their foreheads. I am sure the effect
will be radiant and very beautiful;
very different from the ugly tattoo
which the devil will place on the
foreheads of his servants. I believe
the names of Jesus and the Father
will be highly visible throughout
eternity, because the 144,000 will
serve as administrative assistants to
Jesus. They will make up His personal
entourage and follow Him wherever He
goes. The honor that will rest upon
these people is the highest that God
can bestow. Everyone will recognize
Christ’s personal assistants
from a distance by looking upon their
lovely faces. No one else in the
universe will wear anything like the
names of the Father and Jesus on
their foreheads.
Revelation
14:2-3
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.
{2} Then
I heard a sound from Heaven like
rushing waters and roaring like loud
peals of thunder. I continued to
listen and the awesome sound I heard
was like harpists playing a song on
their harps.
{3} The 144,000
sang a new song before the throne and
before the four living creatures and
the elders. This was an amazing
event. A brand new, unheard song was
perfectly performed before Jesus and
the Father! I looked around Heaven
and everyone other than the 144,000
was silent. No one could sing the
song except the 144,000 who had been
redeemed from Earth.
The 144,000
will sing a new song when they get to
Heaven. It will be a song of
experience and faithful endurance and
no one else in Heaven can sing this
exact song. In Heaven, a song is a
unique testimony describing a
personal experience that tells of
trouble, perplexity, suffering, and
victory through God’s sustaining
power and His infinite love. Only
those who have endured that
experience can sing a song that has
never been heard!
Revelation
14:4-5
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.{4} The
144,000 are God’s priests
forever. They will accompany the Lamb
wherever He goes, for they were
purchased from among men and offered
as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.[132] The
144,000 are men and women who came
out of the Great Tribulation.[133] They
will come from every nation, tongue,
and people and special honor was
given to them because of their
faithful service and endurance.
{5} Most, if
not all of the 144,000 will die as
martyrs because they spoke the words
given to them without regard for
personal consequences. In God’s
sight, they are blameless. They stood
firmly for God’s truth and they
proclaimed everything that He wanted
the wicked to hear.
When we see
their service, faithfulness, and
courage, when we see the abuse they
will suffer for Christ’s sake,
when we observe their rejection,
sorrows, and the endurance required,
we too, will appreciate and honor
their faithful and determined efforts
to carry the eternal gospel to every
nation.[134]
The
Rules of Interpretation
Consider how
the Rules of Interpretation
(discussed in the Introduction of
this book) are observed in this
prophecy:
Rule
One says an apocalyptic
prophecy has a beginning point and
ending point in time and the events
within the prophecy occur in the
order given. This prophecy begins
with war in Heaven on Resurrection
Sunday and it ends with the 144,000
rejoicing with Jesus on Mount Zion
(Day 1,265 of the Great Tribulation).
Notice the chronological order in
Prophecy 11:
1. Revelation
12:7-12 (A.D. 30)
There was war
in Heaven on Resurrection Sunday.
Lucifer and his angels were cast out
of Heaven a second, final time.
2. Revelation
12:13-14 (A.D. 538-1798)
The dragon
chased the woman to the desert for
1,260 years (a time, times and half a
time). According to Rule Four, this
time period must be translated using
a day for a year because the Jubilee
Calendar is in operation.
3. Revelation
12:15,16 (1798
to the present)
The Earth
helped the woman. God provided a safe
place (the United States of America)
where she could escape religious
persecution.
4. Revelation
12:17 (1798 to the
present)
When the
1,260 years ended, the devil went off
to make plans for war on the remnant
of the woman. This assault will occur
during the Great Tribulation.
5. Revelation
13:1 (future)
When
God’s wrath reduces the world to
ruins (the first four trumpets), a
composite beast having seven heads
and ten horns will rise. This beast
will be a global government.
Religious and political leaders will
create this government to appease God
so that His wrath will cease. The
seven heads represent the seven
religious systems of the world.[135] The
head on the beast that was wounded in
1798 is the Roman Catholic Church.
When the composite beast (also called
Babylon) forms, the pope will be
selected as its leader. This is how
the head that received the deadly
wound in 1798 will become completely
healed.
6. Revelation
13:2-6 (future)
Babylon (the
composite beast) will become a hand
puppet of the devil. The devil will
use Babylon to persecute the
remnant of the woman for
forty-two lunar months. Rule Four
requires that this time period not be
translated because the Jubilee
Calendar is not in operation.
Therefore, forty-two lunar months
in Revelation
13:5 represent 1241
literal days (42 x 29.53 = 1240.26
days).
7. Revelation
13:7-10 (future)
God’s
people will be conquered and
defeated. Most of them will be killed
or put in prison and all inhabitants
of the Earth will obey the laws of
Babylon, all that
is, except the saints.
8. Revelation
13:11-18 (future)
About two
years after the composite beast is
created, the devil and his angels
will be released from the Abyss to
physically appear before the people
of Earth during the fifth trumpet.
(See Revelation
9:1-11.) Lucifer is the
“lamblike” beast in Revelation
13:11 that comes up
out of the Earth. During the sixth
trumpet, the devil’s forces will
kill a third of mankind (most, if not
all of the 144,000 will be killed).
The lamblike beast will set up a
worldwide counterfeit theocracy (the
image to the composite beast) and
implement his mark, a tattoo showing
the number, 666.
9. Revelation
14:1-5 (future)
Jesus will
resurrect the 144,000 at the seventh
trumpet and take them to Heaven on
the 1,265th day of the Great
Tribulation. They will be presented
to God as the first fruits of the
coming harvest.
