Four Global
Announcements
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Revelation not only
predicts the coming manifestations of
the wrath of God (and the response of
the religious and political systems
of Earth), it also reveals four
profound announcements that God shall
send to every nation, kindred, tongue
and people. These four announcements
will be more widely known than AIDS.
Time
has not arrived
As of this moment,
these four messages are essentially
dormant because the appointed time
for these messages has not arrived.
However, do not misunderstand,
Christians are proclaiming elements
of all four messages around the
world. However, the four
messages – occurring as a
four-part sequence, require a
specific progression of global events
to be universally effective. In
addition, when universal
circumstances become appropriate,
these four messages will penetrate
every mind with the brilliance of
sunlight. Even though they can be
understood before their moment of
glory, they have not yet received the
power that is to accompany them.
There is nothing more
powerful than a truth whose time has
come. Like a runaway train, timely
truth can penetrate any blockade
– whether physical, mental or
spiritual. The key word in the
previous sentence is timely. Timing
is everything. And the greater the
resistance, the greater the exposure
and power of timely truth.
Just as heat is generated in an
electrical circuit when there is more
power than the circuit can bear, so
these four messages will cause a
great controversy among all people,
nations and languages.
The
four messages
What are these four
messages? In abbreviated form they
are:
- Obey
God
- Disobey
man’s laws
- Disobey
the devil’s demands
- Do
not receive the mark of the
beast
Look
at the diagram for the chronological
placement of these messages. The
first of these four messages will
begin in a powerful way just before
the censer in Revelation 8:2-5 is
cast down. The global earthquake and
attending phenomena that marks the
judgment of the living serves as the
starting gun for the world announcing
the Great Tribulation. (Think about
the significance of the earthquake as
it relates to commerce. Can you
imagine the consequences of thousands
of collapsed bridges and freeway
overpasses in the USA?) I believe
there will be a short interval of
time between the global earthquake
and the sounding of the first
trumpet, perhaps no more than eight
months. During this interval of
time, the 144,000 will continue
proclaiming the first of the four
announcements – but
comparatively few people will listen
or give them due consideration. Then,
the first trumpet occurs, the world
will behold a fulfillment of the
first trumpet that the 144,000
predicted. It is important to know
that the fulfillment of prophecy does
not change the announcement of the
144,000; rather, the first
announcement will receive much
greater attention by the people of
earth as a result of the first
trumpet. As a result, more people
will respond to the gospel call.
To appreciate the
impact these announcements are going
to have, one has to understand the
events that surround each message
because each message is given in
opposition to what is actually taking
place. For example, the first
announcement (in abbreviated form) is
“Obey God.” While every
born again Christian already
understands the importance of this
statement, the implication of this
message is that most people
aren’t obeying God even though
they think they are! In other words,
the reader must recognize that these
four announcements have two
dimensions.
The first dimension is
the revealing of the will of God to
all men. The second dimension is the
revealing of the rebellion within man
against the will of God. Thus, each
announcement ignites a higher level
of opposition as it is given until
the people of earth are separated
– as sheep or goats.
Right
to the point
God uses few words.
Speech is a temporal and
momentary means of communication. For
example, over the course of your
lifetime, how many sermons you have
heard and forgotten? God prefers to
be understood by His actions because
men may learn much about the nature
and character of God through the
study of His behavior over the
millenniums of time. Therefore, His
words are few and far between, and
everything the last generation needs
to know about salvation has been
written in the Bible. Therefore, God
is going to speak to the people of
the world through His servant –
prophets, the 144,000. These will
present four compelling messages from
the Bible that all will hear. Within
the context of these four messages,
men and women, boys and girls
everywhere will hear the gospel
invitation: Receive Jesus Christ
as Savior AND Lord so that you can be
saved. To receive Jesus, as
Savior is to recognize that one
cannot save himself. Salvation is
only possible through faith in Jesus.
To receive Jesus as Lord is to
recognize the authority of Jesus. If
we accept Jesus as our Lord and
Master, we voluntarily become subject
to His commandments. But what brings
the properties of salvation into
sharpest focus is this: During the
Great Tribulation, men will enact a
number of laws that will stand in
direct opposition to the laws of God.
The result is that the subject of
salvation will become simple to
comprehend: One will not be able to
obey God without great love for God
and faith in His promises.
World
response to the trumpets
I maintain that one
cannot correctly understand
Revelation’s story, especially
the four announcements of Revelation,
without first understanding what the
fourth seal and the seven trumpets
are all about. (Time will soon reveal
if my assertion is true or false.)
The reason I maintain such a position
is that one has to first comprehend
something of the first holocaust
caused by the first four trumpets to
appreciate the panic and desperation
that will galvanize the whole world
into a confused but collective unit
to appease an angry God. This
collective unit of seven religious
systems is called Babylon, and it
will rapidly rise to a coalition
having great power – once the
Great Tribulation begins.
I am convinced that
the four angels holding back the four
winds in Revelation 7:1-4 are the
first four angels having the seven
trumpets. Without going into much
detail, here is why: The four
angels holding back the four winds
have power to harm the earth.
Specifically, they have power to
harm the land, sea and trees.
After the 144,000 are selected and
sealed, the four angels will harm the
land, sea and trees. The only place
in Revelation where the land, sea and
trees are specifically harmed is
found in Revelation 8:7-9. Here, the
first two angels of the seven
trumpets accomplish the harm that God
wants them to do. I also find that
the devil and his angels are not
permitted to harm the land, plants
and trees; rather, they can only hurt
people who have not received the seal
of God. (Revelation 9:4) If the
devil’s angels could harm the
land, plants and trees, all humanity
would prematurely die. Thus, the
devil could thwart the work of God to
reach people with the gospel.
Therefore, God prohibits the devil
and his angels from harming the
environment. (Incidentally, trumpets
five through seven are called curses
or woes because they directly affect
people.)
Therefore, an
understanding of the fourth seal and
the seven trumpets is central to
Revelation’s story. The fourth
seal contains four literal judgments
from God: sword, famine, plague and
wild beasts. These four judgments are
four winds that shall be loosed after
the 144,000 are ready to do their
work! Moreover, the seven trumpets
are the means by which the four
judgments occur. The coalition of the
world’s systems (the rise of the
dragon like beast out of the sea,
Revelation 13:1) is man’s response
to the first four trumpets. This
background information is imperative.
It sets the stage for the
announcements. In addition, once the
setting is properly understood, one
can see why these four announcements
are as volatile as dynamite.
Two
Witnesses
To make the testimony
of the 144,000 credible, Jesus will
give them two assets: a clear grasp
of the five Bible doctrines and the
Holy Spirit power. The Two Witnesses
will make the 144,000
servant-prophets a formidable group
of people even though they are few
and far between. Here is a mystery.
The 144,000 will be largely
disconnected from each other by
geography and communication –
but they are very similar in
character and they bear the same four
powerful announcements during the
probationary period of the Great
Tribulation.
God’s purpose for
empowering the 144,000 is this: The
gospel is not only a proclamation of
the love of God; it is a
demonstration of God’s love. The
144,000 will be a group of chosen
people that have a love for the
salvation of souls. They will be
individuals who love God with all
their hearts, mind and soul and their
neighbors as themselves.
In Revelation, we find
the gift of prophecy is given to the
144,000. (Revelation 7:3; 10:7;
12:17) The gift of prophecy is called
the “testimony of Jesus”
because this phrase refers to a
process that is most exciting to
understand. In Revelation 1:9, we
read, “I, John, your brother
and companion in the suffering and
kingdom and patient endurance that
are ours in Jesus, was on the island
of Patmos because of the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus.” Did
you notice that John was suffering on
the island of Patmos because of the
testimony of Jesus?
Notice what the angel
told John the testimony of Jesus is: “At
this I fell at his feet to worship
him. However, he said to me, ‘Do
not do it! I am a fellow servant with
you and with your brothers who hold
to the testimony of Jesus. Worship
God! For the testimony of Jesus is
the spirit of prophecy.’” (Revelation
19:10) What does the last sentence of
this text mean?
Putting these two
texts together, we find that John was
on the isle of Patmos because of the
spirit of prophecy! What is the
spirit of St. Louis? What is the
spirit of praise and thanksgiving?
What is the spirit of the Olympics?
Basically, the spirit of something is
an attitude about that something. The
spirit of prophecy is an attitude of
esteem for prophecy.
Prophecy is a gift
that comes directly from Jesus.
Notice these two verses from Paul: “Follow
the way of love and eagerly desire
spiritual gifts, especially the gift
of prophecy. Tongues, then, are a
sign, not for believers but for
unbelievers, prophecy, however, is
for believes, not unbelievers.” (1
Corinthians 14:1,22) Paul makes an
interesting point that prophecy is
for believers – not unbelievers!
Why would he say that? Because
believers (should) have an eager
attitude or spirit of prophesy, a
desire to know the will, the plans
and purposes of God. In addition, the
gift of prophecy is to be especially
desired among the people of God, for
it is the most direct means of
knowing the plans and will of Jesus.
The testimony of Jesus can come
through Bible prophecy (the book of
Revelation is called the testimony of
Jesus; Revelation 22:16) or through a
prophet. Regardless of the method of
delivery – prophecies from the
Bible or through a prophet – the
testimony of Jesus remains in
constant agreement. In other words, a
true prophet has a correct
understanding of Bible prophecy will
be found to be in agreement.
(This last concept
needs a qualifying remark. No prophet
has ever been shown everything about
the times and dates set by God. (Acts
1:7) Paul says of prophets, “For
we know in part and we prophesy in
part.” (1 Corinthians 13:9) The
end result is that when Old or New
Testament prophets were shown scenes
concerning the end of the world, they
all thought the end was imminent or
near. However, their supposition
about God’s chronology has been
proven wrong by nearly two
millenniums. Keep in mind that God
only unlocks His chronology when the
time for fulfillment arrives. This
means the final generation can know
they are the last generation because
they alone are enabled to assemble
all that the prophets were shown.
(Daniel 12:9) The point here is that
true prophets have been wrong about
the timing of Christ’s
appearing. (See 1 Corinthians 7:29; 1
John 2:18; Hebrews 1:1; 9:26; 10:37;
John 21:22,23, 1 Peter 1:20, 4:7,
Romans 13:11,12) However, a correct
understanding of Bible prophecy will
be found to be in agreement with the
content of the visions given to true
prophets.
Here is the mechanics
of the gift of prophecy works: First,
Jesus says something in heaven. The
Holy Spirit hears what Jesus says.
Then, the Holy Spirit carries the
information to the prophet(s). Read
the following verse twice and notice
the mechanics of this operation: “But
when he, the Spirit of truth, comes,
he will guide you into all truth. He
will not speak on his own; he will
only speak what he hears, and he will
tell you what is yet to come.” (John
16:13) The gift of prophecy is the
vehicle through which the testimony
of Jesus comes. The 144,000 are
servant-prophets that will receive
“the word of the Lord”
(testimony) from Jesus via the Holy
Spirit.
This matter nicely
comes into focus when we read
Revelation 12:17: “Then the
dragon was enraged at the woman and
went off to make war against the rest
of her offspring – those who
obey God’s commandments and hold
to the testimony of Jesus.” In
short, the last generation of
God’s people will be those
obeying God’s commandments
(remember the first announcement?)
and holding to the testimony of Jesus
as communicated via the Holy Spirit
to the 144,000. (Incidentally, the
devil in verse 17 goes off to make
war against the remnant. The war is
described in Revelation 13:7 Notice: “He
[Babylon, the dragon like beast] was
given power to make war against the
saints and to conquer them. And he
was given power authority over every
tribe, people, language and
nation.”) During this coming
war, the saints will be greatly
encouraged by the presence of Jesus!
Doctrine
is important
Within the context of
the four announcements that shall be
given by the 144,000, five doctrinal
truths will be revealed. They are:
- The
salvation of God
- The
worship of God
- The
sanctuary of God
- The
return of God
- The
conditions of man in life and
death
These five doctrines
converge and bring Revelation’s
story into clearest focus. For
example, if one does not understand
the worship of God, how can he
understand the first announcement
found in Revelation 14:7 which says,
“Worship God?” If one does
not understand the sanctuary of God,
how can he understand the meaning of
the throwing down of the censer in
Revelation 8:2-5? If one does not
understand the condition of man in
death, how can he understand the
purpose and importance of two
resurrections? If one does not
understand that the saints are going
to experience the great tribulation
and face martyrdom, how can he be
prepared? I am not suggesting that
every person on earth is going to
receive the equivalent of a college
education in these doctrines. On the
other contrary, I am saying that
every person on earth who wants to be
saved will receive a saving
knowledge of these five
doctrines. The difference between a
saving knowledge and years of study
will be irrelevant. What will be
relevant is knowledge sufficient for
faith and a determination to stand
firm for God and His truth.
A calendar of
events
There is an important
difference between doctrinal truths
and apocalyptic prophecy, and many
people do not understand the
distension. Perhaps the easiest way
to understand the distinction is to
think of apocalyptic prophecy as a
calendar of events. Each element
within a prophecy belongs to a
specific moment in time. For example,
the first trumpet in revelation 8
happens at a specific moment in time.
In fact, the Bible says that the
sixth trumpet happens at a specific
hour, day, month and year!
(Revelation 9:15) Therefore, every
apocalyptic element has a date
connected with it. Thus, apocalyptic
prophecy is essentially a calendar of
predicted events.
On the other hand,
doctrinal truth is knowledge from God
about His love and interest in man.
Even more, doctrine reveals
God’s interest and ideals for
man, and within these ideals, we find
God’s purpose for man and our
power of choice to determine our
destiny. I am personally convinced of
something that seems strange to most
people. I believe that many people
would knowingly and freely choose to
forfeit heaven if they could see the
conditions and type of life that all
in heaven will live. Think about this
concept a few times. Can you imagine
a person living in heaven for
eternity and not being able to get
something he wanted? Suppose someone
wanted to get a promotion, a better
paying job, and God said,
“No.” How long could one
live with this desire and God’s
refusal and remain happy? (I chose
this illustration, for this is a
repetition of Lucifer’s fall.
Most people do not
search the Scriptures to better
understand doctrine. Rather, most of
us become satisfied with a few
simplistic ideas about this or that
and that is the end of searching the
Bible for more truth. Bible classes
at Church are often discussions
revealing the poverty of knowledge
rather than serious investigation
into the infinite realms of
God’s Word. It is a lot like
high school days. Can you still work
an algebraic problem, or have your
mathematical skills decayed to the
point that basic math is a challenge?
The point here is that
apocalyptic prophecy and doctrine are
brother and sister. Apocalyptic
prophecy has to do with when.
Doctrine has to do with why.
Put them together and we discover
wonderful things about God’s
purposes that were set in motion
before the creation of the world!
The
messengers
Now that these matters
have been examined, let us examine
the fullness of the four
announcements that are soon to be
heard. The first announcement is
this:
“Then I saw
another angel flying in midair, and
he had the eternal gospel to proclaim
to those who live on the earth –
to every nation, tribe, language and
people. {7} He said in a loud voice,
‘Fear God and give him glory,
because the hour of his judgment has
come. Worship him who made the
heavens, the earth, the sea and the
springs of water.’” (Revelation
14:6-8)
The delivery of the
four announcements is represented to
John as the work of angels –
flying in midair. Will God’s
angels deliver the four
annou8ncements to the inhabitants of
earth? No, not directly. The 144,000
servant-prophets will bear the
responsibility. The Greek word for
angel is aggelos which simple means
messenger. Notice how Jesus used the
word aggelos in this text: “Then
what did you go out to see? A
prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more
than a prophet. {10} This is the one
about whom it is written: ‘I
will send my messenger [aggelos]
ahead of you, who will prepare the
way before you.’ {11} I tell you
the truth: Among those born of women
there has not risen anyone greater
than John the Baptist; yet he who is
least in the kingdom of heaven is
greater than he.” (Matthew
11:9-12)
Clearly, the word
aggelos in verse 10 applies to john
the Baptist – a herald of
the First Advent, and in Revelation,
14:6 the aggelos represents the
144,000 – heralds of the Second
Advent.
What is the first
announcement given to every person
living on earth?
1.
Fear God
2.
Give Him glory, because the hour of
His judgment has come
3.
Worship the Creator who made the
heavens, earth, sea and fountains of
waters.
Let us look at each
element within the first message,
“Fear God.” The Greek word
for fear is phobeo that means to
cause fear or terrify. (The English
word phobia is a derivative.) This
command means exactly what it says.
God is above every power or
authority. He can speak worlds into
– or out of -
existence. He requires His subjects
to hold reverent respect for His
authority and His throne. No
sovereign, in heaven or on earth, can
tolerate insolent subjects and
maintain the dignity of His throne.
Peter puts some perspective on this
saying, “For if God did not
spare angels when they sinned, but
sent them to hell, putting them into
gloomy dungeons to be held for
judgment; {5} if he did not spare the
ancient world when he brought the
flood on its ungodly people, but
protected Noah, a preacher of
righteousness, and seven others; {6}
if he condemned the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah by burning them to
ashes, and made them an example of
what is going to happen to the
ungodly….This is especially true
of those who follow the corrupt
desire of the sinful nature and
despise authority. Bold and arrogant,
these men are not afraid to slander
celestial beings.” (2 Peter
2:4-6,10)
Thus, the work of the
144,000 on behalf of the world begins
after the global earthquake. They
begin with a call to fear God as
Supreme Ruler, having the authority
of life and death over all
inhabitants of earth. As the reader
might expect, this message flies in
the face of the world’s attitude
about God. Like Pharaoh of old they
scoff, “Who is your God
that we should be so concerned?”
The second element
within the first announcement
contains more detail. It says,
“Give Him glory, because the
hour of His judgment has come.”
The Greek sense of giving glory is
equivalent today as giving high honor
or exalted recognition. We give great
glory to Olympic athletes when we
stand them on a podium and place a
medal around their necks that
recognize their accomplishments. This
glory is not imaginary. Often, it is
converted into millions of dollars
for product endorsements.
In God’s case, we
give God glory by recognizing that
all His works and commands are
faithful and true. We give God glory
by exalting His laws and commands
above anything else. We give God
glory by putting Him first, above
anything else. Indeed, this is the
point of the first announcement
because the hour of His judgment of
earth has begun. In other words, when
this message goes forth, God begins
the judgment of the living. He begins
sealing everyone in his or her
decision for life eternal or for
death eternal.
I need to make an
important point here. God does not
make a unilateral decision upon each
person during the judgment of the
living as He did upon the dead.
Rather, during the judgment of the
living, He seals people in their
decision for faith or rebellion. He
sends the gospel to every nation,
kindred, tongue and people with great
convincing power to see who will
receive His truth and lives by faith,
and those who refuse His invitation
and rebel against Him. Here is the
mechanics of the process:
- Each
person on earth will hear the
full gospel invitation.
- As
they hear, they will have to
decide for or against the
message. There will be no
middle ground because
desperate circumstances will
require each person to accept
the gospel as delivered by
the 144,000 or reject it.
(When survival itself is at
stake, decisions are not too
complicated – they may
be hard to make, but the
issues are clear.)
- Once
a decision is made, God will
test each person to see if he
or she is solid in his or her
decision. If he or she is
not, the testing becomes more
intense until a solid
decision is reached.
- After
the test reveals the final
decision, that person is
sealed in his decision of
faith or rebellion. The
sealing is final.
So, the element of the
first announcement, the hour of
His judgment has come, clearly
reveals that test-day has arrived.
The Great Tribulation has begun. The
last element within the first
announcement logically follows the
first two elements. Notice how they
fit together:
- Fear
God. Have due respect for His
authority.
- Give
Him glory because the hour of
His judgment has come.
Understand that His terrible
judgments are the only means
left to awaken the world to
its sinful course, and He
must take these drastic
actions so that every person,
regardless of religious
background, might hear His
truth and understand that He
is now sealing each
person’s decision for
eternity.
- Worship
the Creator who made the
heavens, the earth, the sea
and fountains of waters. This
third command is a call to
worship God. Strange as it
may sound to some, God can
only be worshiped on His
terms. Think about this. If
we can determine the time and
manner for the worship of
God, we would have greater
authority than God would.
Therefore, the call to
worship God involves time and
manner. The time is His holy
Sabbath day, Saturday, the
seventh day of the week.
(Exodus 20:8-11) As shown in
Chapter 21, God’s holy
day is the seventh-day of the
week. In addition, the Bible
reveals that God can only be
worshiped in spirit and
truth. (John 4:23) The point
is that God will not make
anyone worship Him on His
holy day. However, those who
love Him, those who honor Him
will choose to obey His
commands. (John 14:15) In
other words, the 144,000 will
call the inhabitants of earth
to worship God on Saturday,
according to His fourth
commandment. They will call
the inhabitants of earth to
worship God in spirit of
humility and the joy of truth
on His holy day.
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