Book of Revelation - Ch. 6, Vs. 14-Ch. 7, Vs. 1 (08/05/2018)

It's called a hot spot. And you shake it up, and you spray it on there, and you just take a break.

It's good. It doesn't smell, really. It's got to kill your smell, but it works.

I don't know what the disease is.

I don't know. I've tried it. I've tried them through. Is he a visitor?

Yeah, maybe. Maybe, yeah. It depends on what the immigration people say.

He's as Texan as they come. We're ready to begin. Well, Parker's in there.

That's going to slow it down. Good morning, good morning. I saw you, and I just now saw your wife.

So I know that you're both here today. I was going to say I saw you, but I didn't see your wife.

Is she here? And then as I looked up, I saw her. And I think that she's kind of circling around the child.

Well, that's good. Is Paul going to be here? Yeah, he's going to be here. I mean,

I just never know about him, especially at this time of the year. And I was disappointed when

I drove up, and there was no school building here. I suspect he was, too. And what did you get any?

Are they showing patience with you? Because it's, yeah.

So I just love that he's principled. Mm -hmm.

Okay. I guess we'll go ahead and get started. We're not really going to get into Chapter 7,

I don't think, today. We almost finished Chapter 6 last time. Chapter 7 is going to be an interlude, but we'll get to that when we get to it.

First, let's take a moment to go to the word, the Lord in prayer. Our most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, and thank you for all the blessings that you've given us.

Thank you for giving us this place to come and worship and study your holy word. Thank you for giving us the

Holy Spirit to guide us. Thank you for giving us the desire to want to do your will, including to want to know your word.

Bless us and keep us. Protect us and carry us through the messages to come.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right. We almost finished

Chapter 6 last time, so we're going to go back to the end of Chapter 6, touch up on a few things, and then continue.

Chapter 6 ends with this passage. I went back to Verse 14.

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, every bondman and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains.

And they said to the mountains and to the 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 the great day of his wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand?

That was Chapter 6. And now we get to Chapter 7, and there's a pause in the intensity of the events.

The first six seals have been opened. The first revealing the white horse, bringing false peace.

The second revealing the red horse, bringing war. The third revealing the black horse, bringing famine.

The fourth revealing the pale horse, bringing death and hell. The fifth revealing the martyred under the throne, waiting for the vengeance of God.

And now the sixth seal has been opened. The great earthquake has taken place.

The heavens have been rolled up like a scroll. Kings and rulers, rich and poor, free and slave, are all hiding themselves in caves to escape the wrath of the

Lamb. But that was Chapter 6. And the opening of the sixth seal.

The seventh seal, the final seal, the seventh seal, is not opened until Chapter 8.

In the meantime, what about Chapter 7? The Lord pauses here between seals to give

John and us a more complete picture of the redeemed saints.

Before the throne. Perhaps it is for John that the

Lord pauses to give hope and to show mercy to the saints. Perhaps it is an answer to the question that ended

Chapter 6. For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?

In fact, the Lord does both. He gives John the encouragement he needs to face the rest of the revelation.

It's the bad things that are still to come. Six seals have been opened, but the seventh seal is the worst of them all.

And John needs encouragement before he is given the rest of the revelation.

And the Lord also answers the question, who is able to stand?

Now, the tentative conclusion that I have drawn is that there are at least four groups that will stand.

But none of them by their own efforts. Two groups about which

I am very confident. And two about which I have some reservations.

We're going to look at the first two groups first. Group one. As to the number and the identity of this group,

I am totally 100 % confident because we've been told who and how many.

Now, having said that, there are people that have questions about who this group is and how many there are.

There are 144 ,000 in number. They are

Jewish witnesses. Now, in case I didn't enunciate clearly enough,

I did not say Jehovah witnesses. There are 12 ,000 from each of 12 explicitly named tribes.

Now, how many tribes are there? Well, it depends on how you count. If you leave out two, there's always 12.

And two are always left out. In the dividing of the land, well, let me say it differently.

There's always one left out. In the dividing of the land, the Levites were always left out.

In the calling up of the armies, the Levites were always left out. In the naming of the 12 tribes, the

Levites are counted. And there's two tribes that are left out, one in actuality and one in name only.

The two that are left out are, I lost my place,

Dan, the tribe of Dan. You won't find the tribe of Dan listed when we read the list, nor will we see the tribe of Ephraim, unless you look carefully and kind of at an angle.

The tribe of Ephraim is included, but it is not named that way. It's named as the tribe of Joseph.

But the tribe of Manassas has already been named. So Ephraim and Manassas were

Joseph's two sons. There was a tribe for each of them. If you name

Manassas and you name the tribe of Joseph, then who is the tribe of Joseph? It would have to be

Ephraim. So it's their name, but not explicitly.

Alright? Not only are two tribes left out, there's not a single

Gentile group mentioned. There's not a Gentile mentioned anywhere.

The 144 ,000 are sealed before the opening of the Great Tribulation.

They are protected and preserved through the Tribulation. And I believe that all 144 ,000...

I actually can multiply. 12 times 12 is 144. So it would be 144 ,000.

All 144 ,000 survived to enter the Millennial Kingdom.

Here's why I believe that. Go to Revelation 14 verse 1.

And I'll quit talking so much and we'll start reading a little bit more. Now anything that I say, you're welcome to argue about.

Anything that I read, you're welcome to correct my reading, which

I will make mistakes. But you can't question the content because I didn't write that.

An inspired writer by God, inspired by God, wrote it.

The Holy Spirit wrote it. It's not subject to debate. So here we want to go.

And I looked and lo, a lamb stood on the Mount Zion.

And with him, 144 ,000, having his father's name written on their foreheads.

And I heard a voice from heaven, as a voice of many waters, and as a voice of great thunder.

And I heard the voice of the harpers harping with their hearts. And they sang 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 144 ,000, which were redeemed from the earth.

Now, not 143 ,999, but 144 ,000.

Not a single sealed one has been lost. And I put in here, this is my talking, not

Scripture, not a single sealed one has been lost so far.

The tribulation is not over at this point. But I am nevertheless convinced that all, that they,

I'm convinced that they all survived to enter the millennial kingdom. So we got them up to this point, chapter, was that 14?

We got them up to chapter 14. We know they're all still there then. There's still some tribulation left.

There's no reason suspected any are lost in the meantime. But I am not 100 % sure of that.

And so I make my inference that every single one of them survived to enter the millennial kingdom.

And then he goes on to say, These are they which are not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which follow the

Lamb whithersoever he goeth. They were redeemed from among men, being the first fruit unto

God and to the Lamb. Now, he didn't say they were the only fruit. It said they were only the first fruit.

And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God.

What does that say? When it says there's no guile in their mouth, it says they're not me.

There's guile in my mouth, sometimes on purpose, most times by accident. But these express the true gospel of Christ.

There's no hemming, no hawing. They testify to the true gospel of Christ.

And because there is no guile in them, because they are not trying to mislead, because they are inspired by the

Holy Spirit, because they're sealed, because they're protected, because of all of these things, they will have an impact on fellow, soon to be believers, like no one has ever had before.

Yours says deceit. That's even better in terms of how we think about things.

Deceit would be better for me than guile. I wish mine had said that. But guile is deceitful as well.

So I agree with you. There is no deceit in them. They are expressing the gospel of Christ.

They are not expressing a false gospel. They're not in front of a church of 10 ,000 expressing things that the church wants to hear.

They are expressing what the Lord told them to say. So yeah, I totally 100 % agree.

I'm glad you brought that up. My version is the

King James Version. And the King James Version is, in almost every case, a better version.

This says guile. It's just, it's got letters beside it and then down there where it makes the reference.

Okay, so yours is the King James Version with extra footnotes.

Yeah, but the word deceit is a better word for me. It makes it more clear.

These 144 ,000 will survive the wrath unleashed by the judgments yet to come.

God will also protect them, not only from His wrath, but from the efforts of the

Antichrist and followers of the Antichrist to wipe out all believers in the true

God. The 144 ,000 witnesses will usher in a time of unprecedented evangelism,

I believe. But it will also be a time of unprecedented martyrdom of many

Christians. Many of the converted will be promptly slain, but not one of the sealed ones.

All 144 ,000 will survive the wars, famine, natural disaster, diseases, unchecked sinfulness, and the persecution of the

Tribulation. They are sealed from the wrath of the

Lamb. They are protected from the efforts of the Antichrist. God seals them,

God preserves them, and God protects them. That's group one. That's the 144 ,000 sealed ones that are sealed just before the opening of the

Seventh Seal or just at the beginning of the opening of the Seventh Seal. And go right on through, come out the other end of the

Great Tribulation into the Millennial Kingdom and live 4 ,000 years. These are every one

Jews. They are 144 ,000 of 12 ,000 in each tribe of the

Jews that are listed. No Danites and no

Ephronites by name. Sons of Joseph, yes.

That's where they are. They are no others, no Gentiles at all. And we'll get to that when we actually get into reading

Chapter 7 and we start listing them. And there's some other things that will come out of that as well.

They will certainly include all those who are martyred during the Great Tribulation. And probably all martyrs of all times.

Including the two young men that Brother David read about in Foxe's Book of Martyrs a couple of weeks ago.

I think they will be there as well. But that's just me thinking.

Again, if it's just me thinking, there's a possibility that I am wrong. If it's the

Scripture saying, it's a possibility that we misread or misunderstand.

Revelation 7 verse 9. Now I just read about a group in Chapter 6.

In Chapter 6 I just read about a group of martyred saints underneath the throne.

And now I'm going to read about another multitude. This multitude is going to be,

I believe, a larger multitude than the previous multitude. Starting at verse 9.

Dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell upon the earth?

And white robes were given to every one of them. And it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled.

And I said that exactly backwards. This is going to be a smaller group than the group we read about in Chapter 6 rather than vice versa.

You'll see what I mean in just a second, I think. They stand. The question was,

Mark, who can stand before the wrath of the Lamb? And we have decided,

I have decided, that there are four groups that can stand. One group are the 144 ,000 sealed ones.

The next group are those that are martyred for Christ.

Probably throughout all of time. And this is the group we're talking about now, the second group, the ones that are martyred.

They stand in the presence of the wrath of God.

They stand in the sense that they're in a better place. Maybe their brethren are those referred to in Chapter 6.

And I said that wrong, too. Those martyred in the Great Tribulation.

This is the group that's going to be martyred in the Great Tribulation. We'll know that in just a minute. The group in Chapter 7 will be the group that is martyred during the

Great Tribulation. This multitude includes both Jews and Gentiles witnessed to among others by the 144 ,000.

They will stand as well as other believers who will surely die from the wars and the famines and the natural disasters.

Not everybody that dies in the Great Tribulation will die as a result of being beheaded by the

Antichrist. Some of them will be killed because a great stone will fall upon them.

Or they'll be caught in some sort of natural disaster that slays many people caused by the earth.

It's only the sealed ones that are protected from all of those things. They will stand as well as other believers who will surely die from war, famine, and natural disasters that God brings in judgment upon the earth.

They will experience war. They will experience famine. They will experience natural disasters.

They will even experience death. But they will not experience

God's wrath. It is only the unbeliever that ever experiences

God's wrath. Oh, they may be killed with a huge stone that lands on them and a non -believer at the same time.

But it's only the non -believer that will experience the wrath. The believer will never experience the wrath.

Here's why I know that. 1 Thessalonians 1 beginning with verse 9.

For they themselves show us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true

God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even

Jesus, which did what? Delivered us from the wrath to come.

We don't experience wrath because Jesus delivered us from it. We can experience death, but not wrath.

And if you skip down to 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 9,

I think is the right place. If somebody would go there and tell me if this is how it begins.

For God hath not appointed us to wrath.

But to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. So are you appointed to wrath?

Will you experience wrath? Will you experience death? Most likely.

I've changed that from yes to most likely. Because I think we're close enough that there's a chance.

I kind of hope that I can be excluded from death. But maybe that's not the case.

Actually, death is something that we fear only because we don't understand what it is. Death is not to be feared by believers.

John, is death to be feared by anyone? Yes, definitely.

All of those that are unbelievers, definitely they should fear death. They've got good reason to. Not only will they experience death, but they will experience the wrath of God.

He gives us the will to live. So, therefore, none of us will die, per se.

But we have the security of knowing where we're going. Well, if you go back to Paul, what did he say?

It was Paul, wasn't it? What did he say? To live is gain. I'm sorry, to die is gain.

To die is gain. But I'll live because the Lord has something for me to do.

And you're right, he has put in us the desire to continue to live until he is through with us.

My mom, did I tell you when I went to visit my mother, she was still alive, but she was in later stages of Alzheimer's and she kind of didn't really know who

I was. Did I tell you that in the meantime she has died? No. About July the 3rd, one day before her 95th birthday, she went into,

July the 2nd, she went into the living room where she had her little crossword puzzle, not crossword, jigsaw puzzle, that she put together.

She used to do 1 ,000 piece jigsaw puzzles. She's now down to about a 50 jigsaw puzzle set.

She went in and she put down and completed the entirety of that puzzle, which some people had, some of her children had kind of had to help her with.

So she put it all together all by herself. And my nephew, who is living with her and kind of tending her during the nights, and my sister during the days, he put her to bed and she crawled into bed and went to sleep.

She was at the stage, my family was at the stage, where they were considering having to put her into full -time care and having to take her out of the place where she felt comfortable.

They had brought that up with her once before and she didn't want that. She couldn't even stay away from, at my sister's house, which is on the other side of the farm, two golf shots away.

I know that because I, two golf shots from me away. For Brother David or Brother Myron it's probably one and a half, a golf shot and a chip away.

She couldn't stay there more than an hour before she wanted to come back home. She was comfortable where she was and she did not want to move away.

So she went to bed at the house where she always wanted to be. My nephew got up in the morning and looked in on her and he said she was laying there peaceable, just like he left her.

And so he went on to work and my sister came over because she did the day duty and she peeked in on her and Mom was still lying there comfortably.

And so she went on about her business. She said, I'll not wake her up.

I'll let her rest because she's resting so comfortably. About 10 o 'clock she just went in and looked again and Mother still hadn't moved.

And so she went in and checked on her and it was apparent that she was dead. So they called my nephew who was a paramedic.

He came up and checked and in fact said she's been dead about four or five hours. And my sister and I talked about this later.

And I said, you know, you were in a situation where you were facing a very difficult decision to take

Mom and put her from a place where she didn't want to be from a place that she felt comfortable.

And so she goes to sleep in the place where she wants to be and I said, and she woke up.

In a place where she wanted to be with her husband that had been there waiting for her for 10 years.

It's hard to see death as a blessing. But death is sometimes a blessing.

And I'm just so glad that I had the great experience of visiting my father a couple of months before he passed away.

And my mother a couple of weeks before she did. And I was just so glad that I was able to do that.

And I want to thank all of you guys for your prayers. And I want to kind of apologize to you if you've been praying for my mom over the last two or three weeks since July the 3rd that I haven't told you.

But I was just with such peace with it. So you can stop praying for her to survive.

And pray that I sometime, but not soon John, wake up and see my mom and dad again.

Wow. Death is not to be feared by believers.

Only unbelievers. It is simply the mechanism by which

God ushers the believers into His presence. Heaven.

And the non -believers into the presence of their

God. Satan in hell. That believers should die should not surprise us.

Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27. You don't need to go here. I'm going to read it. And you'll all know the total verse.

And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Death is the common fate of all men.

With so far as I know only two notable exceptions. And brother of mine,

I'm glad you're here. You can tell me if there's more than this. The only ones I know about are Enoch and Elijah.

Is that it? Now people sometimes talk about Moses not being, because they didn't.

But they fought over his body. So I don't think it's Moses. Now, death is the common fate of all men with only two notable exceptions.

Now I'm going to give you something that I believe. I don't believe even these are exceptions. But you need to keep in mind

Acts 17 and 11. Don't believe what I tell you, check it and see. Study the scripture daily to see if this is so.

Go with me and read along with me Revelation 11 starting at verse 3. Revelation 11 starting at verse 3.

And I would, starting at verse 3. Starting at verse 3. 11 verse 3.

And I will tell you when we get to Revelation 11 we'll spend a whole day or two on this passage.

But I'm just going to read it right now. And at the end of the question I'm going to ask you, who do you think these two witnesses are? And I will give power unto my two witnesses.

And they shall prophesy a thousand, two hundred, and three score days clothed in sackcloth.

That's three and a half years for the mathematicians among you. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the

God of the earth. Who's the God of the earth? No.

The God of the earth is Satan. And they're standing before, standing in front of, facing, opposing the

God of the earth. This is capitalized so I might be wrong on that.

But Satan has been described as the prince of the power of the air. If any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouths, and devoureth their enemies.

And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. From the fire that comes out of the mouth.

These have the power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy. And they have power over waters to turn them to blood.

And to smite the earth with plagues as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them.

And shall overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies shall line the street of the great city, which is spiritually called

Sodom and Gomorrah. I'm sorry, Sodom and Egypt. I'm just trained to say

Gomorrah after I say Sodom. Where also our Lord was crucified.

And they of the people, and the kindred, and the tongues of the nations shall see their dead bodies in the street three and a half days.

And shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put into a grave. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them in this condition.

And make merry, and they shall send gifts to one another. Because these prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

And after three days and a half, the

Spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet. And great fear fell upon them which saw them.

And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud.

And their enemies behind them. And the same hour there was a great earthquake.

And the tenth part of the city fell. And the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand.

And the remnant were frightened and gave glory to the God of heaven.

And my question is, just for you to ponder, who are these two witnesses?

I want to give you my up front thought. I already have.

Enoch and Elijah. Most commentators say

Moses and Elijah. Most commentators say Moses and Elijah because Moses had the plagues and turned water to blood and Elijah had fire from heaven.

And control of the rain. An alternative thought. And they say one represents the law and one represents the prophets.

And both are Jewish in nature. Don't you see? What if they were

Enoch, the Gentile, and Elijah, the

Jew? They would be representatives of all of God's children.

Now, I don't know that I'm right. I just think that's an interesting conjecture. And I will tell you it is not the dominant conjecture.

So I may totally be wrong. Okay. Those were the two

I'm really confident about. And you saw some lack of confidence in some categories here.

Now here are two more that I'm not so confident about my understanding. Group three, those who are raptured.

We have in Thessalonians, For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet with the

Lord in the air, and so we shall ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.

Well, there's the word rapture, just wrapped up in a different word, caught up, which is harpazzo, which the

Latin is rapturo, from which the word rapture originates.

Here's another one, though. 1 Corinthians 15, starting at verse 51. Why don't you go there?

I think this one is more important than the first one. Although there's nothing more important, I guess, than the rapture, or the being caught up.

But this is a little more illuminating.

1 Corinthians 15, verse 51, I think. It should begin,

Behold, I show you an history. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, that's really fast.

At the last trump. Now, Brother David just told me just the other day that the last trump can certainly be many trumps, but it can't be the first.

Unless there's only one. I thought about that, Brother David. And I said, well, it could be the first and the last if there were only one.

And he would say, and I can, because I know him so well, but it says there's seven. Okay.

I'm not going to argue. At the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Now, how much of the great tribulation these raptured ones endure, I'm not sure. They may endure six and a half years of it.

They may endure one and a half minutes of it. Probably more likely the first than the last.

I'm not sure exactly how much of the great tribulation, the great tribulation actually is only three and a half years, so they couldn't experience six and a half years of that.

They can only experience something under three and a half years of that. There'll be some time after the rapture, and before the end of the three and a half years.

But it could be a day, it could be a week, it could be a month, I don't know. I'm not sure.

But this I do know. When they are caught up, and they will be caught up, they will be incorruptible, immortal, and they will forever be with the

Lord. I'm going to pause here a minute, and let Brother David bail me out.

Okay, so I guess we're good to go to the next group. Well, here's what

I know for certain. If we are raptured before the tribulation begins as we're going up, we will know.

And that will be the first time we really, that's the first time anybody will really know.

Well, we'll know on the way up. Sir? The pre -rapture guy disappeared?

Okay. I am ready to go on to the group. I'm ready to go on to a group that, if I'm not going to be raptured,

I want to be in this group. Group four. Those who are saved during the great tribulation and survive.

Most, many that are saved during the great tribulation will not survive.

Many of them will be beheaded. Many of them will die from natural disasters. Many of them will die from earthquakes and rocks falling on them and all the great things.

In fact, the Lord is going to scorch the earth, and a third are going to be dead.

But there are some that are going to survive, and they will enter the

Millennial Kingdom alive. And it is they who will populate the

Millennial Kingdom. How will they be saved?

Just like everybody else that's saved is saved because God will call them and notify them that they're

His. How will they know? Somebody will tell them. One group of people

I know that are there the whole time to tell them are the 144 ,000. Another thing

I know is there's an angel that's going to come in some of the latter chapters that's going to fly through the heavens and is going to proclaim the true gospel from the heavens.

They'll hear that too. They'll have plenty of opportunities to be saved, to hear the

Word and be saved if the Lord calls on them to be saved. It's only those that will be saved. Who will witness to them?

Well, the 144 ,000, the angels, and other surviving believers.

And they'll enter into the Millennial Kingdom, not with glorified bodies like the raptured ones, but with improved bodies.

They'll be much better off than we are now. They'll be more like and maybe even better than prior to the

Flood where Methuselah lived almost 1 ,000 years. In the tribulation period there are going to be people that go into the

Revelation. What did I say? I meant the Millennial Kingdom.

There will be people that go into the Millennial Kingdom alive and come out the other end alive, so they'll be somewhere over 1 ,000 years old.

So Methuselah will no longer be the longest living man. Their bodies will be improved in Isaiah 65, verse 18.

If you'll go there, we'll read that. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that eye which create.

For behold, I create Jerusalem, a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and the joy in my people. And the voices of the weeping shall be heard no more in her nor the voice of crying.

There shall be no more faint and infant of days a young child just days old that dies.

Nor an old man that has not fulfilled his years. For a child shall die a hundred years old.

If somebody dies a hundred years old, they're going to say, He's just a child. But the sinner, being a hundred years old, shall be accursed.

Oh, we don't have the same kind of bodies then we'll have now we have then. Many of the believers who will enter the

Millennial Kingdom will be Gentiles. We know that from Isaiah, verse 2.

And there's a couple of other passages I'm just going to read. Well, I'm not going to read that one.

I'm going to read Micah 4 .1 because I'm running short on time. Micah 4 .1 In the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of the

Lord shall be established on the top of the mountains and it shall be exalted above the hills and people shall flow into it and many nations shall come and say,

Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us his ways and we will walk in his paths for the law shall go forth of Zion and the word of the

Lord from Jerusalem and he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks and nations shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn war anymore but there shall sit every man under his mind and under his fig tree and none shall make them afraid for the mouth of the

Lord of hosts has spoken it for all people will walk, every one of them, in the name of his God and we will walk in the name of the

Lord our God forever and ever. And then Zechariah 8 verse 20 says,

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, It shall come to pass that there shall come people, the inhabitants of many cities, and the inhabitants of one city shall say unto another,

Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts. I will also go.

Yea, many people, strong nations, shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and pray before the

Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts. In those days it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold of out of all languages and nations even take hold of the skirt of him that is a

Jew, saying, We will go with you for we have heard that God is with you. So in the

Millennial Kingdom there will be the Jewish nation and there will be other nations. They won't be fighting anymore.

There won't be war anymore because the Lord himself, Jesus Christ, the Ruler won't let it happen. He will rule with a rod of iron but people will come to Jerusalem because they know that's what and where the

Lord is. Okay, I am just almost finished and I think

I'm going to get there. After we'll not get there, get to the start of where I'm going to be. After the events of the sixth seal and before the opening of the seventh seal there's chapter 8.

Opening of seal 7 in chapter 8.

The Holy Spirit provided this chapter, chapter 7 as an interlude for the reader to catch his breath.

It is also a reminder that in the midst of his wrath God will remember mercy.

Habakkuk called upon the Lord and said in chapter 3, verse 2 O Lord, I have heard thy speech and was afraid.

O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years and in the midst of years make known in wrath, remember mercy.

Now, I'm going to read a verse from chapter 7 and then

I'm going to read a verse from chapter 8 and then I'm going to be through. Chapter 7, verse 1

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 the sea nor on any tree.

Think about that. After the sound and fury accompanying the opening of the first six seals remember the sixth one where the earthquakes and everything

Now, silence. For the duration of the interval whatever the interval is in chapter 7 judgment will be held back as the angels turn off the essential engine of the earth's atmosphere.

There'll be no wind not even a breeze. Because there's no wind there'll be no waves on the ocean.

No movement of clouds in the sky. There'll be no rain no snow. Everything will be deathly still.

I think it was Joe the other night that asked me do you remember how eerie it was after 9 -11 when you'd go out and hear no airplanes?

Was that you? That was you. You'd go out at 9 -11 you wouldn't hear an airplane flying.

It was an eerie, eerie time. Kind of in your mind you expected to hear the roar of an airplane or at least you do at my house.

It was strange. Everything will be deathly still. That in and of itself is an incredible display of power.

Now I want you to look ahead a full chapter to Revelation 8 -1. Now, the 6th seal has been opened the 7th seal we've been talking about the time between and now the 7th seal is getting ready to be opened and here's what it says.

And when he had opened the 7th seal there was silence in heaven for a space of about half an hour.

Silence on earth silence in heaven and then the great tribulation will begin in earnest.

The chaos resumes on the earth but in heaven all sounds stop as all creatures in heaven contemplate the awesome nature of the wrath that is about to be released with the opening of the 7th seal.

Silence on earth and silence in heaven marking the beginning of the great tribulation.

Most gracious heavenly father thank you for this day and thank you for all the many blessings. Bless us and keep us go forth with us today as we are about to be witness to a

I'm sure wonderful message from brother

Goldman. Bless us, keep us bless him, protect him give him the message that he needs to give us and give us the message we need to hear.