Revelation 7 Tribulation Believers (Part 1 of 3)

Revelation 7 Tribulation Believers (Part 1 of 3) - By John Chandler - https://www.raptureready.com/2021/03/11/revelation-7-tribulation-believers-part-1-of-3-by-john-chandler/ Revelation 7:9-10 “After these things, I looked and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, from all tribes, tongues, peoples, and nations, standing beforethe throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out with a loud voice saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!’” Should Church-Age Believers (Age of Grace Believers) in Jesus Christ primarily hope for and work for the outcome of this scenario to play-out? My initial response is kind of confusing: No and Yes. So you are likely wondering what’s my beef and what’s driving me to ask this question. I was recently part of a group discussion at church that summarized our successful efforts to reach the lost with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. A member of the groupobserved how this progress would likely play into the outcome of Rev 7:9-10. My friend’s perspective is not unique to him. In observations, I have noted there are other Church-Age Believers who share a similar perspective, that we as the church should strivenow to ensure the fulfillment of Rev 7:9-10. Let me make it clear up front. The individuals of this Innumerable Host standing before the throne of God and before the Lamb is not a bad event. However, this scenario,as I assess it, needs some perspective which follows throughout this essay. In fact, this scenario is a good outcome for the individuals of the Innumerable Host, but it is not cool. My objection: While the outcome of that Rev 7:9-10 scenariois a good one, in my assessment, we Church-Age Believers should not primarily hope and pray for the Rev 7:9-10 scenario and outcome but the 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 scenario and outcome. This passage describes that wonderful scene of our Most High God, our Lord Jesus, returning in the heavens to take home His Church-Age Believers. Our Lord Jesus rescuesand evacuates us from this world so we will not see or experience the incredible unprecedented horrors that loom in the world’s near future during the Tribulation. Check out these verses. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believethat Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the LordHimself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in theair. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” Our Lord Jesus also reveals His Rapture-based rescue and evacuation in John’s gospel. John 14:1-4 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. Igo to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” For Church-Age Believers who are evacuated from the world at the Rapture, that event is a glorious blessing and reward. For each individual raptured, it represents one’sfaith finally becoming sight. No more hoping. No more merely believing. It all becomes a gloriously joyful crescendo of reality in an instant, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (I Corinthians 15:51-53). At the time of the Rapture, at the very instant of its occurrence and immediately thereafter, all those who dwell on the earth will, for at least a short time, fall intothe category of unbelievers. Dr. Thomas Ice’ Pre-Trib Research Center refers to this group remaining as earth-dwellers. For all unbelievers, the Rapture represents a horrific indictment, judgment, and punishment against their intractable hardness of heartand rejection of our Lord Jesus. This Rapture event will rock their lives! Why do I say Church-Age Believers are exempted from the unprecedented horrors that will soon seize the world? Because our Lord Jesus makes the promise that we will not see or experience His Wrath. He promises to deliver and evacuate us via the Rapture before His wrath falls uponthe earth. Later in this essay, I will explore this “exemption from wrath” some more. Now mind you, as I consider my friend’s comments regarding Rev 7:9-10, there are a host of things running through my mind. We’ve just seen the Presidential election stolenfrom President Trump. And in my opinion, the outcome of our national election impacts the world. This betrayal is a great evil in our modern lives. The world will eventually convulse violently at the greater evil that rolls out from this event. The implications forthe future are huge. We’ve watched the complicit betrayal of President Trump, our nation, and the American people. We are watching deceptive forces in our nation and globally usher in the incredibleevils of socialism, Marxism, fascism, and tyranny. For those paying attention, we know the World Economic Forum (WEF)-compelled Great RESET is coming, and in accordance with prophetic scripture, this event will serve as a tool of even greater evil which islikely designed to change times and law (Daniel 7:25) to globally change life as we know it for the worse – much, much worse. We Church-age Believers should cry out, Maranatha! Our Lord, come! Come quickly to fetch us home in the Rapture, and today is a good day for You to do that! We long forimmediate evacuation! The core of my position as to why Church-Age Believers should not primarily hope for this outcome is because the scenario we see in those verses and later on in Revelationchapter 7 is not NOW the best thing for the individuals who comprise that Innumerable Host. When we consider that those individuals are likely alive today, the scenario they find themselves in is not NOW the optimal scenario for them. We read later in Rev 7:14 that those who comprise this Innumerable Host, seen praising God and the Lamb, have come out of the Great Tribulation (after the seal judgments)and have not merely weathered the storm but have likely experienced some of the greatest horrors that have ever come upon humankind. Before I go further, I need to offer some explanations and definitions so that readers will better understand some of the terms I use in this article. It will help separatetime periods and the peoples involved in those time periods. In some instances, I won’t offer any clarification, but I will allow scripture, our Lord Jesus, our Most High God’s inerrant, immutable, infallible, and totally sufficient Word to speak for itself. Defining Terms: So What Is This Great Tribulation Period or Event? In a nutshell, it’s the wrath of God, the wrath of the Lamb being poured out on the earth and its human inhabitants for sin and for their rejection of God’s mercy and grace.Check out these scripture verses. Matthew 24:21-22 “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless thosedays were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Also, see Mark 13:19-20). Jeremiah 30:7 “Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he shall be saved out of it.” Daniel 12:1-2 “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never wassince there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Everyone who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlastingcontempt.” When all the elements and pieces of this Tribulation period are combined, it creates an extinction level event for humankind. And if allowed to run its course without interruption,no flesh would survive. However, according to Scripture, our Lord Jesus intervenes and prevents the total annihilation of humankind. But many billions, more than half the world’s population, dies. And the destruction and devastation to our globe is incalculable. What Are the Cut-out, Clearly Defined Time Periods That Are Core to My Position? Church Age, also known as the Dispensation of Grace – Thoseyears, decades, and centuries beginning with the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and Most High God, is ended by an event known as the Rapture (see above 1 Thess 4:13-18). As of January 2021, we are still living in the Dispensationof Grace or Age-of-Grace, Church-Age, and we still anticipate the Rapture to happen in the near future. However, time and opportunity to reserve a space for the Rapture is quickly running out. The Tribulation is a seven-year period that, as of January 2021, is yet future. As the scriptures above indicate, it is an incredibly unprecedented horrific time of intenseglobal human suffering, deceptions, deprivations, devastation, destruction, supernatural activity, and hugely voluminous loss of human life. This seven-year period has many hot points; most notably are key events that occur at the beginning, the 3.5-year mid-point, and at the end. The Tribulation period also goes by other names: Daniel’s 70thWeek, The Time of Jacob’s (Israel’s) Trouble, The Day, That Day, In That Day, For That Day, A Time of Trouble, The Hour of Trial, God’s Wrath, The Wrath of The Lamb, The Lord’s Day, and The Day of the Lord. Why Is There A Time Period Known as The Tribulation? The reasons are likely several and varied. Here’s my understanding of the matter. One: The Tribulation is to bring about the salvation of theJewish nation, Israel, and the remnant of Jewish people. Recall the verses above: Jeremiah 30:7 and Daniel 12:1-2. These verses specifically identify the Jewish people who have historically rebelled against God and who have collectively rejected the Lord JesusChrist. He uses the events and outcomes to seize the attention and the hearts of the Jewish people. And individually and collectively, they finally believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and call upon Him to save them. The above verses reveal that the Lord Jesusintervenes and cuts short the horrific outcomes to save His elect people. Yep! The elect people are the Jewish people. And our Lord Jesus has a wonderfully amazing plan for the Jews that will bless the world and its future inhabitants. The Jewishpeople already bless the world and will do even more so in the future. Two: Our Lord Jesus uses the events and outcomes of the Tribulationto cause hard hearts of individuals of many other people groups to believe in Him, to trust Him, to choose Him, to call upon Him in salvation. My wife calls this outcome Kick-You-In-The-Teeth Faith. Likely, most of those who finally believe and trust in theLord Jesus during some point in the Tribulation would not have done so unless He incentivized them to do so – and He does so in a big way. Many will make the correct choice. The Innumerable Host we see in Revelation chapter 7:9-10 are covered by this reason. Three: Our Lord Jesus uses the events of the Tribulation tocompel people to choose sides and to reveal their true allegiances. People have a choice: choose the Lord Jesus alone and to abandon and forsake all other so-called gods, including the god of human self. Or people may choose an evil so-called god and sufferthe consequences. At His second coming, our Lord Jesus literally separates the righteous “sheep” who choose Him and trust in Him from the unrighteous “goats” who reject Him (Matthew 25:31-46). This passage holds a specific contextual application, but it illustrateswell that people must and will choose a side, and have already done so. Four: Our Lord Jesus uses the events of the Tribulation to bringtemporal and eternal judgment and punishment upon people for their sin of rejecting Him and for rejecting His extraordinary forgiveness, mercy, and grace. He will literally take away in death all those who reject Him. Supernaturally speaking, all those whoreject our Lord Jesus are kept in a temporary spiritual jail cell called the Place of Torments. Here they await their final disposition when they are resurrected and finally cast alive into the torments of the Lake of Fire, a place of eternal punishment (Rev20). Five: The Lord Jesus uses the outcomes of the Tribulation periodto identify and bless and reward those survivors who honored Him by taking actions on behalf of His elect Jewish people. At the sheep and goat judgment (Matthew 25:31-46), our Lord Jesus tells these survivors, “In as much as you did these good deeds to oneof the least of these my elect people, you did it to me.” In the midst of the Tribulation, these survivors also chose the Lord Jesus. Six: Our Lord Jesus uses The Tribulation to close out and bringto a final end the sinful reign of human governance over the world and its systems. He also uses this event as the transitional period to set up, inaugurate, and establish His millennial (1,000 years) kingdom on the earth. David Reagan of Christ In Prophecycharacterizes the time: when peace, truth, justice, and righteousness will cover the earth like water covers the seas. Note: There is no guarantee a person will make it through theTribulation period and stand at the sheep and goat judgment. Pretty much everything is working against you and doing its very best to kill you. Our Lord Jesus offers you a better, more sure means to salvation. Believe in Him today. Trust Him today. Call uponHim today. He guarantees this means of salvation. How Are People Classified / Categorized During These Defined Time Periods? Church-Age Believers – any person who has believed on the LordJesus Christ and the work He completed to purchase our forgiveness and reconciliation; any person who has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone, and who has called upon the powerful name of our Lord Jesus Christ to save and transform one’s life. I likethe manner in which Dr. Michael S. Heiser conveys the matter. I offer my synthesized rendition of what I understood him to say: “Anyone who chooses the Lord Jesus Christ alone and who also forsakes and abandons all other gods, who forsakes all other lesserelohim, to include: the gods of this world, those fallen disobedient, defiant, rebellious “angels”; the demonic Nephilim spirits, and the god of human self.” As of January 2021, our Lord Jesus continues to lavish grace, blessing, and gifts upon those who believe on Him and call upon His name during this Dispensation of Grace.You want and need to become a member of this group! Becoming a member of this Church-Age Believers group represents the OPTIMAL scenario with the OPTIMAL outcome. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Blessed Hope right now, today! (Titus 2:13). Tribulation Believers – those people who at some future pointbeginning AFTER the Rapture, who come to call upon and trust the Lord Jesus Christ and believe on Him and in Him. They finally trust the Lord Jesus Christ during some early point in that horrific seven-year period. Because these people did not trust in theLord Jesus and call upon His name BEFORE the Rapture, during this present Dispensation of Grace, they must suffer, at least partially, the unprecedented horrors and calamities of The Tribulation. The individuals who will comprise this group of Tribulation Believers are not the same as those who comprise the group of Church-Age Believers. Tribulation Believers arenot the Church. Don’t conflate the two groups; one does not morph into the other. They are two uniquely distinct groups that exist within two separate cut-out periods of time. I believe those individuals who comprise the Innumerable Host of Rev 7:9-10 are one segment of these Tribulation Believers. Many of these Tribulation Believers are likely brutally slaughtered by the evil forces and rulers that will wickedly govern during The Tribulation period. And many others,probably most, will die when they agonize through and eventually succumb to the sufferings, deprivations, destructions, and devastations of the horrific worldwide conditions during that time. This group of Tribulation Believers DOES NOT represent the OPTIMAL scenario with OPTIMAL outcome right NOW. These Tribulation Believers experience a sub-optimal outcome.You really want to become a member of the Church-Age Believers right now! Unbelievers – all those people throughout all ages and time periods and dispensations who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and the plan of God and His Word, the Bible. These folkhave rejected and continue to reject the Lord Jesus. They have chosen to believe in and trust some other supernatural entity or god, or they have continued to trust in human self as god. They have not abandoned these so-called gods. Indeed, these folks embraceand worship them with deliberate intention and joy. And they do so to their own peril: now and for eternity. The Lake of Fire – the place of final disposition for all beings,human and supernatural, who have continued in their rejection of our Lord Jesus Christ and/or have received the Mark of the Beast and worshipped him in lieu of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lake of Fire is a place of God’s true and righteous judgment and punishmentof unbelievers. It’s a place of eternal torment. Here the smoke of tormented unbelievers and rebellious supernatural entities rises up forever and ever (Rev 14). Leaving definitions and returning to the main point. The individuals of the Innumerable Host of Rev 7:9-10 could have achieved something far better, something far greater, something far more glorious. Each one could have beentaken out of the hour trial, out of the time of trouble and rescued and delivered from The Tribulation. Each one could have been spared the horrors of this time period. These individuals find themselves in this less-than-optimal scenario with a sub-optimal outcome because in our present day in which these individuals now live, our ChurchAge, our cut-out time period also known as the Dispensation of Grace or Age-of-Grace, they chose to continue in unbelief, rejection, defiance, and rebellion against our Lord Jesus Christ, our Most High God. Each one had time and opportunity to believe on theLord Jesus, to follow Him, to call upon His name and to be saved but rejected that opportunity. Beginning in Revelation 7:16, look at the horrific ordeal the individuals of this Innumerable Host chose to suffer. •Starvation … they shall neither hunger any more, •Dehydration … nor shall they thirst any more. •Extreme Solar Radiation … the Sun shall not strike them, nor •Unrelenting Heat/Extreme Weather … any heat. •Despaired of life itself … the Lamb shepherds them and leads them to living fountains of waters, and God wipes away every tear from their eyes. According to Scripture, since this Innumerable Host comes out of The Great Tribulation, consider what they choose to experience and suffer as they fall under the punishmentsand judgments of the wrath of the Lamb (Rev 6). This Is Some Kind of Badness! The Seven Seal Judgements: 1.The White Horse Rider: incredible unprecedented and supernatural evil, lawlessness, deceptions, lying signs and lying wonders, and tyranny (Rev 6). 2.The Red Horse Rider: incredible unprecedented hatred, lawlessness, purging, human violence, bloodshed, murder, and wars (Rev 6). 3.The Black Horse Rider … incredible unprecedented famine, starvation, inflation, injustice (Rev 6). 4.The Pale Horse Rider (Death) and Hades: incredible unprecedented death from deception and tyranny, murder, wars, famine, pestilence, and a new levelof death caused by the beast of the earth. These two entities were granted power to kill 25% of humankind (Rev 6). 5.Martyrdom: incredible persecution and slaughter of God’s followers, for the Word of God and for the testimony they held about God and our Lord JesusChrist (Rev 6). 6.Celestial events that will literally rip the physical structure of the earth apart and cause unprecedented “natural disasters” and cataclysms thatwill race across the earth, causing incredible death and destruction, suffering, misery and deprivation (Rev 6). 7.Opening the seventh seal initiates a whole new series of events known as the Trumpet judgments; this is when events and their outcomes go from badto much worse (Rev 8). And as this new series of Trumpet judgments and punishments begin, they are layered upon the utter misery the world is already suffering. So new troubles and their effectsare compounded upon the existing troubles and their effects and aftermath of the seven Seal judgments. Before we discuss the Seven Trumpet judgments, what’s up with those four angels we see as our focus chapter, Revelation seven opens up? Rev 7:1 “After these things, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth so that the wind would not blow on the earth,on the sea, or on any trees.” Rev 7:2-3 “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 granted toharm the earth and sea, saying: Do not harm the earth, the sea, or any trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” There’s likely lots one could say about these verses and the first part of this chapter, but my key point is it’s just one more indicator that the Innumerable Host of humanityseen in Rev 7:9-10 have come out of and agonized. It indicates they have suffered a less than optimal scenario and a less than optimal outcome. These four angels are temporarily delayed in their mission, but ostensibly, as soon as the 144,000 male virgin Jews are sealed, these four angels let loose and execute theharm they were granted to do. These four angels were granted power and authority to wreak untold damage and destruction on the ecological systems of the world. Ecological disaster directly or indirectlyimpacts humankind. If a person lives in the world at this time, as do the individuals of the Innumerable Host, then those people are suffering in a huge way as the world is writhing in convulsed agony. The impact of these four angels is felt worldwide – not some fraction of the earth, or sea, or trees, but all the earth, all the sea, and all the trees. Based upon these verses above, it’s hard to know for certain if these four angels are agents executing the previously prescribed judgments and punishments or if they areagents executing entirely new levels of judgments and punishments in addition to what is already prescribed in Scripture. The point is: these four angels and the global harm they execute upon the earth, the sea, and the trees is just one more element of The Tribulation. The Innumerable Hostwe see in Rev 7:9-10 must likely face this round of awful events. This ends Part 1 of this 3-part series. If you would like to see a chart comparing second-best outcomes to optimal outcomes using scripture, you can email me at: jray810@msn.com ------------------------------------------------------------------- Revelation 7 Tribulation Believers: Part 2 of 3 - By John Chandler - https://www.raptureready.com/2021/03/14/revelation-7-tribulation-believers-part-2-of-3-by-john-chandler/ It Goes from Badness to Worse! The Seven Trumpet Judgments (Revelation Chapter 8): •Trumpet Blast #1: Hail and fire followed,mingled with blood. They are thrown to the earth, and one-third of all trees are burned up, and all green grass is burned. And you thought the continual fires in California were bad. Ecological and economic disaster upon the earth, animals, vegetation, andhumankind. •Trumpet Blast #2: Something like a greatmountain burning with fire (huge asteroid?) is thrown into the sea. A third of the sea becomes blood, a third of the living sea creatures die, and a third of ships are destroyed. More ecological and economic disaster upon the earth, animals, vegetation, andhumankind. •Trumpet Blast #3: A star falls from heaven, burning like a torch (another asteroid? maybe a comet?). It falls in such a manner that it causes total contamination of one-third of all freshwater.There is likely significantly more trouble than just the water, but the emphasis of the verse is on the water. Even more ecological and economic disaster upon the earth, animals, vegetation, and humankind. •Trumpet Blast #4: A third of the sun�slight, a third of the moon�s light, and a third of stars� light out are blocked from shining on the earth. This is likely the result of all the soot, dust, particles, debris, vaporized water, ejecta, etc., thrown up into the atmosphere that occurs in the firstthree trumpet blasts. Those on the earth will despair because of the implications to the earth, its animals, its vegetation, its ecology, and humankind. More disaster. •Dang! Then there is a supernatural angel flying through heaven announcing that if one thought it was already bad, there are three more angels readyto blast their trumpets, and what they bring is worse than what humankind has already experienced. Think of the horrific psychological impact on humankind as they have opportunity to ponder and obsess over what is still to come. Woe! Woe! Woe! Too bad andtoo sad to be you living on the earth during The Great Tribulation period! •Trumpet Blast #5: An angel of great destruction (literally, his name means the Destroyer) opens the bottomless pit from which an army of viciously demonic locust-like entities fly out andcover the earth and terrorize and torment all of humankind for five months. The torment is so agonizingly miserable that those people living through the Great Tribulation period will wish to die in an effort to find relief, but death is not granted. Sufferingis the order of the day. The Innumerable Host of Rev 7:9-10 likely suffers this ordeal. •Trumpet Blast #6: Another four angelsare released, and they were granted power and authority to destroy one-third of humankind via the means of a 200-million demonic army that comes spittin� fire, smoke, and brimstone. Worldwide war, destruction, death, and slaughter is an ugly business. Yep!Possibly our Innumerable Host of Rev 7:9-10 is snared in this scenario. •Trumpet Blast #7: Here�s where I stopdetailing the outcomes of this trumpet. You�ll need to read beginning at Revelation 11:15 if you wish to discover what happens when the seventh trumpet blast is sounded. And, oh my, the stuff hits the fan! If our Innumerable Host made it to this seventh trumpet,then they are no longer on earth and now collectively stand before the throne of God and before the Lamb, which is the scenario laid-out in Revelation 7:9-10. Why do I stop detailing the horrors? Well, back during the Sixth Trumpet blast in Revelation 9:21, we see that the earth-dwellers who survive the fire, smoke, and brimstone of that 200,000,000 demonic armydid not repent of their sins, murders, sorceries, sexual immoralities, or thefts. These people have become so hardened, so seared in their minds and hearts, they have lost the ability to repent or have given up the ability to repent and to call upon the LordJesus Christ for salvation. They are in no position to trust our Lord Jesus or to receive the beautiful life-transforming power of His grace. The individuals of the Innumerable Host, as seen in Rev 7:9-10, are seen before the throne of God and before the Lamb, praising Him for His salvation. Something good andpositive has happened to them. Somewhere �early on� in the midst of the Tribulation, they have heard the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and turned to Him. They have repented of sin, unbelief, and rejection of our Lord Jesus Christ. They have experienceda change of heart and called upon the life-changing, soul-transforming power of our Lord Jesus Christ. They have decided to choose our Lord Jesus and to abandon and forsake the gods of this world, including denying the god of human self. They came to knowand trust and have faith in Jesus Christ as Savior before humans, in general, lost the ability or surrendered the ability to repent and to turn away from evil, and to turn to and to call upon the Lord Jesus. Since our Innumerable Host repented, that indicates to me, the individuals of our group likely never made it as deep into the Tribulation as trumpet #6 when we see peoplehave lost or have given up the ability to repent. In my opinion, Trumpet Blast #6 occurs around the middle point of the seven-year Tribulation period (some refer to the middle of the Tribulation as the beginning of the �Great� Tribulation). This is about the same timeframe the Mark of the Beast and many other events will begin to find fulfillment. Another argument from silence. In Rev 7:9-17, there is no mention of the Mark of the Beast. This Mark is a significant turning point of the Tribulation, the Great Tribulationperiod. In fact, scripture is clear that if one accepts and receives the Mark of the Beast (Rev 14), one may never turn back in repentance to trust our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no mention in Rev 7 of the individuals of the Innumerable Host threatened withthe Mark. The passage in Rev 7:9-17 is silent. In my opinion, since this key Mark of the Beast event is not mentioned, then likely these individuals passed into the heavenly realm before the Mark became an issue for them. Perhaps the Mark was looming, perhapsthe stage was set, but based upon the text of Rev 7, it doesn�t yet come across as a primary issue. Another indicator that the individuals of the Innumerable Host likely did not encounter the Mark of the Beast or make it as far as halfway through the Tribulation is themanner in which they died. In Revelation chapter 20:4, we read about another group of �late� Tribulation Believers who will encounter the Mark of the Beast. This group refused the Mark, and they were beheaded for their witness to our Lord Jesus Christ andthe Word of God, and because they did not receive the Mark of the Beast, or worship the beast�s image. Rev 7:9-17 describes the individuals of the Innumerable Host suffering and dying from other extreme conditions, but it makes no mention of them having been beheaded. TheMark of the Beast is too key, too significant of an event. The Mark cements a place in human history when each person decides forever one�s own eternal destiny. Those who choose the Mark of the Beast choose a place of endless torment in the Lake of Fire. TheMark�s absence in relation to the Innumerable Host signals that they died earlier in the Tribulation period. Still another reason why the individuals of the Innumerable Host are not the same group as those who rejected the Mark of the Beast is the timing when the two differentgroups are judged. The individuals of the Innumerable Host (Rev 7:9-10) are judged at some �early� point in the midst of the Tribulation Period, as they are already before the throne of God and of the Lamb. These individuals find their disposition and placeof future service by the Lamb at His throne (Rev 7). Per Rev 20: 1-4, those Tribulation Believers who are beheaded because they rejected the Mark of the Beast are judged when the Tribulation period ends and just after thedragon, the serpent of old who is the Devil and Satan, is imprisoned for 1,000-years. These faithful Mark-rejecting believers are judged just before Christ�s millennial kingdom begins as they are granted resurrection and to reign with Christ for 1,000-years. One more difference between the individuals of the Innumerable Host and those who rejected the Mark of the Beast is who sits in judgment. In Rev 7, the individuals of theInnumerable Host are already before the throne of God and of the Lamb, ostensibly having already been judged by the Lamb. In Rev 20:1-4, those souls beheaded for rejecting the Mark of the Beast and rejecting his worship, stand before multiple thrones and are judged by multiples judges who siton the multiple thrones. Based upon the text of Rev 20, it�s hard to know for certain who the multiples judges are who sit on those thrones, but I take the position it�s likely the 24-elders who represent glorified Church-Age Believers, Age-of-Grace Believers,who in their capacity as kings and priests are ruling and reigning with our Lord Jesus. The task of judging this remarkable segment of late-stage Mark rejecting Tribulation Believers is delegated to us. What Happened? Why Did the Innumerable Host Repent, and When Did It Happen? Our Most High God, our Lord Jesus Christ, is at work during the Tribulation period. He has already ordained that preachers of His righteous life-transforming message willappear on the scene at the very beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period. These preachers of righteousness will loudly and boldly herald His message far and wide for people on the earth to hear. These preachers will proclaim the Way of salvation, thatthere is still a Hope for them, that it�s not yet too late. Time is quickly growing short. The door of opportunity to lay hold of salvation is quickly closing, but one may still slip through the door into eternal safety. At this very initial stage of the Tribulationperiod, one may still call upon the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him for salvation, but the opportunity for that hope is rapidly slipping away. The 144,000 Male Virgin Jews (Rev 7). I believe this group is converted to follow our Lord Jesus Christ in the very early stages of the Tribulation period, the Great Tribulation period, literally at the onsetof this time period. I think the 144,000 will travel the earth speaking a unique message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to Jewish people, a message that also calls Jewish people home to the geographical territory of Israel. I think the peoples of the worldwill also hear this message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and many millions of people will also respond, choosing to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and trusting Him for salvation. Many will call upon the name of our Lord Jesus to save them from eternaldamnation. It�s no coincidence to me that those of the Innumerable Host in Rev 7:9-10 show up in heaven after we first see 144,000 male Jewish virgin servants of the Lamb in Revelationchapter seven. The Innumerable Host appears in heaven when it does because the 144,000 did such a good job of evangelizing the world. BTW: I think those four angels we also saw in Rev 7, who were granted power and authority to harm the earth, the sea, and the trees also played a role, or they helped tofacilitate a positive outcome. Since they appear in chapter seven just before the 144,000 Jewish male virgins and just before our Innumerable Host appears before the throne of God and before the Lamb, I think whatever those four angels did played a role toincentivize each of them to trust God and His Word, and to believe in the Lord Jesus and to call upon Him for salvation. I don�t know what they specifically did or its impact on the Innumerable Host of Rev 7:9-17. But the fact that this cluster of angels and Jewish male virgins and the InnumerableHost appear together in the same chapter is no coincidence. I believe all three are connected and the Lord Jesus, our Most High God orchestrates the outcomes for His glory and for the benefit of all the humans involved. The Two Witnesses Speak from The Rebuilt Jewish Temple (Rev 11). These two unique, supernaturally ordained heralds will also appear on the scene at the initial onset of the Tribulation period. They will seize the world�s attention withtheir message of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, their actions, and the supernatural nature of their presence. The whole world will see them and hear their message. And they will bring torment upon Christ-rejecting individuals and Christ-rejecting nationsof the world. These Witnesses will offer many convincing signs and wonders to back their message of the gospel. Resultantly, many people, Jewish and Gentile, will call upon the Lord Jesus to save them. Many will place their trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. Three Angels Who Circumnavigate the Globe with Incredible Warnings and Messages (Rev 14). Once again, it�s hard to know the timing of the events of this chapter. I believe some events happen early in the Tribulation period. Some may begin early and continue foran unknown duration. Other events seem to happen around the mid-point of the Tribulation period, the Great Tribulation. And other events seemingly happen toward the end of the Tribulation period. Angel #1: this one comes early in the Tribulation period preachingthe everlasting gospel to all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. Very likely, this message coincides and overlaps with the voices of all the other messengers and is echoed for some duration to all earth-dwellers. I believe this angel�s message also playsan important role in convincing the individuals of the Innumerable Host to repent and call upon our Lord Jesus and to trust in Him alone. Angel #2: this one likely appears about the mid-point of theTribulation period, the Great Tribulation, and heralds the destruction of the false religious system of Babylon. Up to this point, earth-dwellers were allowed to worship whatever false god they wished, but the Anti-christ, the beast, destroys the false religioussystem and makes himself the sole focus of worldwide worship. Angel #3: I think this one appears about the mid-point of theTribulation period in close proximity to the Mark of the Beast event but before the Mark is made mandatory by the False Prophet, and is potentially echoed for some unknown duration. For this angel�s warning to have true value and meaning, it must occur beforethe Mark event, and people must possess full understanding of the warning and its eternal consequence. Let�s Revisit Seal #5, Martyrdom (Rev 6). We�re told of a mass of people who are slaughtered because they trusted the Word of God and because of their testimony. We see this mass of people in heaven, under the altarof God. I think the slaughter of these people begins early in the Tribulation period. And we also note in the passage that it�s apparently a process. Some are purged and slain early,and some are purged and slain later. Those who are slain and purged early are given white robes and told to rest and wait until the full number of those who will be purged and slain is completed. Our Most High God knows the full duration of this period of martyrdom and slaughter represented by the Fifth Seal. He knows how it parallels and runs through the Tribulation.Our Most High God knows who dies first among this group, and He knows which one dies last. I think this seal judgment of martyrdom includes those individuals of the Innumerable Host that we see standing before the throne of God and before the Lamb in Rev 7:9-10.When their full number is complete, then they will stand as a group before the throne of God and before the Lamb. They will rejoice and give the Lamb praise for their salvation. The Lamb�s mercy and grace pursued them even in their intractable hardness towardHim until they were convinced to let go of their rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ and to finally call upon Him for salvation. The Innumerable Host Hears the Message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Responds The individuals who comprise the Innumerable Host of Rev 7:9-10 will hear the message of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that is delivered and preached at the onsetof the Tribulation period. These individuals will choose to place their trust in God and His Word. They will put the pieces together and will know there is something better for them. These individuals will likely recall the events leading up to and includingthe Rapture when millions were supernaturally evacuated from this world. The evacuated just disappeared. They will know the unique feature of the evacuated millions was the fact that each one was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that each one had previouslycalled upon the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and trusted the Lord Jesus to save them. And He literally saved them via the Rapture. These individuals will see and understand the troubles, hardships, and injustices being forced upon them by wicked, demonically energized, and motivated leaders who willgovern the nations in those days. They will know and understand the huge nature of the deceit, lies, and supernatural deceptions that assault them at every turn. They will choose and trust the Word of God. They will resist what the wicked leaders are tryingto foist upon them. And the systematic, wholesale slaughter of the individuals who will comprise the Innumerable Host will begin. This slaughter will take on many forms. It will likely include detention camps or camps to reprogram their minds and purge Bible-focused beliefs. These individuals willfind themselves bereft of most life- sustaining amenities. They will hunger and thirst and suffer the heat of the sun. They will suffer from extremes and despair of life. They will be prevented by people and businesses from participating in the normal ebband flow of community: buying and selling, food and drink, caring for one�s family, denial of medical care, employment, etc. They will be targeted in their communities and will fall under attack. It will include the outright murderous slaughter of many. Wherever individuals of the future Innumerable Host live, they will flee in an effort to escape the never-ending assault and violent purge that targets them. Where possible,they will escape the cities and flee into the countryside. Here they will likely find some brief respite from the relentless assault, but now they are without necessary resources and are more exposed to the extremes of weather and the increasing calamities. And while they wait for their full number of slain to come to completion � they will remember those who dwell on the earth (Rev 6, Seal #5). They will remember how the earth-dwellerstreated them with injustice and extreme cruelty, how the earth-dwellers cut them off from the resources of everyday life and directly or indirectly caused the slaughter of untold hundreds of millions. Before the individuals of this Innumerable Host are called to their final place of rest before the throne of God and before the Lamb, as a group they will cry out to ourMost High God. They demand vengeance on the earth-dwellers who killed them and inhumanly caused their deaths and slaughter (Rev 6, Seal #5). But in their despair, they will call upon God and trust His Word. By God�s grace, they will secure a place to stand before the throne of God and before the Lamb and to praiseHim for their ultimate eternal salvation. They have finally come out of the Great Tribulation. End of Part 2 in this 3-part series. If you would like to see a chart comparing second-best outcomes to optimal outcomes, you can email me at: jray810@msn.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Revelation 7 Tribulation Believers (Part 3 of 3)- By John Chandler - https://www.raptureready.com/2021/03/16/revelation-7-tribulation-believers-part-3-of-3-by-john-chandler/ Returning to My Initial Position. I Concede a Good Outcome As it relates to the individuals of the Innumerable Host of Rev 7:9-10, in the finality of events for this group, the result overall is a good one. Instead of also sufferingan eternity of tormented existence in a place called the Lake of Fire, the mercy and goodness and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ rescues each member of the group when each one trusts God and His Word. While this outcome for these individuals is a good one, it represents the second-best outcome in actuality. These individuals could have obtained the Optimal outcome ifthey had chosen to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ today, during this current and active Dispensation of Grace. 2 Corinthians 6:2 �Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.� Don�t put off until tomorrow what one should and must do today. Don�t put off one�s salvation until the Tribulation period. There is no guarantee one will survive long enoughto call upon the Lord Jesus Christ and to trust Him for salvation. Today is the day of Salvation! Why Are Church-Age Believers Exempted & Spared the Sufferings of the Tribulation? Because during this time of the Dispensation of Grace, those who became Church-Age Believers literally took the Lord Jesus Christ at His Word and believed Him, chose Him,trusted Him. We abandoned the gods of this world and the god of human self. We chose the Lord Jesus Christ alone as the sole means of salvation. To those people who choose the Lord Jesus solely at His Word, He extends incredibly rich promises that He absolutely will fulfill. Two such promises the Lord Jesus extendsto us are to exempt and spare us from the unique cut-out time period of His wrath, the wrath of the Lamb, the Tribulation. Revelation 3:10 �Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwellon the earth.� 1 Thessalonians 5:8-9 �But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appointus to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.� Romans 1:18-21 �For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because whatmay be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are withoutexcuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.� Romans 2:5-10 �But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteousjudgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds�. but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness�indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew firstand also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.� John 3:36 �He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.� Romans 5:8-10 �But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood,we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.� 1 Thessalonians 1:10 �and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.� Called to Encourage or Comfort One Another, For We Are Spared His Wrath Scripture is clear on the fact that we Church-Age Believers are not destined to experience the wrath of God or the wrath of the Lamb, and scripture advises us to encourageor comfort one another with this thought of being spared His wrath. Which of these two scenarios brings you the most encouragement or comfort? One: Hey, Church-Age Believer, you are going to see and experienceand suffer some of the most horrible calamities the world has ever encountered. You will likely see family and friends die in the most brutal manner after they have suffered the most deprived conditions. Yep! What you suffer personally and what you observeyour loved ones and friends suffer will suck the life right out of you. Even though you suffer a miserable, agonizing death, no worries. So be encouraged. Or does this next approach resonate in your heart and mind while bringing you relief, joy, and contentment? Two: Hey, Church-Age Believer, because the Lord Jesus promisedthat you were not destined to wrath, He is going to evacuate you from the world before the Tribulation begins. The Rapture is one of the most phenomenal supernatural events the world has ever witnessed, and the Lord Jesus has promised you will participateas one of His evacuees. You and your family will experience no unnecessary horrors or sufferings. And if your loved ones and friends are Believers in the Lord Jesus, they will travel with you. You and they are spared the suffering, pain, and misery. So beencouraged. Check out these scripture verses designed to encourage. 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 �Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be withthe Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.� 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 �For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we shouldlive together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.� Our Lord Jesus Himself encouraged us when He told His disciples about the Rapture during the Upper Room Discourse. John 14:1-4 �Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father�s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. Igo to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.� Titus 2:11-13 �For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously,and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.� I like the way Jan Markell of Olive Tree Ministries sees it: if Church-Age Believers are dragged through any portion of the Tribulation period, then the blessed hope quicklybecomes the blasted hope. Encouragement for the Church-Age Believer quickly fades. The Innumerable Host we saw in Rev 7:9-10 standing before the throne of God and before the Lamb, they came out of the Tribulation after suffering horrible conditions, thenthey died and were brought to heaven. In the verse that follows, we see that not all Church-Age Believers will die a natural death (sleep), but the dead are changed first, then those who are still alive are changed, and they never see death. These Church-Age Believers being changed while alive are not the same as those Tribulation Believers who come out of the Tribulation after having died. So be encouraged.Chances are good that you may find yourself among a group of people who never experience natural death and who certainly never experience the ravages and death in the Tribulation. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 �Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed� in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.� Perhaps the thought of suffering needlessly and horribly brings you encouragement and comfort, but as for me and my house, the idea of suffering horribly and watching thoseI love and value suffer horribly brings me absolutely no encouragement or comfort. But the idea of being evacuated in the Rapture before all the horrible suffering of the Tribulation, the hour of trial that comes on all the world, so that neither I northe ones I love ever experience any moment of it� now that brings me incredibly great encouragement and comfort. Maranatha! Our Lord, come! Lord Jesus, come quickly. Come fetch us home in the Rapture, and today is a good day for You to do that! BTW: This is the very thing we should hope and desire and prayfor today, right now, for those we eventually see before the throne of God and the Lamb in Rev 7:9-10. We want them to experience salvation today so that they are also evacuated in the Rapture and never experience the horrors of the Tribulation. Being evacuatedin the Rapture represents the optimal scenario for Believers. The Work That You Do Is for Today. The missionary work that we all do or should do: preaching, teaching Sunday school and Bible study, evangelizing the lost, planting churches, acts of salvation-focused kindnessand generosity, Bible translation, scripture use and engagement, mobilizing people, praying, giving, using media arts to portray and deliver the gospel of Jesus Christ, helping other Christ-followers figure out where and how they can minister, etc. The individuals of the Innumerable Host that we see in Rev 7:9-10 are likely alive today, right now. The work you do, the fruit, and the product of your hands should primarilyfocus on and strive to bring them to our Lord Jesus Christ today, right now! Do not put off the life-transforming works of our Lord Jesus until the period when the individuals of the Innumerable Host of Rev 7:9-10 stand before the throne of God andbefore the Lamb. Do not relegate them to a second-best salvation. Help them achieve the optimal outcome today. Scripture is clear in 2 Corinthians 6:2, �For He says, �In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.� Behold, now is the acceptedtime; behold, now is the day of salvation.� The lost peoples of the world need their lives transformed by the forgiveness, mercy, and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Most High God, right now, today! The work that you do today will likely play an important future role in the discipling of the nations (Matthew 28:18-19). Hopefully and prayerfully, it will. In the midstof the Tribulation Period, when each person of that Innumerable Host decides to choose the Lord Jesus, to trust Him alone, each one will need good informative resources to help that one grow and mature to the degree possible. Those works that you completedin the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit, that you created for people today to induce them to come to salvation and to more intimately know our Lord Jesus Christ, those previously existing works will play key roles to help in the transformationof future lives, but those completed works must first exist today for the people of today. The work that you do today is about the outcomes of today; it�s about transformed lives today. It�s Not About A Second-Best Salvation. Trust the Lord Jesus to bring salvation to each person today so that each one may experience and enjoy that optimal scenario with the optimal results and outcome. Work ina manner that helps them believe in our Lord Jesus and trust Him now. Help them praise, bless, and extol our Lord Jesus because each one received His very best salvation today. Difference Between Church-Age Rewards and Tribulation Saint Rewards IF we were to place Church-Age Believers with the Innumerable Host in the Tribulation, it makes us forfeit most of the rich blessings and promises and rewards our Lord Jesushas offered to Church-Age Believers. The individuals of the Innumerable Host suffered, at least partially, through God�s wrath and through the hour of trial. Church-Age Believers are spared from suffering throughthe wrath of God. They are kept out of and spared from the hour of trial. The individuals of the Innumerable Host are apparently limited to their place of service and their role of service. Scripture in Rev 7:15 indicates this group of individualsare before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple, evidently in a servant role. Church-Age Believers are promised to rule and reign as kings and priests on the earth, in addition to having specific places awarded to us in heaven. New Jerusalem is writtenupon us, denoting our citizenship of this great holy city. We are awarded the best of both realms. Indeed, Scripture promises Church-Age Believers will sit on Christ�s throne with Him. In Revelation seven, there is neither promise to the Innumerable Host to rule and reignwith the Lamb nor to sit with Him on His throne. They are not awarded crowns; Church-Age Believers are promised crowns. Concluding Thoughts Caveats and Qualifiers What one believes overall about the last days and eschatological events also determines how one believes about the myriad of details of last days� events. What one believesdetermines and positions the who, what, where, when, why, and how details of the time of the end. Obviously, one may easily derive from my positions in this essay that I am a pre-tribulation Rapture Church-Age Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe the Rapturehappens first. The Rapture serves as THE trigger event. My other last days� beliefs hang on that event, and what I believe logically follows. Another key trigger event is when the Tribulation Period begins. And because I believe the Rapture happens before the start of the Tribulation Period, I believe that Church-AgeBelievers are evacuated before it comes hugely, mega-bad in the world. But after Church-Age Believers are evacuated, other pieces of last days� events will begin to fall into their proper place with the corresponding timing and outcomes. Perhaps the reader takes some other position as to what event is key to when it falls and how it triggers other events. Maybe one holds the position of a mid-tribulationRapture which determines how one believes events will play out. Or maybe the reader believes in a three-quarters tribulation Rapture or a post-tribulation Rapture. What one believes about the big picture drives how you believe other details will play out. Maybe one believes there is no Rapture of Church-Age Believers and believes only in the second coming of the Lord Jesus to establish His kingdom on the earth. Maybe you believe something just because that belief is popular in the circles in which you run, but in reality, you don�t know what you believe or why. In actuality, you�venot given last days� events or their timing or their triggers much thought. Perhaps this essay may cause the reader to reconsider primarily hoping for the second-best outcomes and to pray and work for people in our day and age to attain optimaloutcomes of salvation. Possibly, the reader rejects my position entirely, or at the least, a number of elements of this essay because you believe in different trigger events or a different timingof events. I get that and understand that concept: what one believes has consequences. Taking Shots An essay of this type that is so wide in its scope is open for discussion, dispute, and alternate arguments. I�m okay with that. Let the dialogue begin. As I wrote trying to address the main point � that Tribulation Believers of Revelation chapter seven received a second-best outcome, that it�s a good thing, but not cool � I heard in my head a series of peripheral questions that I believed needed answers to bring a fuller level of understanding to my main point. It was not my goal to tackle every point in exhaustive detail. Finishing Where I Started In my assessment, the individuals of the Innumerable Host that we see in Revelation chapter 7:9-10 experience a good thing for themselves, especially in view of the alternative,but how they travel to and arrive at that point is not cool. Had they chosen differently, they could have received a much better outcome, the optimal outcome. That optimal outcome is still within reach. It�s not yet too late for them. Today is the day of salvation.Right now! This ends the 3-part series on Revelation 7 Tribulation Believers. 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