ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: PICTURES OF TRIBULATION & WRATH, Part 4

Another Coffee Break:

Pictures of Tribulation & Wrath, Part 4

This past week I had an experience in which I was transported to Heaven.  I was taken to an area in which angelic beings were preparing white robes for the Bride of Christ.  There was a significant portion of the event which dealt specifically with a covenant that the Lord has made with Della and me concerning our children, but let me first share with you that portion given as a prophetic message to the body of Christ.

Let me begin by sharing what I saw; and then I will share what Holy Spirit was communicating.

I found myself standing in front of an area in which there were angelic beings seated at desks or tables.  As far to my left and as far to my right as my eyes could see, there were angelic beings.  By the same token, as far distant as I could see there were angelic beings.  All of them were working on white robes, preparing them for certain believers.  It was obvious that they represented a virtually uncountable number of people -- all of whom were destined to wear these robes.

I was positioned directly in front of an angelic being who was working on the fitting and preparation of a specific robe for a specific believer -- in this case our oldest son, Chris.  An image of Chris flashed in and out as the robe was being prepared, but he was not actually present in Heaven.  Another very tall angel stood right next to me and most of my conversation was with him.

The angel who was working on Chris's robe made the remark that he didn't understand why he was working on a robe for our son "since he's never going to get to wear it anyway."  In one sense his remark was understandable since Chris has not been living or walking with the Lord in the place he once knew, and has been living far beneath his destiny in God.  Nevertheless, I wasn't about to let that remark get past us unchallenged and immediately said, "Excuse me, but we have a covenant with the Lord concerning our children."

I immediately quoted Isaiah 59:21: "As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and forever."

I could have added (but didn't at that moment) the promise God made when Chris was born, "And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children."  (Isaiah 54:13)  Note the emphasis on ALL!

The angel standing next to me looked at the angel working on Chris's robe and responded, "He's right, you know.  He does have a covenant with the Lord concerning all his children."

The events that unfolded next made me really appreciate that covenant, and I understood just how important it was for me to lay claim to that covenant when challenged, and to speak it forth!  I also realized that a portion of what I was about to see had specific implications for families with sons or daughters who are not walking where they are supposed to with the Lord.  (If this applies to you and your family, take note of the events that followed and lay claim to God's promises for your children with boldness!)

As we stood talking, a veil was suddenly drawn up between the two of us and the rest of the area where the robe preparation was taking place.  As the veil went up, a brilliant light illuminated the entire area.  The light far exceeded that of the noonday sun for brightness, and had it not been for the veil, my eyes would have been blinded.  The light radiated an intense heat with it, but it was a very different kind of heat I didn't really know how to describe.  As it was, it was very difficult to look at and I turned my eyes aside toward the angel standing next to me.

"What is this all about," I asked.  The angel responded, "All these robes are being prepared for the fires of purification."  Instantly the parable of the ten virgins flashed before me and revelation began to flood my spirit.

In that instant all the sounds I'd been hearing were suddenly silenced and I was enveloped in total silence.  It was as though someone had shut off a switch.  The sounds of conversation were gone.  The sound of the continuous praise and worship in the background was silenced.  I turned again to the angel standing next to me and asked, "What just happened?"

His answer left an indelible imprint in my being.  "You are being cut off from hearing the cries of those who will be purified.  You cannot and must not bail them out.  You cannot and must not intervene in this midst of their trials lest the fire they are experiencing overtake you.  They must overcome by themselves!  They must fall on the rock, Christ Jesus!  You cannot intervene.  They cannot have your oil."

I wanted to ask if this meant that all of us as Christians were going to experience these fires, but before I could ask the answer flooded my being.

"These fires of purification are specifically intended for those who have not yet responded to the dealings of Holy Spirit.  Many people have already responded to and embraced the fire in their lives.  This that is coming is not for them.  This is a furnace of affliction intended to burn away the bondages from those who've not yet willingly abandoned them or responded to the opportunities presented by Holy Spirit.  No one will be forced to respond against their will, but those that willingly and purposefully reject the dealings of God will open themselves to the wrath of God when it is poured out upon the earth."

Although it was not specifically spoken, there was a realization once again in me that the fire is not for destruction but redemption.  When John the Baptist came as a forerunner for Jesus Christ, he prophesied, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  (Matthew 3:11-12)

One of Holy Spirit's principal aims and objectives is to "burn up the chaff [in us] with unquenchable fire."  It is a fire you can't put out, and its purpose is to burn out everything that doesn't permit us to conform to the perfect image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Consider the very first of the Seven Spirits of God.  Isaiah names four of the seven in his prophecies, the first being seen in Isaiah 4:4, the Spirit of Judgment and Burning.  The purpose of God's judgment is to set things right or back in alignment with His Word and His purposes.  The purpose of burning is to burn up all that is impure, all that contaminates the very character and makeup of the Lord Jesus Christ in our spirit, our soul and our body.

I've written this before, but for the purpose of this application let me again share II Timothy 2:15 from my own amplified translation from the Greek text: "Be instantly responsive to the Lord, making yourself available to Him in the midst of the crucible, a tried and tested laborer, who has no fear of being examined -- one who, by virtue of God's testing and the time spent in the crucible with Him, knows the proven word of truth."

The crucible is the vessel into which gold is place which needs to be refined and purified.  That crucible is heated in an intense fire in order to get the impurities to float to the top where they can be scooped off.  This is a process that smelters and refiners use repeatedly until they can certify that their gold is 99.999% free of impurities.  Using that same analogy it becomes clear that this is what the Lord is doing with His people -- His Bride in particular.  What's more, His fire "burns up the chaff with unquenchable fire!"  There are zero impurities in His people when He is finished with this process.

You understand, don't you?  This is NOT the "comfortable gospel": this is the Gospel of the Kingdom!  It is the rulership of the King in our lives, and His rulership means we conform to His standards and His measurement -- NOT what we might like them to be.

WOW!!  This certainly wasn't the way I expected to begin today's Coffee Break discussion, but what I saw and heard in Heaven certainly fits and is consistent with the pictures of tribulation I've been sharing thus far.

I was sharing with a bible study group earlier this week and we were talking about the nature of tribulation.  One of the characteristics of tribulation that we really need to anchor down in our spirit is that its purpose is redemption -- not destruction!

Tribulation is not a squeezing together, an application of great pressure designed to squeeze the very life out of us!  God intends for His people to experience this so that He has an overcoming people, a people who've been tried in the furnace of affliction and have come forth in His image and likeness.  His objective from the beginning has been our redemption, our restoration, our return to that image and likeness in which he first created Adam.

We can use the example of the three Hebrew children -- Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach) and Azariah (Abednego) -- who refused to bow to the image of the king (Nebuchadnezzar) [see Daniel 3], and were subsequently cast into a furnace heated to seven times its normal heat -- a temperature which killed those who cast the three into the furnace.  The king and his servants standing by saw the Lord appear in the fire with Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, and they walked about in the fire with absolutely no effect!  The only thing that happened to the three was that their bonds were burned off, and they were able to walk about and converse freely with the Lord.

That's the same thing intended for God's people today.  Those who willingly embrace the fire soon discover that the Lord is there with them.  Those who embrace tribulation find that there is a level of fellowship and intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ that words fail to properly convey!  At the same time, those who embrace these times of stress, pressure, accusation, persecution come to the realization that the Lord has been delivering them from fear, from past failures and from areas of weakness in their flesh that have plagued them throughout the years.

How is it that I can say these things?  If I were to tell you that I read all this in a book somewhere, we'd all have a good laugh, and you'd know I was telling one great big story.  The fact is, I can give you a guided tour (and already have to some extent in previous Coffee Breaks) of my personal walk with the Lord in the midst of tribulation.

OK.  Let me give you one more picture of tribulation before we change gears and take a close look at the wrath of God.

Revelation 8 begins like this (see the first six verses): "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.  And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.  And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.  And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound."

Without revisiting all of the events that took place on June 9, 1994, we had numerous friends and brothers and sisters in the Lord who reported things happening to them like the following:

One of our sisters in the Lord from High River, Alberta was driving to Edmonton.  Some 60 or 70 miles out of Edmonton she saw a hitchhiker standing alongside the road.  She had made it a practice to NEVER pick up hitchhikers, and it caught her completely off-guard when Holy Spirit spoke loudly in her spirit and instructed her to stop and pick up this hitchhiker.  Because it was not something she was inclined to do she drove on past and kept going. Holy Spirit again spoke -- this time audibly -- and said, "I said STOP!  Go back and pick up that hitchhiker!"

She had no option but to obey, turned the car around in the center divider and went back and picked up the hitchhiker.  As she pulled back into the traffic flow she turned to ask the gentleman where he was headed.  Before she could open her mouth, he looked at her and said, "The trumpet has been set to the mouth," and he vanished into thin air.  The whole experience shocked her and she didn't know what to make of it.  She contacted the RCMP office in Edmonton upon arriving and related what had happened.  The duty officer said to her, "Lady, you are the ninth person to report that tonight!"

In the days that followed (and she immediately shared it with us and our fellowship) we had friends in Lethbridge, Alberta who reported the same experience; and we subsequently heard of multiple like events taking place all across the northwest from Montana to Oregon.  I've no doubt that there were other parts of the U.S. and Canada (and even very likely other places in the world) who had the same identical experience on that date.

What was it all about?  This is a personal opinion, but my conviction is that the body of Christ was being prepared for the sounding of the seven trumpets by the seven angels!  Take a look at the very first thing that happens when the first angel blows his trumpet.

Hail and fire came down together with the result that a third of the earth's vegetation was destroyed.  That's a picture of unusual heat, volcanic eruptions and seismic events resulting in the destruction of crops worldwide on a scale hitherto unknown.

The next angel sounds and we see what amounts to cataclysmic geologic plate shifts resulting in the death and destruction of one-third of all life in the sea, along with the ships caught in the resulting tsunamis.

The third angel blows his trumpet and a huge flaming meteorite falls to earth resulting in the contamination of a third of the earth's water supply.

The fourth angel sounds his trumpet and the heavens are literally darkened as what I will describe as a planetary object passes close by the earth in what astronomers would refer to as a "near miss" causing a part of the sun and moon and stars to be obliterated from view for a full 24-hour period.

Without getting into all of the events that follow (please read Revelation 9) it becomes very clear that God's objective is to bring people to repentance and salvation -- sozo.    Look at the ending two verses of Chapter 9.

"And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."

You get the picture, don't you?  The purpose of these plagues and catastrophic events is to get people to repent.  So far we haven't seen the wrath of God.  Despite all the chaos which unfolds during this time of tribulation on the earth, Father God has yet to pour out His wrath!  When He does, folks, the earth will see and KNOW the difference between tribulation and wrath.

That's where we go next!

"Fresh and exceptional things are about to take place in the Church around the world. It will stretch our faith, but it will uniquely prepare us for an awesome demonstration of God's glory. The Bible foretells that the spirit of this generation will be as it was during the days of Noah. The Scriptures portray Noah as one who found favor in God's sight.

Through a divine visitation, God specifically prepared Noah for unprecedented events that unfolded in his generation. No human reasoning or natural wisdom could have provided the necessary insight and strategic blueprint for survival. Noah prevailed only by the Spirit of Revelation and obedience to the spoken word of the Lord.

Only in the supernatural realm can we receive the provision for our generation. This spiritual reality requires a far greater faith than we presently possess on a corporate level. Therefore, we must set our faith in order to access God's end-time promises to the Church. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life and He desires to display His resurrection power and life, so we may behold God's glory.  (Prophetic Word from Paul Keith Davis)

Blessings on you!

Regner

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

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ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: PICTURES OF TRIBULATION & WRATH, Part 3

Another Coffee Break:

Pictures of Tribulation & Wrath,

Part 3

Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning!

And the best day of your life to you!

Before we get started today, let me first begin by expressing my very great appreciation to Rich Hoffman for his diligent labors in creating a new website for the Coffee Breaks.  As already noted, all 30 of the Multiply.com sites that host these Coffee Breaks (for some 100,000 readers) will vanish as of December 1.  Rich is gifted in creating websites and he stepped up to offer his services in creating a new site for us.  When his labors and efforts are completed, these Coffee Breaks will take on a new identity, and we will change them from Another Coffee Break to Regner's Morning Coffee.  All of our archives will move to the new site, along with a fistful of praise and worship music that we have recorded live during the past couple of decades.  We will keep you posted as to the shift and timing of the move.

That said, let's resume our discussion from Revelation 6, 7 & 8.

We've talked briefly about the first five of the seals being opened, along with the four horsemen being released upon the earth; namely, (1) the rider on the white horse going forth with the spirit of antichrist; (2) the rider on the red horse going forth with the kind of death, persecution, and tribulation that comes with a religious spirit (such as seen during the Inquisition); (3) the black horse with its rider causing major weather disturbances and changes, resulting in famine and disease being released in unprecedented proportions; and (4) the pale (green) horse with its rider empowered to rain death and destruction through even more famine (than the rider on the black horse), rare and exotic diseases, wars on every scale, pestilence and animal attacks.

I need to insert some commentary here that should have been included in the past Coffee Break.  It is important to remember what Jesus said when the disciples asked Him what would be the signs and the indicators of His return and the end of this sinful age.

And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.   You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.   But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.  Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.   At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.   Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.   Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.  But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.   This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."  (Matthew 24:4-14 NASB)

Jesus is making it abundantly clear that the same events He showed to John (in the Revelation) would precede His return.  He says of believers in particular, "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name."  Do you see it?  Tribulation is a natural part of our existence as believers -- and in particular, what literally any reasoning individual would refer to as "great tribulation."  But Jesus is not coming -- NOT YET anyway!

Ever notice that there's no such thing as a "seven-year great tribulation" anywhere in Revelation?  That's because tribulation has been ongoing since the first century.  This "seven-year tribulation" teaching is a total misapplication of Daniel's prophecy in Daniel 9 -- and I'll probably get to that before I'm done with this discussion.

Returning to Jesus' statement from Matthew 24, He makes a critical statement that believers today need to get a hold of: "This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end (of the age) will come."  The "Gospel of the Kingdom" is NOT the message of Salvation, although the message of Salvation must certainly be included.  The Gospel of the Kingdom is the message AND the demonstration of the Kingdom of Heaven ruling in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation, along with the signs and wonders that come through and with, accompanying the citizens of the Kingdom -- Sons and Daughters of God who boldly and uncompromisingly show forth every aspect of the Glory of the Lord!  It is -- as John clearly demonstrates in Revelation -- the teaching, the preaching, the practice AND the demonstration of all that Jesus is DURING a darkening age with gross darkness falling on people.

Jesus goes on to say, "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved."  Endures?  Yes Sir!  Yes Ma'am!  Endures AND overcomes all things!  Tribulation.  Trial. Testing.  Persecution.  Temptation.  The rebellion of our flesh in the midst of it all.  Yesssirrrreeee!  Endures and overcomes all things.

OK!  My inserted commentary got a bit long, but let's continue with our pictures.

The opening of the fifth seal made clear that there were many more believers -- and especially those who spoke out prophetically against the sins in the earth being committed by nations and leaders of nations -- to suffer persecution, opposition and death because of the Word of the Lord in them at the hand of those who were rebuked and conscienceless.  Yet the promise of the Lord was that He would personally avenge the deaths of all those slain for their testimony.

Now we come to the sixth seal.  Although the unfolding events will cause men and women to blame the catastrophes on the wrath of God, it is clear that this is nothing more than a colossal wrap-up of "great" tribulation in and upon the earth because of the weight of sin upon creation.

Let's first take a look at the reference in Revelation 6:12-17: "I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.  The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.  Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.  They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!  For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”  (NIV)

Now, take a look at how Isaiah prophesies with a nearly identical picture: "And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.  The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.  The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.  And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.  Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.” (Isaiah 24:18-23 KJV)

Isaiah makes some clarification here as to why these events are taking place when he says, "The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and it shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression (Hebrew: pesha': sin, rebellion) thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again."  He thus makes it clear that it is the weight of sin that is causing the earth to reel to and fro, causing the massive earthquakes and upheavals, along with the catastrophic hurricanes and flooding rains ("the windows from on high are open") [e.g., Hurricanes Andrew, Hugo, Katrina, Isaac, just to name a few].

There is a piece of hidden manna in Isaiah's revelation that I personally find extremely exciting, and it comes in the form of Isaiah's statement, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.”  This is a picture of highly successful spiritual warfare being waged on demonic princes (Paul refers to them in the Greek text of Ephesians 6:12 as kosmokrator -- world rulers of darkness) who exercise their influence over certain cities, states, nations, and regions of the world.

Isaiah's prophecy is a picture of a portion of Jesus' prayer (we often call it "The Lord's Prayer") where He instructs believers to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."  Believers who engage in spiritual warfare through prayer and intercession dethrone wicked princes in heavenly places, and at the same time effect visible change in the governance of cities, states, nations and regions of the world.  When intercessors exercise the authority delegated to them by a rhema word from the Lord, and rip out the pinions of the thrones upon which demonic princes exercise power and influence over the affairs of the areas of their responsibility, they bring the Kingdom of Heaven, along with the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, to bear upon events, circumstances and the governance of those areas.

Are you seeing it, folks?  This is happening now, as we speak!  What an exciting time to be alive!  These events are unfolding all around us, and we're on the verge of a massive increase in this activity.  Tribulation?  Yup!  It is, but it is also a gorgeous time of victory for those saints who overcome.  I wouldn't trade this time for any other time in all of history!

There's a whole lot more to share in these pictures from Isaiah's prophecy, and from John's Revelation, but it really would take us afield from today's discussion so we'll save that for another time.  That said, let's take a break from these pictures of tribulation for a bit -- and Revelation 7 does just that.

John makes is very clear that he sees an interruption to the opening of the seven seals when he writes, "After this [the opening of the sixth seal] I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree."  (Revelation 7:1 NASB)

Numerous times throughout the Word we see references to "the four winds" or the four angels who stand at the four corners of the earth.  Obviously the concept of "the four corners of the earth" is a metaphor since the earth is a globe without corners per se.  Each time throughout the Word where we see a reference to the four winds, it involves either a change of government or a holding back of the government(s) of the earth.  I don't have time in this discussion to go there today, and exhaustively demonstrate this, but suffice it to say that John -- in giving us a picture of the angels holding back the four winds -- is communicating a pause in world governmental affairs while the Lord does something extraordinary among the Jewish people.

We know that the Bride of Christ is comprised of two parts: the Jews and the Gentiles (or other nations of the world).  Metaphorically and pictorially throughout Scripture, we see these two parts of the Bride represented by fig trees (of which the fig, the sycamore and the mulberry are often illustrated) and olive trees.  The apostle Paul drew the analogy in Romans 11 of the Gentiles being illustrated as a wild olive tree whose branches were cut off and grafted (contrary to nature) into the cultivated olive tree (representing the Jews) so as to make one new and productive fruitful olive tree.

Here's an interesting illustration for you.  Remember the 24 Elders who are worshiping before the Throne of God (seen throughout Revelation)?  That's two sets of 12.  (I'll amplify this a bit more shortly.)  Twelve come from Israel and twelve come from among "the children of men."

Now, scientifically -- horticulturally -- speaking,  the practice of grafting wild and cultivated olive trees together has produced 24 separate genus of olive trees resulting in 900 separate species.  Think that's just a coincidence?  Nope!  (That bit of information comes compliments of Microsoft Encarta.)

Moving right along with the Revelation John sees (chapter 7) we are told, "And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.  And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel."

Notice the command given the four angels:  "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."  The command is very specific: DON'T HURT THE TREES!  What trees?  The olive trees!

How do we know this, and why do I single out the olive tree?  Because of the rest of the command, and the action which follows the command.  The angels are sent to gather out and mark (seal) the foreheads of twelve thousand servants of God out of each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

[Let me pause parenthetically to note that the mark in the forehead of the servants of God in the Greek text is the word, sphragizo (pronounced, sfragidzo).  This word differs from the mark in the forehead that people take from the Beast.  That word is charagma.  Charagma is a mark or badge of servitude.  It is something which stamps itself indelibly in the character or mindset of an individual.  Sphragizo on the other hand, is a mark of security and preservation: literally and figuratively, to attest to, to keep secret.]

Thus, we have 144,000 (the number twelve taken to completion or perfection) gathered from Israel -- a number which represents that portion of the Bride taken from Israel -- who are to be protected and preserved from injury or destruction during the horrific events that are about to unfold.  Revelation 14 reveals to us the second half of the Bride as the 144,000 "redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb."  We'll get to this group in due time, but that's not part of today's discussion.

By the way, we are still NOT at the wrath of God being poured out!  We're still in the midst of great tribulation, stress, persecution and opposition.  We're still in the middle of events unfolding upon the earth as a result of the weight of sin and rebellion.

The singular difference is that for the first time we are seeing the protection, the safety and security of the Bride of Christ taking place so that, no matter what befalls the earth as a result of the unfolding destruction and chaos, the Bride of Christ -- that set apart and holy, glorious people of God -- is protected!  Understand, folks, that they are not taken OUT OF, but rather PROTECTED -- SEALED BY THE WORD OF THE LORD -- IN THE MIDST OF tribulation!

Consider now the next thing that John sees along with the 144,000 redeemed from Israel: "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb."

I'm getting ahead of myself, but before we quit for today, compare that statement to this one from Revelation 14:1-5: "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.  And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God."

Here we have a second distinct group of 144,000 who are redeemed from among men -- NOT from the 12 tribes of Israel.  We'll get into this more in our next Coffee Break, but it confirms the picture of the wild olive being grafted into the cultivated olive.

We've got a long ways to go yet in this discussion, so let me point out that John is told by the Angel of the Lord, "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."   The significance of this is that these are the overcomers.  They have overcome tribulation, testing, opposition, and persecution. They have overcome the same demonic principalities described in the seven letters.  By virtue of their overcoming (and that overcoming is a spiritually disciplined decision and effort) they have "washed their robes" and made themselves ready for the Marriage of the Lamb.

OK.  Have to stop there.  We'll continue this discussion again.

"Fresh and exceptional things are about to take place in the Church around the world. It will stretch our faith, but it will uniquely prepare us for an awesome demonstration of God's glory. The Bible foretells that the spirit of this generation will be as it was during the days of Noah. The Scriptures portray Noah as one who found favor in God's sight.

Through a divine visitation, God specifically prepared Noah for unprecedented events that unfolded in his generation. No human reasoning or natural wisdom could have provided the necessary insight and strategic blueprint for survival. Noah prevailed only by the Spirit of Revelation and obedience to the spoken word of the Lord.

Only in the supernatural realm can we receive the provision for our generation. This spiritual reality requires a far greater faith than we presently possess on a corporate level. Therefore, we must set our faith in order to access God's end-time promises to the Church. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life and He desires to display His resurrection power and life, so we may behold God's glory.  (Prophetic Word from Paul Keith Davis)

Blessings on you!
Regner

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES

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