Bible teaching from Revelation chapter 14 verses 14 to 20; the two judgments of Revelation chapter 14 of the world and of Israel. Man may be impatient for judgement, God is not! He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. God does not merely react to sin! God is sovereign over man and works purpose through even a world in rebellion. We ought not to underestemate the sovereign power of a God who is able to bring good from the slavery and betrayal of Joseph, the murder by Moses and the rebellion of Jonah. After cries which echoe through the Psalms of David, the service of the disciples, the sanctuary of Daniel and the sousl of the saints of Revelation chapter 6; cries of "how long?" finally the answer is "now". Here is God's perfect judgment in God's time. From a systematic exposition of Revelation by Dr J Stewart Gillespie.

Christian hymns, Old Testament Psalms (Psalm 2) and Biblical prophecies all look forward to Christ reigning in Zion; the Holy and royal mountain of Jerusalem. Well here He is; Christ in Zion, in Revelation chapter 14. John paints the picture, gives us a snapshot of Christ on mount Zion! It’s here He has finally arrived, but it's not what I would expect of:

• The Son of God
• The King of Kings
• The Lord of Lords
• Creator
• Redeemer
• Judge of all things
• Miracle worker

It’s the picture I might anticipate of one who is:

• Omnipotent
• Omniscient
• Omnipresent

“Yet have I set my King upon my Holy hill of Zion” (Psalm 2:6)

I wasn’t expecting to see a lamb there! Maybe a lion!

Yet the path from earth to heaven and glory, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords has taken as a lamb.

That’s interesting that we should find the lamb on Mt Zion

We find the lamb in all sorts of places:

• On the altar (Gen 22) – sacrifice
• In the fire and flame (Ex 12) – suffering
• In the mouth of the lion (1 Sam 17) – Satanic attack
• Led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53)
• Bearing away the sin of the world - As the Substitute

Finally we find the lamb here; on the throne (Revelation 4); in heaven (Revelation 14)

This path of the lamb by way of:

• Sacrifice
• Suffering
• Satanic attack

Is the path followed by those whom we find here in heaven. The route to the destination is the same.

They have followed the lamb all the way to Zion.

Some claim that we ought not to be ‘prisoners to our past, it’s a lesson, not a life sentence.’ There is some truth in that, but not much!

The biblical view of our past is far higher than being ‘free from the prison’ of the past and the past is certainly no lesson, it is the real thing!

If the past is but a lesson for today and today is but a lesson for the future. Where is it that we put into practice these so called lessons? When do we actually graduate from school into the real world! This of course is the real world!

No doubt lessons should be learned but regarding our life as merely a lesson is way short of the profound depths which God attaches to our life here and now.

Our past is not a prison from which we ought to regard ourselves as liberated from, our past is

• what in part moulds and shapes us and produces character in us (Romans 5:1ff).
• Theatre in which is worked out our service for God, the race is run, and as such reward can follow on.
• The arena of sin and error; a place where ripples extend out into eternity, to the judgment seat and to others

Our past is way more serious than a prison from which we might seek freedom.

Our past does indeed teach lessons, but it has eternal consequences for us and consequences for others, which we cannot ignore nor erase. Consequences not only of:

• Education
• Retribution
• Reward

Once we face up to the reality of this, once we grasp the truth of this, this will lead us to:

• Repentance
• Redemption
• Reward

As well as

• Education

There is by far the greater path of:

• Salvation

We are far more than prisoners of our past

We are products of our past

A past that is not merely a lesson in life but a past that is life itself, real life with ripples running off into eternity.

The 144,000 arrive in heaven, sounding like the lamb (14:2) with a “voice of many waters” and with a “new song” that no man could learn.

Anyone could read the lyrics but they could not learn the song

Anyone could learn words but they could not learn the song!

Anyone could follow a tune but they could not learn this song!

Many could play the music but they could not learn the song.

This was a song played on the heart, not only upon the harp (v2)

Like Christ who ‘learned obedience by the things which He suffered’

Learning is a change brought about from experience

At times in life we complain, we are resentful, become bitter, get discouraged.

At times we desire an:

• Easier life
• Smoother path
• To take it a little easier
• Put our feet up
• A bit less hassle

This path is the path to mount Sinai

This is the path which brought the Son of God to Glory

This song was and is the product of their lives.

This is the song that makes us sound like Christ!

• Bass notes of suffering
• The treble clef of lifes melody
• The sharps of excitement
• The flats of disappointment
• The rests of recuperation
• The repeats of routine
• The majors of life’s dominant themes
• The minors of less significant

We may be an epistle written and read as Paul reminds us but our life also produces a song that is sung and nothing need be wasted.

From a systematic bible teaching series from the letter of Revelation by Dr J Stewart Gillespie, preached at the Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock. Free to download messages and free to view online. 

The prophetic book of Revelation, that gives us a glimpse into the future for this world, also contains a few unanticipated surprises! 

Revelation also gives us a glimpse into: 

Heaven (chapters 4 + 5) 
Hell (chapter 9) 
Satan (chapter 12) 

There are not that many passages of the scriptures that deal with the Satanic personality, although in many places we perceive his influence. 

Revelation chapter 12 gives us a glimpse into the: 

• Destiny 
• Disaster 
• Demise 
• Desires 

Of Satan 

In chapter 12 we learn to recognise Satan as God reckons with Satan. 

We gain a glimpse into the ultimate destiny of Satan elsewhere in the scriptures although we do have to join the dots and put the pieces together. 

The man of the Gadarenes – those who follow Satan and who are obedient to him, must yet bow to a supreme authority, that of Christ! That does not bode well for Satan! Their end is in the Abyss 
The testing of Christ in the wilderness – we often perhaps reflect on the character and nature of that temptation, the opportunism of Satan after 40 days of fasting, Satan’s misuse of the word of God and the means of defeating Satan with the sword of the Spirit and the Word of God! One simple of aspect of the testing of Christ in the wilderness that we ought not to miss of course 
“Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31) We note the attack on Peter, but perhaps we ought also to note the ultimate victory of the Spirit of God in the life of Peter, as Peter knows recovery and restoration and becomes stronger for the experience! 

Satanic activity is sovereignly controlled and attenuated 

We need perhaps to put these pieces together to see the whole story. 

Here in verse 1 we have a symbol of Satanic destiny 

Sometimes looking back we see a significance that perhaps we don’t see at the time. 

“moon under her feet” 

The glory of Israel is in the sun (v1), the brightest and most glorious natural object which is known to us. 

The moon is under her feet; the moon once worshipped by Israel, the moon that rules the night is under her feet! Israel has dominion and victory over the one who rules the night. Victory is guaranteed! The end is declared from the beginning!

Notice the principle of spiritual gravity which we find here in Revelation chapter 12, seen so clearly in the rise and fall of Satan, but which we can also perceive in the rest of the word of God.

You can pretty accurately predict the destiny of a personality from the impact they make on the lives of others. You can predict an individuals destiny from the direction they give to others,

If you want to know where they are going, look at where they are taking others! 

Where they are sending others is where they are heading themselves. 

Pharaoh – cast the children into the river Nile (Ex 1:22), into a watery grave is where Pharaoh and his armies ended up! (Exodus 14:28) 
Ahab and Jezebel – lead the nation into Baal worship and the pursuit of the demonic, unfaithful to their God. Ultimately Jezebels subjects proved equally as unfaithful to her and that was her undoing. The authority of God and His commandments which she undermined and destroyed, was the foundation of all human authority and order, as is the case today. 
Belshazzer led his people into blaspheming the items of the temple; he and many of his subjects died under Divine judgment. 
Elimelech led his family to Moab and he died there. 

Consider also on the positive side: 

It was the apostle Paul who lifted so many up, and led so many to Christ. Is it not so appropriate that he himself was taken up into the 3rd heaven! What about the apostle John? It is John who is the disciple of love, life and light. It is John in his gospel who leads us to the Deity and glory of the Lord Jesus. How apt it is that it is John who gives us the book of Revelation, leading us into heaven itself! Here is the principle of spiritual gravity!

We can predict a personal destiny from the direction they point other. 

It is difficult to take others or direct others in a direction we are not travelling in ourselves. 

We can predict a persons destiny form the direction they give to others. Here we have this principle worked out in the spiritual realm. It is Satan with his malevolent influence who draws down a third of the stars from heaven to earth. You could predict his end I am sure from this! After the angelic host are cast down (12:4) Satan follows the same trajectory, downward to the earth (12:9)!

Notice also in Revelation chapter 12 the principle of spiritual gravity:

It was no coincidence that as Moses descended Mount Sinai with the two tables of law written by the finger of God, that Satan had made a pre-emptive strike and that waiting there for Moses was a pre-constructed golden calf!  

It was no coincidence that placed next to the throne of Egypt were two Satanically inspired magicians; Jannes and Jambres, ready to sway the mind of Pharaoh as the voice of God echoed throughout the land in plague and pestilence.  

It was no coincidence that Tobiah and Sanballat were on hand to discourage and to attempt to destroy the walls of Jerusalem as Nehemiah fulfilled his commission to rebuild for God!  

Here too in Revelation chapter 12 we perceive exactly the same process at work. As the time approaches for Israel to bring forth Messiah; "when the fullness of the time was come..." in Revelation 12:2; God was ready. At that moment so too was Satan ready; ready with an attempt at annihilation, with the slaughter of the innocents, ready with persecution, temptation in the wilderness, rejection from the synagogue, isolation from society, false accusations, and ultimate execution at Calvary!  

If we share the life of that same Saviour we too can anticipate to share the unwanted attention of Satan! Be ready! Be prepared, but not only for attack, but ultimately for victory through Christ!  

From our systematic bible study series in the book of Revelation

Dr J Stewart Gillespie

GraceinChrist

It was no coincidence that as Moses descended Mount Sinai with the two tables of law written by the finger of God, that Satan had made a pre-emptive strike and that waiting there for Moses was a pre-constructed golden calf! 

It was no coincidence that placed next to the throne of Egypt were two Satanically inspired magicians; Jannes and Jambres, ready to sway the mind of Pharaoh as the voice of God echoed throughout the land in plague and pestilence. 

It was no coincidence that Tobiah and Sanballat were on hand to discourage and to attempt to destroy the walls of Jerusalem as Nehemiah fulfilled his commission to rebuild for God! 

Here too in Revelation chapter 12 we perceive exactly the same process at work. As the time approaches for Israel to bring forth Messiah; "when the fullness of the time was come..." in Revelation 12:2; God was ready. At that moment so too was Satan ready; ready with an attempt at annihilation, with the slaughter of the innocents, ready with persecution, temptation in the wilderness, rejection from the synagogue, isolation from society, false accusations, and ultimate execution at Calvary! 

If we share the life of that same Saviour we too can anticipate to share the unwanted attention of Satan! Be ready! Be prepared, but not only for attack, but ultimately for victory through Christ!  

Part of a series of messages preached from the book of Revelation by Dr J Stewart Gillespie at the Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock .

(this recording was prematurely stopped due to a technical error)

The prophecies of Revelation chapter 7 transport us into the future days of tribulation. During this period of intense persecution 12 000 people from each of the 12 tribes of Israel will be sealed and set apart as servant for God. Herein lies the first of 2 great problems. For over 2000 years 10 out of the 12 tribes of Israel have been regarded as 'lost tribes', peoples and tribes who never returned to their ancient homeland of Israel following their exile into the empire of Assyria. Over the past 70 years however interest has been rekindled in tracing these 10 lost tribes. Since the reestablishment of the nation state of Israel and the Messianic aspirations of Jewish scholars, the search has been on to find the 10 Northern tribes. Following the ancient silk route out of Assyria and investigating the traditions and practices of the tribes and peoples along that route has yielded fascinating results! Jewish practices, Mosiac law, the practice of the Passover and the preparation of Kosher food as well as ancient traditions of an Exodus story has been found amongst the Pashtun tribes of Afghanistan, the BenIsrael of Bombay, the Manasseh of Tibet and the Ischarof of Uzbekistan, Some leading Rabbinical scholars are convinced that all 12 of the tribes have now been identified amongst nation states and groups. Amongst these groups some are already returning to Israel!

The tribal list of Revelation chapter 7 contains a further bombshell. Included in the list of the 12 tribes is Manasseh. Manasseh was not a son of Jacob at all, but rather a grandson. As included in the list of 12 tribes he has displaced one of the original tribes, that of Dan. The tribe of Dan was no insignificant player in the OT narrative. It was Dan who was:

1. Instrumental in constructing the tabernacle under the direction of Aholiab (Exodus chapter 31, 35, 36)
2. Crucial in the design of the temple by the hands of Hiram (2 Chronicles 2:14) 
3. Dan who proclaimed the law of the Lord and the warnings against idolatry from Mount Gerizim in Deuteronomy 27. 

And yet tragically it was also in Dan we see a sustained and collective loss of identity and distinctiveness:

1. Marital compromise and unequal yoke (Leviticus 24)
2. The first man to be stoned for blasphemy (Leviticus 24)
3. Moral compromise in the days of Samson 
4. Spiritual compromise and idolatry in the days of Micah in Judges 17 and 18.

It was seem that by the time we reach Revelation chapter 7 this sustained loss of identity and distinctiveness has removed them from the Divine plan, replaced now by Manasseh, the meaning of whose name is that of  'caused to forget'. God has forgotten those who forgot Him! 

The New Testament warning of Paul seems apt here; let us beware that lest having preached to others we ourselves should become shipwreck!

A message preached at the Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock, from our systematic bible teaching series on the book of Revelation. Audio and video recordings of these bible studies are free to download or view online.

Yours by God's Grace in Christ

Dr J Stewart Gillespie

Hot on the heels of the catastrophic events of the opening of the first 6 seals of Revelation chapter 6 comes the introduction to the opening of the 7th seal, here in Revelation chapter 7. By all accounts the introduction to this series of events seems pretty benign, even innocuous. What is the problem with with holding the winds that blow upon the earth (Revelation 7:1)? Is this not a good thing? This would have been welcome relief to the disciples in the storm tossed boat of John chapter 6. This could have provided reprieve for Jonah on the ship heading to Tarsus. The restraining of the winds could have averted the terrifying disaster of Paul's ship wreck at Malta! So what if God holds back the winds! 

On many occasions God's winds have blown through the scripture. Often times those winds have blown with blessing and grace! 

In Genesis chapter 1, it is the Spirit of God; the same Hebrew word for wind, who moves on the face of the waters with:

• Creatorial Power 

After the flood waters covered the earth, it is the wind that blows, pushing back those waters of judgment and permitting the release of Noah and the occupants of the ark. God's wind blows in:

• Salvation Power 

By Passover lamb and by the power of shed blood, God purchases and releases His people from bondage in Egypt. The final hurdle is that of the Red Sea. The waters will be blown back by the wind. God blows in:

• Redemptive Power 

To meet the needs of His people and sustain them in the wilderness, it is the wind of God that will carry the quail into the camp of the wilderness people. God blows in:

• Sustaining Power 

The needs of Israel and Elijah will be met in draught conditions by the rains carried by the wind. God blows in:

• Refreshing and living Power

It may appear a trivial judgment for God to hold back the winds (Revelation 7:1) but such a with holding of Divine Grace belies catastrophe; a catastrophe which can be anticipated in the physical realm as well as the spiritual. This world will feel the effects of the absence of the winds upon the earth. Temperatures will rise at the equator. Temperatures will fall at the poles. This earth will become a place of polar extremes. The earth will dessicate. Precipitation will stagnate. Bareness and dryness will dominate a world turned to desert. Spiritual conditions of course will likewise be reflected in a world which has rejected the Lamb of redemption. This world will become a place of spiritual extremes, bareness and dryness. It is perhaps worth pausing and contemplating the condition of our own life and heart. Would we notice in the microcosm of our own personal existence if God's gracious winds ceased to blow? Are we spiritual enough to detect the dryness, the bareness, the extremeness of our souls, in the presence of no open vision? 

There is in Revelation chapter 7 an infinitely more glorious purpose behind this action of God to hold back the winds. It was the winds of God who scattered the tribes of Israel in Zechariah 7:14. This wind will cease and the people of God will be regathered, sealed and set apart as witnesses for Christ. We see today the scene being set for this very event. 

A message from our systematic Bible study series in the book of Revelation 

Yours by God's Grace in Christ

Dr J Stewart Gillespie 

GraceinChrist.org where bible teaching never sleeps.