ACT ONE IN THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

Victory – Testimony and Praises to God and the Lamb

Middle Concentric Path of Events on the Last Day

Move Retroactively from Rev.15:5 to Rev.7:9-17!

One of the most important moments for Christ is when His Office as the Lamb and as the Son of Man are combined at the repetition of the phrase in Rev.15:5 and Rev.7:9: “After these things, I saw and behold…” It occurs after “the angel with the seal of the living God seals the servants of God” with the name of the Lamb and they sing the song of the Lamb and join the Martyrs who sing the song of Moses. The Firstfruit unto God and the Lamb are taken from earth by the Lamb to conclude the Outer Concentric Path. The Son of Man has just reaped the earth and taken the 144,000 Firstfruit on the clouds of heaven to join the Martyrs of the great tribulation coming out from under the Altar. They stand before God and the Lamb for the first time at Rev.7:9. What an awesome moment in time!

“After these things ……”! It’s after armies from lands of the rising sun kill a third of mankind and are gathered to Armageddon. It’s after the sun turns dark and the moon to blood and a great quake kills 7000 VIPs in a 10^th of Jerusalem. Men hiding in the hills acknowledge the Day of God’s and the Lamb’s wrath has come. While 4 angels held back the 4 winds momentarily, the angel had immediately sealed 144,000 Jews on Mt. Zion and the Lamb had rescued them. On the way to heaven, the Son of Man had reaped the earth and 3 angels sent from heaven had collected the wicked to the winepress of God’s great anger. The Martyrs and Firstfruit unto God and the Lamb had sung songs to God sitting on a sea of fire and presented the Son of Man as most worthy. The Temple opens for their victorious Testimony of Praise to God and the Lamb!

“John looks and behold, a great crowd no one could number appears from every nation and tribes and peoples and tongues…standing before the throne and the Lamb. Clothed with white robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, they hold palms in their hands. They cry with a loud voice, saying: `Salvation to our God and to the Lamb’”. Rev.7:9-10. 

Over a year ago we began a study of 100 verses in Revelation to be fulfilled the Day Christ comes in glory. In the Nov/Dec issue of 2004, I wrote: “God will destroy the Beast (predicted in Dan.7:27 and Rev.19:20) right after the Temple opens for the Testimony of Rev.7, the Tribunal of Seal 7 and the Triumph of Trump 7”.

Just before the Temple of the Tabernacle of Testimony opens, Martyrs and the living Firstfruit to God sing their songs standing on a crystal river/sea of fire. Six Plagues had “exhausted God’s anger and manifested His righteous deeds”. Plague #7 suspends in the air until God’s anger fills the cup of wrath. Rev.14:10; Rev.15:1,4; Rev.16:19.  

We know the 144,000 Jews and countless Martyrs out of great tribulation appear in the Temple soon after the great quake and signs in the sun, moon and stars signal the Day of the Lord (and of God’s Wrath) “has come”. Why are the Firstfruit sealed in Rev.7 before the Temple opens? Why do they and the Martyrs stand before God and the Lamb eight chapters before singing that “God’s anger was exhausted by the Plagues and that all nations must come to worship God”?

It’s because the Temple Drama is The Centerpiece of Lastday events. The 144,000 are “Firstfruits unto both God and the Lamb” at the Endtime Harvest. Suffering and rewards to the Martyrs highlight the prime Theme of the Book of Revelation. They appear before any of five Flashbacks to prior Endtime Events!   

They appear eight chapters before they “present the Son of Man” to be crowned King of kings and 12 chapters before He comes to gather His Bride. Daniel reveals the Ancient of Days sitting on a throne ablaze with fire on a crystal sea, waiting for the Court to sit in judgment on the Beast. Having reaped the earth, “the Son of Man came on the clouds of heaven to be presented” as worthy to take the kingdom and destroy the Beast. Dan.7:9-22; Rev.14:14 to Rev.15:5. The Temple is now open for the Victory, the Verdict and the Vengeance of the same 12-Hour Day!

Taking the 144,000 Firstfruit to heaven “on the clouds” to join the Martyrs and sing their songs in Rev.14:3; 15:3 is the basis for “after these things, I saw and beheld” the scenes in the Temple. It clears of smoke at Rev.15:5 and until Rev.11:19. Both the rescue of 144,000 Jews and the armies collected symbolically to “the winepress of God’s great anger” occur after the Beast’s 42 month rule described in Rev.13. The text of the entire Temple Drama occurs before the flashback to Satan’s enmity at Christ’s birth and the flash-forward to the Endtime of “great tribulation” described in Rev.12 and Rev.13.

Six Trumpet Judgments lead up to their evidence presented in Seal 7 (Act Two) and the wrath of the 7^th Trumpet (Act Three). These trumpets are described prior to that of the Beast’s Endtime rule in Rev.13; but God’s wrath follows his rule. John describes armies at Armageddon 5 to 9 chapters after the Temple scenes; but these armies must be in place before the Temple opens! The key factor for the order of events: “No one can enter the Temple until the Plagues exhaust God’s anger” NOR until the armies are gathered to Armageddon and “reaped to the winepress of great anger” NOR until the Jewish Firstfruit arrive in heaven and join the Martyrs to sing their songs and “present the Lamb, the Son of Man to God”… worthy to take the Kingdom as well as to open the 7^th Seal “whenever” God’s time for wrath “has come”! Rev.15:8; Rev.14:1 to Rev.15:5; Dan.7:13; Rev.8:1.

The 144,000 appear first because they are “redeemed from earth” to sing their song of the Lamb worthy to take His Bride. They are the Firstfruit of His Bride as well as that of Ethnic Israel about to be redeemed. Luke 21:28. The Martyrs win the highest reward to the Church. They will be given three names and “serve God in the Temple and reign with Christ” until the New Jerusalem comes down over the earth. Rev.3:12; Rev.7:15-17; Rev.20:4. Heaven’s blessings are theirs for 1000 years in advance of all the rest of the Bride of Christ and of the “sheep nations who inherit the kingdom on earth forever”. Matt.25:32-34.

From Rev.12:1 to 15:5, without interruption, 60 verses span the time from Christ’s birth to the war in heaven and its Endtime consequences on earth. They reveal the persecution by two Beasts against God’s people for 42 months and include 25 verses of the Lastday’s Outer Concentric Path (Rev.14:1 to 15:5) before the Temple opens! After the Ten Outer Path events to rescue the 144,000 Jews and introduce the victorious Son of Man to the Ancient of Days in Rev.15, the Temple opens for the first dramatic scene described eight chapters earlier! The angels, 24 elders and 4 living creatures fall before the throne on their faces and worship God saying: `Amen, the blessing, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power and strength belong to our God to the ages of the ages. Amen’”!

The next words reveal the Martyrs have just entered the Temple and why they are given honor prior to events described later ... it is the time all the Saints appear in the Temple. An elder wonders who they are and from whence they “had come”! Of the 7 things that “have come”, this is #2 text-wise but #4 in point of time. With the Day of the Lord having begun, the first meeting of all the Saints occurs after the living Firstfruit "redeemed from earth" and the Martyrs “present the Son of Man to the Ancient of Days” sitting on a Throne ablaze with fire . . . the required setting for the Three-Act Temple Drama!  

It’s about 3 days after the Two Witnesses are killed when John reminds the elder: “Sir, you know who they are”. [I think the Two Witnesses are among them; but glorified!] The elder answers his own question. “These have come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” The Two Witnesses (and Enoch) and the 144,000 have glorified bodies while the Martyrs still wait to be raised up and avenged by God. “God will bring the souls of these Trib-Martyrs that sleep in Jesus with Him” when He comes to catch up the Saints who survive on earth. For “ALL of the Saints come WITH Jesus Christ” as Paul reveals. I Thess.4:13-14; I Thess.3:13.

We must see God’s plan for perfecting the Saints before the Lamb redeems the Firstfruit and raises up ALL the Martyrs on the last day. Their reward is the incentive that enables them to “overcome to the end”! They win the highest possible reward. “They will serve God in His Temple day and night for 1000 years. He that sits on the Throne will dwell among them and the Lamb will shepherd them”! Rev.3:12; Rev.7:15; Rev.20:4.

The Drama climaxes with Trump #7 heralding “God’s wrath has come and the time to reward the saints”. All heaven rejoices as the 7^th thing on that day “has come, the Lamb’s Wedding”. Rejoicing in heaven is spontaneous. The Martyrs and 144,000 praise God and the Lamb. Next, the angels and 24 elders and 4 living creatures fall on their faces and worship. After the 7^th Trumpet, with Babylon destroyed by history’s greatest quake and aftershocks are about to destroy earth’s mountains and cities, the Saints will rejoice and prepare for the wedding of the Lamb. Rev.19:1-3. With His wife clothed in the “fine linen of their righteous deeds”, heaven opens and the Lamb, having destroyed the harlot Babylon forever, brings the Saints with Him, gathers His Bride, imprisons the two Beasts in Hell and casts Satan to the Abyss for 1000 years! Rev.19:1-21.

But now we see them standing before God and the Lamb in the Temple for Act One’s *Testimony and Praise.*

The World’s False Sense of Security

During the week before Seal 6 opens and the Martyrs come out from under the Altar, the armies of the wicked will kill a third of mankind and cross the Euphrates River on dry ground. Adding to their sense of security the False Prophet may claim miraculous power to have dried up the Euphrates river bed. But still more convincing to the world will be the Beast’s ability to kill the Two Witnesses a few days before the 7^th Plague empties in the air and the Lamb opens Seal 6 to launch the Day of God’s wrath.

The world will be totally unsuspecting. Their armies will invade Israel fully convinced of their invincibility. The Beast and his worshipers will celebrate over the dead bodies of the Witnesses and exchange gifts for two or three days. During the morning of the Lastday, while the sun still shines, millions of soldiers take position over a stretch of 180 miles with intent to utterly destroy God’s people. Rev.14:20 (This verse anticipates the "treading" of Rev.19:15)!

Suddenly their false sense of security shatters. The Two Prophets stand up! A voice calls them up to heaven in the sight of mankind. In the very same hour a “great quake kills 7000 of the Beast’s elite guard in a 10^th of Jerusalem”! Their security will be devastated by this (pre-rapture) event and the aftershock of the quake that attends the sun having turned dark at noon! Amos 8:9; Rev.6:12; Rev.11:13. But the Saints are prepared even though only God the Father knows the exact Day of the last martyr.  Jesus said: “Some must still taste death” for up to 3½ days “after” the Prophets manifest God’s Kingdom power for 1260 days. Less than 4 days remain of the 3½ times or 1290 days that will be “cut short”! Rev.6:11; Mark 9:1; Rev.12:10-14; Rev.11:3-11. Dan.12:7,11; Matt.24:22.

Likewise, 144,000 Jews will know they have just 2 or 3 days to meet on Mt. Zion and be rescued moments after the Lamb launches the awesome signs of the Day of the Lord. The wicked will be traumatized and transfixed as soon as the 4 winds are loosed to cause giant tsunamis. Luke 21:25-26. With the last Saint killed who will die, no one will touch God’s elect. The Prophets ascend to heaven and the entire number of 144,000 Firstfruit “unto God and the Lamb are redeemed from earth; from among men” … sealed with the Lamb’s name by an angel and rescued by Him as signs in heaven continue and the quake in Jerusalem kills 7000 Beast-Worshipers. Rev.14:1-5; Rev.11:11-13.

Armies coming from "lands of the rising sun" set the final stage. In Trump #6 they kill a third of mankind. Rev.9:15-21. In Plague #6 they intend to destroy Israel. Rev.16:12-16. This leads to the opening of Seal #6 and termination of the world’s celebration over the death of the Two Prophets. *Flash-forwards* depict the outcome: From Rev.14:10 to Rev.16:19-21 (Cup of Wrath) and from Rev.14:20 to Rev.19:15-21 to destroy the wicked.

Since June of `93 I have believed the fulfillment of Seal 7, Trump 7 and Plague 7 on the Day of God's wrath requires 6 Trumpets and 6 Plagues before the Lamb opens Seal 6! Seal 6 opens when the last Martyr is killed. While Plague #7 remains suspended during Seals 6 and 7, the Martyrs Praise God and the Lamb in Act One. In Act Two, the Court sits in judgment. Seal #7 fulfills the Court Scene predicted in Daniel 7:9-22. God avenges the Martyrs’ blood moments after the Court’s Verdict and then the 7^th Trumpet, Act Three, sounds that “God’s wrath has come”.

       This means the Praise, Testimony and Victory at Rev.7:9-17 (Act One) AND the Prayers, Tribunal and Verdict at Rev.8:1-5 (Dan.7:22-27; Act Two) precede the Portents, Triumph and Vengeance of the7^th Trumpet of Rev.11:15-19 (Act Three). The end of the Outer Concentric Path at Rev.15:5 and the Middle Path’s “Open Temple Drama” inspire this order of events. The Day of God’s wrath begins before the Hour of wrath's execution.

Next month we find six Trumpet judgments are described in retrospect as the 7^th Seal unveils the scroll’s inner contents prior to the 7^th Trumpet. Six Trumpets occur before Seal #6 opens or the 7^th Plague empties. The Plagues are described five chapters after Trump #7 sounds, but the armies of Plague #6 gather to Armageddon before the Day of Wrath begins in Rev.6 and before God’s wrath “has come” at the 7^th Trumpet of Rev.11.   Mel Miller