Published in Senior Experience, First Baptist Church, Norfolk, VA. May 2006

REVELATION:      TRANSITION FROM MIDDLE TO INNER CONCENTRIC PATH

"Hour of Trial for Unsaved Mankind" - Rev.11:19; Rev.16:18-21; Rev.18:20 to Rev.20:6

               Outer Path events and the Middle Path events in the Temple occur while the 7th Plague remains suspended in the air. At the 1st blast of the 7th Trumpet, the 7th Plague implodes and great Babylon falls by history’s greatest earthquake. This greatest of quakes initiates the Inner Path events.

The Lastday setting for pouring out God’s "Cup of Wrath" begins in Rev.16:12-17 as armies of the Beast gather at Armageddon to destroy Israel. Why do most Bible expositors insert from 3½ to 7 years between the Signs of the Day of God’s wrath and the armies "gathered to Armageddon"? It’s because they insist the Trumpets follow the Seals and the Plagues follow the Trumpets. They therefore assume the *Day* of God’s wrath continues for years instead of a single 12-hour day. At Plague 6 and Seal 6 these armies are already gathered to Armageddon!

The events of the *Day* of God’s wrath overpower mankind at Rev.6:12-17 with Signs in the sun, moon and stars and its first great quake. Rev.6:12. Men faint from fear. An hour or so later, in the Middle Path, a 2nd quake strikes a tenth of Jerusalem, 7000 die and the remnant tremble, but praise God. Rev.11:13. The quake climaxes Seal 7 and Trump 7. This quake becomes history’s greatest and destroys great Babylon. Heaven rejoices! Rev.18:20-Rev.19:3. Aftershocks of the quake circle the entire ridge of Pacific and Atlantic Range Faults during the Hour of Trial. Rev.16:18-19.

Over 60 of the Lastday’s 100 verses in Revelation are fulfilled by Outer and Middle Concentric Paths. The transition to the Inner Path occurs with the fall of Mystery Babylon! But the execution of God’s "anger and wrath" on all rebellious men awaits Christ’s descent during the Inner Path.

The Day of God’s and the Lamb’s wrath is a single 12-Hour Day. A final Flashback to Babylon, Rev.18:20-24 (Rev.16:18-19), justifies a single Hour of God’s wrath on that Day! Much of the text in the ten chapters from Rev.6 to Rev.16 presents what had already occurred during the previous 3½ years. Since the Day of Wrath includes the Cup of Wrath in Rev.16:18-21, after the 7th Plague’s implosion, the sequence of events must be sought within five Flashbacks.

The 1st Flashback describes only 6 of 7 Trumpets (displayed) within Seal 7, the Tribunal of Act Two of the Temple Drama. Rev.8:6 to Rev.9:21. It concludes with the Beast’s wicked soldiers having refused to repent of their evil deeds after killing ⅓ of mankind over ¼ of the earth’s surface at a given year, month, day and hour. Rev.6:8; Rev.9:15-18. With that act, the 6th Plague at Armageddon will be very near. The 200 million soldiers immediately cross the Euphrates River.

A 2nd Flashback to the prophetic role of Two Prophets shows them invincible for 1260 days until the Beast kills them. Rev.10:1 to Rev.11:7. "Their corpses shall remain on a street of the great city called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified". They will rise up on the 12-Hour "Day of God’s Wrath" with the Beast’s armies already gathered to Armageddon.

A 3rd Flashback includes the 42-month reign of the Beast and False Prophet. Rev.12:6 to Rev. 13:18. It reveals 4 of the 5 Catalysts of the Endtime great tribulation, I.E., Satan cast from heaven, Personification/Power of the Beast, God’s contemporary Kingdom Power coming to earth (thru the Two Prophets) and the first of two destructions of Babylon. "Ten Kings hate the harlot sitting on the Beast of World Power, will make her desolate and naked and eat her flesh (confiscating the system) and burn her with fire" as one of the 5 Catalysts to start the 3½ year Endtime. Rev.17:16. Each Flashback fills in background data for events of the Day of God’s Wrath.

A 4th Flashback describes God’s longsuffering patience ("long-anger" in Greek) while the smoke of God’s glory fills the Temple in heaven until the last Plague empties. Rev.15:6 to Rev.16:17. In these 20 verses God’s anger does NOT mix with wrath and no one enters the Temple. His anger is first exhausted by the Plagues before anger fills Wrath’s cup. And Martyrs do not exit from under the Altar until the last one is killed. They sing the song of Moses after the 7th Plague empties!

This 4th Flashback to the Plagues is described after the angels exit the Temple to manifest God’s extreme anger while men still refuse to repent. The angels empty the Plagues prior to the song of Moses (to exhaust God’s "great anger". Rev.14:19. Aorist Indicative; Rev.15:1). John describes the Plagues after the sign and songs of Rev.15:1-4 just as he had recorded 6 Trumpets after the indictment in the Tribunal of Seal 7. Smoke clears from the Temple after the 7th Plague empties! God’s undiminished anger fills Wrath’s Cup as of the 7th Trumpet. The outpouring of that anger-filled-Cup of Wrath is described before the Flashback to Mystery Babylon in Rev.17-18.

The 5th Flashback has Babylon’s two destructions (separated by 1260 days). The 2nd destruction awaits God’s wrath. Because of Babylon’s fornication, He allows Ten Kings to destroy Babylon by fire (Rev.17:6-16) but sends 2 Prophets from heaven to manifest His Kingdom Power against the Beast for desecrating the Temple (5th Endtime Catalyst. Rev.11:1-7). Judgment on Babylon by the greatest quake (millstone) occurs before Christ descends from heaven. Rev.18:21-24; Rev.16:19.

The Saints rejoice during the Inner Path. Rev.18:20 to Rev.19:3. Their rejoicing completes the evidence that God’s "Cup of Wrath" affects mankind on a single 12-Hour Day. The Plagues "complete God’s anger" (thumos) instead of His wrath (orgay). Rev.15:1; Rev.16:1. The fall of Babylon the Great begins to fulfill His wrath. Christ quickly thereafter comes from heaven to gather all the Saints; to destroy those "destroying the earth" and to impose the "Hour of Trial" on all the unsaved inhabitants of earth. Luke 21:34-35. Saints are kept from that Hour. Rev.3:10.

God’s "anger and wrath" are combined (Rev.14:10) and heaven rejoices over the fall of Babylon after the 7th Trumpet announces that God’s wrath has come ... the 6th of 7 things that has come (ήλθεν; Rev.6:17; 14:7,15; 7:14; 8:3; 11:18; 19:7). The wickedness of 200 million soldiers is enough! Babylon’s global sins (fornication and shedding blood) brings God’s wrath in one Day!

This is God’s "Day of Visitation" to Planet Earth! Starting with the Armies at Armageddon, we have moved retroactively from Rev.16:12-17 to Rev.6:12-17 (Lastday Setting) to begin the Outer Path. During its warnings, 144,000 Jews are sealed and rescued from earth by the Lamb and join the Martyrs for their two victory songs of Moses and the Lamb. The Outer Path begins at Rev.16:17 and extends through Rev.6:12 to Rev.7:8 and Rev.14:1 to 15:5 (40 verses).

The Temple opens for the Middle Path at Rev.15:5; Rev.7:9 with the Key Phrase ("after these things, I looked and behold"). This phrase retrospectively links the Outer Path to the Temple Drama. The Martyrs and 144,000 appear before God and the Lamb, and the Two Prophets join them in Acts One and Two. Rev.7:9 to 8:5. Here the Martyrs learn they will "serve God in the Temple". John later actually sees them "sitting on thrones" to judge the wicked. Rev.20:4.

The Two Prophets rise up bodily from earth. Their prayers are included at the Tribunal of Seal 7, Act Two and they witness Act Three. Six of 7 Trumpet Judgments go on display for about ½ hour. Rev.8:6 to Rev.9:21. The Angel of Fire presents their prayers to God and renders the Verdict by Fire. Praise and Prayers are followed by Act Three, the 7th Trumpet. Rev.11:15-18. "God’s wrath has come and the appointed Time" for Resurrection, Rewards to the Saints and Retribution on the wicked gathered to Armageddon. Rev.11:19 transitions to the final 22-verse Inner Path events.

I. Symbols of Transition from the Middle to Inner Concentric Path

1. Storm Theophany - God Takes Direct Control of the Nations.

God’s anger mixes with His wrath at the conclusion of the Middle Concentric Path; after the armies gather to Armageddon. In the Outer Path they are first reaped symbolically and cast into the winepress of God’s "great anger". Rev.14:14-20. The 1st instance of the Storm Theophany, revealing God’s intense anger, ends Act Two in the Middle Path after the review of 6 Trumpet judgments in the Tribunal of Seal 7. Rev.8:1-5. Martyrs witness the retroactive display of the Beast’s armies killing a third of mankind by fire, smoke and sulphur. Despite the first storm scene in Rev.8:5, God’s anger has not yet mixed with the wine of His "Cup of Wrath".

The storm’s 2nd scene escalates dramatically as the 7th Angel sounds that "God’s wrath has come". Flashes of lightning appear before the peals of thunder are heard. The third reference to the storm coincides with the 7th Plague imploding in the air immediately at the Portents of the 7th Trumpet. The Transition to the final rejoicing in heaven (because of Babylon’s fall) involves the global catastrophe in Rev.16:18-21; Luke 21:34-35; the Hour of Trial coming on all unsaved humanity!

2. Giant Millstone cast into the sea.

As God’s wrath "has come" and the "appointed time to destroy the destroyers of earth".  His anger fills the "Cup of Wrath". The 7th Plague implodes with Christ crowned King of kings at the 7th Trumpet ... and with the repeated Storm Theophany in Rev.11:19 and Rev.16:18. It pinpoints the moment for Babylon’s fall. Symbolically, a great Millstone, lifted up and cast violently into the sea by the Mighty Angel, signifies the Hour of God’s wrath being fulfilled as he cries:

"So with a rush the great city Babylon will be thrown down and never found again. The sound of harpers and musicians and flutists and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all. No craft or craftsman will be found in her. The sound of a mill will no longer be heard by any means. The light of a lamp will no longer shine. And the voice of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard there again. Her merchants were the great ones of earth. And by her sorceries all nations were deceived. In her (as a global system of Satan’s power) was found the blood of prophets and saints and all those having been slain on the earth. Rev.18:21-24.

3. Cup of Anger-Induced-Wrath.

Christ is crowned and God’s boiling anger mixes with wrath after the wicked are incarcerated and put on trial. The Martyrs had come out from under the Altar during the Outer Path to sing their victory song of Moses to God as He "sat on His throne ablaze with fire upon a crystal sea mixed with fire". Dan.7:9-10; Rev.15:2-4. In the Middle Path the Martyrs entered the Temple to praise God and the Lamb and to offer prayers mixed with burning incense upon the Altar before God. But first they witnessed the indictment issuing from the 6th Trumpet that had just killed two billion people. The 7th Trumpet sounds forth its proclamations. The 7th Plague implodes indicating the transition to the Inner Path events!

In the open Temple with the Ark of the Covenant (Rev.11:19) the Martyrs witness the Coronation of Christ and hear the Portents of the Last Trump’s first blast: "God’s avenging wrath has come"! The 7th Plague empties before the 7th Trumpet sounds, but it implodes as the wine of God’s anger mixes full strength in His Cup of Wrath! This is the appointed time for resounding jubilation in heaven. The Apostles and Prophets and all the Saints are summoned to praise God because He has "judged their judgment upon the great whore". Rev.18:20. The Choir in heaven sings "Hallelujah" and echoes the words of the Martyrs’ prayer in Rev.6:9. The Lamb’s wedding "has come". The 7th thing "has come" on this 12-Hour Day of the Lord (and with it the 4th Blessing; Rev.19:7-.9).

II. Triumphant Transition from Middle to Inner Path.

1. Rejoicing in Heaven and Revelation’s 3rd Blessing (text-wise) for Believers – Rev.16:15. The transition to Inner Path events occurs as the "Ark of the Covenant was seen"! Rev.11:19. This sudden revelation has a deeper meaning than we will have realized. The Ark was missed since Babylon destroyed the Temple. "Heaven, Saints, Apostles and Prophets are called upon to rejoice over Babylon’s fall". The call for Saints to rejoice is climactic and all-consuming!

2. On earth those who survive are blessed while watching with baited breath. During the Inner Path, (until Christ raises up every Believer), Enoch, the Two Prophets raised up and the 144,000 Jews rescued from Mt. Zion on the last day already possess their eternal bodies prior to Christ’s descent in glory. Seven thousand of the Beast’s Guard will perish by a great quake in the same hour the Prophets arise. Rev.11:13. Millions incarcerated and held by contending hurricane-force winds will stand in defiance of God over a stretch of 180 miles. Having been "reaped in great anger" (macro-thumos) at Rev.14:19, they are yet to be trodden in the Inner Path "winepress of God’s anger and wrath". Rev.19:15. That "treading" is anticipated by Rev.14:20 earlier in the Middle Path.

"No more Martyrs" is the essence of the promise to the Saints in Rev.14:12-13. This 2nd "blessing" applies to all who "die in the Lord" (present participle). This blessing "from now on" encourages those who show "patience unto death." Believers remaining at the Hour to reap the wicked and until Christ appears in glory are safe. The "all who die in Adam" no longer applies in the case of Believers. The present indicative in I Cor.15:22,31,32 includes unbelievers who will die after being reaped in Rev.14:14-19. But "from now on the dead in Christ rest from their labors." Martyrs for Christ, "pillars in the Temple of heaven", will serve God in heaven and suffer no pain for 1000 years. Rev.3:12; Rev.7:15-17; Rev.20:4-5.

Heaven rejoices after the Storm Theophany of Rev.11:19 and Rev.16:18 and then the White Horse Rider, Faithful and True, descends to gather the Saints from earth. This Theophany connects the 7th Trumpet’s decree of God’s wrath in Rev.11:18, the fall of Babylon by earthquake in Rev.16:19 and the summons for heaven, the Saints and Apostles and Prophets, to rejoice at Rev.19:11 and its transition to Rev.18:20. The actual rejoicing over the whore’s fall takes place in Rev.19:1-3. The Saints dress up for the Lamb’s wedding. At Rev.11:19, the Ark of the Covenant was seen in the open Temple between the Middle and Inner Paths. At Rev.19:11, heaven opens to manifest the power in the Ark and the glory of the Lamb at His Presence in the sight of all mankind.

The rejoicing verifies that God has avenged the Martyrs’ blood as soon as the last one, who must be killed, is killed. Rev.6:9-11. Their praise echoes the very words of the prayer in Seal 5: "He has judged the great whore who defiled the earth with her fornication and avenged the blood of His servants at her hand". Rev.19:2. They are about to share in the 3rd ,4th and 5th blessings of Revelation as Christ comes with them to resurrect their bodies. Rev.16:15; Rev.19:9; Rev.20:6.

With the Flashback of Rev.20:4 (to their judgment role in Seal 7), Martyrs know they have won the coveted reward to "serve God day and night for 1000 years in heaven’s Temple." Rev.3:12; Rev.7:15. They join in all Three Acts of the Temple Drama and in heaven’s rejoicing at the fall of the great whore. Mystery Babylon was drunk with the blood of the Martyrs while she sat on "seven hills." During her "seat on the Beast" of world power, her sin of fornication brought God’s Judgment at the hands of Ten Kings. Rev.17:6-16; Rev.18:1-19. Finally, because of the blood of those slain by the Beast (who had confiscated and exploited the Network System of her global rule for 42 months; Rev.13:4-10), we see Babylon’s entire System destroyed! John symbolizes her final fall by a Mighty Angel casting the great millstone violently into the sea. Rev.18:21-24.

3. Wedding Announcement and Revelation’s 4th Blessing (Text-wise).

Inner Path events include announcement that the Lamb’s wedding "has come" (7th Thing).  A 4th "blessing" for Guests invited to the wedding is added for those who will call on the Lord for mercy during the Hour of Trial. The identity of the Guests is a much overlooked subject. Next month we look at these guests as one of the reasons for the Millennial Reign of Christ.

The 144,000 blameless Jews are members of the Bride. They had sung the Song of the Lamb in the Outer Path having been "redeemed from earth." They stood on a sea of fire in the presence of God seated on the Throne that was ablaze with fire. Rev.14:3-4; Rev.15:3-4; Dan.7:9-10. These "Firstfruit unto God and the Lamb" testify as to the Son of Man worthy to take His Bride. Blameless, without a lie on their tongues, they may be presented to God by the Two Prophets who fed and protected them in the desert 1260 days. Being the bridal gift of the Son of Man to God, these 144,000 are the first to be rescued (from Mt. Zion) by the Lamb on the Lastday.

The Prophets reveal the Unity of the two Olive Trees! Elijah represents the O. T. people of God. Apostle John represents His N. T. people. The 144,000 constitute the "Firstfruit" of that Unity. They are the first "raised up on the last day" to seal that Union. Jesus thrice in succession spoke of coming to do His Father’s will. Each time He affirmed His Father’s will to "raise up every/all Believer(s) on the last day." Believers are all "gathered together above," being the Lamb’s Bride. John 6:38-40,44,54; Mark 13:27; John 17:22,24; 2 Thess.2:1.

This Day fulfills Scripture passages, four on the Lastday and the fifth potentially, with verses in each case numbering 25-27. ONE: Jesus gathers the elect from earth to heaven. Mark 13:25-27. TWO: All Israel will be saved on that Day being "grafted back" into their own Olive Tree. Rom.11:25-27. God forgives their sins as recipients of the New Covenant. THREE: The Saints come with Christ from heaven to give the Kingdom to a restored Israel. Dan.7:25-27. FOUR: Overcomers in the Church begin to "sit on thrones with Christ to reign over the nations of earth with an iron rod." Rev.2:25-27. FIVE: Christ reigns (1000 years) until all enemies are in subjection under His feet. Then He subjects all things under the Father. I Cor.15:25-27.

4. Immediacy of God’s Hour of Trial This Hour comes on "all the inhabitants on all the face of all the earth" when Christ appears with all the Saints. Believers are exempt from this hour. Luke 21:34-35; Rev.3:10-11. Martyrs win the reward promised to Church "overcomers". Rev.3:12; Rev.7:15; Rev.20:4.

Heaven’s rejoicing and anticipation of the Lamb’s wedding accompany the breathtaking promise by Jesus of "blessing on those who watch" right up to the moment He comes at the last trump!

III. Results of Transition to the Inner Concentric Path.

1. God shows mercy to all mankind – to be expanded upon next month. Jesus reinforces this message of the Prophets. Isa.59-60; Joel 2:11-14,32; Lk.17:33; Rom.11:33. 2. Defeat of the Evil Trio and their Armies Satan cast to the Abyss for 1000 years. Beast and False Prophet suffer Hell in solitary confinement. Christ "treads the winepress" after incarcerating the wicked. Rev.19:15-21. 3. Final Assurance to the Martyrs. "First Resurrection; 5th Blessing" – Rev.20:4-6. Finally, in a quick flashback to Act Two of the Temple Drama, John sees those "beheaded for Christ sitting as souls on thrones in judgment" before they "live again in the first resurrection". Rev.20:4-5. This vision fortifies those who face martyrdom! John anticipates believers finding renewed strength in this Revelation of Jesus Christ: "I John, who also am your companion in tribulation and the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the Isle called Patmos, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ"! Rev.1:9.

The BIG PICTURE reveals the 7th Plague suspended in the air and the warnings of the 6th Seal continuing until the 7th Trumpet sounds that "God's wrath has come". Then the 7th Plague's contents implode! The Day of Wrath begins with Seal 6. The Trial of the wicked occurs in Seal 7. The 7th Trumpet is the Time "appointed to destroy earth’s destroyers" at the Verdict of the Angel of Fire and the Storm Theophany of Seal 7. Rev.8:5; Rev.11:18. The transition to the Inner Path of Deliverance/Destruction occurs at Rev.11:19 and starts the rejoicing in heaven at Rev.18:20.

In the 6th Trumpet and 4th and 5th Plagues, the wicked refuse to repent and continue to blaspheme God. His anger intensifies. When God's anger + wrath strike the entire earth, the wicked are still "blaspheming" His name. Rev.16:21. The armies of Plagues 6 (and 7) cross the River Euphrates before Seals 6 and 7 open and all Outer and Middle Path events occur between the 6th and 7th Trumpets!

Next: Reasons for Millennial Reign of Christ on Earth. Mel Miller

 

 

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