In Revelation chapter 10 the angel told us what to expect when the seventh angel blows his trumpet, and in chapter11 we see the seventh trumpet being blown, and notice what the Heavenly voices say about it;

15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

So, not only is the mystery of God now finished, but now Jesus is declared the rightful ruler of this planet, He is here on earth, and His reign has begun, even with the Beast still attempting to reign! This event, in the middle of the Tribulation, is the beginning of the Millennial Reign! It would appear then, that the seven year Tribulation straddles the last 3 1/2 years of the Church-Age, and the first 3 1/2 years of the Millennial Reign!

Now in chapter 13 we see the False Prophet setting up the Abomination of Desolation, and implementing the Mark of the Beast! Since Jesus has already been declared the ruler of this planet, the Mark of the Beast is an illegal mandate made by an imposter! Obedience to this mandate is disobedience to the command of God, “thou shalt have no gods before me”, and is a form of Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit!

5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. Revelation 13:5-6

What blasphemous things might the Antichrist say about “them that dwell in Heaven”? Who are “them that dwell in Heaven” at this time? Well, not only the saints of all previous ages, but the Raptured Church-age saints! These Raptured saints are the ones He focuses on, because they are the only ones that give him any trouble! They have disappeared shortly after the Gog and Magog war, but they had prevoiusly spoken about the Rapture, and the “rumours” of the Rapture have not disappeared, but have strengthened!

As people, including the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, speak about the Rapture, which the world had seen, more and more people are coming to Christ, so the Beast has to lie about it to stop this! His explanation will turn the Holy Spirit into the devil, which is the unforgivable sin, and anyone who takes the Mark of the Beast is making a public statement that he/she agrees with this blasphemous explanation!

While John speaks of prophets in the plural, I have not yet discovered all the passages that speak of Jesus’ agreement with His Father, but I can show you one;

I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Hosea 5:15-6:2

Here is another place where many bible teachers skip part of the passage and thus take the passage out of context; if you only read 6:1-2 together, you might think the two days timing begins when Israel calls on the Lord! This is incorrect; verse 5:15 shows that the count-down begins when Jesus left, and the two days are the thousand year days of 2 Peter 3:1-8, and Psalm 90, the Psalm of Moses!

Israel does not call upon the Lord during one 24 hour period, but it takes 7 years for the whole nation to be saved! Even then, many of the Hebrew unbelievers will die in their sins, and none of them who take the Mark of the Beast, who support the Jewish False Prophet, will be saved!

The truth is that not all of the Jews who flee at the Abomination of Desolation will be believers at that time, but will mourn for Him when they see Him, and will believe in Him when they see Him! When they see the scars in His hands, and see Him fighting for Israel, then they will believe!

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Zechariah 12:10

Notice also in Hosea 5:15 that Israel will seek Him early in their “affliction”! This is the first three and a half years of the Tribulation, and the 144,000 Jewish evangelists of this time are the firstfruits of Israel’s national revival! They are not the only new believers in Israel, but they will lead many Israelis, and Gentiles to faith in the Messiah during their ministry. Their ministry is only in the first half of the Tribulation, and they are Raptured, like the Church, at the end of their ministry!

1 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.

2 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:

3 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. Revelation 14:1-3

Notice in verse 1 that Jesus is physically with them on mount Zion, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This is because the 7^th trumpet has already been blown in chapter 11, the Mystery of God is over, and He is free to come and go at will! Chronologically, this is very close to the time when the Antichrist’s idol is presented in the Temple, only a few feet away from where Jesus and these evangelists meet! The way it is written, it appears that Jesus meets the 144,000 only days, or perhaps hours, or even minutes, after the Antichrist’s Mark is mandated, from the very same spot!

Zechariah 14 shows that there is an earthquake when Jesus feet touch down on the Mount of Olives, and the people of Jerusalem flee from the Antichrist through the new valley which will be created! Revelation 11:13 shows a great earthquake in Jerusalem just as the seventh trumpet is blown, where the kingdoms of this earth are declared to be the kingdoms of our God, around the time the Beast sets up his idol in the Temple! Could this be at exactly the same time? Does Jesus interrupt the Antichrist’s idol ceremony in the Temple, with a great earthquake that kills 7,000 in Jerusalem, at the same time as the Beast begins forcing the world to take his mark?

Then notice in verse 3 that the 144,000 are now suddenly in Heaven before the throne, with the angelic beasts and the elders from Revelation 4! Someone once said to me that these witnesses die on the Temple mount, and that is how they get to Heaven! I don’t believe this is true; it doesn’t say they die, and Jesus is there physically on the Temple Mount! Surely He is capable of physically saving them, and translating them to Heaven before the Beast and his forces can get to them! Surely Jesus is more powerful than the forces of the Beast! No! This is another Rapture, just shortly after the two witnesses are taken to Heaven in the sight of the world!

In Revelation 11:19 we see the Ark of the Covenant also appearing in Heaven! This is a Rapture of a physical object! The Ark is currently on the earth, hidden in a secret, sealed chamber beneath the Temple Mount, but it will be in the new Temple when it is rebuilt, and ultimately it will end up in Heaven when there is the danger of it being destroyed by the Antichrist! He won’t get the chance, because it will be gone before he gets to it!

And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

In the bible, first Enoch was taken directly to Heaven, before the flood, then Elijah was taken in a whirlwind. Then Jesus was raptured after his resurrection. The Church is Raptured before the start of the Tribulation (Isaiah 26:19-21, Zephaniah 2:3, Psalm 50:4-6, Luke 21:28, 36, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 2 Thessalonians 1:7, and others…). Then in the Tribulation, the the two witnesses (who might actually be Enoch and Elijah) are taken to Heaven, then the Ark of the Covenant, and finally the 144,000! These last two occur after the seventh trumpet judgment is blown, when Jesus is free to show Himself at will!

The Tribulation is a time of escalating supernatural activity on the earth!

I think we have discovered the prophetic timing of Zechariah 14:1-5, to occur at the same time as the Abomination of Desolation, in Matthew 24:15-22! This is the best explanation for when these events occur, but as usual, it also leaves us with more questions;

For example; if the 144,000 are Raptured at the mid-point of the Tribulation, do they just get to Heaven and then turn around and come back to earth with the saints? Are the 144,000 Raptured after Jesus returns with the saints?

It also says of them:

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 Rev. 14:4

So, from the time that they first meet Him, in person, they go wherever He goes! From the account, He meets them on the Temple mount, and then they are in Heaven with Him, singing a new song before the throne. Zechariah 14 indicates that Jesus comes to earth to fight for Israel, and that fight will go on for some time! Eventually Satan gives up, and then goes after Christ’s followers all around the world (Revelation 12:13-17). Does Jesus come and go between Heaven and earth during the second half of the Tribulation, with the 144,000 accompanying Him in His travels? Well, yes, but so does the Church!

You didn’t think you were just going to sit around on a cloud singing, did you? The problems of this life are lessons you will need during the Millennial Kingdom, that is if you are saved!

Are you saved? Are you aware of your status before God? Here are some things He says about you and me;

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Romans 3:10-12

We cannot stand before God in our own righteousness. All of us have failed to meet God’s holy standards. The Creator of this world not only ownes this world and everything in it, He also owns the sun, and the light energy it produces. He owns the plants that take that energy and turn it into sugars, through His proprietary process of photosynthesis. When we eat that food which contains God’s energy, and then turn around and sin against Him, we are using His own energy against Him! He has a right to demand a punishment for sin!

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Ezekiel 18:4

He is not talking about physical death here, because even the sinless Son of God died, but rather, He is talking about eternal death; an eternal conscious death in the Lake of Fire! That Lake was created for the devil and his angels, and God doesn’t want you to share it with them. This is why He came to earth to provide a substitute, who would die for your sin, so you wouldn’t have to!

6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Romans 5:6-12

We have earned God’s wrath when we deliberately sinned, but God wants to take away our sin, and give us an amazing gift!

23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:8-13

I hope that, if you are already a Christian, that this brief refresher has been enjoyable to you, but if not I hope you take Him up on His wonderful offer! The time is short, Jesus is coming soon!

(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) II Corinthians 6:2