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The “New Covenant”! Coming Soon
—to the “Great Multitude”!
16 Clues Why the “Great Multitude” of Revelation 7 are Living Humans!
Chapter 19, Part 3 Preview: Revelation 7 describes a group of 144,000 Israelites and a great multitude. Could the great multitude be the same one described in the New Covenant chapters of Jeremiah 30 and 31? Are they dead people brought back to life? Don’t be a victim of “Replacement Theology”!
Jeremiah 31:27-28 In days to come,” Yehovah says, “I’ll repopulate [sow] the House of Israel [the “Lost” 10 Tribes] AND the House of Judah with people and animals. 28 Once I oversaw their uprooting and tearing down, their overthrow, destruction and disaster. Now I’ll oversee their building and planting,” says Yehovah.—The Gabriel Bible
Jeremiah 33:25-26 This is what Yehovah says: “If I fail to keep My covenant with day and night and maintain the fixed laws of heaven and earth, 26 only then would I abandon the descendants of Jacob, and David My servant, and not make his descendants rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I’ll return the captives to their land and have mercy on them.”
First let’s read the only text on the Great Multitude found it the book of Revelation—the only one people focus on. But soon we’ll see that there are a lot of other texts about them. All I want to do here is identify them, and just very briefly describe their story. That story is the predominant theme of all of my books:
Revelation 7:9-17 After this I saw an enormous crowd of people that no one could count, from every people, nation, tribe and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the Lamb, wearing white robes, and they were holding palms in their hands. 10 They were shouting, “eternal life to Yehovah, to the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!” 11 All the messengers stood around the throne with the Elders and the four living beings, and they bowed facedown in front of His throne and worshiped Yehovah, 12 and said, “Aw-main'. Blessing and praise and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to Yehovah forever and ever, Aw-main'.’”
13 Then One of the Elders turned and asked me, “Who are these people wearing white robes, and where do they come from?” 14 I said, “Friend, you know.” He replied, “These are the ones who are coming out [2] of the Great Tribulation. They’ve washed their clothes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 That’s why they are in front of the throne of Yehovah, serving Him day and night in His Temple. [3] And the One seated on the throne will 'protect them under His shadow' [Aramaic nageen alihun, ‘shadow over them’]. 16 They won’t hunger or thirst any more [4], nor will they be 'overcome' by the sun or burning heat, 17 because the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will feed them and lead them to springs of living water, and Yehovah will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
[2] “The verb form in the Greek for ‘come’ is present participle.” This is an ongoing process! They survive the Great Tribulation! See any “Literal” translation. [3] Ezekiel Chapters 40-48 are all about the Temple services during the Everlasting Kingdom, tho people don’t want to hear that. Ezekiel 47 is clearly the same time period as Revelation 21-22. The Levites, other than descendants of Zadok, are disqualified from serving in the future Temple (:10-16.)
Do You See Dead People?
OK, when we compile a list of clues as to who they are, there only appears to be one contender in the race!
Clue #1: The very first clue as to who comprises the Great Multitude (or enormous crowd) is that they are “an enormous crowd of people that no one could count”. There is a specific prophecy that identifies this crowd!
Clue #2: They are “the ones who are coming out of the Great Tribulation.”. This is another exodus! Revelation 7:14
Clue #3: They are “from every people, nation, tribe and language.” Revelation 7:9
Clue #4: “They were standing in front of the throne” Revelation 7:9
Clue #5: They are “holding palms” Revelation 7:9
Clue #6: They are praising Yehovah: “Blessing and praise and wisdom and thanksgiving...” Revelation 7:12
Clue #7: They are “wearing white robes” Revelation 7:13
Clue #8: “They’ve washed their clothes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:14
Clue #9: It’s also a regathering! When it says “the ones who are coming out of the Great Tribulation”, coming out means “to come from one place to another”, in the Greek. Revelation 7:14,15
Clue #10: They are “serving Him day and night in His Temple” Revelation 7:15
Clue #11: They will need protection, and “the One seated on the throne will ‘protect them under His shadow’ [Aramaic: Nageen alihun, ‘shadow over them’].” Revelation 7:15
Clue #12: “They won’t hunger or thirst any more” Revelation 7:16
Clue #13: “Nor will they be ‘overcome’ by the sun or burning heat” Revelation 7:16
Clue #14: “Yehovah will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:17
Clue #15: Yehovah will “lead them” Revelation 7:17
Clue #16: Yehovah will “lead them to springs of living water” Revelation 7:17
Is there any indication that these people died? Is there a group of people described elsewhere who meet all 16 of these criteria, or even half of them? Why is John, Yeshua’s (Jesus’) most loved disciple, only an outside observer, not one of them?
Biblical match #1: Like John, Hosea identified an enormous crowd that also “can’t be measured or numbered” (below). He identified this crowd as the descendants of Judah and Israel! Now you know who’s in the Great Multitude. When the multitudinous 12 tribes are gathered they will be “reunited” (v.11 below). This all happens as a result of what is commonly called “the Battle of Armageddon”. Jezreel is where Israel ceased to be a nation: Hosea 1:5, see Barnes notes on verse 5)—but it is not the site of the battle against Jerusalem.
Hosea 1:10-11 Yet the number of the people of Israel will be like the sand of the seashore that can’t be measured or numbered, and then in the location where they were told, ‘You are not My people’, they’ll be called ‘Sons of the living Elohim.’ 11 The Houses of Judah and Israel will be reunited. They’ll appoint a leader for themselves [1] and flourish in the land, because the Day of Jezreel will be profound.
John should have known who composed the multitude when he was asked, since it shouldn’t be a secret:
Amos 3:7 Surely the Sovereign Yehovah will do nothing without revealing His intentions to His servants the prophets.
Biblical match #2: The book of Micah blames the Day of Yehovah on Israel and Judah. The first quote establishes the context. The second quote explains that there will be a remnant of Israel coming out of the Great Tribulation—alive and gathered into one place:
Micah 1:2-5 Listen all you nations. Pay attention, earth and everyone on it. The Sovereign Yeh-ho-vee [a variant] will witness against you, Yehovah from His 'special', 'Temple'. 3 Yehovah is coming from His place. He is going to come down and trample the high places of the earth.[1] 4 The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split open like wax near a fire, like water pouring down a slope. 5 All this is due to the apostasy of Jacob, and for the sins of the House of Israel. What is the apostasy of Jacob? Isn’t it Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Isn’t it Jerusalem?
Micah 2:12 I’ll certainly gather all of you, Jacob, I’ll certainly gather the 'survivors' of Israel, I’ll unite them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in the middle of their pasture, a noisy multitude due to the number of people.
Notice that in the Greek, the “great multitude” or “enormous crowd” of people are “the ones who are coming out of The Great Tribulation” (7:14), as they gather before the throne. That all by itself would preclude them from being part of the instantaneous resurrection! They are still arriving before the throne from the north, south, east & west for initiation! Everyone assumes that they have all died, but none of them have, they are still being rounded up! The Online Bible differentiates the tenses more accurately than any English version, if you click on the paraphrased (numbers) in the KJV. This gathering being an ongoing process is a paradigm buster!
The time of Jacob’s Trouble is the Great Tribulation, but notice the focus on the gathering:
Jeremiah 30:7-11 That day will be terrible! There will never be another like it. It’s the time of Jacob’s trouble [The Great Tribulation], but he’ll be saved out of it [have survivors].” 8 When That Day Comes*,” Commander Yehovah says, “I’ll break the yoke from your neck, and snap your chains. Foreigners will no longer enslave you. 9 They will serve Yehovah their Elohim, and David their king who I’ll cause to arise for them.
10 “So don’t be afraid, Jacob, My servant; Yehovah says. Don’t be dismayed, Israel. “I’ll rescue you from distant lands, and your posterity from the land of captivity. Jacob [2] will return, and have peace and security, and no one will frighten him. 11 I’m with you to save you,” Yehovah says. “I’ll completely destroy all the nations where I had you 'exiled', I won’t completely destroy you. I’ll discipline you in just measure, but I can’t let you go unpunished.
[2] Again, the “lost 10 tribes” as distinct from the Jews, or collectively “Israel”: Lamentations 2:2; Hosea 10:11; Hosea 12:2; Micah 1:5.
Isaiah also spoke about the survivors of the Great Tribulation against Israel assembling on the 'Special' Mountain:
Isaiah 27:12-13 When That Day Comes, Yehovah will thresh [harvest] from the 'Euphrates' river valley to the Nile * of Egypt. You Israelites will be gleaned [rescued] one by one. 13 When That Day Comes, the Great Shofar [1] will sound, and those who were dying in the land of Assyria and those who were banished to the land of Egypt will come and worship Yehovah on the 'special' Mountain in Jerusalem.
Biblical match #3: They are rescued “from every people, nation, tribe and language.” Jeremiah 31 is a parallel chapter about the “great multitude”, (and coming as no surprise), it’s the New Covenant chapter:
Jeremiah 31:8 I’ll bring them from the North Country, and gather them from the remotest parts of the earth. Blind and lame people will return as well as expectant mothers and women in labor. A huge crowd will return here.
Biblical match #4: They were standing in front of the throne”. Jeremiah 3:17 matches this description. “At that time they’ll call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of Yehovah’, and all of the nations will gather there in the name of Yehovah, to Jerusalem. They’ll cease to ‘live by’ their stubbon evil desires.”
Biblical match #5: Revelation 7:9, says they are “holding palms in their hands”. There are only two references to palm branches in the Bible, both having to do with building booths (sook-kaw’) for the Feast of Tabernacles: Leviticus 23:40 and Nehemiah 8:15. However in both the Aramaic texts and the Greek texts it literally says that they were holding palm trees in their hands! John 12:13 mentions palm branches, but in Revelation it literally says palm trees. Could they be holding replicas of palm trees like the many in the new Temple? There is just one place in the Bible that is very heavy on palm trees—Ezekiel chapters 40-41. Thirteen of the 23 references in the Bible to palm trees are associated with Ezekiel’s Temple. They appear to be replicas of palm trees. And the Great Multitude do serve in that Temple, as we’ll see.
Biblical match #6: They are praising Yehovah and match #7 “wearing white robes”. Jeremiah 31:12 says: “They’ll come and shout for joy in the elevated place [or height] of Zion, they’ll be beaming over the goodness of Yehovah over the grain, the new wine, the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd. Their life will be like a well watered garden, and they won’t ever be sorrowful again.” I believe that the “elevated place” is a somewhat veiled description of the New Jerusalem that is approximately 1,379 miles in height (12,000 X 606 feet and 9 inches to a stadium) as indicated in Revelation 20:16. The immense size of the city would obliterate the Mediterranean or “Great” sea were it to “land”, but the sea will remain just as it is—except for the salt (Ezekiel 47:10-20)!
There is a parallel in 2 Chronicles where “all the men of Israel assembled themselves in the king’s presence at the Feast of Tabernacles” (v.3) praising Yehovah in white clothing:
2 Chronicles 5:12-13 and all the Levitical musicians, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives, wearing fine white linen, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them one hundred twenty priests blowing trumpets.) 13 The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to be heard praising and thanking Yehovah, and when they raised their voices with the trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, and praised Yehovah, and sang, “He is good. His steadfast love endures forever,” Then the 'Temple', Yehovah’s 'Temple', was filled with a cloud.
The bride is being purified and made white during the Great Tribulation, and not before that. This will occur during the 1,260 days. It is purification by fire:
Daniel 12:7,10 I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the water of the river, when he raised his right and left hands toward heaven, and swore by the One who lives forever that it will be for a time, [a year], times [2 years], and half a time [1/2 a year], and when they’ve made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the 'chosen' people, all of these things will be finished.”... 10 Many will purify and refine themselves, but the wicked will continue to be wicked, and none of the wicked will understand, but those with discernment will understand.
Daniel 11:35 Some of the wise will fall away to refine them and to purify them and make them white all the way to the time of the end, but it will still happen at the appointed time. [Hebrew, Mowed, a special Festival Day].
Wearing white robes does not necessarily mean you are dead. In fact if you don’t begin wearing white robes (living righteously) while you are alive, you can forget about wearing them later.
Revelation 3:4-5 Yet you have a few good names in Sardis who haven’t defiled their clothing. They’ll walk with Me in white because they are worthy. 5 Anyone who is victorious will wear white clothing, and I will never blot their names from the Book of Life. I’ll acknowledge their names before My Father and before His messengers.
Even the Laodiceans were admonished to clean up their act and put on white clothes:
Revelation 3:18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so that you’ll actually become rich, and buy white clothing from Me so that you can clothe yourself, and the shame of your nakedness won’t appear, and eye salve for yours eyes, so that you can see.
Biblical match #8: “They’ve washed their clothes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” These are people who literally accepted their one last opportunity to repent:
Isaiah 1:9,16-19 If Commander Yehovah hadn’t left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah... 16 Wash yourselves. Become clean. Rid your evil behavior from the presence of My Word*. Stop being evil. 17 Learn to do good. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Defend orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. 18 “Come now, let’s reason together,” says Yehovah, “Even if your sins are like scarlet, they’ll be as white as snow. Tho they are crimson red, they’ll look like wool. 19 If you’re willing to obey, you’ll eat the best the land produces;
Isaiah 4:3-5 Then anyone left alive in Zion, anyone who is left behind in Jerusalem [1] will be called 'special', everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem, 4 once Yehovah has washed away the filth of the maidens of Zion, and rinsed the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of justice and a spirit that sets ablaze! 5 Yehovah will create ABOVE the entire site of Mount Zion and ABOVE her assemblies a cloud during the day and smoke, and a bright flaming fire during the night; because ABOVE all the splendor there will be a chuppah [marriage chamber/canopy] [2]. [1] The Hebrew name Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) is plural! An “im” ending like on seraphim or cherubim or Elohim makes it plural, just like an “s” ending in English. The age old question is: “Why is Jerusalem plural?” The age old answer is that there are two! As above, so below. It’s not really a secret, it’s just that Christians don’t seem to know about it yet (even with that big clue in Revelation 21)! [2] A chuppah is a bride and bridegroom’s chamber—Brown-Driver-Briggs. This is elaborated on in Revelation 19:7-9, “and His bride has made herself ready.” So Yeshua’s bride is composed of survivors of the Great Tribulation who will soon have their “filth” “washed away”!
.In an end time prophecy about the 12 tribes there is an interesting statement. Judah in particular could be in for a lot of bloodshed, but tho her sins are sacrlet, they will become as white as snow:
Genesis 49:10-11 The scepter won’t depart from Judah, or decrees of law from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, the One all nations will obey. 11 He tethered his foal to a grapevine, and his donkey’s colt to a choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes.
Following the first exodus, as the multitude were about to meet their Maker, they washed their clothes. History repeats itself.
Exodus 19:14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and prepared the people, and they washed their clothes.
Biblical match #9: It’s a regathering:
Jeremiah 3:17 When That Day Comes* they’ll call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of Yehovah’, and all of the nations will gather there in the name of Yehovah, to Jerusalem. They’ll cease to 'live by' their stubborn evil desires.
The first contingent from the nations will be the scattered Israelites of the diaspora, and friends of Israel.
Biblical match #10: They are “serving Him day and night in His Temple” (Revelation 7:15). We know that there won’t be a Temple in New Jerusalem above, after Yehovah’s wrath, but there will be a Temple and priests serving in it as we see in Ezekiel. Not one line of the last 9 chapters of Ezekiel has been fulfilled yet:
Ezekiel 44:10-12 The Levites who strayed far from Me when Israel went astray, who strayed from Me preferring their idols will bear the consequences of their sins. 11 Yet they’ll be ministers in My 'Cherished' Place and have oversight at the gates of the 'Temple' and serve in the 'Temple'. They’ll slay the burnt offering and zebakim [sacrifices] for the people, and they’ll stand before them and serve them. 12 Because they served the people standing in front of their idols, and caused the House of Israel to 'falter', I’ve sworn that they’ll bear the consequences of their wickedness,’ declares the Sovereign Yehovah.
Isaiah 61:4-7 They’ll rebuild places desolate since antiquity, they’ll rebuild the ancestral places and places now wasted and deserted, and they’ll restore cities parched from heat, and places deserted for many generations. 5 Foreigners will tend your flocks; they’ll farm your land and work your vineyards. 6 And you’ll be called the priests of Yehovah, people will call you the ministers of our Elohim. You’ll savor the wealth of the nations. You’ll change places with them. 7 Your shame will be replaced with a double inheritance, and instead of humiliation you’ll shout for joy over your territory. So in your land you’ll own twice as much as the other nations. You’ll have everlasting joy.
Biblical match #11: “the One seated on the throne will ‘protect them under His shadow’” (Revelation 7:15). People will be protected from the elements under the shadow of the New Jerusalem above.
Isaiah 4:5-6 Yehovah will create ABOVE the entire site of Mount Zion and ABOVE her assemblies a cloud during the day and smoke, and a bright flaming fire during the night; because ABOVE all the splendor there will be a chuppah [marriage chamber/canopy] [2]. 6 It will be a sukkah [tabernacle] to provide 'shade' in the daytime from the heat and for a refuge and shelter from storms and rain.
[2] A chuppah is a bride and bridegroom’s chamber—Brown-Driver-Briggs. This is elaborated on in Revelation 19:7-9, “and His bride has made herself ready.” So Yeshua’s bride is composed of survivors of the Great Tribulation who will soon have their “filth” “washed away”!.Jeremiah 31:10-11 You nations, hear the Word of Yehovah, and announce it in the distant lands beyond the oceans! [Commentary]. Proclaim: The One who scattered Israel will regather him, and protect him like a shepherd does his flock. 11 Yehovah has paid the ransom for Jacob, and reclaimed him from those too strong for him.
Biblical match #12: is covered in Isaiah 49 “They won’t hunger or thirst any more”; and clue #13 “Nor will they be ‘overcome’ by the sun or burning heat” (Revelation 7:16). These are human concerns.
Isaiah 49:10-13 describes these exact same events, the end of “hunger”, “thirst”, “heat”, “sun”, along with “springs of water” in the context of survivors of the Great Tribulation, from all twelve tribes of Israel returning to the land of Israel during the Second Exodus, at the beginning of the Everlasting Kingdom!
Isaiah 49:10-13 They won’t hunger or thirst, and the heat or sun won’t beat down on them because the One who has mercy on them will lead them. He’ll guide them to springs of water. [Context: Revelation 7:13-17] 11 I’ll make all My mountains traversable, and My highways in the valleys will be elevated. 12 They will come from far away! They will come from the north and from the west, and they will come from Australia.
Obviously this is in the context of survivors of the Great Tribulation, from all twelve tribes of Israel returning to the land of Israel during the Second Exodus, at the beginning of the Everlasting Kingdom!
Biblical match #14: “Yehovah will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:17
The cessation of tears and death begins as soon as the Everlasting Kingdom is established!
Isaiah 25:6-9 Commander Yehovah will prepare a 'lavish' banquet on this mountain using the 'best foods' for every nation, a banquet with well aged wines, of 'choice' cuts full of marrow and refined wines. 7 On this mountain He (Commander Yehovah) will remove the shroud that looms over all people, the veil that 'overshadows' every nation. 8 He (Commander Yehovah)) will devour death forever! The Sovereign Yehovah [2] [“Yeshua”] will wipe away the tears from every face. He’ll eliminate the scorn of His people from the entire earth. Yehovah has spoken!
9 When That Day Comes* Israel will be saying, “This is our Elohim! We have been waiting for Him to save us! This is Yehovah! We’ve been waiting for Him. Let’s rejoice and celebrate His salvation!
[2] Note the context of the next verse—death ceasing (for the righteous) when Messiah returns. Your Bible most likely says “Lord GOD” in verse 8, but in truth it is “adonai (Sovereign) YHVH”! He, the Alpha and the Omega (Yeshua), is the One who will wipe away the tears! Revelation 21:4-6. Ignore the “GOD”, check the Hebrew: 3069 [e], a slight variant of the name YHVH. See Adonai (Adonai)
Check the entire context of Isaiah 25. Yet the wicked are excluded from this blessing:
1 Corinthians 15:23-24 but everyone in their order, Messiah was the firstfruit [1]. Later, at His [2] coming, those who are the Messiah’s [will be restored to life]. 24 Then the end of these events [3] comes, when He’ll have handed over the Kingdom to Yehovah the Father, when every ruler and every government and every powerful force will have been overthrown.
[1] “Firstborn” is the exact equivalent of “firstfruit” as used in the Tanak, and can just as easily be understood as “firstborn” (firstling), since we aren’t picked from trees. While resurrection to physical life certainly has Biblical precedent, Yeshua is the only person ever resurrected to eternal life. (John 3:13). [2] Or this could be translated as “Their coming.”, as in Daniel 7. [3] “The end” of the age, the sixth millennium, is mentioned several times in Daniel 11 and 12 and Matthew 24. The end of the fourth age is mentioned in Hebrews 9:26.
Isaiah 35, a short 10 verse chapter covers this well.Biblical match #15: Yehovah will “lead them to springs of living water” Revelation 7:17. First we’ll focus on the water.
Isaiah 49:6-13 He said to me, “You are My Servant [Commentary], Israel; I’ll be clothed with splendor thru You.” 4 But I said, “My efforts were wasted, I’ve spent my strength for nothing and futility.” Yet undoubtedly the justice due to Me is with Yehovah, and My reward is with My Elohim. Continuing:
Yeshua’s Second Exodus
5 Yehovah formed Me in the womb to be His Servant to bring Jacob back to Him so that Israel could be regathered to Him. Yehovah will honor Me and I am honored in Yehovah’s sight, and My Elohim is My strength. 6 He is saying: “It isn’t enough for You [just] be My Servant [Yeshua] to to reestablish the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the Israelites who were 'spared.' I will also make You a light to the nations, so that You can bring My message of deliverance to the 'remotest parts' of the earth!” 7 This is what Yehovah the Redeemer of Israel, and its 'special' One, says to the despised One, the One the nation abhors, the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see You and rise, and leaders will bow down, because of Yehovah who is faithful, the 'special' One of Israel who has chosen You.”
8 This is what Yehovah says: “In a favorable time I have answered You, and in a day of deliverance I have helped You. I’ll protect You [the Messiah: Barnes] and give You to the people as a covenant [the covenantee], to restore the land and to repossess its desolate heritage. 9 You will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out’ and to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves’! They’ll be My sheep, grazing along the roads and finding pastures on all the once barren heights. 10 They won’t hunger or thirst, and the heat or sun won’t beat down on them because the One who has mercy on them will lead them. He’ll guide them to springs of water. [Context: Revelation 7:13-17] 11 I’ll make all My mountains traversable, and My highways in the valleys will be elevated. 12 They will come from far away! They will come from the north and from the west, and they will come from Australia. 13 Shout for joy, you heavens, and earth rejoice, and break out into singing you mountains, because Yehovah has comforted His people and will have compassion on His meek and afflicted.
The Bride and Her Missing Children
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child and not have compassion on the child she gave birth to? Well they may forget, but I won’t forget you! 16 I’ve inscribed you [12 tribes of Israel] on the palms of My hands [by the nail prints: Gill’s], your walls Revelation 21:12,14,15,17,18,19] are continually before Me!
Biblical match #16: Yehovah will “lead them” out of darkness (Revelation 7:17).
Isaiah 42:15-16 I’ll lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation. I’ll turn the rivers into islands and dry up the pools. 16 I’ll lead the blind by a way that they don’t know, along unfamiliar paths. I’ll turn darkness into light before them and turn rough places into level ground. These are the things I’ll do. I won’t forsake them.
I’ll repeat this verse with the emphasis on leading them:
Isaiah 49:10 They won’t hunger or thirst, and the heat or sun won’t beat down on them because the One who has mercy on them will lead them. He’ll guide them to springs of water. [Context: Revelation 7:13-17]
They still need to find the living water.
Jeremiah 31:9 They’ll come with tears of joy, praying as I bring them back. I’ll lead them beside streams of water in a straight path, so they won’t stumble, because I’m a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.
Jeremiah 31:11-12 I’ll make all My mountains traversable, and My highways in the valleys will be elevated. 12 They will come from far away! They will come from the north and from the west, and they will come from Australia.
This is in sharp contrast to the destruction of Israel:
Deuteronomy 32:22-27 As a result, a fire has been kindled in My anger, and it burns to the lowest sheol. It devours the landscape and its vegetation, and sets the foundations of the mountains ablaze.
Israel’s End Time Disaster
23 I’ll heap disasters on them. I’ll 'shoot all' My arrows at them. 24 They’ll be wasted with famine, ravaged by disease and deadly epidemics. I’ll send fanged animals against them, and poisonous snakes slithering in the dust. 25 Outside swordsmen will cause bereavement, and inside terror, for both young men and virgins, infants and gray-haired men. 26 I said I would cut them to pieces and erase even the memory of them from human memory, 27 were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, since their adversaries might misunderstand, and say, “Our 'power' has triumphed, Yehovah didn’t cause all this.’”
Who are the 144,000?
I repeated this heading in: From 2024 to Eternity
Are they Catholics? Jehovah’s Witnesses? Jews? (OK 12,000 are), Mormons? Adventists: (“only symbolic”), or maybe these other guys?
It seems that everyone wants to make the 144,000 part or all of their church. Starting from the footnote from my version of Revelation 7 above, I was planning to spend this Sabbath debunking the whole “they are from my church” thing. I also wanted to include the perspective from any one of the splinter groups that formed after the Worldwide Church of God slid into apostasy, since I am so familiar with that story line, (those groups are mostly like peas in a pod).
But right off the bat I found this 19 minute monologue online from a splinter group that I have been keeping an eye on lately. I was so surprised. David Grabbe started out rather apologetically, asking for forgiveness for sharing a view differing from the traditional teaching within the Sabbatarian “Churches of God”. I would have expected him to be terminated, but he is still there after several years! Late in the last century I, in a sister group, tried a different approach in a short monologue on a Bible topic without any of their sectarian baggage, thinking it should slide right by, but the minister there told me: “That was great Lon—Don’t ever do that again!” David knocked it out of the park (Imagine two sports metaphors from a guy who has never bothered to watch a sporting event!) This is way easier than having to do all of the research myself. Imagine what David could have done if permitted an hour long sermon monolog! David knocked it out of the park (Imagine two sports metaphors from a guy who has never bothered to watch a sporting event!) This is way easier than having to do all of the research myself. Imagine what David could have done with an hour long sermon monolog!
The sealing is supernatural protection for the chosen few Israelites—“out of every tribe, and language, and people, and nation” who happen to be alive during the end time. They won’t die in the Tribulation, rather, they will be singled out while still in the flesh! They will be “sealed” and preserved from death during the perils of the end time—that is why the Spirit Messengers (angels) must protect them from the harmful things that will occur in the physical realm—things hurting “the earth”, “the sea” and “the trees”.
“The Temple of Yehovah”—“New Jerusalem”?
Within the text about the 7th shofar is another reason to believe that New Jerusalem is within actual view!
Revelation 11:18-19 The nations were angry, but Your anger has come, and it’s time for the dead to be judged, and for You to compensate Your servants the prophets, and the 'chosen ones' and those who fear Your name, both small and great, and to destroy those who are destroying the earth! [7] 19 The Temple of Yehovah in the sky was opened, and the ark of His covenant was visible inside His Temple. There was lightning and thunder and voices, an earthquake and huge hail.
[7] The Greek has the elders in this verse sitting on thrones [Gr. thronos], omitting mention of Yehovah’s throne, unlike 4:2-4, 7:11, and 19:4.
So in Parts 1 & 2 we saw that the New Covenant isn’t with “the church”—it’s with Israel and Judah:
Jeremiah 31:31-33 Yehovah says: “The time is coming [1], when I’ll make a New [marriage] Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. 32 It won’t be like the [marriage] Covenant that I made with their ancestors during the time when I took them by the hand led them out of the land of Egypt, since they broke My Covenant, tho I was their Husband,” says Yehovah. 33 “In this [marriage] Covenant that I’ll make with the House of Israel after those days,” Yehovah says, “I’ll put My Torah in the very hearts. I’ll be their Elohim, and they’ll be My people.
The bow is Judah, the arrow is Ephraim, the Bull’s eye is all of Israel returning to their land and to Yehovah, the arrowhead is the surviving pioneers leading the way, the “Great Multitude” is the body of Israel falling in line!
Zechariah 9:13-17 I’ll bend Judah as My bow, I’ll load the bow with Ephraim [as the arrow]. I’ll stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Javan, and 'wield' you like a warrior’s sword. 14 Yehovah will appear over them, and His arrows will flash like lightning. The Sovereign Yehovah [variant spelling] will sound a shofar and advance into the storm winds from the south. 15 Commander Yehovah will defend them. They’ll devour and subdue with sling stones, and they’ll drink and shout as if they were drunk, and they’ll be filled like the basin at the corners of the altar. 16 Yehovah their Elohim will rescue them When That Day Comes* as the flock of His people. They are like the jewels of a crown, like a glimmering beacon over His land. 17 How lovely and beautiful 'they' [the Israelites] will be! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins.
In Chapter 28 we’ll see more evidence that Yeshua’s bride isn’t “the church”, she is none other than the Great multitude of Israel—coming home!
Isaiah 54:3-7 You’ll spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the deserted cities. 4 “Don’t be afraid, because you won’t be ashamed or humiliated. You won’t be put to shame, and you’ll forget the shame of your youth. You won’t remember the stigmatism of widowhood. 5 Your MAKERS are your HUSBANDS [1], Commander Yehovah is His name, and the 'special' One of Israel is your Redeemer. He is called the Elohim of the entire earth. 6 Yehovah has called you like a deserted wife tormented by grief, like a wife rejected early in life,” says your Elohim. 7 “For a brief moment I let you alone, but with infinite compassion I’ll bring you back.
[1] Yes, both are plural, but not a trinity. This site source has plenty of plurality verses that some call a Binity. But to read historical statements confirming the fact that Yehovah was recognized as a Binity until Constantine forced a “reconsideration”, see this link. Also, when last I checked, Wikipedia’s article on Binitarianism (a moving target) was an equally informative article that is as persuasive as it can be, while still maintaining the necessary air of neutrality required of an encyclopedia.
Ultimately “Replacement Theology” has to do with who the Israel of Bible prophecy really is. Is it “the church”, or is it the misguided surviving descendants of Israel who are awakened as a result of the coming Great Tribulation? Who is really going to take over the land of Israel and live there in the flesh for many many generations? The body of the Messiah (a male body, metaphorically, of Kings and Priests) will be taking care of this this bride) .
The Messianics I met with on the Sabbath from 2009 to 2016 all believe that we should want to move to Israel right now and claim “our land”. But should we? Should We Move To Israel Now?
Now for Part 4:
