The Rapture of the Real and False Church (Revelation 14)

Chapter 10

If I understand the rapture correctly, it seems very few others do. Chapter 14 begins with John seeing Jesus standing on Mount Zion accompanied by the 144,000 Jews He had sealed in chapter 7. They have His name written on their foreheads and they sing a new song that only they know. They are described as chaste. They are virgin men. Ladies, please don’t get yourselves in an uproar. I didn’t choose this group; Jesus did. The only connection I can make to interpret this literally is found in Paul’s comments about such people being able to devote their entire lives to the service of God. Since it is obvious that is exactly what this group is doing, it seems appropriate to interpret the fact that they have not been defiled with women literally. While sexual intercourse with one’s wife is not sin, it is clear from the Old Testament that both the male and female were considered unclean when they engaged in it and had to undergo purification before they were considered clean. Both David’s encounter with the priest while fleeing from Saul and the law as found in Leviticus 15, make it clear that one had to undergo cleansing after engaging in sexual activity. (I Sam. 21:4, 5; Lev. 12; 15:16-18). There are those who prefer to interpret this as symbolic. I simply prefer to follow the rule I heard first mentioned by Dwight J. Pentecost in his book Things to Come about the final hours of history, “If the literal sense makes good sense, seek no other sense.” Here, the literal sense makes good sense, though it will undoubtedly rub great multitudes of women’s rights activists the wrong way. Because God is not intimidated by our cultural mores, I am likewise inclined to ignore them.

If one chooses to interpret the verse symbolically, he will see these 144,000 as chaste with regards to their devotion to Christ. Of course, such a statement seems utterly nonsensical to me. Why would it be important to make such a declaration? No one would be standing with Jesus who was an idolater. I will offer this last thought before moving on. It seems from the mood of the text that this group of 144,000 has specifically set themselves aside, believing Jesus is returning soon. They have dedicated themselves to the complete, unhindered worship of our Lord. They are the quintessential Jews for Jesus. While it is not absolutely necessary we believe they are the same group described in Revelation 7, it is clear they are Jews. Verse 1 makes that connection. The Lamb was standing on Mount Zion. That is the mount that has been identified with the nation of Israel for over three thousand years. If we are, in fact, living in the final hours of history, these Jews for Jesus are, at this very moment, beginning to gather themselves together in preparation for the second coming of their Messiah. Wow! What a glorious period of history in which to be living! And all of God’s people said ________________!

The final thoughts about this group are given to us in verse 5. “And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.” This is indeed an extraordinary group. They are chaste men who speak the truth and live holy lives. No one who lives today and commits to a serious study of what it means to speak the truth and to live blameless will take this description of 144,000 real live human beings lightly. I’m relatively certain it would be difficult to find 144 people in America today whom we could describe as having no lie found in their mouth and blameless, much less 144,000. The point is this. These men are extraordinary. They are men who have prepared themselves by the power of God for this day and hour. They are sold out to the perfect will of their Messiah; and they are Jews.

Now comes the juice. Three angels are about to usher in three major events. Angel one ushers in the most powerful period of preaching of the gospel the earth has ever known. Angel two identifies the fall of the false church. And angel three ushers in the rapture. Verses 6 and 7 speak of a time when the declaration of the gospel will be powerful and worldwide. It is to be preached to those who live on earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. This message is a little more direct that the one the church has proclaimed heretofore. “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.” Notice this message addresses those things upon which He has ushered cataclysmic upheaval.

Those to whom the message is preached have just recently seen this God about whom these preachers are speaking wreak havoc on this heaven, earth, sea, and springs of waters about which they speak. In other words, brothers and sisters, they have had the ultimate object lesson given them to help them understand the message these preachers are bringing to them. None of them will be able to legitimately say, “Show us a sign.” Of course, I also believe, based upon historical precedents, that the preachers of the final hours of history will again be healing the sick and raising the dead as did first century apostles and prophets. When antichrist has been active in the past, the Holy Spirit has been even more active demonstrating clearly the difference between that which is clean and that which is unclean.

Verse 8 describes the fall of the false church. When the second angel speaks, he says, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.” It is here where my beloved pre-tribulation brethren again get confused. It is their pre-disposition to the pre-tribulation rapture theory that requires them to interpret literally things that should be interpreted figuratively and to interpret figuratively things that should be interpreted literally. Here, Babylon is a figurative reference to the first place in the history of mankind when he began building an edifice into the heavens and unto his own glory.

Today, many such edifices stand. The Crystal Cathedral, begun by Dr. Schuler and the San Dimas Walk-in/Drive-In Church, begun by David Ray, are similar edifices built to show the glory and majesty of man. Today there are literally hundreds of such edifices which have been built in America in the past thirty years by some of the wealthier congregations. I often watch the ten or more full time Christian broadcasting stations offered on Direct TV. And while I am sometimes a little awed at the incredible buildings some of these well meaning groups have constructed, I can’t help but think Jesus must be looking at them in disgust. I sometimes can’t help but think some of our contemporary preachers are trying to compete with Solomon. It seems some of them think their holiness is a direct reflect reflection of the size and elegance of the buildings they have constructed. I believe they are direct affronts to the glory and majesty of God. They are filled with stained glass, crystal, fancy windows, even fancier altars, huge glass podiums, plush pews, million dollar audio-visual systems, and preachers who wear thousand dollar suits, two hundred dollar ties, two hundred dollar shoes, diamond rings, Rolex Watches, and often preach the doctrine of demons. I suspect the first earthquake, spoken of in Revelation 6:12-17, will swallow up most if not all of these outlandish tabernacles of men. And to think, the leadership of these churches actually spent the money their members gave for ministry to build these towers of Babylon. I had the unfortunate opportunity to have gotten married in the one in San Dimas. The marriage wasn’t unfortunate, just the fact that we didn’t have the sense to find another place to perform our vows. The ultimate example in the world today of such ungodly foolishness is the building we call the Sistine Chapel.

The Pope is the ultimate spirit of antichrist on planet earth today. He is not the antichrist. But in him resides the spirit of antichrist. For about 1800 years the Catholic church has persecuted true believers. While the reformation only began about 600 years ago, the Universal (Catholic) church of the Roman Empire has been led by heretical teachers since the inauguration of the first Pope, and it has expelled, exiled, and martyred millions. When the beast comes, his first order of business will be to make a covenant with the ecumenical church (the Catholic and liberal protestant church alliance), which he will honor for the first 3 ½ years of the tribulation (Dan. 9:27). In the middle of the tribulation, he will break that covenant, set himself up as the King of kings, and reign as such for the final 3 ½ years of the tribulation. Those who hold the pre-tribulation view have to interpret this covenant as occurring with the nation of Israel because, based upon their pre-tribulation theory, the church will be gone. And, while I have to reject that interpretation, I also have a hard time identifying this abomination in Rome as a church at all. Two things strike me as important. First, there will be some who are part of this abomination who will be called out of that church in the final 3 ½ years of history (Rev. 18:4). Second, this church, filled with its false teachings, teachers, and prophets will be raptured with the true church (Rev. 14:15-20). This is that which I wrote about at the beginning of this chapter.

These verses seem to indicate that both real and false believers will be raptured at nearly the same time. Read them. It really is incredible. The first angel reaps and gathers in the earth’s harvest (vv. 14-16). These are true believers. Then another angel comes who also has a sharp sickle who reaps, but this one reaps the clusters (unbelievers) from the vine of the earth (an illusion to the doctrine of antichrist), and throws them into the great wine press of the wrath of God (clearly not a good thing), which is trodden outside the city (of the false church, vv. 17-20). The blood of these false believers fills a valley for a distance of two hundred miles to a depth of about 3 ½ feet. Please don’t ask me to explain this in light of all we already know about this period. Few will accept what I have to say until someone with the appropriate credentials discovers it. In the final analysis, some will only realize is true when it actually happens. Maybe some of you will actually be reading these words when the event occurs. If so, please read on and be aware that you will still have one more opportunity to declare your love for Jesus if you survive the forty-five days which follow the rapture.

I want to say one last thing about this two-fold rapture which has never been revealed in any commentary on the Revelation of which I am aware. I suggest there is a very logical reason God would rapture both true believers and false ones at the same time. Jesus’ warning in Luke 17 and James 3:1 indicate there will be a special place prepared in hell for those who have purposefully led anyone away from the true knowledge of saving grace. My guess is that false teachers will be in the cell right next to the devil himself