The first trumpet plague will burn 1/3 of the trees on earth.
During the Great Tribulation, souls of martyrs will call on the Lord for justice. “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?… they were told to rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also” (Rev. 6:10-11). We find the number of those to be killed in Rev. 7:4 —144,000.
For what crime do the 144,000 and previous martyrs die? They die “because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained” (Rev. 6:9).
Even during the Antichrist’s reign of terror, multitudes must have heard the martyrs’ testimony about God’s wrath on the unrepentant. Because in the 6th seal judgment, when the whole earth shakes violently and all the skies go dark, men will know God’s wrath has struck.
“…and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev. 6:16-17)
God holds back His wrath
But they are wrong. Instead of pouring out more wrath on that day, God sends an angel with “the seal of the living God.” He speaks to angels who control the winds of destruction:
“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of God on their foreheads” (Rev. 7:3).
Angels then seal 144,000 bond-servants. They consist of 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. But they include the tribe of Manasseh—Joseph’s son—instead of Dan, one of the original twelve. This means that if some disqualify themselves, others may take their places. Those others may include Gentiles. For when natural Jews break away from their calling, God can graft non-Jews in (see Rom. 11:17-24).
To attain to the 144,000, they must meet high qualifications. They must keep chaste and blameless. They must refrain speaking any lie. And they must “follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (Rev. 14:4-5).
The Lamb will reward them in heaven forever with a new song that no one but the 144,000 can sing (Rev. 14:3). He wants a unique choir of 144,000 who, through the most extreme self-sacrifice in the most extreme times, have learned to glorify the Lamb in a most pure and unique way.
The 144,000 will carry “His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads” (Rev. 14:1). The angels in Revelation 7 sealed them with these names so that the 144,000 would not suffer the effects of the coming 7 trumpet plagues. Like the seals of God in NT Scriptures outside the book of Revelation, they are seals that only heaven can see (Jn. 3:33; Jn. 6:27; 1 Cor. 9:2; 2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; Eph. 4:30; 2 Tim. 1:19).
7 trumpet plagues
After their sealing, the winds of destruction—which the four angels held back—are released to spread the trumpet plagues. The first trumpet plague brings down hail and fire which the winds spread to burn up one-third of the trees and green grass (Rev. 8:7).
The second trumpet plague brings down a fiery mountain that turns the sea into blood. The winds spread its effects over one-third of the earth’s seas. They destroy one-third of the ships and kill one-third of the sea creatures (Rev. 8:8-9).
The third trumpet plague brings down a fiery star that turns one-third of the rivers and springs bitter, with the help of the winds. As a result, “many men die from the waters” (Rev. 8:10-11).
In the same way, many must have died in the destruction of one-third of the ships and in the fires that burned one-third of the trees and green grass.
But the plagues do not harm the 144,000. Nor do the scorpion stings of the fifth trumpet plague. Nor do the demonic warring horsemen of the sixth plague, which kill one-third of mankind (Rev. 9).
The 144,000 can die only from martyrdom “because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained” (Rev. 6:9; cf. verse 11).
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Keyword: 144000 end times
Who will join the 144000 end times choir?
