Chapter 19

The subject of this chapter is two banquets at the second advent. The outline is threefold, there are three paragraphs in this chapter. The first paragraph deals with the marriage supper of the Lamb which is a banquet of blessing, verses 1-9. The second paragraph deals with the second advent of Christ, verses 10-14.

The third paragraph deals with the supper of the great God, a judgment banquet, verses 15-21.

The supper of blessing or the marriage supper of the Lamb begins in verses 1-3 begins with a celebration in heaven over the judgment of ecumenical religion, the subject of chapters 18 and 19. The celebration in heaven begins with a shout of heavenly praise in verse 1.

There are two words in the King James version which do not appear in the original manuscripts; the words “honour” and “Lord” at the end of the verse. The time of the victory shout is given first with a prepositional phrase, meta plus the accusative plural of the immediate demonstrative o(utoj, “After these things.” The word “and” in the KJV is not found here either. The prepositional phrase indicates the sequence of time, after the administration of the judgment against ecumenical religion. So after the administration of this judgment we now move on to the celebration in heaven.

Heaven is always a place of great happiness and celebration, a place of tranquillity, a place of “no more sorrow, no more tears, no more pain, no more death.” Immediately after physical death, whether a believer is a winner or a loser, he goes immediately into the presence of the Lord. He has an interim body, he recognises all of his friends who have preceded him into heaven. So it is always a place of great happiness. So, “after these things” we have John indicating an auditory vision rather than one by eye, “I heard,” the aorist active indicative of the verb a)kouw. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety — the auditory vision. The active voice: the apostle John as the human writer of the book of Revelation produces the action under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. The indicative mood is the reality of a doctrinal principle: that God in His justice always rectifies wrongs committed against believers, but the believer must be patient under the principle of the faith-rest drill.

This anticipates something of the first two verses in this chapter, and that is the fact that every believer, sooner or later, is wronged. There are going to be times in your life when you are absolutely right and someone else is absolutely wrong, or an approximation of that principle. When that happens you are under great pressure to do the right things rather than the wrong things yourself. Any time that an individual is wronged immediately there comes into the soul some form of resentment or reaction. It is so rare that when we are right we generally make the most of it! By making the most of it we get up on our self-righteous high horse and scream “bloody murder.” We are all right, someone else is all wrong! It is a sort of a refreshing immediate reaction. But the whole thing does not follow suit if one flunks this test, he is in a state of arrogance immediately. Any time that you are wronged the procedure is given in the principle of eschatology in this passage. So you are wronged. Someone has done something to hurt you, to undercut you, to destroy you, to tear you up, or something of that sort. What are you going to do about it? The principle is found as a part of the faith-rest drill in Romans 12:19, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” If you get into motivational evil when you are wronged, which is very easy, you’ve had it, because revenge or vengeance belongs to the Lord. It does not belong to us at all, and the reason is because we never have all the facts.

What should we do? Instead of getting into gate one of cosmic one there are two things that we need to do: the function of the faith-rest drill, i.e. “Revenge belongs to me, I will repay, saith the Lord.” That is the first stage of the faith-rest drill. Secondly, switch over to the rationales. When the Lord says “I will repay” you have the essence of God rationale, God knows all the facts. Furthermore, the plan of God rationale. Under the plan of God God handles all of the antagonism, that is His monopoly. It is a protocol. We leave to God all of the wrongs and injuries done to us. We leave that in His hands. Of course, we can go to others as well. The logistical grace rationale: the fact that we have been wronged doesn’t cut off any support from God. We are not going to be the less for it because we have been wronged. So the first factor then is to leave the matter in the Lord’s hands, and that is a matter of the faith-rest drill.

The second function is separation. Life is too short to fool with that person; move on. There is no justice on earth regarding these things. You can’t look for justice on earth, you go to a higher court. That is why we have those three categories of judgment administered to ecumenical religion.

So this first victory shout indicates again that God has fulfilled His promise. They had left it in the hands of the Lord. One thing about imprecatory prayers is that the one who offers that prayer is not administering the judgment. He is asking the Lord to do it and the Lord will filter it all out and handle it. With imprecatory prayers or the faith-rest drill once you put it in the hands of the Lord you don’t fool around with it any more. You therefore replace your disturbed and upset condition with tranquillity knowing that in the Lord’s time, which is far better than our timing, the Lord will take care of it one way or another.

In verse 1 and in verse 3 we are going to find a lot of people rejoicing in heaven because they did not try to take revenge. They left the matter in the Lord’s hands and they get the announcement of the judgment, and having left it in the Lord’s hands they simply express their own +H and their own wisdom in not trying to personally get revenge. The principle of rejoicing in heaven is a principle that applies to us on earth: the happiest people in the world and the best adjusted people in the world are the people who do not seek revenge, who do not take matters into their own hands. God in His justice rectifies wrong provided that you do not interfere with divine justice. Interfering with divine justice is simply taking matters into your own hands.

First of all we hear the first chorus of the hymn of praise. It begins with the comparative particle w(j, and with it, fwnh, “what sounded like.” It is an idiom. We have fwnh as the accusative singular direct object of a)kouw, and with it we have the adjective megaj, which translated in its true idiom [not literally], “After these things [after the administration of these judgments] I heard what sounded like a large crowd.” That is the way it should be translated. We have a descriptive genitive for the large crowd: the adjective pollouj followed by the noun o)xloj, “crowd.” This large crowd is located “in heaven,” e)n plus the locative of o)uranoj, they cannot see what is going on on earth.

The content of the first shout: God the Son has just executed one of the greatest judgments of history. He has administered all three categories of judgment against ecumenical religion and destroyed it. We have a present active participle from legw and it means to shout. This is the cheering session. The descriptive present indicates the cheering session. The active voice: the cheering session of the Tribulational martyrs who produce the action of the verb. This is a victory cheer. These are the believers who offered the imprecatory prayers in chapters 6:9-11; 8:4 which were answered in the administration of the seven bowl judgments. And what did they shout? The King James version says, “Alleluia,” but that isn’t what they shouted. This is an unfortunate transliteration. It should be Halleluia. It is actually a transliteration from the Hebrew: “Hallelujah.” “Hallelu” means praise, and “jah” means the Lord. So it actually should have been translated “Praise the Lord,” and the reason they can praise the Lord: It is a great word when you put matters in the Lord’s hands and the Lord has taken care of the whole matter. That is why we have this in heaven. Heaven is one place where you can say “Hallelujah” without being a jackass! So the cheering crowd says, “Praise the Lord.” These are the shouts of victory as well as expressions of praise. There is no verb in the Greek but the possessive genitive will act as the verb. The possessive genitive is qeoj. Translation: “After these things I heard what sounded like a large crowd in heaven, shouting, Praise the Lord ..”

Something “belongs to our Lord.” The word for “our” is the possessive genitive plural from e)gw, all of these are believers, “our Lord.” And what belongs to our Lord? There are four words here, not three words as in the King James version. Each of this is connected by kai, but kai merely is used as a comma here.

The first is swthria. It often means salvation and it can be salvation here, but it also means deliverance. Deliverance belongs to our Lord as well as salvation. When we are talking about entrance into the plan of God it is salvation; when we are talking about deliverance in phase two then it is phase two of the plan of God rather than phase one.

Next we have doca, “glory,” a reference to the essence of God as the source of the divine plan for the human race. What better way to handle your problems than to put them in the Lord’s hands, “Casting all your cares on him, for he careth for you.” Emphasis is placed on the believer’s point of reference here which is the integrity of God, described by the word “glory.”

Finally, there is dunamij which refers to the system, the protocol, “power.” Whatever the plan of God is for the believer in the Tribulation it includes a protocol system of some sort. By application, dunamij to us refers to the divine dynasphere.

So we can say, “Deliverance, glory and power belongs to our God,” or we can translate it, “Salvation, glory and power belongs to our God.” Both are true. The point is: To which does it refer here? Probably deliverance because these people were delivered through death.

Translation of verse one: “After these things [the great judgments of ecumenical religion] I heard what sounded like a large crowd in heaven, shouting, Praise the Lord; deliverance and glory and power belong to our God.”

There is no word “Lord” here in the original manuscript and there is no word “honour.” They are true but they just don’t happen to be in the text. Deliverance is provided for every believer, any believer who will use the faith-rest drill. First of all you claim a promise or promises; secondly, you go to the rationales; from the rationales you come to your conclusion that the Lord can handle it better than you can. Therefore you leave it in His hands which gives you instant tranquillity. As a result of this you have control of your own life and you have a personal sense of destiny because you are not distracted by the pettiness, by the jealousy, by the bitterness, by the vindictiveness, by the hatred of other people. So you are lining up with what God’s plan for your life happens to be, glory. Glory is not only perfection of divine attributes but glorification of the Lord is accomplished by doing this.

The word “power” not only refers to God’s protocol plan but it is a reminder to us that Jesus Christ controls history. The power of God is infinitely greater than the power of Satan who is the present ruler of this world. To the believer in the Church Age power is, of course, the plan of God relating to the divine dynasphere. But the principle that comes out of this from the eschatological viewpoint is this: Divine judgment protects the human race from self-destruction. It also protects the believer from destroying himself through fear, worry and anxiety.

Verse 2, the reason for this victory shout. We begin with the first of two conjunctions that are similar, o(ti, used this time as causal conjunctions. We translate it “Because.” With this we have a predicate nominative plural from a)lhqinoj, “truth.” It refers to divine veracity in the administration of judgments. It also refers to the fact that Bible doctrine explains the reason for divine judgment such as those we have studied in chapters 17 & 18. Actually, the explanation deals with the grace of God in preserving the human race as well as removing the cancer of evil. The second predicate nominative is dikaioj which, with a)lhqinoj should be translated “true and righteous.” Both of these are in the plural and although we can’t translate them that way into the English there is a reason for it. We have an ellipsis here so we insert the verb e)imi, “true and righteous are.” Then we have a subject, the nominative plural from krisij with the possessive genitive from a)utoj, “his judgments.” Translation: “because his judgments are true and righteous.”

The plural of “righteous” means the integrity of God. It is in the plural because He has two parts to His integrity: justice, our point of reference, and perfect righteousness, our point of blessing. Remember that this is the basis whereby we are sustained in time. The justice of God has imputed one half of His integrity or His righteousness to us, perfect righteousness. Therefore justice sends down the grace pipeline logistical as well as supergrace blessings. “Righteous” here is in the plural because it covers the entire holiness or integrity of God. Behind the function of the justice of God is the fact that God is righteous, therefore He can make no mistakes in the exercise of His judgments. The fact that God exercised judgment by pain, followed by judgment by death, followed by finesse judgment indicates that these are perfect judgments. He handled them at the right time, at the right place, in the right way.

The plural of “true” refers to the facts of history as they come out of the computer of divine decrees. First of all, the omniscience of God enters into the computer of the divine decrees all these facts: every thought, every decision, every action, every motive of every person and how it relates to all others. And that is true of the Tribulation. The whole history of the Tribulation is in the computer and it rolls out bit by bit the function of ecumenical religion, followed by the judgment of ecumenical religion. The function of ecumenical religion came first in which there was the torture and the martyrdom of those who were winners. The whole thing rolls out of the computer and therefore it is in the plural. That is because the word “true” refers to the facts of history. “Truth,” on the other hand, refers to the essence of God. The essence of God is truth, God is truth, and what He puts into the computer from His omniscience in eternity past comes out as true, both as to sequence and interaction. So there is a difference between true and truth. The facts of history in any given generation may be evil, they may be good, but they are true events. Whatever happens in history comes out, and that is true, so that the doctrine of the Word of God is absolute truth. Since doctrine comes from God it is truth. Since the facts of history are the results of our decisions, our motives, our functions, they are true.

The content of divine judgment: we have the second o(ti introducing the fact of the three great divine judgments against ecumenical religion of the Tribulation, “because.” Then we have the aorist active indicative of the verb krinw, “because he has judged.” This is what they are shouting about. This is a culminative aorist tense, it views the threefold judgment of ecumenical religion in its entirety but regards it from the viewpoint of existing results, which includes the perpetuation of the human race during the course of human history. The active voice: Jesus Christ produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for the three categories of divine judgment used against ecumenical religion. With this we have the accusative singular direct object from an adjective and a noun: the adjective megaj, meaning great, and pornh, “the great whore,” referring to the spiritual fornication of the religious ecumenical system of the Tribulation. Religion is the greatest seducer of souls and is one of Satan’s greatest systems. So we translate: “because his judgments are true and righteous because he has judged the great prostitute.”

Next we have a rather strange relative pronoun. It is the qualitative relative pronoun, o(stij which means a special category. It is a relative pronoun indicating that the prostitute belongs to a special category. “Who” is the way we will translate it but it should be literally, “who is such a category as.” Then we have the aorist active indicative of fqeirw which often means to corrupt, here it means here to seduce, “the great whore who seduced.” The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it contemplates the action of the evil of ecumenical religion in its entirety. The active voice: ecumenical religion as the great whore produces the action of the verb through cosmic evangelism. The indicative mood is declarative for the eschatological reality of the evil function of ecumenical religion. And who is the victim? The accusative singular direct object of gh, meaning earth. The means by which it is accomplished: e)n plus the instrumental from porneia plus the genitive of a)utoj, “by means of her fornication.” A reference to the function of cosmic evangelism in the Tribulation.

The reason for the victory celebration is given in verse two, and the perfection of divine judgment is the first subject in verse two. We have the causal conjunction o(ti, “Because” followed by two nominative plurals, both were adjectives used as substantives, “Because true and righteous.” Then we have an ellipsis using the verb to be, “are his judgments.” “His judgments” is actually the subject and the others are predicate nominatives, so it should be translated, “Because his judgments are true and righteous.” This becomes a very important principle for us. The interesting thing about these two words in the Greek is the fact that both of them are in the plural and practically non-translatable into English because of this. The plural of “righteous” is not translated but it actually refers to the integrity of God. The reason it is in the plural is because the holiness or the integrity of God has two attributes: justice and righteousness. Behind the function of the justice of God is the fact that God is righteous, therefore He cannot make mistakes in the execution of judgments. The plural of “true” refers to all the facts of history entered into the computer of divine decrees: the facts of history as they emanate from the person of God and the printout from the divine decrees. Hence, “true” is a technical word here referring to the printout from the divine decrees regarding history. True refers to all the facts of history, that is why it is in the plural; truth is a reference to two things: the essence of God and, as the source of the essence of God, Bible doctrine which is absolute truth. So we have to rightly divide the Word of truth and make a distinction between two words as they come into the English from the translation.

“True,” being in the plural here refers to the printout of history, all the facts of history as they unroll; truth has to do with Bible doctrine. True refers to the facts of history as facts, not things that are true but facts that are true. So we have to distinguish between true and truth. The facts of history in any given generation may be evil but they are true facts, true events of history. The doctrine of the Word of God is absolute truth while the facts of history are both good and evil as true facts. Historically a person may lie but that lie is still a part of the facts of history and therefore it is true. It is true that he lied, in other words. It is true that the devil lied in the garden. That is a fact of history. True is the accuracy of history as it comes from the computer of divine decrees while truth is an attribute of God, both accurate and perfect, both infinite and absolute. Truth, then, is the source of Bible doctrine, while true is the unfolding of history as it occurs.

Notice here: “Because his judgments are true and righteous,” not truth and righteousness but true and righteous. This is technical but very important. The fact that His judgments are true means that they occur periodically in history when necessary. The fact that His judgments are righteous indicates that they come from His justice and that He never fails to be right in any estimate of the situation. God always has the facts.

Next we have the content of judgment. We go on with the second use of o(ti, “because,” and the aorist active indicative of the verb krinw, “because he has judged.” God judges; that is a fact. God’s judgments are perfect; that is a doctrine. The culminative aorist tense views the threefold judgment of ecumenical religion in its entirety but regards it from the viewpoint of existing results, the perpetuation of the human race on earth during the course of human history. The active voice: Jesus Christ produces the action of the verb because God the Father delegated all judgment to Him. The indicative mood is declarative for the reality of the these categories of judgment in this context and found throughout history.

Then that strange relative pronoun which is a qualitative relative pronoun. We never translate it fully into English. We simply translate it, o(stij, “who.” It is actually referring to a specific category, a qualitative category. That means that the category is distinct from all other categories in focus at the moment. In this case it is referring to ecumenical religion as an evil entity, “who seduced,” the aorist active indicative of fqeirw. The ecumenical religious system as the great prostitute produces the action of the verb through cosmic evangelism in the Tribulation. And we have the accusative singular direct object, gh, “the earth.”

We break off here for concept which begins in Psalm 89. There are three categories of protocol in heaven.: the person of God, the divine decrees, and the angelic college of heralds. These are three systems of protocol in heaven that have control over the protocol systems on earth. There are three protocol systems on earth: the laws of divine establishment, the concept of the client nation to God [or priest nation as Israel was called], and the plan of God for the believer. Nothing is more important than that the people of a client nation understand the attributes of God as the ultimate source of all protocol.

Psalm 85:8-13 is where we begin to develop the concept which is found in our passage in Revelation 19. All protocol originates from God; all protocol that originates from God is His plan, His purpose, His policy. It is imperative that we as believers understand the purpose, the plan, and the policy of God.

Verse 8, “I will hear what the God Jehovah will say,” we start with the source of all protocol. God’s plan is totally linked to a protocol system. Nothing is more important than understanding the attributes of God. If you understand the essence of God then you will listen to what He has to say. If you do not understand the essence of God it is very easy to become flippant, to resist the doctrine and even resent the doctrine because you can’t distinguish the difference between truth as an absolute and what is true in life. So reception is the first stage of GAP. “The Lord” refers to our Lord Jesus Christ. Bible doctrine is the mind of Christ and doctrine is the very basis for the protocol system, the plan of God on earth, “for he will communicate prosperity,” the Tribulation is a time of great disaster, a time when people here and there are dying by the millions, but there will be many alive at the second advent. The word “peace” is the Hebrew word shalom, and it also represents the concept of the doctrine of reconciliation; and He will communicate salvation, reconciliation, and prosperity. The plan of God starts with reconciliation, “to his people,” the client nation to God [in the context, Israel as a client nation], “and to his gracious ones,” the winners, believers who follow the protocol system and advance to maturity; the pivot of winners, “let them not return to stupidity,” the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to have absolute truth, Bible doctrine, in his soul and to stop thinking. That is the return to stupidity, that is cosmic evangelism.

Verse 9, “Nothing but his deliverance is near to those who respect him,” respect comes from the laws of divine establishment as a protocol system. It also means reverence which comes from the protocol system, the plan of God, “in order that glory may dwell in your land,” the secret to the client nation is not its prosperity or greatness or size or any of its leadership, it is whether it has glory or not, glory from the protocol system, the essence of God. Glory can only dwell in the land where there is a large pivot of mature believers, believers who have followed the colours, the protocol system, to maturity. These are the winners and provide the prosperity for the client nation to God. They are the ones on which the nation depends.

Verse 10, “Grace and doctrine have met together,” that is the glory of a nation. As goes the believer so goes the client nation to God. How can grace and doctrine meet together? Through the protocol system which God has designed. Grace is the principle of the system; doctrine is the momentum of the system. Grace is the function of the justice of God in the imputation of divine blessing. That imputation goes to those who possess +R, divine righteousness: believers as possessors of divine righteousness. This demands not only an understanding of the attributes of God but relating it to the protocol system that emanates from certain divine

attributes. For the system to work among believers there must be an understanding of protocol, there must be truth [absolute truth: Bible doctrine] in the right lobe. Essentially, of course, protocol eliminates human ability, human works, human talent, “righteousness and peace have kissed,” that is the story of how protocol began. It all began with a kiss, and the righteousness has to do with the integrity of God, the essence of God. In the essence of God are all of His attributes; +R [perfect righteousness] is one of them, and God has found a way to bless us. One half of divine holiness is +R, and by imputing +R to us at the moment we believe in Christ the justice of God has found a way to bless us and to bless others who are related to us, though they may not be related to God. “Righteousness and prosperity have kissed”; God has found a way to bless us. The integrity of God is that part of divine essence known as His holiness. Holiness is composed of two divine attributes. From it comes all protocol, all authority, everything of that nature. We have one half of that system in us by imputation, righteousness. Divine righteousness is the principle and divine justice is the function. The justice of God gives us the blessings. Hence, only what the righteousness of God demands can the justice of God execute. The righteousness of God indwells every believer. And righteousness and prosperity have kissed; grace and doctrine have met together; and that is the basis, then of our study. That is the finding out how we can avoid the terrible things that happened to ecumenical religion in the Tribulation.

Verse 11, “Doctrine [doctrinal teaching] shall spring up from the land [a client nation],” the Hebrew word for land is haeretz and it refers to Israel as a client nation to God, “righteousness shall look down from heaven,” the potential for great blessing because of the pivot by which God can bless. True blessing is always an overflow concept. The justice of God imputes blessing to the mature believer and that blessing overflows to the client nation. This emphasises the importance of the pivot.

Verse 12, “Also the Lord himself will give the good [the plan of God: X+Y+Z]; and our land [the client nation] will give her economic prosperity.”

Verse 13, “Righteousness will go before his face [an idiom meaning “before Him”], the word “righteousness” here means integrity. The real key to a nation is the integrity of the pivot. The pivot has an integrity and if it is a large pivot then that integrity overflows to the nation, and the nation with integrity has great prosperity. If the pivot is small the pivot has integrity but the nation has instead of integrity, degeneracy and eventually the nation destroys itself, “that he [the believer] may march toward the way [the protocol system].” Marching here means advance, momentum in the protocol system.

Generally, orthodox theology divides divine attributes into two categories: the absolute attributes of God and the relative attributes of God. The relative attributes are not relative in the character of God, they simply relate to something connected with mankind. The absolute attributes are actually three: spirituality, infinity, and perfection. Under the principle of spirituality we have the life of God and the personality of God. Under the principle of infinity we have God’s self-existence, God’s immutability, and the unity of His attributes, though these same attributes are found in three separate and distinct persons. Under the concept of perfection we note that God is truth, God is love, and God is integrity. Under the relative attributes we have first of all the divine attributes that relate to time and space. We have the eternity of God and the immensity of God. The eternity of God means that God has always existed, in three persons, there never was a time when God did not exist. God, therefore, is not subject to time, God is the cause of time. Both time and space, though without substance are the objects of His creation. God has created many things that have no substance, time is one of them and so is space. All life is from God, but not of God as claimed by pantheism. God is a person. Personality connotes self-consciousness, self-determination. There never was a time when God was not a person, there never was a time when God did not exist. God has no beginning. God recognises Himself to be a person and as such He always acts rationally. Therefore, any protocol system that God passes on to man depends upon acting rationally, and to act rationally you must be able to think. And you must be able to think not in terms of what is true, like the events of history, but in terms of truth. Truth is Bible doctrine; it is the absolute, the thing that never changes. That is because God is infinite personality. Perfection and self-determination characterise His purpose, His design, and His execution. Therefore infinity becomes a major issue. God is infinite, and by infinity is meant that God is without boundary, without limitation; He unites in Himself those perfections which belong to His person and His character. God cannot be complicated with ignorance or absurdities. God cannot sin, God cannot tempt, God cannot solicit to sin or to evil or to human good. In other words, once again, God cannot be complicated with ignorance or absurdities.

God may be self-limited. God sovereignly chooses to limit Himself at certain times, as in the case of the humanity of Christ during the incarnation. Our Lord Jesus Christ limited Himself. He limited the function of His deity in order to comply with the Father’s plan for the incarnation. In the hypostatic union our Lord Jesus Christ limited Himself, and yet as eternal God there is no limitation. God’s infinity is intensive rather than extensive, He has infinite energy and infinite power. Infinity, therefore, characterises everything that God does. His love, His integrity or holiness, the dissemination of His truth, are all accomplished under the principle of infinity, so that absolute authority and absolute thought emanate from absolute infinity. The divine motive is for His own glory for which he has an eternal right. God is not motivated by mere self-praise. God recognises His glory, that is inevitable. Everything related to the attributes of God relate to His glory. For this, of course, all creatures exist. All creatures exist as an extension of the policy, the protocol, the plan of God related to His glory. This is why we exist, and when we tap this protocol system life is a very wonderful thing; when we ignore it life is a most horrible and miserable thing.

God’s glory always existed, there never was a time when it did not exist. God’s infinity always existed. The infinity of God involves, therefore, three factors. When we think of God’s infinity we think of His self-existence. God existed eternally, unsustained by Himself or any source. The very word for God in the Old Testament — YHWH (Jehovah). Jehovah is a sacred word meaning the self-sustaining one, and it refers to the infinity of God. God’s existence is unalterable; God’s existence is the cause for all existence outside of Himself. He has always existed and therefore God’s self-existence, that’s the word Jehovah.

Then we have His immutability. God has not only eternally existed but He exists in an unchangeable form. He can’t improve because He is perfect. Because of His essential character, therefore, God cannot be better; God cannot be worse. God’s immutability is consistent with His perfect self-determination, freedom, and His ceaseless activity. Immutability is freedom to do according to His divine nature and therefore salvation is not God’s second best. God has no second best and salvation is all a part of His eternal purpose.

Because of God’s integrity or holiness plus His immutability and eternity it is impossible for God to be imperfect. God was perfect in eternity past, there never was a time when He wasn’t perfect. He was perfect before any creature ever existed and He continues to be perfect with all of the creatures He has produced and all of the universe He has produced continuously. God is not changed by all of the relativities connected with people and creatures.

Divine perfection includes God’s truth, God’s love and God’s holiness which are essential to understand in comprehending the fact that He has a protocol system. What comes from God is perfect, the only trouble with the plan is that it involves imperfect people. The difficulty is to get someone to stay with the plan long enough to be a blessing to others as well as himself. That is the problem and that is why we have absolute truth.

In connection with all of this we have time. Time is finite and it has two categories. It has succession and it also has duration. Eternity which is infinite has only duration. God is infinite and eternal, God is not in time but time is in God because God invented time. God is logical as a part of His protocol system, therefore He doesn’t need to be chronological. We are chronological. God is absolute existence. Jesus Christ as God is eternal life, therefore He has always existed. When we believe in Him He shares His life with mankind at salvation. That is why when we believe in Christ we have eternal life and that is why when we believe in Christ we receive an absolute. God is an absolute. He is so absolute and so infinite that man’s sin has never changed that, so when we as believers sin we have the absolute of eternal life, we have the absolute of God’s righteousness and even though we sin and fail we can’t lose our salvation. The absolute is never changed by the relative.

God is also immensity. God is not subject to space. God cannot be more or less than He is. God is the cause of space. In relationship to space God is both imminent and transcendent. Hence, immensity is a descriptive theological term for God’s relationship to space. Omnipresence is a descriptive term of space in relationship to God. Since God is the cause of space, if space were defined in terms of boundaries, God would exceed those boundaries to the point of infinity.

There are three systems of protocol in heaven. The first has to do with the essence of God, the second has to do with the divine decrees, and the third has to do with the angelic college of heralds. There are three systems of divine protocol on the earth. The first is the laws of divine establishment, the second has to do with the client nation to God in the significance of the pivot, the third has to do with the plan of God for the believer: the protocol system which we call the divine dynasphere, God’s plan for your life, the modus operandi of the royal family of God during the Church Age. These six categories are all very carefully and closely related. Certain things happen in heaven and they have a very definite relationship with what is going on on the earth.

The computer of divine decrees is a result of the second system of knowledge that God has. All of God’s knowledge is infinite, eternal, and simultaneous. There never was a time when the omniscience of God did not know everything that was knowable. All of that was prior to the creation of man, the creation of the angels, and the creation of the universe. All of this knowledge was entered into the computer of divine decrees.

The plan of God for us as believers in the Church Age was entered into this computer. We have seen its various aspects under such things as the printout of foreknowledge. Nothing can be foreknown until it is first of all decreed, and the foreknowledge of God simply means that God has a plan for your life and you personally were in the thinking of God in eternity past. Another printout is predestination. Predestination means that in eternity past you were in the plan of God. Another printout is election which has to do with your privileges as a believer in God’s protocol system. Your privileges under the concept of election are many.

There is a printout of sin which is in the computer of divine decrees. It is a chip called the saturation of sin. Periodically in history in certain generations evil reaches a peak which would be completely and totally self-destructive and at that point it becomes necessary for God to preserve the human race from self-destruction by judgment. In other words, in eternity past the omniscience of God programmed into the computer of divine decrees the sins of the entire human race during the course of history. The result of that printout, again, was the cross where our sins were judged and where salvation was accomplished. But the one in view as far as the protocol system is concerned is the second category of sin. They were entered into the computer of divine decrees under the concept of the saturation of sin and evil in any given generation. The saturation of sin and evil in any generation might jeopardise the perpetuation of the human race in history. God has promised that the human race will continue to live on planet earth until the end of time.

The saturation of sin and evil in any given generation of history results in the function of two laws. First of all, there is the law of self-retribution. This law is one in which mankind is the product of his own decisions. Whenever we fail, whenever we get into some kind of a problem it is always the result of our own decisions. We are inevitably the products of our own decisions. Secondly, there is the law of divine retribution in which the justice of God provides three categories of temporal judgment to protect the human race from self-destruction. These laws are the subject of chapters 16,17, 18, and the first three verses of chapter 19 of the book of Revelation. In chapter 19 the emphasis is on the Tribulational martyrs in heaven, they are celebrating a victory and the fact that they left the entire matter of judgment of ecumenical religion to the Lord Himself. They put the matter in the hands of the supreme court of heaven and now they are seeing the results of that decision.

At this time in the 20th century throughout the world in general we are now reaching a saturation of sin and evil. Such a saturation of sin and evil is self-destructive. Man has to potential of destroying himself on planet earth but God will never permit that to happen and He prevents it by three categories of judgment. The first category is called judgment by pain. Each one of these judgments is a grace function of the justice of God. Judgment by pain, for example, is the function of God’s grace in crisis evangelism. It fulfills the principle that God never judges an individual or a segment of the human race without giving them the grace opportunity of changing the entire situation. We have seen this in the first five bowl judgments of Revelation 16:1-11, and the key to this category of judgment is found in 16:10, loss of utilities means you cannot function in life very well and all normal life comes to a stop when they disappear. Crisis evangelism is the presentation of the gospel in times of individual or collective catastrophe and disaster. In other words, while under normal evangelism the unbeliever has the opportunity to objectively consider the issue of Christ and eternal salvation, judgment by pain is God’s last call to any generation when that generation is in the process of destroying itself by the concentration of sin and evil. A printout from the computer of divine decrees says that sin and evil has reached a saturation point, man is now on the verge of self-destruction, and in order first of all to take care of anyone who might once again consider and believer there is judgment by pain to restore objectivity, the last call in the field of evangelism.

The second category of judgment mentioned in this passage is judgment by death, the function of God’s grace in the perpetuation of the human race from generation to generation through human history. God has provided that the human race will not be totally destroyed and therefore until the end of history people will always live. At the second advent there will have been seven years of concentrated disaster and catastrophe and yet millions and millions of people are still alive on the earth. However, the problem will continue to exist. Man through his own bad decisions and functions of evil keeps trying to destroy himself on the earth. Man’s volition combined with man’s freedom apart from virtue and apart from establishment restraint is always self-destructive. When mankind is negative toward the gospel and the laws of divine establishment he becomes degenerate under one of two categories: disorganised evil or organised evil. So God has a system: judgment by death. It is a system of radical surgery whereby the grace of God removes from a given generation in a given geopolitical area of the world the cancer of evil and thereby protects the human race from its own self-destruction. The removal of certain contaminated parts of the human population in any given generation guarantees the perpetuation of the human race for the next generation and the opportunity to possess eternal life through personal faith in Jesus Christ. Judgment by death destroys one portion of the human race to preserve the rest for evangelism. If it were not for judgment by death in the previous generations of history we as believers would not be living on planet earth today. Judgment by death guarantees the evangelism of the human race in every generation, either through normal or crisis evangelism. The judgment of Sodom and Gomorrha except for Lot and his two daughters illustrates the principle of judgment by death. Therefore we look at the Dead Sea today as a memorial to the principle of judgment by death. The annihilation of Tribulational people with the mark of the beast under the administration of judgment by death is radical surgery. This was the administration of the seventh bowl judgment.

Of all of the systems of judgment which protect the human race the third category is perhaps the most interesting, judgment by finesse. God uses evil as the agent to destroy evil without coercion of human volition. It is a system of judgment whereby God does not violate the volition of anyone involved. The union of two evil entities becomes the basis for finesse judgment in history. In the concept of finesse judgment from God he uses an evil agent to punish and destroy an evil organisation. The revived Roman empire in the Tribulation was originally the sponsorer of ecumenical religion of the Tribulation but eventually there was a falling out between the two. Eventually the system of religious evil, the ecumenical religious system of the Tribulation, became so hateful to the political entity, the revived Roman empire, that the latter destroyed it. The principle in finesse judgment: Nature takes its course. No human volition is violated. Finesse judgment, then, dramatises the fact that man is simply the product of his own volition when he becomes involved in the cosmic system and its resultant evil. In other words, Psalm 76:10, “God uses the wrath of man to praise him.”

In judgment by death of client nations, then, Israel went this way. Israel comes in three categories of client nation (four of you include the united nation). Then you have the divided kingdom, then the southern kingdom, and finally the kingdom of Judea; and these were all Jewish client nations to God. There is no Jewish client nation today, and cannot be. The Church Age, starting in AD 70, is the time of the Gentiles and will be that way until the resurrection of the Church. But all three of these entities that came under judgment were destroyed by an evil agent when there was a saturation of evil in the nation: the northern kingdom in 721 BC; the southern kingdom in 586 BC; Judea in AD 70. All three of these client nations once did a great job for God but were wiped out when the printout from the computer of divine decrees said “saturation of evil.”

Geopolitics relates to historical trends in any given generation or century to a geographical area. This all came about when the fertile crescent became accepted into historical language and became the basis of developing the concept. The only thing that is missing from the concept of geopolitics is a relationship between the so-called science of geopolitics and a pivot of mature believers of any kind in history. Geopolitics was kicked off with what is known as the fertile crescent which basically follows the shoreline of the eastern Mediterranean, emphasising Egypt, Babylon, and the Hittite empire. What was ignored was that somewhere under the principle of geopolitics there is always a pivot. This explains the birth of the client nation Israel and how it functions, not only as a pivot but as it sent out missionaries and actually dealt with the vortex of thought in the fertile crescent. There is always a constant relationship between geopolitics and those who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Geopolitics recognises the Mediterranean as the Roman sea and there was the era of some 300 years of the Roman sea. During that time there was the development of a pivot of mature believers. Then, of course, the great one is western European civilisation which is related to the science of geopolitics and reaches its peak under two concepts: the Renaissance and the Reformation. Out of this came four major pivots: the pivots in Germany, France, Holland and England. Starting in the 15th and 16th centuries we have the Atlantic basin, the age of discovery, and eventually what resulted was a dual pivot: a pivot in England and a pivot in the colonies which became the United States of America. We can relate it also to the Anglo-Saxon culture in that we have the dual Anglo-Saxon pivot. The part related to western European culture in the continent of Europe is about shot down. The pivot has all but disappeared from England. The great movement now is into the Pacific basin. This is the basin of the future as far as geopolitics in concerned. You can always count on the fact that when you have a new geopolitical area you always have a pivot moving with it.

The pivot is defined as the accumulation of mature believers living either in a client nation under a specific type of civil government in a specific geographical location. Sometimes there is a pivot without the civil government. While the pivot is composed primarily of mature believers it also includes the principle of those who have fulfilled the principle of advancing to gates five and six and have obeyed the mandate virtue first as far as the protocol system is concerned. Technically, then, the pivot may include all believers who have fulfilled the principle of virtue first. The pivot stands out in contrast to believers living in the cosmic system whose arrogance and motivational evil at gate one, cosmic one results in the self-righteous and crusader arrogance which inevitably leads to the reaction of total degeneracy. Believers who are apostate can easily be recognised today as a part of the historical trends because born-again believers who are apostate are involved in civil action (sometime called social action) and civil disobedience. The true Christian influence in a national entity is always spiritual, it is never political and it is never social. It is inevitably a spiritual principle and the tragedy is that believers in their arrogance working for the devil and becoming the enemies of the cross, as in Philippians 3:16, are born-again believers living in the cosmic system — in their crusader arrogance, in their self-righteous legalism. The true Christian influence, again, is always spiritual. The Christian’s power is always related to his spiritual life and therefore the Christian life becomes the issue and it starts with the protocol system. There are three protocol systems in heaven. The first is related to the essence of God, the second the decrees of God, and the third to the angelic college of heralds. There are three protocol systems on earth: the laws of divine establishment, the client nation to God, and most important of all is the protocol system, God’s plan for your life, the divine dynasphere with it eight gates. Because the spiritual life is being neglected today or because believers in arrogance are distracted from the spiritual life and the protocol system, we are in danger of being destroyed as a client nation to God.

Christianity must never be the state. There must always be a separation between church and state for the true function of freedom and the fulfillment of human volition in the angelic conflict. This does not imply that Christians should not serve in government but it does imply that believers in government service must abide by the laws of divine establishment and never seek to force Christianity on others apart from their own personal consent. Christianity must not be the state. The pivot is then defined as the protocol of heaven meeting the protocol of earth for the blessing of mankind. The client nation to God is not a Christian nation, there is no such thing as a Christian nation, but it is any national entity in which the civil government recognises the establishment principles of freedom, including privacy, the sacredness of property, and the sacredness of life. The client nation to God contains a pivot of mature believers who achieved through spiritual momentum the principle, the mandate, of virtue first. This means that there is enough freedom in such a nation or in a specific geographical area to provide for extensive evangelism without government interference or persecution, and without the evangelism itself violating a principle: the issue in evangelism is between the individual’s soul and God, not raising a hand, not walking an aisle, not weeping tears of repentance at an altar.

Whatever form it takes, the gift of evangelism or personal witnessing or the written page, no one must ever be embarrassed by making a jackass of themselves in public.

The general characteristics of a client nation to God includes:

1. A civil government and policy based on the laws of divine establishment. The laws of divine establishment are for believer and unbeliever alike.

2. The function of evangelism under the principle of freedom. That means that the individual has a right to consider the gospel in the privacy of his own soul without someone trying to make him a number in some paper or computer.

3. The establishment of local churches which are autonomous, neither connected with other churches to form denominations or spheres of influence, nor involved in any movement which seeks to untie church and state.

4. The function of vigorous and dynamic Bible teaching so that believers can understand the protocol of heaven how it relates to the protocol of earth, and what is the Christian way of life.

5. There must be not only the spiritual growth inside the divine dynasphere, the protocol system, but missionary activity to other nations under the indigenous principle of not interfering with foreign governments but providing both the gospel and Bible teaching for people of other countries.

The first client nation to God was Israel. The record is from BC 1440 to AD 70. During that time portions of Israel were under divine discipline for their failure to function as a client nation to God. We have seen under the principle of finesse judgment how each segment of Israel was finally eliminated as a client nation to God. First the northern kingdom in BC 721. The evil agent was Assyria. The southern kingdom went out in BC 586. The evil agent was the Chaldean empire. Finally Judea, the last of the Jewish client nations, went out in AD 70. The evil agent was the Roman empire. With that the times of the Gentiles began.

James 4:6-10, the impact of the believer must be spiritual. When it is not a spiritual impact there is no blessing by association, there is the violation of the protocol system on earth which is the rejection of the protocol system in heaven. The rejection of the protocol system in heaven means judgment.

Verse 6, “He gives greater grace [the principle of logistical grace]. Therefore it says, ‘God makes war against the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble’.” Humility is the beginning of virtue. Virtue is necessary to be in the pivot.

Verse 7, “Therefore submit to God [life in the divine dynasphere]. Resist the devil [avoidance of the cosmic system] and he will flee from you.”

Verse 8, “Draw near to God [the function of the protocol system] and he will draw near to you [the blessings of motivational virtue]. Cleanse your hands you sinners [the function of the rebound technique. Sinners are believers in the cosmic system]; and purify your right lobes [momentum from the function of GAP], you double-minded [a believer involved in both cosmic one and cosmic two].”

Verse 9, “Be miserable [self-induced from making wrong decisions from a position of weakness] and mourn and weep [the result of bad decisions]; let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your happiness into gloom.” This is the result of living in the cosmic system, the rise of degeneracy, and the destruction of the client nation to God.

Verse 10, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [the believer living in the protocol system], and he will exalt you.” The believer becomes a winner in the protocol system and this is the only deliverance for our nation.

Returning to our passage in Revelation 19:2, we have seen how believers can resolve their problems by utilising the various rationales. First there is the essence of God rationale. God knows all the facts and is better qualified to make a judgment in very case. This is why the Tribulational martyrs left the matter of their martyrdom, their torture, their persecution in the hands of the Lord. No retaliation on their part. This took great virtue, the kind of virtue you find in the pivot. Secondly, the plan of God rationale. To believe in the plan of God you must remember that the battle is the Lord’s. Thirdly, the logistical grace rationale. The justice of God is the source of life and blessing, not other people who have disappointed you. Fourth was the A fortiori rationale of Romans 8:32. In the fifth place, the historical trend rationale. God does a much better job in dealing with evil than we do. Arrogance says, Step aside God, I’m on a crusade. Sixth, the protocol rational. The protocol of heaven is much more capable of administering judgment than we will ever be. From these rationales comes the doctrinal conclusion that we should always leave revenge in the hands of the Lord, so that in the third stage of the faith-rest drill we then have control of our own lives, we have a personal sense of destiny, we must not surrender our happiness to loved ones, to friends, to enemies, to strangers.

We continue in verse 2 with “because he has judged the great prostitute” and we noticed that it we she who “seduced the earth by means of her fornication”. This fornication is not the literal fornication but the spiritual fornication which is related to the ability of religion to distract the world.

Next we resume with the dynamics of the faith-rest drill. We start out with the conjunction kai which introduces a result from what precedes, and therefore we translate it “furthermore.” This refers to the imprecatory prayers of the Tribulational martyrs who have left vengeance in the hands of the Lord. In answer to the faith-rest drill, then, of these Tribulational martyrs there are three judgments which were administered: judgment by pain, judgment by death, judgment by finesse. The faith-rest drill of the Tribulational martyrs is based on the principle of Romans 12:19, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” That is a principle that belongs to us right now, just as it belongs to the dynamics of the spiritual life in the Tribulation. It is not our responsibility to take vengeance on others, to retaliate. Vengeance in the monopoly of the Lord and we are to put the matter in the Lord’s hands and leave it there. This is the function of the first stage of the faith-rest drill. In the second stage we have noted the various rationales which apply, and from these rationales again comes that doctrinal conclusion: revenge is the monopoly of God. Leave it in His hands; He has all the facts and he will handle the matter. And so we have “furthermore he avenged,” the aorist active indicative of e)kdikew. This is a dramatic aorist tense, it states the present reality of a future act of justice on behalf of the Tribulational martyrs. This is accomplishing the entire function of the protocol of heaven. The active voice: Jesus Christ to whom the Father has committed all judgment produces the action of the verb through the protocol system: judgment by pain, judgment by death, and judgment by finesse.

With this we have the accusative singular direct object a(ima referring to the blood of the martyrs, and they are called “his servants,” douloj. These are servants in very technical way. They are ones who had a great spiritual impact in the time in which they lived. They remained the servants of the Lord, they did not take vengeance, they did not take anything out of the hands of the Lord — “furthermore he avenged the blood of his servants.” This statement answers the faith-rest function of these martyrs, including their imprecatory prayers.

The believer who is free from revenge is motivated to be a winner in time. Freedom from revenge is one of the greatest freedoms that we enjoy in this life and it is a freedom that only comes from the perception of doctrine and the function of the faith-rest drill. This means freedom from motivational evil as in gate one of cosmic one, anytime you are jealous or bitter or vindictive or implacable or full of self-pity or full of hatred and antagonism. Freedom from motivational evil is one of the greatest freedoms in life, and by placing the matter in the hands of the Lord the believer never loses. The only losers are those who seek to retaliate, those who seek to hurt, those who seek revenge against others when wronged.

The ellipsis demands that a verb go with the word “blood,” and “by means of her hand” is the final prepositional phrase, e)k plus the ablative xeiron a)utoj. Ordinarily, the instrumental is used in the expression of impersonal means. However, when the expression of means goes back to the origin we have the ablative of means. So it is “by means of her hand,” referring to ecumenical religion, the great prostitute.

Translation: “Because his judgments are true [actual historical events, the printout of the computer of divine decrees] and righteous [divine judgment is based upon the function of divine integrity]: because he has judged the great prostitute [ecumenical religion], who seduced the earth by means of her fornication [ecumenical religion as the chief agent of the cosmic evangelism in the Tribulation], furthermore he avenged the blood of his servants shed by means of her hand.”

Ecumenical religion in the Tribulation is Satan’s chief agent in the function of evil. It had two functions which were mentioned in this verse. First of all, the evangelism or seduction of the world’s population to Satan’s cosmic system — the means by which he controls mankind, both believer and unbeliever. However, Satan cannot control the evil which has developed in his own system, and therefore the basis for finesse judgment. Secondly, for those mature believers who resist the cosmic system of ecumenical religion there was torture and violence and finally murder. Those who resisted ecumenical religion are the believers who were in the pivot in that day. Rejection of ecumenical religion meant refusal to compromise with evil and it will cost many of the mature believers their lives. The only exceptions would be mature believers in some geographical location in the Tribulation where they continue to have tranquillity and prosperity. during the course of the martyrdom of those mature believers so involved they will put aside all thoughts of revenge. They die in complete mental peace. They have placed the matter entirely in the hands of the supreme court of heaven and therefore they die in great tranquillity and blessing, even though their martyrdom, for some, will be painful.

Then there is a second shout of victory. This will give us the story of that nuclear mushroom cloud which God is going to freeze in place over Rome, and the “eternal city” of Rome will be famous throughout the Millennium and throughout all eternity. It will be the museum where people will go to see what a nuclear bomb was like. And that is all Rome will be in the Millennium and in the eternal state.

Verse 3, we have the second shout of victory which is very much like the first, except it is shorter. We have the connective conjunction kai referring to sequence, “Then.” Then a nominative neuter singular adjective deuteroj meaning “second,” “Then a second time,” followed by the perfect active indicative of the verb legw, the verb of communication. It indicates, by the way, communication through words. In other words, communication from one’s thinking. It is related to logoj which is the word in the Greek for word, thought, doctrine, and other things. “Then a second time they shouted.” The perfect tense is an intensive perfect, it emphasises the results of the action so that the existing fact is intensified, and therefore the Greek way of saying a thing is. They are having a wonderful time in heaven and from time to time there is something very special announced and they stop having a good time long enough to cheer. The idiom is often translated in the English present, as here. The active voice: the Tribulational martyrs produce the action of the verb from a position of strength and happiness. Disaster on earth does not mar happiness in heaven. The indicative mood is declarative for the reality of the eschatological event in heaven, the cheering section.

Once again we have the Greek word which is not even correctly transliterated in the King James version, A)(llelouia. It is taken from the Hebrew which is hallelujah, “praise the Lord.” This is a great cheer from thousands of winners from the Tribulation. The concept is very important here. This is not gloating. Gloating is a sign of no virtue, by the way. They are very happy because ecumenical religion has been judged, and judged properly. Actually, this is occupation with the person of Jesus Christ and the administration of His justice. The reason they are cheering is because they had the good sense to leave the matter in the Lord’s hands: the principle of the faith-rest drill as we have previously noted. The Tribulational martyrs do not gloat over the judgments of Christ but they rejoice in the justice of our Lord as a part of His divine holiness. The same justice of Christ has provided blessing for them in heaven while exercising judgment on the earth. Heaven is a place of great happiness for believers during the interim life.

Since three divine attributes are related to the plan of God for the believer, one of the divine characteristics is always the object of human praise and worship. The first is the omniscience of God because God has understood us from eternity past and has provided for us through His policy of grace. Remember, under the principle of the infinity and the eternity of God the omniscience of God knew everything simultaneously. There never was a time when God had to learn anything. The omniscience of God fed all of these things into the computer of divine decrees so that there are many different printouts as a result. The computer of divine decrees made many printouts. We have noted some of them related to sin, some of them related to historical trends, some of them related to the function of the essence of God related to the protocol system in the plan of God. But the point is, the omniscience of God is always one of the bases for our worship of Him, our appreciation of Him, and our praise of Him. Secondly, of course, the love of God because we as believers are the object of His eternal and infinite impersonal love, which means that He has provided for us in grace under the pattern of Romans 8:32. Thirdly, the integrity of God is composed of His righteousness and justice which means that God has perfect virtue, always had perfect virtue, there never was a time when He did not have perfect virtue. Because God has always had perfect virtue it is impossible for Him to let us down. We are going to let God down and others as well from time to time but God will never let us down even once. No matter how we fail, no matter what we do that is wrong, no matter how we become involved in the cosmic system through our own stupidity and bad decisions we are going to let people down but He will never let us down. Therefore, He is the object of our worship. Furthermore, the integrity of God establishes the grace pipeline, the means of blessing the believer without compromising the character of God. Divine justice is on the giving end and on the receiving end we have indwelling us God’s perfect righteousness. God sends all blessing, all grace support — not to us because we earn it or deserve it but to His own perfect righteousness. In that way there is no compromise of the attributes of God. Imputed righteousness not only means therefore justification at salvation but it means the basis by which God can bless us with our frailties in time.

The reason for the second shout of victory is also related to one of the most unusual museums in the Millennium, a museum that appears will not only survive the Millennium but also be a part of the eternal state. Furthermore, it is a museum city related to a museum city at the present — Rome. Rome is going to be a museum in the Millennium and a Museum for all eternity.

Let us notice the Greek. We have the expletive use of the conjunction kai, translated “and so.” The subject is the nominative singular from kapnoj, and it means smoke with a chemical content of some sort. We simply translate it “smoke.” This smoke is the result of the nuclear attack which destroyed the headquarters of ecumenical religion at the end of the Tribulation. Hence, it is a reference to the finesse judgment in which the evil agent, evil one, the revived Roman empire, finally destroys evil two, the ecumenical religious system.

Finesse judgment is an evil agent totally apart from divine coercion doing God’s work by destroying an evil entity, evil two. This can also describe how the believer and the human race in general are all our own worst enemies. Evil one is our bad decisions, negative volition toward doctrine, all of the decisions to go contrary to what the Word of God tells us is the will of God for our lives. But those bad decisions we destroy ourselves. When we get into a jamb it is always of our own making. It all adds up the fact that we destroy ourselves and we bring about our own misery by our own bad decisions, we lose control of our lives, and we have no personal sense of destiny. This is finesse discipline, we discipline ourselves, we manufacture our own misery.

“and so her smoke,” the possessive genitive singular from a)utoj. Her smoke refers to ecumenical religion, “goes up,” the present active indicative of the verb a)nabainw, which means to ascend, to go up. The simplest translation would be “and so her smoke goes up.”

The next phrase is going to be “forever and ever,” and the point is: Does the smoke keep going up forever and ever and form the typical nuclear cloud. This is envisioned as a perpetual mushroom cloud, going up constantly, and it is there for all people to see. The “eternal city” (Rome) is certainly going to be an eternal museum which will describe how stupid man is without God, without Christ as saviour, without Bible doctrine. There will be no contamination in this Millennial museum. The Millennial people have to learn a lesson because they are not going to have any religion in the Millennium. One of the signs of perfect environment is the removal of all religion. There will be worship of the Lord of course, but worship of the Lord and faith in Christ is not a religion. A true relationship with God is not a religion. So people have to learn some way, some how, what a terrible thing religion is and how self-destructive it is, and what a terrible thing evil is, and how evil always is divided. Satan with all of his genius could never control evil. He cannot keep his team together. There is always dissension on the team and dissension on the team means evil one attacks evil two and destroys evil two. So Satan cannot control his own cosmic system because his cosmic system produces evil and evil does not stick together. Evil is always falling apart and is always mutually antagonistic. People from all over the world will come to see the mushroom cloud, the only reminder on earth that there was ever warfare.

The passage should read: “Then a second time they shouted, Praise the Lord. And so her smoke goes up ...” The perfective present tense denotes a continuation of existing results of the nuclear attack and the destruction of ecumenical religion. There will be a constant ascending of smoke, a constant mushroom cloud. It will be a perpetual museum, a reminder of the power of God, a reminder to us as believers that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of eschatological doctrine to us. In the future this will be a dogmatic statement of historical doctrine. It will be an eternal monument to the self-destructive power of evil.

The eternal status of this sight in Rome is given by the prepositional phrase: e)ij plus the accusative

plural of a)iwn plus the genitive plural of a)iwn which is literally, “unto the ages of the ages” but is an idiom that should be correctly translated “forever and ever.”

The destruction of religion through judgment by pain, judgment by death, and judgment by finesse removes Satan’s most powerful weapon as a prelude to the second advent. Satan with all of his genius has never been able to control the power generated by evil. It is a power that gets out of control. Satan is the source of all evil but he is never able to control this power. Therefore evil becomes the agent in the destruction of evil as the principle of finesse judgment. The second victory shout, then, celebrates the power of our Lord Jesus Christ in destroying the greatest system of evil the world will ever know. This reminds every believer again of 1 John 4:4, “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” It also confirms the principle of Psalm 76:10, “The wrath of man shall praise thee.” The point of doctrine: Jesus Christ controls history.

While Jerusalem in the Millennium will enjoy great blessing and prosperity, Rome, the so-called eternal city, will be characterised by one of the most unusual phenomena of all time, a huge mushroom cloud which people will go to see.

Verse 4, we see, once again, the angelic aristocracy with their worship. This is not a general worship of all angels, only the aristocracy, the top winners in the prehistoric angelic conflict. There are two categories of aristocracy, both are found in this passage. The first is found under the nominative plural subject presbuteroj which is unfortunately translated “elders” in the King James version. With it we have indeclinable numerals e)ikosi and tessarej, “twenty-four.” So we have twenty-four elders, but they are not elders as such. Technically presbuteroj, by the way, is used for pastor-teachers, emphasising their authority over a local church as far as the congregation is concerned. The word does not mean elder, it does not mean old man, it simply means the top authority within the framework of some organisation. The word presbuteroj is also translated “senator.” It was used for administrative authority. Here it means one of the 24 highest-ranking staff officers in the angelic order of battle. This is one of the two categories of aristocracy in the angelic order of battle.

The second category is from the aristocracy of the angelic college of heralds. And, again, it is the staff, the angelic staff made up of four, “the four living creatures [heralds].” “Then the twenty-four elders [staff officers of the angelic order of battle] and the four living creatures [the seraph officers of the angelic college of heralds],” since both categories are elect angels and since both categories were top winners in the prehistoric angelic conflict they have the ability and the capacity to offer maximum worship to the Lord. The previous worship of the 24 angelic staff officers we studied in Revelation chapter four, verses ten and eleven. But at this time it isn’t the rank and file of elect angels, it isn’t even the lower aristocracy, we just have one special category which is permitted to enter into worship at this particular time, worship related to the mushroom cloud.

Probably one of the words that seems very dull as far as most people are concerned is the word “worship.” Generally speaking people do not associate the word with any form of happiness or enjoyment. Most people think of worship as an obligation, something that has to be done, often a way of gaining some good fortune from God! Worship is often a trade-out in the minds of people who are so involved. Probably the reason for this is that we do not understand that once we are absent from the body and face to face with the Lord the capacity for worship will reach its maximum, and once it does it becomes the most stimulating and the most exciting thing in the world. The idea of worshipping God is a phenomenal thing.

Worship is generally associated in the Bible with happiness because one of the most basic concepts of worship is thanksgiving. Generally, people who are grateful are happy while they are grateful. Worship is actually one of the greatest tests for capacity in life and as your capacity for worship increases so does your capacity for life and for happiness. Worship is also probably the greatest expression of objectivity in life, and objectivity is always associated with the better things in life and the greater things. All virtue is related to objectivity and without objectivity there is no virtue. But people who are self-centered and arrogant, people who are full of involvement with themselves to the exclusion of reality and everything else, really have no capacity for worship and no understanding of it. Of course, worship is related to absolute truth and therefore becomes the key to many things in life. By absolute truth is meant Bible doctrine.

In verse four which we have just begun to study we have noticed that the subject is angelic worship. We also note that the angelic worship involves only the two categories of elect angel aristocracy, the first category being the 24 “elders” who are from the angelic aristocracy called the angelic order of battle. They are the staff officers in the angelic order of battle. And the four living creatures who are seraph-ranked heralds are also staff officers in the angelic college of heralds. They are the subject and they have been in eternity for as many years as have elapsed since the creation of man and woman and placing them in the garden, however long that is. The universe is much, much older than man. Long before man was created the angelic conflict existed, and in the angelic conflict there were winners and losers. The great winners are those angels who became a part of the aristocracy of eternity for angels. There are two categories: the angelic order of battle and the angelic college of heralds. These are the greatest winners in the prehistoric angelic conflict. One thing is certain: when it comes to worship the winners are always mentioned. We are dealing here with angelic winners and they have full capacity for worship. They have the greatest capacity for worship, they are a part of the eternal aristocracy of angelic creatures, the elect angels, in heaven.

We now have their worship mentioned in verse 4 because they have greater capacity for worship at the time that this event will occur than any other kind of creature. The aorist active indicative of piptw has to do with their posture. Posture often has a great deal to do with attitude. Piptw means to fall down and prostrate themselves. They fell down. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. The posture of their glorified bodies is one of total humility which is a prerequisite to any form of worship on earth or in heaven.

There is a principle that comes out of this immediately: Anything that produces maximum happiness is an exclusive club, and the greater your capacity the more exclusive you become in life. And the greater your happiness from your capacity, the daily perception of Bible doctrine, the more you are in the ranks of a few as a winner in human history. One of the greatest sources of happiness that man can experience is worship under full capacity. There is no greater form of happiness, there is no greater pleasure, but it is a pleasure and a happiness which eludes most believers simply because believers do not have the capacity and simply because believers have a false scale of values.

The active voice: only a very limited group of creatures produce the action. These are creatures with the most capacity, creatures with an ability for happiness in heaven in eternity that many creatures will never have. Both elect angels and born-again believers. For one thing is certain as a part of the rewards of being a winner either in the prehistoric angelic conflict or in the Church Age or in any dispensation of human history the capacity goes with you. Worship in heaven will be in degrees just as there will be degrees of reward. The expression of worship that is given to us is only a very small thing like “Praise the Lord.” That doesn’t sound like much, but when we have a record such as we have here these are the highest decorated angels from the prehistoric angelic conflict. Just as a few are going to have the order of the morning star and the gazebo in the garden, and in the new knighthood of eternity they are going to be high on the list; and they will be aristocracy forever, and will have a greater capacity forever and ever to worship God because they have something to give. This is the definition of worship: a creature who has a relationship with God and from that relationship has something to give. That is worship. The indicative mood is declarative for the reality of this worship on the part of the angelic aristocracy of heaven, the staff officers from the angelic order of battle and the staff officers from the angelic college of heralds.

The connective conjunction kai is followed by the aorist active indicative of the verb proskunew, correctly translated “worship,” but the corrected translation does not explain all that it means. It is a culminative aorist contemplating the action of the verb in its entirety but it regards it from the viewpoint of existing results, the ability in eternity, an ability that few are going to have, elect angel or born-again believer, to express maximum worship of God and from that expression to derive a happiness that very few will possess. It is one thing to have eternal life and eternal security, it is one thing to be in heaven as a loser and still have a resurrection body, but capacity is very definitely involved. The reason that we have this antiphony in heaven is simply because we have at this point those with maximum capacity to express worship. They have something to give God. The something that they have to give God falls into three categories. First of all there is glory; secondly, honour to God; thirdly, thanksgiving. They have the capacity for maximum worship in the giving of glory, honour and thanksgiving to God. The active voice: the subject again, both the angelic staff officers of the order of battle and the heralds of the college of heralds produce the action of the verb as they did in Revelation 7:11.

Psalm 29:1, “Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of power,” a title for winners in the Old Testament, “ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.” Glory is again a category of worship. You cannot give to God in worship what you do not have. You must have glory in order to give Him glory. That is why in Revelation 4:10 the 24 angelic staff officers were able to throw their crowns down before the throne — because they had crowns. the crowns represented the rewards that they had received for being winners in the prehistoric angelic conflict.

Verse 2, “Ascribe to the Lord glory of his name; worship the Lord in the majesty of his integrity.” We are familiar with the format for the royal family of God for it was predicted by our Lord Jesus Christ in John 4:22-24, “You worship what you do not know,” this is our Lord speaking to the Pharisees who alleged to be the great worshippers on God in their day, and were not. In other words, He is saying to them that they worship in ignorance. When you put the word “worship” and “ignorance” together worship is canceled. You cannot worship God in ignorance. Worship can only function and exist in any form as creatures on this earth or in heaven have cognizance. Worship demands cognizance, perception of absolute truth, perception of Bible doctrine — “we worship what we know; for deliverance is from the Jews,” Christ being the Jew is the only saviour. “But the hour is coming, and now is, when true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in doctrine,” prophecy concerning the royal family of the Church Age, “for such people the Father seeks to be his worshippers,” God created man with free will and with soul capacity to worship Him. “God is a spirit; and those who worship him must worship in spirit [the power of God the Holy Spirit] and in doctrine.” So it is impossible to have any capacity for worship until there is the filling of the Holy Spirit and the perception and application of doctrine.

Philippians 3:3, “For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.” Putting no confidence in the flesh means that any time your scale of values puts anything else before doctrine, anything else before the principles of the protocol system, then you are putting confidence in people, and a negative part of worship is putting no confidence in the flesh.

So human worship is the expression of the believer’s capacity from doctrine, the believer’s category one personal love for God. As such it can only be expressed inside God’s protocol system, the divine dynasphere. As the function of the royal priesthood inside of the divine dynasphere it demands perception of doctrine as the prerequisite for any capacity for worship. While worship is the priestly function of the believer, especially at gate five of the divine dynasphere, it is not a true function apart from the interlocking systems of the protocol. The worship function of gate five begins with love of God through perception of Bible doctrine. The first thing that we can give God is love but we must have capacity for it, and the capacity has nothing whatever to do with emotion but it has everything to do with the perception of doctrine.

According to Revelation 4:10,11 there are three categories in worship. The first category and the highest category that we can give God then is what is described in verse 11 as doca, “glory.” This is the form that expresses maximum capacity. To have maximum capacity as a believer (or as an elect angel) you must be a winner. For the royal family of God it is impossible to give this form of worship until we have received our resurrection bodies at the Rapture, and until we have received those awards and decorations that are compatible. No one can give glory in worship unless he has glory, and glory belongs only to those believers who are winners — only those believers who advance to gate eight. So we are talking about the type of worship expressed in our passage as something that only angels, only those winners, only those elect angels of the highest order of aristocracy can give at the present time. That is why when any worship is expressed in the book of Revelation sooner or later those elect angels who were winners in the prehistoric angelic conflict are the subject of the verb proskunew, the verb to worship. So the royal family of God is eliminated. We do not have glory until we have a resurrection body. Having a resurrection body doesn’t even mean having glory. Having glory means having advanced to maturity before glory can exist. The believer cannot give in worship what the believer does not possess. At the present, under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit, the believer can give worship only in what he possesses, a mind to concentrate on doctrine, a voice to sing praises, a volition to perpetuate perception of doctrine.

The believer’s capacities for worship are all related to his life inside the divine dynasphere. The principle: Capacity for worship must precede the function of worship, and ritual without reality is the status quo of a believer until he has something to give to God, something that he has developed in his own soul and in his own life. In this body of corruption we cannot give this highest form of worship.

The second category is called timh, “honour.” But timh means three things, therefore there are three areas of worship expression connected with this noun. The first meaning of timh, and the lowest in the order of worship but still a part of worship and a part of capacity, is respect. Timh means respect. The believer can only respect the Lord Jesus Christ through understanding His thinking, which is another way of saying perception of doctrine at gate four. In 1 Corinthians 2:16 we discover that doctrine is the thinking or the mind of Christ. Respect is the beginning of love for God. You cannot give in worship what you do not have and until you have respect for God you cannot worship Him under this category. Apart from positive volition toward doctrine, apart from putting doctrine first in your scale of values, this is impossible. Respect for the written Word must precede respect for the written Word.

The second meaning of timh is reverence. It is the concept of personal love. Personal love for Christ in worship begins with respect which is personal love of God, gate five. It continues into reverence, which is occupation with the person of Christ. Once you are occupied with the person of Christ you have something to give. Respect is the worship of the immature believer who has legitimate function in worship whereas reverence is the worship of the advancing believer. Both respect and reverence are possible for the believer in time and the believer can give in worship both respect and worship. They are the function of the believer’s royal priesthood as motivational virtue in worship. All motivational virtue must express itself in the function of worship for all motivating virtue is directed toward God.

The third meaning of timh is honour. To honour God in worship requires virtue and integrity manufactured inside the divine dynasphere. Only honourable believers can honour the Lord and give honour to the Lord in worship. You cannot give what you do not have.

The simplest form of worship is the giving of thanks, the most basic form of priestly worship and modus operandi. The capacity for this worship is gratitude. You must have capacity to have gratitude, to be in a state of appreciation. Capacity for thanksgiving comes from the perception of doctrine, while gratitude is the expression of that worship toward God. If you are grateful to God for anything you express it in worship. If you have gratitude you can express it. The believer in the cosmic system does not have capacity for gratitude and therefore he cannot fulfill this form of worship. Arrogance is the absence of gratitude and thanksgiving. No matter what is done for an arrogant person they are never appreciative.

So we have the concept of worship as it is expressed in our passage: angelic creatures who have reached the top in the prehistoric angelic conflict and therefore have maximum capacity. Therefore, their posture merely indicates their attitude: their respect, their reverence, their integrity, their gratitude and their glory. All of these things they are able to give in worship. “Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped...”

The object of worship: “the God,” the dative singular indirect object from qeoj. An interesting thing here is that we do not have the accusative direct object. This is in the dative case, the dative of advantage, and it expresses the whole concept of worship. In the dative indirect object the one who is the object receives the advantage and this is why God created us. Two members of the Godhead sit on the throne and it will be noticed that what we have next is the fact that the worship is directed toward “the God who sat on the throne.” The Father is obviously sitting on the throne and also the Son, for the Father said to the Son, “Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies the footstool for your feet.” He said this first prophetically in Psalm 110:1. It is expressed then post-prophetically, and therefore historically, after the resurrection, after the ascension and session of our Lord. Therefore, this prophetic phrase of Psalm 110:1 is mentioned in Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1,2; Hebrews 1:3; 1:13; 8:1; 10:12; 1 Peter 3:22. So it occurs quite a number of times indicating the fact that Jesus Christ in hypostatic union is visible on the throne; God the Father is invisible. Jesus Christ as the exalted God-Man is the visible member of the Trinity — John 3:18; 6:46; 1 Timothy 6:16. As the winner in the angelic conflict our Lord Jesus Christ is the object of worship in this context.

We have the articular present active participle from the verb kaqhmai, which means to sit and is translated here “the one who is sitting.” The definite article is used as a relative pronoun and refers to our Lord Jesus Christ. The perfective present tense denotes what has come to be in the past, the ascension of our Lord, but is emphasised as a present reality. Jesus Christ is seated at the place of honour at the right hand of the Father to be the object of our worship. The active voice: the glorified Christ produces the action of the verb and the participle is circumstantial. It refers, then, to the ascension and session of Christ. He is said to be seated “upon the throne,” e)pi plus the locative of qronoj.

The shout that is given is very brief. It doesn’t express everything that they are saying but merely what applies to us at the present time. We start out with the present active participle of legw which means to speak, to say, to communicate. The present tense is an aoristic present for punctiliar action in present time, obviously a futuristic present. The active voice: the representatives of the two categories of angelic aristocracy produce the action of the verb, the angelic order of battle and the angelic college of heralds. The participle is circumstantial which can be translated with the conjunction and the finite verb, “and they shouted,” as being literal. With this we have the word “Amen” and the word “Hallelujah,” “Praise the Lord.”

Translation: “Then the twenty-four elders [the staff officers of the angelic order of battle] and the four living creatures [the seraph-ranked heralds from the angelic college of heralds] fell down and worshipped God who sat on the throne [the glorified Christ, the visible one sitting on the throne], and they shouted, Amen [we acknowledge]; Praise the Lord.”

At this point we have a break-in from the highest-ranked officer in the angelic college of heralds. We go back now to the king of arms.

Verse 5, we have a sequential use of the conjunction kai, “Then.” It introduces a mandate from the king of arms. With this we have the nominative singular subject fwnh, “voice.” We have the aorist active indicative of e)xerxomai, it means the voice was coming from a direction, “Then a voice came from.” And then we have the word for throne, qronoj. The king of arms is the voice from the throne. In the indicative mood we have the declarative for the reality for the worship mandate from the throne, “from the throne” is a)po plus the ablative of qronoj. So we have, “Then a voice came from the throne.” The king of arms might be described as the angel of the presence. He occupies the position which Satan held before the angelic conflict began. The only difference is that Satan held that position as the anointed cherub while the king of arms holds that position as the highest-ranking seraph from the angelic college of heralds. Satan was created with his title in the prehistoric angelic conflict. He entered that with his title already a part of him; he was so created. Hence, while not named the king of arms is the greatest of all elect angels, with the possible exception of two in the order of battle: Michael and Gabriel who are in a different form of nobility.

As the angel of the presence the king of arms would be comparable to Moses or Paul in the eternal state. The spiritual greatness of the king of arms will only be known to us in the eternal future. In the meantime we observe some of his functions as the angel of the presence. There is something we can learn from this: the highest-ranking creature by creation was the anointed cherub called Lucifer, son of the morning. Down in the order was another elect angel, and once the angelic conflict was started by Satan this elect angel who was a plugger eventually reached the top, not because he was above Satan at the beginning but in the conflict he rose to the top through his momentum. Now he is a seraph forever and ever whereas Satan the anointed cherub will spend eternity in the lake of fire. So it isn’t how you start that counts, it is how you end up. How you end up is determined by your volition, by your scale of values, by what you think and how you go about it.

In verse 5 we have “Praise our God, all you his servants.” This mandate of the king of arms starts out with the present active imperative of the verb a)inew, the Greek word for praise. It is an Attic Greek verb, not a Koine verb at all. Every now and then when there is a switch from the Koine to the Attic Greek it has great emphasis. Attic Greek, along with Ionian, is the most literary of the Greek dialects. A)inew means to commend or extol or to praise. It denotes a very joyful praise. It means you are not being forced to do it, you are doing it because you are motivated and because you are in a state of great happiness and blessing. It can be translated, “Give praise.” It is the customary present tense for the celebration of our Lord’s victory in heaven and it anticipates the coronation of Jesus Christ after the second advent plus the marriage supper of the Lamb. The active voice: both winners and losers are given this command. It is an imperative mood and it is given to winners as well as losers. We have the dative singular indirect object from qeoj plus the possessive genitive from e)gw which means “our God,” “Give praise to our God.”

Then the vocative plural is addressed to those who are to be involved, the adjective paj, meaning “all,” and douloj meaning “servants” or “slaves,” “all of you his servants.” While the subject for praise is not given in this verse the context will indicate it as we move into verses 7 and 9 especially. Douloj refers to believers who are attending the coronation and then the wedding banquet of the Lord.

Now we have classification. The articular present middle participle of fobew gives us a classification which at this time in the eternal state can include both losers and winners. Fobew has two different meanings: respect and admiration on the one hand, fear on the other. The definite article is used as a personal pronoun translated “you.” The perfective present tense refers to a fact which has come to be in the past but is emphasised as a present reality at the time of fulfillment, i.e. second advent of Christ. The middle voice describes the subject as participating in the results of the action or the subject acting with a view toward participating in the outcome. There is one form of worship that winners and losers in resurrection bodies in eternity can give, and that is respect and admiration for the Lord. The circumstantial participle follows, the accusative singular direct object from a)utoj, the intensive pronoun used as a personal pronoun, refers to our Lord Jesus Christ, “you who respect him.”

The first category mentioned is losers. We have an appositional nominative plural from mikroj, an adjective used as a substantive, and it refers here to losers in time, “both the small.” The adjective means small in importance, influence or power. It is a reference to those believers who attend our Lord’s coronation at the second advent who were losers in time. There are two important points here. First of all, even though they are losers they do not lose their salvation. They merely failed to utilise the plan of God in time and they do in resurrection bodies occupy an inferior state. The second principle is that the eternal state in heaven is one where there is no equality. Everyone is happy; no one is equal. Equality is unnecessary for happiness.

There are three categories of believers who attend the second advent coronation of Christ and all three categories have losers as well as winners. “Small” refers to the losers. First of the categories is the bride made up of Church Age believers, royal family of God in resurrection bodies. Your attitude toward Bible doctrine in time will determine whether you are a winner or a loser — your understanding of the protocol system, your understanding of how protocol functions in heaven, how protocol functions on earth. The second category is the friends of the groom, Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs. They are now in their resurrection bodies. Some are losers and some are winners. Mikroj describes those who are losers. The third category is the friends of the bride. These are the believers who lived through the Tribulation. They will become the cadre for the Millennial reign of Christ and the basis for forming a new population in a new dispensation and a new civilisation. So they are ones who survived as winners and losers. Two categories appear in resurrection bodies: the bride or Church Age believers and the friends of the groom, Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs. The losers are going to be those believers in this dispensation who failed to reside, function, and continue their momentum in the divine dynasphere. Instead they lived in the cosmic system. They lose all rewards and will be low on the totem pole in eternity, even though they do have resurrection bodies. One category of losers, the believers who lived through the Tribulation, still have their bodies of corruption until the end of the Millennium, and they are present as the friends of the bride. Note that all losers have the opportunity to advance to maturity, all losers have the opportunity of glorifying God in time; but they made a large number of wrong decisions from a position of weakness, resided therefore in the cosmic system, and as a result lost control of their lives in the cosmic system; and they had no personal sense of destiny related to the plan of God for their lives. They had the wrong scale of values. And note again: Losers means loss of reward, loss of knighthood, loss of decorations at the judgment seat of Christ. They experience shame at the judgment seat of Christ but they do not lose their salvation.

The second category is the appositional nominative plural from the adjective megaj, in the plural here and it refers to those who are winners, “the great.” Once again, we have three categories of winners: the bride [Church Age believers], the friends of the groom [Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs], and the friends of the bride [believers who lived through the Tribulation]. In all three categories there will be winners through their momentum inside the plan of God in their respective dispensations.

Inasmuch as the wedding of the Lamb takes place in heaven and the wedding supper takes place on earth it is assumed that the coronation also will take place on earth. So we have some different places where these things occur.

In verses 5, 7 we anticipate the celebration on earth after the wedding occurs. Therefore verses 5-7 anticipate the second advent. The actual wedding in the ancient world is divided into three stages. Stage one was when the contract was made. The parents decided when their children were born, or shortly thereafter, whom they would marry. The parents of the groom would make a contract with the parents of the potential bride. At the time of the wedding the groom goes to the home of the bride, and when he picks up the bride they are married, that’s it, they didn’t go through any ceremony. The groom picking up the bride at the home is comparable to the Rapture and the judgment seat of Christ. Then, in stage three, the groom takes the bride to his home. When the chariot is going up to the house of the bride there is a long procession behind the chariot. Those are the friends of the groom. In the analogy the groom is our Lord Jesus Christ and the friends of the groom are the Old Testament believers and the Tribulational martyrs. At the home of the groom the bride’s friends wait. They didn’t mix with the friends of the groom until after they went to celebrate the marriage. They had to wait outside until the groom and the bride arrived, cf. the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. These are the friends of the bride. They are waiting for the chariot to come back with the procession. The friends of the bride had to have light so that they could find the path. No electricity in those days. When they heard that the procession was coming they lit their lamps. No oil in the lamps in the parable is an illustration that they were unbelievers and were to be eliminated by the baptism of fire, they would not go into the Millennium.

Verse 6, we have, before the wedding, the coronation. The actual coronation is not given. This is the celebration that immediately follows. We have a sequential use of the conjunction kai and the aorist active indicative of a)kouw which means to hear. The constative aorist contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. The apostle John produces the action of the verb because he is reporting. The indicative mood is declarative representing the action from the viewpoint of eschatology. The word “voice,” fwnh, we are going to translate as a sound. With w(j it is going to be translated “what sounded like.” In other words, we know the idiom; we translate the idiom, “Then I heard what sounded like.”

Next we have the objective genitive singular from a noun and an adjective, poluj and o)xloj, “a large crowd of people.” The large crowd is a reference to the royal family of God. Naturally, the royal family is at the coronation and is about to become a bride. But first of all they are celebrating the coronation of the groom. Church Age believers in their resurrection bodies are a part of the coronation celebration. The second category of those celebrating are also given by the phrase, w(j fwnh, meaning “what sounded like,” and again we have the objective genitive plural from a noun and an adjective, poluj and o(udor, “many waters,” a reference to the friends of the groom, the Old Testament saints and the Tribulational martyrs in their resurrection bodies at the second advent. Special emphasis is given to one friend who in John 3:29 is called a friend of the groom, John the Baptist. The third category of those who are celebrating. This time we have a different phrase altogether: the adjective isxuroj which generally means “strong” but here it means “loud” or “mighty.” With it we have the noun bronth which means “peals of thunder,” so it is translated “mighty peals of thunder.” These are the believers who survived the Tribulation to the second advent of Christ by which they are delivered and are called the friends of the bride. So we have three categories celebrating the coronation of our Lord Jesus Christ who has just become the ruler of the world.

Now we have the recognition of God’s policy of grace in the last phrase of this verse. First of all we have the present active participle of the verb legw, and we translate it “shouting.” All of them are celebrating. We have the pictorial present tense. The active voice: all three categories are joining in the celebration and they are shouting “Praise the Lord,” as we have already noted. It is a celebration of our Lord’s coronation plus the recognition of the grace policy which made it all possible. They are celebrating the fact that they are there, as well. No one would be present at the coronation of Christ apart from God’s policy of grace. So the celebration not only recognises the principle of occupation with the person of Jesus Christ but, at the same time, this celebration will commemorate grace.

Then we have the recognition of the king, “because,” o(ti, then the title of our Lord, “the Lord our God the omnipotent one has become King.” The word for “omnipotent one” is a nominative singular from pantokratwr, “all ruler,” translated “omnipotent one.” Pantokratwr stands up in contrast to kosmokratwr, used in Ephesians 6:12 for powerful demons who function under Satan during Satan’s rule. Now the Lord is the pantokratwr whereas the these great demons were only kosmokratwr, rulers of the world. God’s relative attribute here is omnipotence. He is all-powerful, He is able to do all things which are the object of His power and within the range of His own holy character. God has unlimited authority and power under His attribute of omnipotence.

We have, then, the final phrase, the aorist active indicative of basileuw which means to rule or to reign, “because the Lord our God the omnipotent one has become King [or rules].” The culminative aorist tense views our Lord’s coronation at the second advent in its entirety but regards it from the viewpoint of existing results. Jesus Christ rules for the last one thousand years of human history over planet earth. The active voice: our Lord Jesus Christ produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative for the reality of this eschatological principle.

Translation: “Then I heard what sounded like a large crowd of people, and what sounded like many waters, and what sounded like mighty peals of thunders, saying, Praise the Lord; because the Lord our God the omnipotent one has become King.”

The greatest party in all of history will be held in connection with the coronation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The categories of guests are very simple. It is in a sense a wedding party and it is called, unfortunately in the King James version, a wedding supper. A supper is a light meal at night. The Greek says, a wedding banquet. It will be a banquet in which there will be not only protocol but there will be maximum happiness. For maximum happiness there must always be protocol related to it. Abandonment of protocol means loss of happiness, someone always gets hurt.

There are four categories involved in this great wedding banquet. First of all there is the host Himself who is called the groom. That, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ. He has just been crowned King; He has superseded Satan as the ruler of this world; He has just had a great coronation in heaven, and He comes to earth for the celebration of the marriage banquet of the Lamb. Secondly, there is the bride. The bride is made up of all believers of this dispensation, Church Age believers. Then there are the friends of the groom, the Old Testament believers plus the Tribulational martyrs. These two categories will have resurrection bodies, therefore maximum capacity for happiness. Then there are the friends of the bride, those millions of believers who lived during the Tribulation, who will survive the Tribulation and will go into the Millennium to form the cadre for the population explosion of the Millennium. They are the Tribulational believers and they are still in their bodies of corruption. So this is the categorical development of the guests.

Verse 7, the wedding of the Lamb. The marriage or wedding of the Lamb takes place immediately after the coronation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The celebration in this verse relates to the marriage of the Lamb. The verse describes the attitude of all who attend. It is given in the present active subjunctive of the verb xairw, which means to rejoice, to be glad, to be happy, to enjoy yourself at a party. We will simply translate it, “Let us rejoice.” It is happiness based on attitude and the condition of your own soul. This verb always has to do with when the thought pattern is stimulated. Therefore rejoicing is related to the doctrinal content of thinking in the three categories of those who are invited this wedding feast. The present tense is a pictorial present, it depicts the celebration in the process of occurrence. The active voice: three categories of believers produce the action of the verb. First of all the Church as the bride in resurrection bodies, and then the Old Testament believers and Tribulational saints, friends of the groom in resurrection bodies, and finally believers who survive the Tribulation still in their bodies of corruption. The subjunctive mood is what we call a hortatory subjunctive in which the bride of Christ encourages the rest of the guests to join in the common expression of great happiness because of the occasion.

Next we have a conjunction kai which introduces a second verb connected with the party, the present active subjunctive of a)galliaw, another word for celebration. It actually means to celebrate a great victory, to celebrate something that is absolutely phenomenal. This is the greatest celebration of all time. Generally this verb always appears in the middle voice. Here it does not; it appears in the active voice. When combined with the verb xairw it should be translated, “Let us be extremely happy and celebrate.” The static present tense represents a condition which is taken for granted as a fact at the wedding of the Lamb and the great banquet which will follow. The active voice: those present at the wedding produce the action of the verb. Finally, we have another hortatory subjunctive in which one exhorts others to participate in a festal occasion. The hortatory subjunctive is always used in the first person plural.

Then we have another verb and this time it introduces a new concept because of the change of tense. We have the aorist active subjunctive of the verb didomi which always means to give or to delegate. Here we have the expression of worship: you cannot give in worship what you do not have. The constative aorist tense contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. The active voice: the same three categories present at the great party produce the action. It is, again, a hortatory subjunctive.

We have to find out what we are giving here and the accusative singular direct object of doca indicates what is being given, “glory.” The dative singular indirect object from a)utoj means, of course, “glory to him.” “Let us give glory to him,” referring to our Lord Jesus Christ as the groom. That is the basis for the greatest party in all of history.

The reason for the celebration is now declared, beginning with the causal conjunction o(ti, translated “because.” Next is our subject, the nominative singular from gamoj which means generally marriage, it also means the wedding banquets or the wedding celebration which follows. Therefore we have the wedding of a)rnion, the “Lamb,” “has come,” the aorist active indicative of the verb e)rxomai. This means that the time finally arrives for the greatest of all parties. The culminative aorist contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety but regards it from the viewpoint of existing results, namely the banquet, the party which follows.

It was customary in the ancient world to have a wedding party. The party generally lasted a week or ten days during which time, at some time, the bride and the groom finally slipped off. The indicative mood is declarative from the verbal action from the viewpoint of eschatological reality, the greatest party of all time. The sequence of events: the second advent of Christ, the incarceration of Satan, the resurrection of the Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs, the baptism of fire which eliminates all unbelievers from the world, the coronation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and then the great celebration.

In the marriage situation of the ancient world, when the groom comes to pick up the bride, the bride must be prepared. In those days women were never tolerated to be late, they had to be prepared. When the groom showed up at the door the bride had to be waiting, otherwise the groom could turn around and nullify the contract of marriage simply because the bride was not ready. So the preparation of the bride becomes the next issue.

It is introduced with a connective conjunction kai followed by the possessive genitive from a)utoj, “and his.” Then the nominative singular subject of gunh, meaning woman, but also meaning bride, “and his bride,” a reference to the Church Age believer. The reason that we will be prepared as the bride of Christ is because we have all passed through the judgment seat of Christ. We have received our resurrection bodies and we have been evaluated at the judgment seat of Christ.

With this we have the aorist active indicative of the verb e)toimazw which means to be prepared. With the accusative singular direct object of the reflexive pronoun h( a)utou the translation has to be changed slightly. There is no nominative so we use the genitive here as the vocabulary form. h( a)utou is a reflexive pronoun and when the action expressed in a verb is referred back to its own subject the construction is called reflexive. Therefore we have the phrase, “because the marriage supper of the Lamb has come and the bride has prepared herself.” In other words, the Church called the bride of Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:2 and Ephesians 5:25-27, and the Tribulational believers who survive called the “friends of the bride” or “the wise virgins.”

Translation: “Let us rejoice and celebrate [the expression of maximum happiness at the marriage banquet of the Lamb], because the marriage banquet of the Lamb has come [following the second advent and the coronation of our Lord] and the bride has prepared herself.”

The marriage banquet is important because there was no such thing as a marriage ceremony. Therefore the noun gamoj does not mean marriage, it always means the marriage banquet. The moment that the believer received Christ as saviour, that is the moment the marriage contract was entered into. In the ancient world often the bride and the groom were not acquainted until the groom picked the bride up in the chariot. So the friends of the bride and the friends of the groom had to become acquainted with each other. Therefore there was one big party that lasted for a week or ten days, and in some cases a month. The analogy here: the groom picking up the bride in the air. The groom is the Lord Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father; the bride is the Church. So at the Rapture our Lord picks us up and gives us our resurrection body. This is the bride being prepared and ready. Then comes the big genuflect in the sky when we as the bride recognise our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. After that we have during the entire period of the Tribulation the judgment seat of Christ, the decorations and awards to winners and the explanations to the losers why they are losers. Then there is the wedding banquet. The friends of the bride are waiting outside. Once the groom has arrived with the bride, then you have the wedding banquet.

Remember that the groom is our Lord Jesus Christ who has just been crowned ruler of the world after His second advent. The bride is the Church, she has prepared herself beginning at the Rapture and continuing through judgment seat of Christ during the seven years of the Tribulation. During that time every believer will be evaluated as a winner or a loser, and winners will receive their proper rewards and decorations.

The friends of the bride, the believers who survive the Tribulation, are still on the earth. They are waiting at the home of the groom, Castle Zion in Jerusalem. The groom who now rules the earth is coming to His castle with His bride, the Church Age believers, and the friends of the groom are the Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs who have now received their resurrection bodies. Of course, there are false friends or unbelievers who also survive the Tribulation and they are trying to get in on the action. The baptism of fire eliminates them.

Matthew 25:1-13, a parallel passage. The unbelievers who survive have not been invited to the wedding banquet is the story of Matthew chapter 25 where we see what happens to the unbelievers who survive the Tribulation, whereas Revelation 19:7 tells us the story from the standpoint of the believer.

Verse 1, “Then the kingdom from heaven [the Millennial reign of Christ beginning with the second advent] will be analogous to ten virgins [the survivors of the Tribulation and the word “virgin” is used not in the literal sense that we use it but in the sense of the friends of the bride], who took their lamps, and went to meet the groom [second advent].”

Verse 2, “Now five of them were foolish [unbelievers], and five of them were wise [believers who survived the Tribulation].”

Verse 3, “For when the foolish took their lamps [representing their volition. Man is always the product of his own decisions], they took no oil in them [negative volition toward the gospel as it was presented dramatically during the Tribulation].”

Verse 4, “But the wise took oil in flasks along with their lamps [positive volition of Tribulational people].”

Verse 5, “Now while the groom was delaying [He is picking up the bride during the seven bowl judgments], they dropped off to sleep and continued sleeping [they survived the seven bowl judgments but they did not believe in Jesus Christ].”

Verse 6, “But at midnight [the second advent] there was a shout, “Behold the groom! Come out and meet him’.”

Verse 7, “Then all the virgins [all the survivors of the Tribulation] arose and trimmed their lamps.

Verse 8, “Then the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out’.” The principle is very obvious here: Every person must stand on his own decisions, not on someone else’s.

Verse 9, “But the wise [the believers] answered and said, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and for you [unbelievers cannot avoid the consequences of their own rejection of Christ at the last moment]; Go instead to the dealers [to the evangelists] and buy for yourselves’.” But at the second advent evangelism has been closed down.

Verse 10, “And while they were going away to make the purchase the groom came [second advent], and those who were ready went in with him [a picture of the friends of the bride] to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.” The second advent is the last chance for salvation for unbelievers of the Tribulation.

Verse 11, “Then later the other virgins came also, shouting, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us’.”

Verse 12, “But he answered and said, ‘It is a fact, I do not know you’.” This is equivalent to the baptism of fire for all the unbelievers are taken off the earth and cast into fire. This is the parable of the wheat and the tares. The wheat are the believers of the Tribulation going into the Millennium, the tares are the unbelievers who are cast out.

Verse 13, “Be alert then, for you do not know either the day or the hour.” The phrase, “the Son of Man cometh” is not found in the original.

In revelation 19:7, the aorist tense of the verb e)toimazw is a constative aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. It refers to the judgment seat of Christ or the evaluation of the royal family of God which occurs in heaven while the Tribulation is going on on earth. The active voice: the bride or the believers of the Church Age produce the action. The indicative mood is declarative for the reality of this preparation beginning with the Rapture or the resurrection of the Church, the big genuflect in the sky, the judgment seat of Christ, the establishment of a new order of eternal knighthood and the presentation of winners in the court of heaven as being those on the honours list. These three doctrines explain how the bride prepares herself: the Rapture of the Church, the big genuflect in the sky and the judgment seat of Christ. The wedding, therefore, occurs in heaven. The marriage supper or wedding feast occurs on earth. The contract phase occurs on earth when you believe on Jesus Christ.

One of the basic laws of hermeneutics is the fact that the Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written. The background for the paragraph we are studying is the wedding ceremony of the ancient world which is very different from anything we have today. They had no ceremony as we understand it. They had a contract which was generally made when the bride and the groom were children. The contract, of course, is analogous to our faith in Jesus Christ. Secondly, they had the actual function where the groom went to pick up the bride. That is analogous to the preparation of the bride which is the subject of verse eight. In that particular phase we have the Rapture or the resurrection of the Church followed by the judgment seat of Christ. In the third category we have the groom bringing the bride back to his own home, and that is the actual marriage, the wedding banquet which often lasted a week or ten days, sometimes longer. That was the official beginning of the marriage.

In verse 7 we have the home of the groom and the home of the bride. The entire procedure is a very simple one and there are three categories of those involved, apart from the groom. The groom, of course, represents our Lord Jesus Christ. The bride represents the Church as the royal family of God. Then there are the friends of the groom, the Tribulational martyrs plus the Old Testament saints. Finally, there are the friends of the bride who are the Tribulational believers who survive the Tribulation to go into the Millennium to form the cadre for the population explosion at that time.

In verse 8 the preparation of the bride is amplified. This begins what is known as ultimate sanctification. There are two doctrines which introduce the subject. The subject is all those who are involved in this party and the bride is specifically in view at this point. We start out with the connective conjunction kai introducing a result of the previous verse, translated “Furthermore.” Then we have the aorist passive indicative of the verb didomi which means to give, “Furthermore it has been given.” The culminative aorist regards the preparation of the bride in its entirety but regards it from the viewpoint if existing results. The existing result is, first of all, ultimate sanctification, and this is followed by the decorations and rewards. The preparation of the bride begins with the resurrection of the Church. The winners and losers all receive resurrection bodies. Then the great genuflect and the judgment seat of Christ when every believer in the Church Age is evaluated. Some will be decorated because they are winners. Others, as losers, will not be decorated, nevertheless they will still have a resurrection body. All believers are going to be involved, “Furthermore it was given to her.” The passive voice: the Church, the bride of Christ, all believers. The distinction between believers begins in time. It may not always be obvious, it may not be apparent to others. It isn’t necessary for you to judge the life of other believers, that is their responsibility before God. Every believer is a priest; every believer-priest has the right to evaluate his own life before the Lord. But the real distinction between winners and losers in time is the manner in which blessing is given from God. The winners receive great blessings, first of all under logistical grace, but more than that, under the principle of supergrace blessing under six paragraphs. The winners have the greatest testing; the winners have the greatest blessing. So the distinction begins in time.

“Furthermore it has been given,” the indicative mood is declarative for the reality of the preparation of the bride. All believers are involved in ultimate sanctification. Sanctification begins at salvation, it is the imputation of divine righteousness to every believer. The thing that distinguishes believers of the Church Age is the fact that we are in union with Christ. The baptism of the Spirit does not occur in any previous dispensation, nor in any future dispensation. Only believers of this dispensation are formed into the royal family of God.

We have next the fact of clothing, the dative singular indirect object of a)utoj refers to the entire body of believers for this dispensation, and it is translated, “Furthermore it has been given to her.” The Church is the bride of Christ, so mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27. Then we begin the purpose clause, a semifinal purpose clause which is introduced with the conjunction i(na, “that” or “in order that.” It introduces a semifinal purpose clause here which denotes the direction of the action of the main verb. Where is the verb to give going? “Furthermore it was given to her,” a verb with action. God is giving us something and if He is going to give us something we need to know the direction of that verb. What is being give? How, when, and where?

Next we have the aorist middle subjunctive of the verb periballw which means to be clothed. The dress of the bride is very important, she does not come to the wedding to embarrass the groom. We are not going to embarrass the groom in that future day when this great party is going to take place. That is because the groom is going to provide for us the clothing. The dramatic aorist tense states a present reality with the certitude of a past event, the fact that at the Rapture of the Church every believer will have a resurrection body. That is the resurrection of the bride, that is the clothing of the bride. The middle voice is a direct middle in which the subject, the bride of Christ, acts with a view toward participating in the outcome of the action. We will be properly attired for that occasion. The subjunctive mood is a potential subjunctive implying a future reference. This is not going to happen yet, it is in the future.

With this we have the accusative singular direct object from the noun bussinoj which refers to something that was very rare and very difficult to find in the ancient world where everything was generally done by hand, “fine linen.” The fine linen emphasises the resurrection body of the believer. At the point of salvation we receive the first thing necessary to be at that great party, the righteousness of God which we then have forever. It is imputed to us; it indwells us; it is not only the basis of justification but all during our time on earth all divine blessing comes from one half of divine holiness, the justice of God. The righteousness of God qualifies us for a resurrection body. So bussinoj refers to imputed righteousness received at salvation, phase one sanctification. Phase two sanctification is the believer inside of the divine dynasphere. Phase three sanctification has to do with the resurrection body. All of this has to do with the preparation of the bride.

Then there is a distinction between winners and losers. This comes next in a very interesting way. Two adjectives are used to describe the winners in contrast to the losers for that distinction will last for all eternity. The first of the two adjectives lamproj which means “shining.” So the first thing we notice is that there is something shining about the resurrection bodies of winners. This is what we call the uniform of glory. It actually covers the resurrection body with a beautiful translucent light and it distinguishes winners from losers throughout all eternity. It is a reward for advancing to maturity during phase two or time on this earth. The second adjective is kaqaroj which means pure. It is the ultimate and eternal righteousness of all Church Age believers as a part of their ultimate sanctification. The word shining is very important at this point because it introduces a concept which we have not previously noted. That is the concept that this distinction will exist. It all starts with the concept of the uniform of glory, a robe of translucent light worn by our Lord Jesus Christ at His resurrection. Before our Lord received His resurrection body, the uniform of glory, the uniform was actually displayed before three of His disciples Peter, James and John, on the mount of transfiguration, Matthew 16:28ff. This was the first time that any human being had ever seen the uniform of glory. Since the order of the morning star is the highest decoration in heaven and can only be given to a believer who is mature the uniform of glory is to be worn with the order of the morning star. That explains “shining” in the middle of verse 8. Only mature believers will have the uniform of glory covering their resurrection bodies and this is merely to accompany the wearing of the order of the morning star.

In Numbers 24:17 we meet for the first time the order of the morning star in a prophecy of the first coming of Christ. The phrase, “a star shall come forth from Jacob.” That star was actually the Lord Jesus Christ. In 2 Peter 1:17-19 Peter tells us what he learned at the mount of transfiguration, “When he [the Lord Jesus Christ on the mount of transfiguration] received from God the Father honour and glory,” the honour is the uniform of honour, the uniform of glory, “such a sound as this was made to him by the majestic glory, ‘This one [our Lord Jesus Christ] is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased,’ and we heard this same voice carried from heaven when we were with him in the holy mountain. And we keep on having a more reliable prophetic doctrine,” that is, than the empiricism of observing the Lord’s uniform of glory on the mount of transfiguration, “with reference to which doctrine you perform honourably.” If you perform honourably by habitually concentrating in your right lobes, Peter says, then you will receive this uniform of glory, “as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns [the second advent] and the morning star [Jesus Christ] has come.” This decoration is revealed with the winners at the second advent of Christ. Colossians 3:4 says, “On the occasion when Christ our life shall become manifest [second advent] you [the mature believer with the order of the morning star and the uniform of glory] shall become manifest with him in glory [wearing the uniform of glory].” So this decoration is worn at the greatest party of all time.

Next in verse 8 we have the final phrase, the explanation of final sanctification for all believers. We have the explanatory use of the post positive conjunction gar which introduces the concept. Then we have the repetition of the subject, the nominative neuter singular from bussinoj, “For the fine linen.” Then the verb, the present active indicative of the verb e)imi, the verb to be, in the static present. The static present represents a condition as perpetually existing. The active voice: the fine linen represents the resurrection body and ultimate sanctification for all believers, winners and losers. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of doctrine, the doctrine if ultimate sanctification. Then the predicate nominative plural from dikaiwma which here means a right act, the fulfillment of a legal requirement. Therefore we will call it the completion of justification — “for the fine linen is the fulfillment [or completion] of the justification of the saints.” Justification is fulfilled or completed at the point of ultimate sanctification at the time of the Rapture when all believers receive that resurrection body. The beginning of justification begins at salvation with the imputation of divine righteous; the fulfillment of justification is when each one of us receives a resurrection body: Church Age believers at the Rapture; Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs at the second advent; at the end of the Millennium the Millennial saints who survived the Tribulation. The fulfillment, then of the completion of justification occurs at the point of ultimate sanctification.

Translation: “Furthermore, it had been given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, shining [winners only], but for the rest pure: for the fine linen is the fulfillment of the justification of the saints [all believers].”

Verses 5-7 refer to the wedding banquet on earth after the second advent. Verse 8 refers to the marriage in heaven prior to the second advent.

Verse 9, the wedding supper of the Lamb. We begin by noting the sequential use of the conjunction kai, “Then.” With it we have the present active indicative of the verb legw, a communication word, and here it means simply to speak, “Then he said to me.” The historical present tense views the past event

with the vividness of a present occurrence. The active voice: John’s teaching angel produces the action of the verb. The teaching angel is not identified but is probably the same officer of arms from the angelic college of heralds. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality.

With this we have the dative singular indirect object from the pronoun e)gw. It is also a dative of advantage, it is to our advantage to have this information. Then the mandate, the aorist active imperative given to the apostle John. Being one of the writers of the scripture, being an apostle under the mandate of God, he is now to write down what he sees. We have the aorist active imperative of the verb grafw which means to write. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views the action of the verb in its entirety but regards it from the viewpoint of existing results. The passage is a part of the Word of God which lives and abides forever. The active voice: John as the human writer will produce the action of the verb under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. The imperative mood is the imperative of command, a mandate from one of the highest-ranking elect angels to the highest-ranking believer alive on the earth at that time. Note that the angelic members of the angelic college of heralds outrank the apostles while the apostles are still on earth. The teaching angel had to be one of the seraph rank angels who presents this information.

Next we have the blessing for the invited guests and the first word is the nominative plural of makarioj which is a word for happiness. Pindar was the first one to use makarioj in the Greek language. He used it in the Attic Greek, it was also then spread to the Ionic Greek, and eventually it went to several of the other forms and came down to us from Pindar in the Koine Greek. It denoted transcendent happiness in life, having a life beyond care, labour and death, a life which can overcome all of the problems, a happiness which has a greater reality in the life of the individual than any problem in life. In the Attic Greek makarioj was used for a happy state of the gods — the noun used here in its stylistic form which is the beatitude form. We have noted that there are seven beatitudes in the book of Revelation. The noun connotes blessing from God to man resulting in great happiness for the recipient. This happiness is the basis for understanding what this marriage supper is all about.

John 15:11, “These things I have spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” This includes the perfect tense of the verb lalew which has many meanings, but one of them is to express one’s self, to proclaim, to teach. So we will translate it: “I have taught.” The perfect tense is an intensive perfect, it emphasises what has occurred in the past and the existing results are then brought into focus. The active voice: Jesus Christ produces the action of the verb in communicating His mandates regarding the believer’s residence inside the divine dynasphere. The indicative mood is declarative for a simple statement of fact. Jesus taught His disciples regarding the new way of life, the new protocol system, which would come with the Church Age inasmuch as believers in this dispensation are different from other believers in that we are royal family of God.

Jesus tells us that there is a reason for teaching these things. The conjunction i(na introduces a purpose clause. He has a purpose in teaching us all of these things, “in order that my joy,” the word for “joy” is the noun xara and it has to do with happiness, “might be in you.” “Might be” is a present active subjunctive of the verb e)imi, the verb to be. The present tense is a customary present, it denotes what habitually occurs when the believer continues his momentum at gate four of the divine dynasphere. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb inside of the divine dynasphere. The subjunctive mood is a potential subjunctive denoting the purpose clause and implying a future reference.

We will call this joy “+H,” happiness which is derived from the protocol system. We have studied in the past three kinds of happiness. First of all there is pseudo-happiness which we will call “-H.” It is the occasional fun that someone might have living in the cosmic system. The cosmic system of Satan can produce stimulation, something that approximates happiness, but it is actually a pseudo-happiness. It is not a real happiness, it doesn’t last and it doesn’t sustain, and it is often followed by an equal and opposite reaction of depression. The second category of happiness might be called “neutral H,” simply the human happiness derived from compliance with the laws of divine establishment plus the development of human integrity and honour. The unbeliever can have neutral H through his function under establishment. Genuine humility under establishment provides the basis for capacity for happiness, for love, for life limited to time, e.g. Eccl. 9:9. This is directed to the unbeliever, he can find happiness in human relationships, in his occupation — neutral H.

The third category is God’s happiness which we call “+H.” It is found through life in the divine dynasphere.

There are certain guests who are invited to the marriage banquet of the Lamb and there is a blessing for these guests. This blessing comes from the word for this absolute happiness — makarioj. “Blessed are they”. That introduces the articular perfect passive participle from the verb kalew which means to be invited here. The definite article is used as a personal pronoun and it refers to those who are invited. Obviously the groom will be there. He is not invited; it is His party. The groom is the Lord Jesus Christ. The bride, the Church Age believers, will be there. But this is talking about the guests and there are two categories of guests who are invited under the principle of kalew. The first category are the friends of the groom. These are the Old Testament saints. They are in their resurrection bodies. Then there are the friends of the bride, those Tribulational believers who survive the Tribulation.

We have in this verse, “Then he said to me [the apostle John], Write, Blessed are they who have been invited.” The perfect tense is a dramatic perfect for the completed action and existing state of these believers. Those who are invited are prepared for this magnificent banquet because in the resurrection body there is capacity for +H, and for the Tribulational believers who survive the Tribulation they have capacity because of the very doctrine by which they survive. So this is one of the happiest parties which ever existed. This is a party where no one is invited without capacity to enjoy our Lord and to enjoy the party. Therefore the dramatic perfect emphasising the results of the action. We are talking about those who have believed in Christ in time and we are talking about guests with the capacity to appreciate what is happening. The passive voice: two categories of believers receive the action as guests — the friends of the bride, the friends of the groom. This is a circumstantial participle, and with it we have a descriptive phrase, “to the wedding feast of the Lamb.”

The next phrase in this verse is very important. We have the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai, “also,” and again the present active indicative, “also he said to me.” This becomes the first of two reasons why we have the book of Revelation. We are going to discover in verse 10 that the doctrinal communication about Jesus is the perceptive insight into prophecy. There is a great need for prophecy because it is the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is also another need for prophecy: we learn to apply from the future to our present lives just as we have learned to apply from the past to our present lives. Many of the things we learn about the spiritual life we learn from the study of prophecy. And prophecy is stated right here, under this principle. We have a subject, the nominative plural subject made up of two words, a demonstrative pronoun o(utoj, and with it logoj which has a number of meanings but here it has to do with doctrine. Note that these are in the plural, “these doctrines.” Here we have the present active indicative of e)imi, a verb which is used in its absolute sense here, “these doctrines are.” The static present represents a condition as perpetually existing. The active voice: eschatological doctrine in this context produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of fact. With it we have a predicate nominative from the a)lhqinoj, generally translated “true,” “these are the true doctrines from God,” the ablative of source from qeoj. That means that there is a meaning and purpose for us having these things at this time.

Revelation 19:10 — We now begin a second section to this particular context: the second advent of Christ. This will be the subject in verses 10-14. Verse 10 is a transitional verse. Here we have John the apostle not only making a mistake but a mistake that is recorded for all eternity. He was so overcome by the teaching of the angel that he fell down and worshipped an angel. This helps us the understand the principle: it isn’t the man, it is the message.

We start out with what has been called the apostle’s impulsive mistake, or the angel with feet. We begin the exegesis with the sequential use of the conjunction kai, followed by the aorist active indicative of the verb piptw which often describes either an accident or an impulsive action. It means to fall. Sometimes it means to fall because of a stumble, sometimes it means to fall because of being impulsive, sometimes it even means to throw yourself on the ground because you are emotional. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. It represents an impulsive move on the part of the apostle John. The active voice: this holy man of God, John, produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for the reality of this impulsive mistake.

With this, and following it, we have an improper preposition for an improper action. The preposition of e)mprosqen plus genitive of pouj, “at his feet.” The word “his” is the possessive genitive from a)utoj. The purpose for falling down is then expressed: the aorist active infinitive of proskunew which means to worship — “I fell down at his feet to worship.” The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it contemplates the impulsive action in its entirety. The attempt to worship and backed by emotion is not worship. God does not want our emotion, God is not complimented by our emotion, and God is not glorified by our emotion. It is our thought, it is the content of Bible doctrine in the soul that we give to God. We have noted that you cannot give to God what you do not have. At this point John is obviously not thinking. He is overwhelmed by the message of the marriage banquet of the Lamb, and being overwhelmed he goes into that slide that often ruins so many people and that is the principle of allowing the emotions to take over control of the soul and to suppress the thought. John, the human author of the book of Revelation is now worshipping another creature! This is the infinitive of purpose expressing the aim or the action denoted by the main verb, piptw. Then we have the dative singular indirect object from a)utoj, he worshipped him, the teaching angel. There is a great danger right here. When someone communicates doctrine, whether it is an angel to John or the apostle John to his congregation, or any pastor to a congregation, you are assembled not to hear a good message but to learn Bible doctrine. Idolising of the pastor must be avoided at all cost. The congregation is there to learn doctrine so that it can worship God, not to have its emotions titillated so that it can worship the pastor.

The rebuke of the teaching angel comes next. We have also the identification of the communicator. This angel is the second highest angel in the angelic college of heralds. He is next to the king of arms. He holds the rank of officer of arms. We have the connective conjunction kai, translated “and so,” followed by the present active indicative of legw, “and so he said.” With John down at his feet now the teaching angel is going to have to add something to the message. The historical present views the past event with the vividness of a present occurrence. The active voice: the teaching angel produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality. Then John brings in his own person: the dative singular indirect object from e)gw, “and so he said to me.” What he said is of the greatest importance. The dative of indirect object indicates the one in whose interest the rebuke is given. After all of this teaching comes the rebuke. We are never too old to learn. John is already an old man and he is going to learn a great deal more. The first principle of this verse: rebukes should be regarded as blessings and part of the learning process in spiritual growth and momentum. Of course, the rebuke should always be impersonal. It should come impersonally from a doctrinal source, and that is exactly what we have here.

Next we have a strong negative idiom which includes the present active subjunctive of o(raw plus the negative mh. This is only half of what is actually an idiom. All you have to do is introduce the first two words of a well known idiom and the rest of it follows. Only half of the idiom is here because of ellipsis and you have to add what was very well known at the time as a very definite idiom, poihsh touto, “do not do this” is what it actually says. The rest of the idiom is the aorist active subjunctive of poiew, and with it is o(utoj, the demonstrative pronoun and it is a very strong idiom which says “Don’t” or “Don’t do it.”

Then we have the present active indicative of e)imi in which the angel identifies himself in what is necessary for communication. He doesn’t give his name, that isn’t necessary. But he does express the principle that he is a servant of the Lord. The present active indicative of e)imi: the present tense is a customary present for a status assumed to be true in the present as well as the past and future, hence the temporal element is very remote here. The active voice: the officer of arms from the angelic college of heralds produces the action of the verb, and it produces it without any possible touch of arrogance. The indicative mood is declarative for a principle of doctrine, “I am your fellow servant.” Both the teaching angel and the apostle John serve the same Lord Jesus Christ even though they are from different categories of creation. This officer of arms does in the angelic realm what John does in the human realm, he teaches divine doctrine and the protocol system of God.

We have a conjunction kai which is expletive in the usage and therefore we translate it “along with” rather than “and.” The conjunction kai also introduces a genitive absolute, “along with,” a very unusual use of the conjunction kai. Then we have what is going to be a genitive absolute, the genitive plural of a)delfoj plus the genitive of relationship su, “your brothers.” Then we have the articular present active participle in the genitive case, so that the genitive of a)delfoj becomes the subject of the participle. This is what is called a genitive absolute. The subject of the articular present active participle of e)xw is translated “who have.” The definite article with the genitive case is used as the relative pronoun, “who.” The customary present denotes what habitually occurs during the Church Age. God the Holy Spirit sovereignly bestows on certain male believers the gift of communication — pastor-teachers. The active voice: those believers of the Church Age who possess the gift produce the action of the verb. The participle is circumstantial. The royal family of God in the Church Age is never left without the gift of pastor-teacher and the doctrine which is thereby communicated.

Then we have next the accusative singular direct object of the participle marturia, historical attestation or a declaration in matters of doctrine. It is sometimes translated “witness” but it is much stronger than that. With this is the objective genitive of the word “Jesus,” I)hsouj. When he says, “having the doctrinal communication about Jesus” he is using a proper noun, I)hsouj, derived from the Hebrew noun Jeshua. It means saviour and emphasises the uniqueness of the person of Christ in hypostatic union in the incarnation. The whole realm of doctrine pertaining to the first advent and the Church Age is in view, and therefore it is a reference to the pastor-teachers of the Church Age and the New testament doctrine of the mystery which has now been revealed.

Then he gives a mandate which is very important. The purpose in communicating doctrine is for spiritual growth and so that worship on earth will be meaningful. The mandate: the aorist active imperative of poskunew, “worship” the God. The constative aorist contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety, it takes the many actions of worship and gathers them into one entirety. We have seen that you cannot give in worship what you do not have. To give in worship you must have cognisance of the person of Christ, and that comes through the perception of Bible doctrine. The active voice: the highest ranking Christian on the face of the earth is commanded to produce this action. Even the greatest fail. The imperative mood is an imperative of command. The dative singular indirect object qeoj with the definite article translated “the God,” and is a reference to Jesus Christ as the manifest person of the Trinity. The Father and the Spirit are invisible and this is a command to worship Christ. The fact that Christ is the manifest person of the Trinity is found in John 1:18; 6:46; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 4:12.

Then finally we get the biblical perspective of Bible prophecy. We have a second sentence in verse 10 and it begins with the explanatory use of the particle gar, “For.” This is an explanation. Next we have the nominative singular subject of marturia which means testimony in a technical sense. Testimony in the ancient world was called witness. They were synonymous words, and this means testimony in a court, historical attestation, the declaration in matters of doctrine. So we will translate it “For the doctrinal communication.” Then the objective genitive of I)esouj, “about Jesus.” Then the verb: the present active indicative of e)imi, the verb to be. This is a static present for a condition perpetually existing. The active voice: doctrinal teaching about our Lord produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement about Bible doctrine.

What follows is a predicate nominative from the noun pneuma which has so many related meanings. Sometimes it is used as a title for the third person of the Trinity, preceded by a(gioj, “Holy Spirit.” Occasionally the word “Spirit” alone refers to the Holy Spirit. It also means wind, breath, breathing, and therefore it comes to mean life. It is also used technically for the human spirit as the third part of man which is received at regeneration. Regeneration means that God the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit so that we become trichotomous at the moment of salvation. It is a neuter noun and is used with sarc to denote the immaterial part of man. It denotes a mental attitude, a human personality. It also has a meaning which seems to apply here in our verse, perceptive insight, the function of the soul, for the doctrinal communication about Jesus is the perceptive insight. Then we have the genitive of reference from the noun profhteia which means “prophecy.” It should be translated, “for the doctrinal communication [the teaching about Jesus] is the life of prophecy [or, is perceptive insight into prophecy].” In other words, the key to prophecy is the unique person of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is both the key to prophecy and the central theme of eschatology. In the gospels Christ is presented as rejected, ridiculed, maligned, and dying for the sins of the world. But in the book of Revelation Christ is presented as the King of kings and the Lord of lords returning to the earth in all of His glory. The second advent is the high point of history.

Positive volition is a prerequisite to all worship of God. This is taught in Hebrews 10:25 where we read, “Stop neglecting the assembling of yourselves together as is the habit of certain ones.” Believers become indifferent to doctrine, to the Word; believers become preoccupied with their own lives, and as a result they become negative. It is not that they are against doctrine but simply that other things are more important. So the believers who are negative and living in the cosmic system develop this concept, especially in cosmic one where preoccupation with self supersedes the importance of Bible doctrine. If Bible doctrine isn’t everything then Bible doctrine is nothing in your life.

The mechanics of worship: In John 4:24 we read that God is a Spirit and all those who worship Him must worship in the Spirit and in doctrine. This means that all worship must be conducted inside the divine dynasphere. The filling of the Spirit: gate one; the perception of doctrine: gate four. So there is an interlock between gates one and four that spells out worship. Worship is your perception, your intake and, as a result, your appreciation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is the principle of worship itself, the function of gate five in the divine dynasphere. Eventually the intake of doctrine will cause you to fall in love with Jesus Christ, you will have a personal love for Him, “having not seen ye love,” and that is where worship begins to gain momentum and stay on track. Gate five: motivational virtue which is personal love for God.

There is the expression of worship: giving what you have. You cannot give in worship what you do not have.

Our worship is incomplete without a thorough knowledge and inculcation of the prophetic doctrine dealing with the second advent. It is impossible to have a complete and total view of our Lord and to worship Him on the basis of doctrine unless you understand the second advent of Christ. The understanding of the doctrine is cognisance of Christ and understanding the Father’s plan for the Son related to both the angelic conflict and to world history. This is the verse which introduces our next subject. In verses 10-14 we have the second advent of Christ and until you understand the second advent your capacity for worship is limited and your ability to be occupied with the person of Christ has blank spots. The second advent of Christ is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies and all of the eschatological doctrines of the Word. The hope of history is the one who controls history and the one who will return to the earth at the second advent to establish perfect environment.

Translation of verses 9 and 10: “Then he [the teaching angel] said to me [the apostle John], Write, Blessed are they who have been invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. Also he said to me, These doctrines [of eschatology] are the true doctrines from God.”

“Then I fell down at his feet to worship him. And so he said to me, Don’t do it: I am your fellow servant, along with your brethren [pastors who would exist in every generation of Church history in this dispensation and would communicate Bible doctrine] who have the doctrinal communication about Jesus: worship God: for doctrinal communication about Jesus is the perceptive insight into prophecy.”

Next we have an introduction from Peter. Here is one of the most phenomenal statements of all time for doctrinal communication about Jesus as the life of prophecy. Prophecy is about Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:12, “Therefore, I will always be ready to keep reminding you [repetition of Bible doctrine is necessary for inculcation] concerning these things [eschatological doctrine and, of course, doctrine

in general], although you have known [they have already learned this doctrine] them, and have come to be stabilised by means of resident doctrine.”

Verse 13, “Moreover, I consider it my duty, as long as I am in this tabernacle [human body], to arouse you by means of a reminder.”

Verse 14, “Knowing [there is the key] that the laying aside of my tabernacle is imminent [Peter knows that he has a very short time to live], just as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.”

Verse 15, “Indeed I will be diligent that in fact at any time you may have the doctrine after my death,” Peter has left us a permanent legacy, “to call to remembrance those things [things pertaining to the second advent].”

Verse 16, “For not having followed [he learned not to follow false trails, he followed the Word] as a source cleverly concocted myths when we have communicated to you all the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [the doctrine of the second advent], but we have been made spectators [Peter was one of the three] of his majestic magnificence.”

Verse 17, “For when he [Christ on the mount of transfiguration] received from God the Father honour and glory, such a sound as this was made to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This one [our Lord Jesus Christ] is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased’.” Note that Peter does not quote the rest of what was said, i.e. “Listen to him.” In other words, Peter was rude on that occasion, he was talking. He doesn’t talk about his rudeness because it is really not an issue here.

Verse 18, “and we [Peter James and John] heard this same voice carried from heaven when we were with him in the holy mountain.”

Verse 19, “However, we keep on having a more reliable prophetic doctrine,” What is more reliable than seeing the second advent? What could be more reliable than the empirical experience? What is more reliable is what is recorded in the Word of God that lives and abides forever. The Biblical account of the second advent is much more reliable than the empirical observation on the mount of transfiguration, “with reference to which doctrine you perform honourably by habitually concentrating in your right lobes.” What is honourable in the spiritual life? Habitual concentration. Concentration on the teaching of doctrine; concentration on the learning of doctrine; concentration under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

The next word in the Greek is w(j, usually translated “as’ or “like,” but that isn’t the translation here. This is the w(j of actual quality, and actual quality is translated “on,” “on a lamp shining in a dark place,” the dark place is the devil’s world with all the false concepts and ideas. The lamp shining is Bible doctrine, the Word of God. Until the second advent we concentrate on the Word of God, “until the day dawns [the second advent of Christ] and the morning star [the title of Christ at the second advent] has come.” That is Peter’s description of the second advent in brief.

Verse 20, “Knowing this first [we must know something first], that all prophecy of scripture does not originate from one’s own personal cerebration [thinking, conclusion, explanation],

Verse 21, “for the prophecy was never produced by human design, but holy men [the human authors of scripture] communicated from God being carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The fact is that God the Holy Spirit is the divine author and he uses the human vocabulary, human personality, the human ability, and without waving the personality of the individual or his vocabulary or his thinking ability He provides in the original with perfect accuracy God’s complete and connected thought toward man. That is what we call the doctrine of verbal plenary inspiration.

What is the dying message then? What has been written down in human language as the scripture, this becomes the most important. If there is a conflict between your experience, what you observe, what you think, and what the Bible says you are wrong and the Bible is right. And the conflict can only be resolved by knowing what the Bible teaches.

The first principle of the Armageddon campaign in the dissertation on causes. We have studied from the book of Revelation three causes. The first is the cause of the Middle East campaign, the sixth bowl judgment of chapter 16 verse 12. Then the second cause noted was the cause of the last world war, the kosmokratwr demons of 16:13,14. Thirdly, we noted the cause of the specific battle of Armageddon: Jesus Christ controls history, 16:16.

Secondly, we studied the Middle East campaign from the standpoint of Daniel 11:36-45.

Thirdly, the emergence of Jewish leadership, and we studied the principle of leadership from Proverbs 24:1-6. But we noted the prophecy of leadership in Armageddon in Zechariah 12:1-6.

The fourth point that we studied in this great campaign was the siege of Jerusalem. We noted the Jewish believers who did not participate, Matthew 24:4-28, and the Jewish believers who did participate, Zechariah 14:1-9.

The fifth point is one we left hanging. Before we could get to the termination of the Armageddon campaign we had to first of all see something of the seventh bowl judgment and ecumenical religion, code named Babylon the great. Then we had to study in chapters 17 & 18 the fall of Babylon the great in judgment.

Then, of course, having noted the blessing of being involved in the wedding banquet of the Lamb we were then able to come back to this point, Revelation 19:11 and not the doctrine of the second advent and to see how the Armageddon campaign terminates. The major passage on the termination of the Armageddon campaign is Revelation 19:11-21.

The second advent of Jesus Christ is one of the greatest events in all of human history. It is the greatest outside of the strategical victory of the cross where our so great salvation was provided. It is very important, of course, to distinguish between the strategical victory of Christ bearing our sins on the cross and the tactical victory that occurs at the second advent.

The second advent is the subject of a tremendous amount of scripture, Deuteronomy 30; Matthew chapters 24 & 25; Mark 13; Luke 21; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 5:1-5; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-2:12; 2 Peter 1:2,3; Jude 14, 15; Revelation 19:11 and many, many other passages. The second advent has many events connected with it. The baptism of fire is a very unusual thing in that it eliminates from the world all unbelievers when Christ returns, because we are not only starting a new dispensation — the Millennium — but a new civilisation as well. Every new civilisation begins with believers only. The second advent is also the time of the fulfillment of the unconditional covenants to Israel, which is a major principle of eschatology, and it is also the time in which Israel will be restored and again will become a client nation to God. The capital of the world in the Millennium will be Jerusalem. The second advent is also the termination of Satan’s rule on this earth. The second advent also terminates the Armageddon campaign.

2 Peter 1:12, Peter’s introduction to the second advent. “These things,” he is talking about doctrine in general in the first eleven verses but he is also getting ready to develop the eschatological doctrine of the second advent. “Have known,” Peter addresses this to people who already have known Bible doctrine. “And have come to be stabilised by means of resident doctrine” — their stability in studying eschatology is based upon the fact that they have learned other categories of doctrine first.

Verse 14, Peter is in good health but he is about to die.

Verse 15, “remember these things.” That is the great issue: the ability to recall doctrine and to make the application.

Verse 16, The subject of 2 Peter is the “power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the doctrine of the second advent.

Verses 17, this is Peter’s empirical observation of the second advent at the mount of transfiguration. That actual event is described, beginning in Matthew 16:27 where our Lord was prophesying with regard to the second advent.

Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man [the title of Christ in His hypostatic union] is destined to come [reference to the second advent] in the glory of his Father” — at the first advent He came in humility; at the second advent He comes in glory, “with his angels; and at that time [second advent] he will reward each one [the Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs who are resurrected at the second advent] according to his deeds.” This is the equivalent to the Church Age believers’ judgment seat of Christ.

Verse 28, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here [Peter, James and John] who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” The empirical observation of the second advent took place a few days later. To the apostle Peter the experience of the second advent made the doctrine a reality through empiricism. He actually observed the second advent as it would occur. He saw our Lord exactly as he would be at the second advent. That is what is described in the first nine verses of Matthew chapter 17 which follows.

Chapter 17:1, “Then six days later Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain [probably Mount Tabor] by themselves.”

Verse 2, “And He was transformed before them; and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.”

Verse 3, “And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him [talking with our Lord].” Moses and Elijah are the two witnesses of Revelation eleven, the human heralds of the second advent.

Verse 4, “Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord it is good for us to be here,” here is enthusiasms expressing itself, he liked the idea of staying there. The he used a first class condition, “if you wish,” and Peter superimposed upon Him his own will in the matter by using the first class condition [and, of course, you do Lord. I am assuming you do, “I will make three tents here, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

Verse 5, While he [Peter] was still talking [he still had big plans that he hadn’t finished giving], behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them; and behold, a voice from the cloud, saying ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him’!” Shut up Peter, you can’t learn the plan of God by cooking up your own ideas.

Verse 6, “And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and they were terrified.”

Verse 7, “Then Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Stop being afraid’.”

Verse 8, “And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus himself alone.” The party was over.

Peter opened his mouth and came up with his big plan. So many people are well-intentioned and really hurt others even though they have good intentions. But they always manage to foul it up because they are not personally oriented to the plan of God. The more we are oriented to the plan of God the less we use the tongue to hurt others.

Verse 9, “And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell no one [the vision] until the Son of Man has risen from the dead’.” James and John were probably most anxious to get down the mountain and pass the word about what a nitwit Peter was, but that is not to be the case. Peter was not going to be hurt by this because of that one word “until”. After the resurrection these things would become public knowledge. The question is: Who told Matthew? Matthew was the one who writes it.

2 Peter 1:17, the Petrine conclusion which is the introduction to our subject in Revelation 19:11. “For when he [Christ on the mount of transfiguration] received from God the Father honour and glory, a sound of this category came to him,” when Peter, James and John had the empirical experience of observing our Lord as he would appear at the second advent. That is when a sound of this category came to Him, “by the Majestic

Glory, ‘This one [our Lord Jesus Christ] is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,” that is where he ends the quote because since then he has listened to our Lord.

Verse 18, “and we heard [empiricism] this same voice carried from heaven when we were with him in the holy mountain.”

Verse 19, However, we keep on having a more reliable prophetic doctrine [the Bible account of the second advent], with reference to which doctrine you perform honourably by habitually concentrating your right lobes,” concentration on the Word of God, “as on a lamp [Bible doctrine] shining in a dark place [the world] until the day dawns [the second advent when the world shall see Him face to face, Rev. 1:7] and the morning star [title of our Lord Jesus Christ] has come.”

If we have a more reliable prophetic doctrine just what is the origin of this more reliable source?

Verse 20, the answer. “Knowing this first, that all prophecy of scripture does not originate from one’s personal explanation,

Verse 21, “for prophecy was not produced by the design of man, but holy men [human authors of scripture] communicated from God being carried along by means of the Holy Spirit.”

The doctrine of inspiration

God so supernaturally directed the writers of scripture that without waving their human intelligence, their individuality, their literary style, their personal feelings, or any other human factor, his own complete and coherent message to man was recorded with perfect accuracy in the original languages of scripture, the very words bearing the authority of divine authorship.

2 Timothy 3:16, the Greek noun is qeopneustoj, and it doesn’t means “inspiration of God,” it means “all scripture is God-breathed.” All scripture is given by inspiration of God means inhale only, but in reality the doctrine of inspiration is inhale and exhale. The exhale comes from the human author, and he exhales it in writing and it becomes a part of the canon of scripture. The inhale: God the Holy Spirit communicates to human authors God’s complete and coherent message, both for that generation and all generations. While writers of scripture had many other messages for their own generation only what was pertinent to all generations was actually recorded and retained as a part of the canon.

There are certain passages that deal with the subject of the inhale only, 2 Sam. 3:2,3; Is. 59:21; Jer. 1:9; Matt. 22:42-43; Mark 12:36; Acts 4:24,25; 28:25. That is the inhale. God the Holy Spirit controls the subject matter. Sometimes angels were used in the Old Testament and part of the New Testament. There were visions, dreams, direct communication from the Holy Spirit, God the Father giving certain things that were quoted (quotes from the Trinity).

In the exhale the human writers of scripture wrote down in their own language of communication the divine message to man.

The Bible is actually described as the canon in three ways. It is called the Word of God in Hebrews

4:12, hence it is related to God the Father; it is called the mind of Christ in 1 Corinthians 2:16, and therefore it is related to God the Son; it is called the voice of the Spirit in Hebrews 3:7, and therefore it is related to God the Holy Spirit. God has placed the highest possible value on the scripture since the completion on the canon, and this was anticipated in Psalm 138:2 where He regards the canon above His name.

What is the extent of inspiration? How far does inspiration go? There are seven areas to which is extends.

1. Inspiration extends to the unknown past. The Bible portrays past history and details of pristine life totally unknown to history and unconfirmed by human records or documents. That would be Genesis 1-11 or any passage dealing with the prehistoric angelic conflict, like Isaiah 14 or Ezekiel 28.

2. Ancient history, before records were properly kept. The Bible is not an historical text book but it contains many historical citations related to doctrine or the policy of God. All of these historical records in the canon provide the background for the communication of doctrine under the principle of isagogics.

3. The objective type law. The Bible contains many laws for both individual and national life. The laws are part of God’s plan for Homo sapien and they perfectly represent God’s will for the preservation and the protection of human volition, human property, and human life. Repetition of these laws and subsequent recording of them, demonstrates the application to other generations.

4. Dictation. Some portions of the Word of God are simply dictated, they contain direct quotations from God. The doctrine of inspiration guarantees that such commands or quotations are properly recorded in the exact way that God wills them to be recorded.

5. Devotional literature, like the Psalms or Ecclesiastes. God uses the problems, the pressures, the property, the failure, the worship, the happiness, of certain individuals to reveal principles, provisions and blessings from the protocol system.

6. Prophecy. Inspiration involves both the selection of prophetic materials and their complete accuracy. We do not have details of prophecy. There are literally thousands of details that are not recorded in the Word, only those that are related to the principle that the Spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. Only those materials are included.

7. The recording of lies and what is false. Satan tells a lot of lies. Many of the things that are recorded are not true, so the scripture records lies, untrue statements, blasphemies, and inspiration does not sponsor these untrue statements. Inspiration does not sponsor falsehood or evil modus operandi but guarantees the accuracy of these lies and evil modus operandi.

Verse 11, the second advent of Christ. We have the sequential use of the conjunction kai, translated “Then.” The sequential conjunction begins the actual description of the second advent of Christ although it has been anticipated in references to the wedding feast of the Lamb and in the Armageddon campaign. While the wedding feast takes place in earth after the second advent of Christ the preparation takes place in heaven prior to the second advent.

Our next word is the aorist active indicative of the verb o(raw, the verb to see, “Then I saw.” We are back to the concept of the vision again. The constative aorist contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety, that is the vision of the second advent of Christ. The active voice: the apostle John, the human author of Revelation, produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint if eschatological reality. With this we have the accusative singular direct object from o)uranoj which can be used in three different ways. It is used for the atmosphere, for stellar space, and also for the eternal heaven. Here it would be what would be visible to John and therefore the opening up, as it were, of the stellar universe.

The perfect passive participle follows. A)noigw is the verb meaning to open, “Then I saw heaven opened. The perfect tense is an intensive perfect which places emphasis on the existing results or the completed action. This is the emphatic method of the Greeks to present a fact as existing. There is no equivalent to the intensive perfect, it is an idiom and in the English language the best we can do would be to approximate it by using the English present tense. Therefore, “I saw heaven opened.” The passive voice: heaven receives the action of the verb at the second advent. The participle is circumstantial.

Then we begin to note what is said, “and behold.” The demonstrative i)dou introduces what we are going to see. In the Greek the first thing we are going to see is a white horse. We have the nominative of appellation from the adjective leukoj and i(ppoj, “and behold, a white horse.” The white horse is the status symbol of the winner, the victorious commander. During the first advent Christ rode into Jerusalem on an ass colt, but in the second advent He is mounted on a white horse which is always in history the symbol of victory as well as the symbol of aristocracy. Christ came the first time to save mankind but He comes the second time to deliver mankind. Therefore Christ comes as a winner. He came the first time to defeat Satan in the angelic conflict but He comes the second time to replace Satan as the ruler of the world. Therefore He comes on the white horse. Here the white horse in the symbol of victory and aristocracy. It must be remembered that both the ass colt on which our Lord rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and the white horse are mounts of kings at the time in which the Bible was written. Kings rode the ass as well as the horse. The only difference is that humiliation was involved in our Lord’s strategic victory of the cross at the first advent, while exaltation is involved in our Lord’s tactical victory and therefore the white horse. So in reality Christ is a winner in both the advents and both the ass and the white horse are used to indicate that.

The white horse is fitting for the second advent because it portrays the majesty of His battlefield royalty. Christ is always the winner, therefore the Christian way of life is designed to make every believer a winner and to complement and glorify the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is why protocol is so important. The Lord has given to us as His royal family the operational divine dynasphere, the protocol system, so that we can become winners in the devil’s world. So when we come back with Him in a resurrection body we too will have those accouterments by which we glorify the Lord, like the order of the morning star and the crowns, and all of the privileges, the new knighthood.

Now we have the rider, “and he that sat upon him.” It should be “and he who was mounted,” the articular present active participle of kaqhmai which here means to be mounted. When used with a horse it means to be mounted. This is a futuristic present denoting an event which has not yet occurred but is regarded as so certain that in thought it is contemplated as already coming to pass. The active voice: our Lord Jesus Christ is the rider of the horse and therefore he produces the action of the verb from the source of His hypostatic union. As God He doesn’t ride a horse because God is everywhere, but as the God-Man His humanity is mounted on this horse. Just as our Lord is now seated at the right hand of the Father that, of course, is His humanity. Deity doesn’t sit. Now He is seated at the right hand of the Father, the place of honour; then he will be mounted on a white stallion, the sign of victory. This is a circumstantial participle followed by a prepositional phrase e)pi plus the accusative singular of a)utoj, “and he who was mounted on it.”

Then we have the designation of the rider of the white horse, the present passive participle of kalew, used to indicate the rider. The present tense is a pictorial present which presents to the mind a picture of the classification. The passive voice: our Lord receives the action, he receives a designation here. We have two nominatives of appellation. Each one is an adjective used as a substantive. The first one is pistoj and the second one is a)lhqinoj, “Faithful and True.” So a name is not given but rather characteristics are introduced first. The point is that these two characteristics are necessary to be a winner. So the first thing is that it is not that we know it is the title of our Lord or the name, but two that characteristics are given. The first of these is “faithful.” This is what is necessary to be a winner. It doesn’t say smart or talented or having great ability, but what it says is faithful. The whole system of God’s plan is protocol and protocol demands faithfulness, adherence right down to the last point of how our Lord says it should be done. Faithfulness means that you just keep right on plugging. Our Lord was faithful, and that is the story of the first advent victory. He was faithful to the plan. The plan called for eternal God to become true humanity and to obey the Father’s will for His life for 33 years on the earth. The only way to do it was to be born into a system, a protocol system. Our Lord was given for His first birthday the protocol divine dynasphere. From birth he was filed with the Spirit. He learned the principle of faithfulness at gate two, He had enforced and genuine humility, enforced humility when He went to the cross: he humbled Himself and became obedient unto death. By the time he was twelve He had learned the whole realm of doctrine: Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man, momentum, gate four. At gate five He had love for God the Father; Gate six, He had virtue love, impersonal love for all. At gate seven all of the various tests: our Lord passed the eight momentum tests and many more.

This is a protocol system that is precise. There is only one way to do it and that is the Lord’s way. So there are all of these things that God has given to us, and these procedures must be executed the Lord’s way. Since we do not have the power to do them in God’s way he has provided the power in God the Holy Spirit. Why was our Lord a winner in His humanity? Because He was faithful. Faithfulness is a manifestation of virtue and integrity.

The second word is alhqinoj, “true.” True means that God keeps His word. Jesus Christ is God; Jesus Christ keeps His word. Jesus Christ keeps His word in the deliverance of Israel; Jesus Christ keeps His word in the second advent. No matter how great the historical disaster Jesus Christ delivers the believer living in the divine dynasphere. No historical disaster is greater than the faithfulness of God and the fact that He is true. “True” [a)lhqinoj] describes the virtue that makes faithfulness wonderful. In other words, a servant should be faithful to his master in some way but he would be motivated by the fact that his master treats him kindly or he gets money or something out of it. But when the motive is virtue the faithfulness is great. So true here represents the whole protocol system of virtue that motivates faithfulness. What does God require of us? Faithfulness: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

We note the two functions of deliverance at the second advent in the last half of verse 11. We begin the second sentence in the verse with the connective kai introducing the result from the preceding, therefore translated “consequently.” With this we have a prepositional phrase, e)n plus the instrumental of dikaiosnunh , “and with justice.” Dikaiosunh always refers to the integrity of God. Sometimes it becomes synoymous with the word holiness. Here it refers to divine justice as one half of God’s integrity and man’s point of reference in human history.

We are getting ready to note that He is going to do some judging and He is going to make war. The connotation of making war obviously has the implication of some form of violence and the principle is immediately raised about violence. All violence in this passage comes from the integrity of God. Perfect righteousness can use violence without abusing the power of violence. The only way to meet the violence of evil is the meet violence with the violence of righteousness. The violence of evil has no respect for talk. The violence of righteousness takes life both under the authority of the laws of divine establishment and from the integrity of divine essence. There are two functions of righteousness under the laws of divine establishment. The first is the principle of freedom through military victory. The military has the right to use violence. The second is law enforcement.

Violence

1. The key to the proper use of violence in history is virtue and integrity which uses authority without abusing authority. There is nothing honourable, however, in the violence of activism. Civil disobedience is evil.

2. Arrogance abuses authority and has no sense of responsibility. Therefore because arrogance rejects authority it uses violence. Using violence under these circumstances is an expression of evil. Terrorism and terrorist organisations are evil; military in uniform in a nation is honourable. (The Russian and the Chinese communists use violence because their ideology is evil and will not work. Therefore their violence is the power of lawlessness and the power of evil)

3. The lawless abuse of power through violence is anti-Christian and anti-God.

4. The criminal uses a gun which gives him power over law-abiding citizens. Hence, the criminal misuses the gun for illegal power and illegal violence. But because the criminal has a gun it does not follow that we should forbid the possession of firearms by law-abiding citizens. The fault does not lie with the weapon, the fault lies with the criminal. Criminals are criminals whether they have weapons or not.

5. The violence of tyranny and the murder function of the criminal cannot be blamed, then, on firearms. It is not the fact that a gun has a trigger, it is the fact that someone pulls the trigger.

6. Murder and terrorism is a matter of the volition of the soul, not the gun in the hand. In other words, you cannot stop crime and violence by passing laws against the means employed by criminals.

7. The only way to meet the violence of evil is with the greater violence of integrity and honour. In establishment there are two systems of honour and integrity: law enforcement and the military. That means you do not take the law into your own hands. The violence of righteousness in law enforcement is designed to restrain the violence of crime. The violence of righteousness in military function provides national freedom so that the citizens of the client nation can function in privacy and freedom, and under the principles of the sacredness of property and life.

Our Lord demonstrates this principle of doctrine at the second advent for He uses the violence of righteousness to express His justice in both warfare and the judgment of the baptism of fire. And He ends the last great world war of history by annihilation of the enemy. Both are a matter of violence.

The first function of deliverance is judgment, the present active indicative of krinw, “judge,” “consequently he will judge.” We have the futuristic present denoting the future reality of the baptism of fire by which our Lord removes all unbelievers from the earth at the beginning of the Millennium. Only believers will enter the Millennium. That is because the Millennium is not only a new dispensation but at the same time it is a new and the third of four civilisations. Every civilisation begins with believers only. The active voice: Jesus Christ from perfect integrity produces the action of the verb. He is the judge. It is the judgment of all surviving unbelievers from the Tribulation. This includes the dictator of the revived Roman empire and the dictator of the Jewish state in Palestine. The indicative mood is declarative for the eschatological reality of the baptism of fire immediately after the second advent, “and with justice he will judge.” The judgment function of deliverance makes it possible to begin the Millennial reign of Christ with perfect environment such as existed in the garden of Eden for our first parents. God gave our first parents everything possible to make life perfect and happy and wonderful. But He also gave them free will so that they could wreck their own perfect environment. But this time there will be 1000 years of perfect environment. The indicative mood is declarative for the eschatological reality of the termination of the Armageddon campaign and the general world war at the end of the Tribulation.

Next we have the present active indicative of palomew which means to make war in the strict sense of the word. it means to kill the enemy. Our Lord Jesus Christ is doing it. We have the futuristic present denoting the termination of the last world war in history. Our Lord ends a war by killing all the enemy. When there is no enemy left to sign the treaty you can be guaranteed peace for 1000 years! Our Lord returns to utilise the power of His perfect holiness to destroy the power of evil. Therefore He uses the violence of His perfect integrity to neutralise and destroy the violence of evil. At the second advent the violence of evil is the destroyed, and with the destruction of the violence of evil and the source of evil (Satan goes to jail for a thousand years) you can have perfect environment on the earth. This 1000 years of perfect environment starts by killing all the enemy. The active voice: Jesus Christ, from His perfect integrity, produces the action of the verb. Our Lord will annihilate all the unbelievers of all the armies of the world which are on the side of evil in the last world war of history.

Translation: “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse: and he who was mounted on it [our Lord Jesus Christ at the second advent] is called Faithful and True. Consequently, with justice he will judge and he will make war.”

Not only does the second advent terminate the middle east campaign but it also terminates the last great world war in history. The revolution at the end of the Millennium [the Gog and Magog revolution. God is the code name for Satan, Magog is for all of the unbelievers who followed Satan when he is released from prison] will start war but it will never get off the ground because the Lord will end it. Our Lord returns, then, at the second advent to annihilate all evil forces — the kings of the east, the king of the north, the king of the south, and the revived Roman empire.

The last phrase of Revelation 19:9 reads, “these doctrines are the true doctrines from God.” The eschatology of Revelation is doctrine, true doctrine from God. It is just as important as other passages which seem to be much more popular for many people.

The last phrase of verse 10, “the doctrinal communication about Jesus is the perceptive insight into prophecy.”

Those two phrases introduce the subject we have been studying in verse 11, the second advent of Jesus Christ. Verse 11 says in corrected translation: “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he who is mounted on it is called Faithful and True, consequently with justice he will judge and he will make war.” The last part of chapter 19 will tell us all about how He makes war. In the meantime the one phrase that we need to note says, “he will judge.” When it says the Lord is going to do a special type of judgment at a special time it becomes necessary for us to understand exactly what is necessary for us to understand exactly what is meant when it says He will judge. Since the judgment of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, at which time He provided for us this so great salvation, there will be seven major judgments between the cross and the end of history.

Starting with the cross we have the seven major judgments of all history. The judgment on the cross: In the computer of divine decrees the omniscience of God programmed all the sins that would ever exist. One of the major chips in the computer of divine decrees is the record of every sin committed by every person in all of human history. The printout occurred at the cross when God the Father called for the printout and all of the sins of the human race were imputed to our Lord hanging on the cross and were judged. That is the basis of our so great salvation and is number one major judgment. Starting with the judgment on the cross where Christ received judgment, there are six more major judgments in history.

The second judgment occurs during the Church Age, during the Tribulation, and will occur during the Millennium, the function of the believer in self-judgment, the recovery from the cosmic system. We simply call it the rebound technique. This is simply the believer naming his sins to God. The power of forgiveness belongs with God only. Therefore the believer names his sin to God from the privacy of his priesthood and God is faithful; always does the same thing, and God is justified on the basis of the fact that those sins were judged on the cross to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is the principle of if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged. So we have the self-judgment of the believer as the second great judgment in history. It is an ongoing judgment perpetuated from one generation to the other. It is the only way to recover the filling of the Spirit, the only way to reenter into fellowship with God, the only way to reenter the divine dynasphere, God’s protocol plan for your life, the only way to have freedom from the cosmic system. Without the rebound technique you cannot live the Christian life. Being a Christian does not mean that you live the Christian life.

The third major judgment is the evaluation of the believer’s life on planet earth in phase two. We call it, from Romans 14:10, the judgment seat of Christ. We shall all be gathered at the judgment seat of Christ and there we have the evaluation of your life. Did you use the protocol system? Did you follow the priorities of God’s plan for your life? Did you follow the mandate, virtue first. All of this plus the production that results will be the subject of the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat of Christ guarantees inequality in heaven forever.

The fourth judgment is the judgment carried out by our Lord Jesus Christ at the second advent: the baptism of fire.

The fifth is the judgment or incarceration of Satan found in Revelation chapter 20:1-3. Satan is removed as the ruler of this world, judged and sentenced to the abyss. His prison term is 1000 years during the course of the Millennial reign of Christ.

The sixth judgment occurs at the end of the Millennium, the judgment of all fallen angels. They have actually already been tried, they were arraigned before the court of heaven prior to the creation of Adam. They were found guilty but their sentence was postponed until the end of human history. Now, in this judgment, their sentence is carried out. Fallen angels have been sentenced to the lake of fire forever, Matt. 25:41, and Satan as the chief of fallen angels is included in this judgment, Revelation 20:10. The sentence is carried out at the end of the Millennium.

Judgment number seven is the last judgment, Revelation 20:11-15, and it fulfills the principle of John 3:18.

Revelation 19:11 has judgment number four in view. So what is meant in detail by the phrase, “He will judge?”

The etymology of baptism becomes the first major consideration because most people have a very definitely slanted idea about baptism. The less you know about the subject the easier it is to assert your arrogance and therefore to have an erroneous view about the subject. A great deal is made of baptism simply because of the superficiality of teaching today and very few people understand what baptism is all about.

There are three words in the Greek New Testament which make references to baptism. The first of these is the noun baptw. It can be translated “baptise” but it was often translated “dip,” and occasionally it was used for dying. Baptw is used, for example in Luke 16:24; John 13:26; Revelation 19:13. A second word is baptizw, and it means to baptise, to dip, to immerse. Then there is another noun, baptismoj, which is used for cleaning, for washing dishes in Mark 7:4, for the various technical uses for the doctrine of baptisms, and it is translated in Hebrews 6:2 “baptisms.” There is also another noun, baptisma, used for the concept of identification. It is used for ritual identification in Matthew 3:7, 21, 25; for actual identification in Romans 6:4 where it is used for the baptism of the Spirit; it is used as a figure of martyrdom in Mark 10:38 and Luke 12:50. Then there is a fifth word found in the New Testament, baptisthj, referring to one who performs the ritual of baptism.

The categories of baptism. In Hebrews 6:2 we have the doctrine of baptisms. If we are going to advance spiritually we must understand the doctrine of baptisms. That means that there is more than one baptism in the scripture. There are two categories of baptisms: a. Real baptisms; b. Ritual baptisms. A real baptism is an actual identification; a ritual baptism is a ritual whereby water is used. All rituals are analogous to something else, like parables.

There are four real baptisms

1. The baptism of Moses, mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10:2, which was a dry baptism because it refers to the Jews passing through the red Sea. They were said to be identified with Moses. What is the significance of baptism here? Identification with the mandates of the leader.

2. The baptism of the cross, Matthew 20:22, “Jesus answered and said, ‘You do not understand for what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptised with the baptism that I am baptised with?’ ”

What was He saying? He was talking about the cross, the baptism of the cross. No water here. It means that He was identified with the sins of the world. Baptism means identification. The Jews were identified with Moses and the cloud, a real baptism; Jesus Christ was identified with our sins on the cross.

3. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, used to form the royal family of God. At the moment of salvation in the Church Age only God does more than just regenerate. He indwells every believer. It never happened before. God the Holy Spirit seals every believer, the sealing ministry of the Spirit is unique to this dispensation. God the Holy Spirit takes every believer at salvation and baptises him, not with water, and enters him into union with Christ. That is because when Jesus Christ ascended and was seated at the right hand of the Father He had no royal family. So God the Holy Spirit takes each one of us and enters us into union with Christ forever. That is the uniqueness of the Church Age. Therefore each believer is identified with Christ in His death, rejection of human good and evil of the cosmic system, and he is also part of the body of Christ. This concept is found in such passages as Acts 1:5; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 4:5.

4. The baptism of fire, Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16.

There are three ritual baptisms

A ritual baptism represents identification in which water is used as the system of analogy. Every time there is a legitimate reason for a ritual baptism the person going into the water there must be an understanding of what the water means.

1. The baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 3:13-17. The water in this case represents the Father’s will for His public ministry. Our Lord was saying before He began His public ministry that he would fulfill it all of the way to the cross. So Jesus identifies Himself with the Father’s plan for the incarnation. The water represents the Father’s plan and the provision of the prototype divine dynasphere, and the baptism is simply Jesus giving positive affirmation.

2. The baptism of John, Matthew 3:1-10; John 1:25-33. John the Baptist is the herald of the first advent and there had to be some way to represent who was coming. So the water in this case represents the kingdom because the King has come, the first advent; it represents the kingdom of God represented through the message of John and the presence of Christ in the first advent. In the preaching of John he brought out this message. Those who were converted under John’s ministry, those who believed in Christ, gave ritual testimony to the first advent and the hypostatic union and their faith in the work of Christ on the cross. To them the cross had not yet occurred, it was still a matter of eschatology. The water represents the plan of the Father in the first advent.

3. Christian baptism, Acts 2:38; 8:36-38; 16:15; 16:33. It is the ritual testimony of the baptism of the Spirit. In other words, prior to the completion of the canon of scripture the thing that was unique about believers at the beginning of the Church Age is that they are royal family. Therefore the believers before the canon they had to have some way of teaching Jews. How had they been learning throughout all of their history? By ritual. So they get one more ritual until AD 96 when the canon of scripture was closed. The water represents identification with Christ in His death. The believer was immersed under the water and was identification with Christ in His death, and as the believer comes up out of the water then he is identified with air representing identification with Christ seated at the right hand of the Father.

The doctrine of the baptism of fire

Matthew 3:11, “As for me [John the Baptist], I baptise you with water because of your change of mind, but he [Jesus Christ] who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to unlace his sandals; he himself will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” There are three baptisms in this verse: the ritual baptism of John, the baptism of the Spirit, and the baptism of fire. When he says “He will baptise,” that is baptizw, future tense. The subject is our Lord Jesus Christ, future tense, the baptism of the Spirit was future when John spoke and the baptism of fire was also future. The baptism of the Spirit began on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after our Lord’s resurrection. When the second advent occurs and the Jewish Age is finished, the baptism of the Spirit interrupts the Jewish Age, we have the baptism of fire.

Verse 12, “And his grain shovel is in his hand,” the grain shovel in the ancient world separated the wheat from the tares, “he will clean the threshing floor,” the threshing floor is the world being cleansed for the Millennium, the new civilisation which begins with believers only, “therefore he [our Lord at the baptism of fire] will gather the wheat [the believers who survive the Tribulation] into the barn [the Millennium], and he will burn up the chaff [the unbelievers of the Tribulation] with unquenchable fire.”

So at the second advent, when it says in Revelation 19:11, “He will judge,” it is referring to the fact that all the believers in the Tribulation who survive will enter into the Millennium, and all the unbelievers will go off the earth, they will cast into fire, identified with fire, therefore it is called the baptism of fire. All Tribulational unbelievers who survive the Tribulation are judged by Christ and cast into the lake of fire, and this is what we call the baptism of fire.

In our study of the baptism of fire are some parables. The first is found in Matthew chapter 13:24-30, the interpretation of which is found in verses 36-43.

Verse 24, “He presented to them another parable,” a parable is a narrative from which a spiritual lesson is derived. The narrative is something that everyone can understand. A parable simply takes a simple narrative, a story that all people can understand and about something that happens in normal living, and that narrative is then related to a principle of Bible doctrine. It gives the literal outward sense of the matter but requires that the audience, the recipients of the parable, make a deduction from the short story to understand the doctrine being taught. It is doctrine being taught by a short story. Characters and incidents are figurative or typical, therefore proper names and geographical locations are never made. In this case the principle of Bible doctrine has to do with the subject of the baptism of fire, “saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven was compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.” The good seed are the believers of the Tribulation, the field is the world. The sowing of good seed in the Tribulation is Tribulational evangelism.

Verse 25, “But while men were sleeping, his enemy [Satan and the ecumenical religious system] came and sowed tares [the unbelievers living side by side with believers in the Tribulation] among the wheat, and went away.” The point is that there is a coexistence of believer and unbeliever during the course of the Tribulation, just as in this dispensation.

Verse 26, “But when the grass grew up and bore grain, then the tares appeared also.”

Verse 27, “Then the servants of the landowner came to him and said, ‘Sir, did we not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ”

Verse 28, “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ Then the servants said to him, ‘Do you want us to go in and gather them up?’ ”

Verse 29, “But he replied, ‘No; lest while you are weeding out the tares, you might damage the wheat with them’.”

Verse 30, “Let them both grow up together until the harvest [the baptism of fire]; then in the time of the harvest I will instruct the reapers, ‘First gather up the tares and bind them into bundles and burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn’.”

How did the disciples take that?

Verse 36, “Then he [Jesus] left the crowd, and entered into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field’.”

Verses 37, 38, 39, Then he replied to them and said, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man [title of Jesus Christ in hypostatic union], and the field is the world [during the Tribulation]; regarding the good seed, these are the citizens of the kingdom [believers who survive the Tribulation]; while the tares are the sons of the evil one [Satan]; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age [end of the Jewish Age]; and the reapers are angels.

Verse 40, “Therefore just as the tares are gathered and burned with fire [analogous to the baptism of fire at the end of the Tribulation], so shall it be at the end of the age [the Jewish Age].”

Verse 41, “The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom all that offend and those who commit lawlessness [the unbelievers who survive the Tribulation],

Verse 42, “and he will throw them into the furnace of fire [a reference to Hades where these unbelievers who survive the Tribulation will reside in torments until them last judgment]; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Verse 43, “Then the righteous [the believers who survive the Tribulation. This refers to imputed righteousness] in the kingdom of their Father [the Millennial reign of our Lord Jesus Christ].”

The parable of the ten virgins, Matthew 25:1-13, is another parable about the baptism of fire. The groom is our Lord Jesus Christ at the second advent. The bride is the royal family of God, the Church Age believer. The friends of the groom are the Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs who are resurrected at the second advent. The friends of the bride are the believers who survive the Tribulation and who will become the cadres for the population explosion in the Millennium.

The focus in Matthew 25 is on the friends of the bride, the believers who survive the Tribulation. It is also on the pseudo friends of the bride, the unbelievers who survive the Tribulation and are removed from this earth by the baptism of fire. So we have the five wise and the five foolish virgins. The five foolish virgins are unbelievers and they go out under the baptism of fire. The unbelievers of the Tribulation who survive have not been invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb.

That brings us to the time of the baptism of fire: immediately after the second advent.

2 Thessalonians 1:7, “And to give relief to you who are afflicted along with us, when our Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven.” The Rapture is not the time of the revealing of Christ. We meet Him in the air, he does not come to the earth at the Rapture. Here we have “Christ shall be revealed from heaven,” second advent, “with his mighty angels in blazing fire,”

Verse 8, “dealing out judgment to those who do not know God, even to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The mandate of the gospel is “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Verse 9, “Furthermore these [unbelievers] will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.” This is a description of the baptism of fire. They are away from the presence of the Lord. He comes back; He judges them; they are the tares gathered up into bundles and cast into Hades, “away from the glory of his power” which is a one-phrase description of the Millennial reign of Christ.

Where is the punishment area for the baptism of fire? That compartment is Sheol or Hades, known as Torments, the place where all unbelievers wait in fire for the administration of the last judgment. Paradise, a compartment of Hades for Old Testament saints, is the subject given in Ephesians 4:8-10.

Verse 8, “For this reason the scripture says [quoting Psalm 68:18], When he [Christ] had ascended up on high, he led captives [Old Testament believers] in a triumphal procession from a state of captivity [they were in Paradise, hence the transfer from Paradise to the third heaven as per Matthew 27:52,53]… ”

Verse 9, “(Not this doctrine that he ascended, what does it imply except that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? [the location of Hades] ).” Christ could not have ascended out of Hades until He first went into Hades.

Verse 10, “For the one who descended is the same person also who ascended far above all heavens...”

From Adam to the resurrection of Christ all believers when they died went to Paradise, to Abraham’s bosom. After our Lord’s resurrection they were transferred to the third heaven which is called also the new Paradise.

The second compartment of Hades is the one dealing with the baptism of fire. The nomenclature is Torments. This is the residence of all unbelievers until the Millennium. The third compartment is called Tartarus and is the location for the fallen angels who were involved in the genetic attack against the human race in Genesis 6:1-6. Along with that we have a fourth compartment which is very similar called, unfortunately, the bottomless pit in the King James version. It is actually the abyss and it is defined as a jail for demons who for one reason or another have been incarcerated since the Genesis 6 fiasco, Romans 10:7; Luke 8:30,31.

The analogy to the baptism of fire is given in Matthew 24:36:—

Verse 36, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son of Man [in His humanity], but the Father alone [the deity of Christ has always known it].”

Verse 37, “For the coming of the Son of Man [second advent of Christ] will be just like the time of Noah.”

Verse 38, “For in those days which preceded the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,” they had a big social life and family life which was a distraction from doctrine.

Verse 39, “In fact they did not understand [ignorance of historical trends] until the flood came and swept them all away [the judgment removed the unbeliever from the earth], this is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

Verse 40, “At that time [the baptism of fire] there will be two men in the field; one will be taken [the unbeliever], one will be left [the Tribulational believer who survives into the Millennium].”

Verse 41, “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken [unbeliever], and one will remain [Tribulational believer].”

Revelation 19:11, “Consequently with justice he will judge [execute judgment].” The personnel categories involved in the baptism of fire are two: Jewish unbelievers and Gentile unbelievers. Both Jews and Gentile unbelievers will survive the terrible events of the Tribulation. The baptism of fire for Jewish unbelievers is found in the Old Testament. Two passages should be noted. The first is Isaiah chapter one verses 2-4, “Listen, O heavens, and hear O earth; for the Lord communicates, Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against me.” This is the revolution of the Jews who have not accepted Christ as saviour. The analogy is then given in verse three: “The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” This has a specific eschatological reference to Jews in the time of the Tribulation: those who refuse to receive Christ as saviour. Verse four: “Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, descendants of evildoers, sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel [a title for Christ], they have turned away and gone backward.”

Add to that Ezekiel 20:33, “As I live, declares the Lord, emphatically with a mighty hand and with an outstretched hand and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you,” the baptism of fire for the unsaved Jews.

Verse 34, “And I shall bring you out [the recovery of Israel from their dispersion] from the Gentiles and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out,” second advent judgment, baptism of fire.

Verse 35, “Then I shall bring you into the desert of the peoples [probably Saudi Arabia], and there I shall enter into judgment with you face to face.” There the unbelievers are going to be judged.

Verse 36, “As I entered into judgment with your ancestors in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will enter in to judgment with you, declares the Lord.”

Verse 37, “And I shall make you pass under the rod,” a reference to the ancient world where the shepherd made his sheep pass under his staff for inspection and protection. Therefore the analogy to Jewish Tribulational believers being delivered from this judgment, “then I shall bring you into the bond of the covenant,” referring to the believers: the fulfillment of the covenants to Israel.

Verse 38, “But I shall purge from you the rebels [unbelievers] and those who transgress against me; I shall bring them out of the land where they reside, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Therefore you [Jewish believers] will know that I am the Lord.”

Note that the Jews who are unbelievers and who survive the Tribulation will not be permitted to enter Israel at all.

Malachi 4:1, “For behold the day is coming, burning like a furnace, that all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; for, the day that is coming will set them afire, says the Lord of the armies, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” This, again, is a reference to the baptism of fire for the Jews.

Matthew 25:31ff, a terribly misunderstood passage because of one Greek word. The way it looks in context is ta e)qnh. It is in the plural, the vocabulary form is e)q)noj which refers to nations only occasionally, even rarely. Actually, it just means Gentiles in general. That is the way it is used here: Gentile unbelievers who survive the Tribulation. The judge on the throne at the second advent is found in the first verse, verse 31.

“Now when the Son of Man [title of Jesus Christ in hypostatic union] comes in his glory [second advent], and all of the elect angels with him, he will sit on his throne of glory.”

Next we have the arraignment of Gentile unbelievers.

Verse 32, “And all the Gentiles will be assembled before him; then he will separate from each other, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Two categories of Gentiles: the sheep [believers] and the goats [analogous to unbelievers].

Verse 33, the separation of gentile believers from Gentile unbelievers: “Then he will place the sheep [Gentile believers] on his right hand, and the goats [Gentile unbelievers] on his left.”

Verses 34-40, a commendation of the sheep.

Verse 34, “Then the King will say to those on his right [the believers], ‘Come, you who are blessed from my Father [the Father is the one who imputes His own righteousness at salvation], inherit the kingdom [the Millennial reign of Christ] prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Verse 35, an overt manifestation of salvation during the Tribulation: “For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in;

Verse 36, “naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me.” The Gentile believers know that they are saved and they understand eternal security, but they are just a little puzzled by what was said.

Verse 37, “Then the righteous [imputed righteousness at salvation] will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we observe you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty, and give you drink?’

Verse 38, ‘And when did we observe you a stranger, and invite you in, or naked, and clothe you?’

Verse 39, ‘And when did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’”

Verse 40, “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of these my brethren, even the least of them, you did it unto me.’ ” Who are these brethren? They are Jews, the are the 144,000 Jewish evangelists of revelation 7:4-8; 14:1-5. The evangelists of the Tribulation are going to be under great pressure and persecution and all of these things are going to happen to them. The converts are those who help them at that time, those who have accepted Christ under their ministry. The manifestation of their faith was their attitude toward the Jew. The Gentile believers befriend them in a friendless world of the Tribulation. Therefore, our Lord as the judge emphasises an overt manifestation of their inner faith in Christ, and He does it for the benefit of those unbelievers who are about to be judged. Because the unbelievers rejected the message, because they accepted the mark of the beast, because they became involved in ecumenical religion, they rejected helping these people. They were anti-Semitic. So our Lord as the judge emphasises an overt manifestation of the believers’ inner faith. They did not hide their faith under a bushel.

The condemnation of the goats, verses 41-45.

Verse 41, the judgment and the sentencing of the Gentile unbelievers, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, accursed ones [doomed ones, guilty ones], into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels [fallen angels];” the basis for the indictment: the overt manifestation of their rejection of Christ.

Verse 42, “ ‘For I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat [attitude toward the gospel is reflected in the attitude toward the messenger of the gospel]; I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink;

Verse 43, ‘I was a stranger, and you did not offer me hospitality; naked, and you did not provide me clothing; sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.’

Verse 44, the plea of innocence. “Then they themselves will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not help you, serve you, support you?’ ” As unbelievers these Gentiles of the Tribulation were totally indifferent and callused toward the Jewish evangelist who was bringing the gospel.

Verse 45, the indictment of the Gentile unbelievers. “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of these my brethren, even the least of them, you did not do it to me’.”

Verse 46, their sentence for during the course of the Millennium. “Then these [Gentile individuals] will depart into eternal judgment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Application

The role of the baptism of fire has many applications. There is an application to the Jews of the Church Age, Hebrews 12:27-29, “And this [reference to Haggai 2:6], ‘Yet once more,’ denotes the removal of those things which are shaken,” you cannot handle life if you are easily shaken, if you are without poise. Poise belongs to protocol. Protocol is God’s system. What is poise to the believer? It is the ability to think under pressure. And what is it that you think under pressure? You think doctrine; you apply doctrinal principles. If you can’t think you cannot apply doctrine. You have to have poise, it is a part of protocol. Who is “shaken” here? The unbelievers of the Tribulation removed by fire. You can’t have perfect environment with crybabies. The removal of those things which are shaken refers to the eternal losers, the unbelievers of the Tribulation. They are removed by the baptism of fire, “like the removal of discarded things [things done with], in order that the ones not being shaken [believers who survive the Tribulation] might remain [on earth during the Millennium].”

How can you enjoy heaven on earth? How can you enjoy life in this wild world today? Doctrine and only doctrine. You have to know it first, you cannot apply what you do not know.

Verses 28, “Therefore, because we have received to ourselves an unshakable kingdom [the royal family of the Church Age, the protocol kingdom], let us hang on to grace,” How do you hang on to grace? You have to understand it, you have to understand how it works. To hang on to grace you have to have no illusions about yourself. You must never take yourself seriously. Anything about yourself that comes out right or you do well, it is God’s support of you. We must beware not to take credit and try to take the credit away from the Lord, “through which we might render acceptable service to God with reverence and respect.” So the baptism of fire even has an application for us.

Verse 29, we are talking about the baptism of fire. “Our God is a consuming fire.”

Another application of the baptism of fire is the importance of believing in Christ, especially at crisis

points in history. Crisis points of history often take away the distractions and give the individual the opportunity of considering the claims of Christ on his life, and therefore believing.

Furthermore, one of the great applications of the baptism of fire is the vindication of the integrity of our Lord. In fact, that is the point in Revelation 19:11, “with justice he will judge.”

Another application is an historical application. The baptism of fire is necessary for the beginning of a new civilisation. A civilisation is the divine protection of the entire human race and the guarantee of its perpetuation during the historical phase of the angelic conflict. Every civilisation has a beginning and an end. A civilisation begins with believers only. By definition a civilisation is a divine protection of all the human race, not just believers, and its perpetuation during the historical phase of the angelic conflict. And a civilisation has termini, it terminates with a heavy saturation of unbelievers and a cataclysmic judgment. In the termination of historical judgment that follows the end of a civilisation God destroys the entire human race, that is, unbelievers — and a new civilisation begins with believers only. Each civilisation of history has its own climate, its own environment, its own variations within a species. In each civilisation man has a different life, a different life span, and apparently even a different metabolism.

There are four civilisations in human history. There is the antediluvian civilization, the one before the flood, which began with Adam and Eve as believers. (Eve was not called Eve until she was a believer, she was called Isha, woman) Then just before the flood there was a tremendous saturation of unbelievers. There were only eight believers who survived the flood to start the post-diluvian civilisation which will continue until the second advent of Christ. The historical civilisation began with the man and the woman outside the Garden, as believers, and it concluded at the universal flood which destroyed the entire population of the earth except eight believers, Noah and his family. We might call the conclusion of that civilisation the baptism of water. They all drowned in the water. Then there is the post-diluvian civilisation of which we are a part. It began with believers only and it terminates with the baptism of fire when all unbelievers are cast off the earth. The third civilisation is the Millennial civilisation which begins with those who are believers who survive the Tribulation and terminates with the Gog and Magog revolution [Gog is for Satan; Magog is the unbelievers who follow Satan]. At that time we have another cataclysmic judgment, the destruction of the entire universe. At that point believers only, in resurrection bodies, will begin the eternal civilisation which, of course, has no end. This civilisation continues forever with a new heavens and a new earth and the new Jerusalem.

Verse 12, we have a post positive conjunctive particle translated “And,” “And his eyes,” o)fqalmoj. There is no verb here because it is very elliptical. How the Lord will appear at the second advent is now noted. The nominative of explanation from floc which means a flame. With it is the descriptive genitive pur, “And his eyes a flame of fire.” The word w(j is not found there. In the King James version it says “like a flame of fire” but it simply says “his eyes a flame of fire.” This is a description of Christ at the second advent as the judge of history. The deity of Christ is invisible, hence the description here is of His humanity, the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union. The passage emphasises the integrity and perfect righteousness of the deity of Christ plus His impeccability from His life in the prototype divine dynasphere. For the unbeliever of the Tribulation divine judgment is designed to bring the individual to the reality of his status and his need of salvation. First of all, the eyes of the flame of fire has that connotation. Then it has the connotation of the judge. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the judge. Because He controls history God the Father has delegated all judgment to Him, John 5:22,23.

Two principles are involved as far as the unbeliever in the Tribulation is concerned: there is always grace before judgment; there is grace by means of judgment. There is always a period of intense evangelism before judgment; there is also a period of evangelism during judgment. The second concept is that all divine judgment has the purpose of bringing the unbeliever involved in the cosmic system back to reality. Positive volition is the major issue and it is stimulated often by divine judgment. Some people will never face reality and therefore make good decisions until they are motivated, and people often have to be motivated by pain. So decision from human volition and its consequences is always the issue in the historical phase of the angelic conflict. The concept of judgment always has the connotation of pain to bring the individual back to reality, therefore to motivate consideration once again of the gospel.

Most people are indifferent to important things until they are in some form if disaster, and then in looking for solutions to disaster and pain and heartache and problems, and saying Why, Why, Why these things? then they begin to look to where the answers can be found, and that is the truth of Bible doctrine. There are some believers who will never reach maturity though because they cannot pass the prosperity test. The prosperity test means to have the same attitude and the same priorities toward Bible doctrine that you have in time of adversity, and one of the signs of reaching some form of spiritual maturity is the ability to have exactly the same scale of values in prosperity as you have in time of disaster or adversity.

The option for the unbeliever is either to believe in Christ for salvation or to be judged in eternity. Jesus Christ not only controls history, Jesus Christ is the issue of history. To the believer in Christ in time, time cancels the judgment from Christ in eternity. So historical disaster offers the option of grace or eternal judgment and to bring someone back to reality is brought out by the appearance of our Lord.

“And his eyes a flame of fire” is a reminder of the baptism of fire. While the phrase applies directly to the unbeliever of the Tribulation who sees our Lord’s eyes, the eyes of the judge, as a flame of fire it is a reminder that Jesus Christ controls history through judgment and through His policy of grace. Our Lord’s eyes as a flame of fire also has the application to the believer of the Church Age. There never was a bit of eschatology whereby we cannot personally apply it to ourselves. First we learn from interpretation what the eschatology is and then we apply it. For the believer alive in the devil’s world two categories of grace are available. Just as God provides grace often through pain God provides grace for us in all circumstances of life. All believers who are alive are alive for one reason only: logistical grace. God’s logistical grace is the perfect illustration of impersonal love toward all. God loves all believers. Logistical grace is why we are all here. God has graced all of us out, none of us deserve to be alive. When you understand that you have taken a giant stride in the spiritual life.

The eyes as a flame of fire are never directed toward the believer when he is making good decisions from a position of strength, when he is positive toward the Word, when he has control of his life inside the protocol system. Negative volition toward the plan of God means divine discipline; positive volition means great blessing and orientation to life.

Our Lord has three royal warrants and they are mentioned. “His eyes were as a flame of fire” and that is really, by interpretation, for the Tribulational unbelievers. But next we have something for the believers because it says “also.” We have the adjunctive use of the conjunction kai, translated “also.” Then we have a prepositional phrase, e)pi plus the accusative of kefalh, and with it the usual a)utoj, “Also on his head.” Then we have an appositional nominative plural which can be construed as a predicate nominative as the thing emphatically defined in the sentence, “many crowns.” The word for crowns here is quite unusual. First of all is the adjective poluj and then diadhma from which we get our word “diadem.” Diadhma is used for crowns here because it is a crown worn by a king. The King of kings wears three crowns. Diadhma was used as a sign of royalty among the Persians, hence it is a reference to our Lord’s royal warrants. Christ wears many crowns because He has many categories of royalty, “also on head many crowns.” Notice there is no verb at this point. Remember that stefanoj is a wreath or decoration awarded athletes who were winners at the games, or the highest decoration for valour in the Roman army, but diadhma is for kings only. Jesus Christ returns as the King of kings.

The doctrine of the royalty of Christ

The adjective “royal” means kingly or pertaining to a crown. It is used to describe a king as the sovereign ruler of people. The connotation of royalty is portrayed in both of the original languages of the Word. First of all we have the Hebrew melek, and the verb that goes with it, malak which means to rule as a king. We also have in the Greek the word basileuj, and the verb is basileuw. Our Lord Jesus Christ possesses three categories of royalty. First of all by virtue of His infinite and eternal being as God, His divine royalty; secondly, by virtue of the virgin birth, His Jewish royalty; thirdly, by virtue of His strategic victory of the first advent, battlefield royalty, the angelic conflict.

First of all, then, there is God’s divine royalty, Jesus Christ is eternal and infinite God. He is coequal with the Father; He is coequal with the Holy Spirit. As God, Jesus Christ therefore has a special divine royalty. As the manifest person of the Trinity our Lord wears the crown of divine royalty.

The second category is the Jewish royalty of Christ and the virgin birth introduces the humanity of Christ into the world. Because of the virgin pregnancy we have the virgin birth and there was no genetic formation of the old sin nature. No old sin nature means no imputation of Adam’s sin. That is the basis for the Jewish royalty of our Lord. He was born royalty. So at the point of the virgin birth Jesus Christ became Jewish royalty as a direct descendant of king David. David and Bathsheba had four children, Solomon and Nathan are the two whose lines have survived. The line of descent from Solomon is the one given in Matthew, it goes down to Joseph. The line of descent from Nathan is given in Luke, it goes down to Mary. So Mary is the mother of the humanity of Christ. Joseph is not the real father, he is the legal father. Note that the first two categories of royalty relate to our Lord’s hypostatic union. Jesus Christ is the God-Man. As God we have the royalty of His deity and as man we have the royalty of His humanity, divine royalty and Jewish royalty. These are the first two crowns in our passage.

The third crown is based on the strategic victory of the angelic conflict. This might be classified as battlefield royalty when you think of the battlefield as being the angelic conflict. By living in the prototype divine dynasphere our Lord Jesus Christ from the virgin birth — as God he cannot sin; as true humanity in the hypostatic union He has the potential of sin — was able not to sin. The third crown becomes the major issue because it also has connected with it the cross. Our Lord had to be true humanity to be judged for our sins. All of our personal sins were waiting for someone who could be judged for them, waiting for the sacrifice, the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. In the prototype divine dynasphere, the first Christmas present that God the Father gave to the Son, the humanity of Christ, even though He was tempted far beyond anything that we have ever known in temptation, remained perfect. Therefore He was qualified to go to the cross — in His deity, perfect; in His humanity, perfect. God the Father then called for the printout and all of the sins of the world came out of the computer of divine decrees, and when they were imputed to Christ on the cross by God the Father they were judged. They had never been judged until the cross. But they could not be imputed to anyone. Anyone who is a sinner is not qualified, the Lamb had to be spotless. Therefore our Lord bore our sins, 1 Peter 2:24, “in his own body” on the cross. So it was in the humanity of Christ that the issue existed.

Notice something about our Lord’s royal titles. The general title of divine royalty is the Son of God; the Jewish royalty: the general title is the Son of David. When you put the divine royalty and the Jewish royalty together you have the hypostatic union, and the royal title of the hypostatic union is Son of Man. The battlefield royalty: King of kings and Lord of lords, the morning star — Revelation 19:16.

In Matthew 13:55,56 we have one more principle that has to do with Maryology, a heresy which is the worship of the virgin Mary. There is only one virgin birth in all of history, the uniqueness of the person of Christ.

Verse 55, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers, James, Joseph and Simon and Judas?” After our Lord’s birth Mary had a normal relationship with her husband Joseph and they had four sons.

Verse 56, “And his sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” We learn from these comments that Joseph and Mary had quite a family, at least six.

All of this is a part of the second advent, and as such we must remember that all three categories are related to the second advent. The issue in the first advent was the hypostatic union, therefore there were only two categories of royalty which involved the issue, but now here are three. Each category of our Lord’s royalty performs a special function at the second advent. For example, the divine royalty, Jesus Christ as God: At the second advent of Christ divine royalty controls history, changes creation for the Millennial reign, judges ecumenical religion, destroys the armies of the world nations to terminate the last world war of history including the Armageddon campaign, removes unbelievers under the baptism of fire, establishes the perfect environment of the Millennium. The Jewish royalty, the second crown, also has certain functions: Regathers Israel, terminates the fifth cycle of discipline, establishes Israel as the client nation for the Millennium, fulfills the unconditional covenants, and makes Israel a source of blessing in the Millennium. Then the battlefield royalty performs a function at the second advent: Makes Christ the strategic victor of the angelic conflict, complements His victory with the tactical victory, and therefore the battlefield royalty includes the replacement of Satan, the incarceration of Satan for a thousand years, the removal of all demons, the marriage of the Church the bride of Christ, and ruling the earth in the place of Satan for the thousand years of the Millennium. Therefore this becomes the explanation for many crowns, not one crown.

We must stop long enough to recognise the doctrine which pulls all three of these crowns together, and that is, the doctrine of the hypostatic union. It is very difficult for people to understand the principle involved and it is very easy to go astray here without some type of a guideline.

In the person of Christ since the incarnation there are two natures, divine and human. They are inseparably united but they are united without mixture or loss of separate identity. That means without the loss or transfer of properties or attributes. Under the doctrine of the hypostatic union the union is personal and eternal. In other words, Jesus Christ will be the God-Man forever, there will never be a change in the hypostatic union. Since the incarnation Jesus Christ who is and always has been eternal God, coequal with the Father and the Spirit, is also true humanity. So we say he is true humanity and undiminished deity in one person forever, or the God-Man. Jesus Christ is different from God in that He is mankind and different from mankind in that He is God. The divine and the human attributes are combined in one person forever, there will never be a change. So Jesus Christ, therefore, becomes the unique person of the universe. As God, of course, He is infinitely superior to man and angels and all creation; as humanity He is now superior to all angels and all other human beings. The pre incarnate person of Christ was deity and since the incarnation, since the moment of the virgin birth. Jesus Christ combines in His person, one person, two separate natures: divine and human natures. Through the virgin birth, then, Jesus Christ was born without a sin nature, without the imputation of Adam’s sin. His humanity is trichotomous; he was born as Adam was created. Jesus Christ is the only member of the human race who was born trichotomous. Adam was created trichotomous, body, soul, and spirit. We are born dichotomous with a body and a soul.

We have two categories in us as human beings. We are born with a soul and human life is imputed by God in every case. That is the immaterial part of man, the part of man that was created in the image of God, and somewhat marred by sin because the human spirit was lost. The human spirit is man’s ability to have a relationship with God; the human soul is man’s ability to have relationship with man. Originally the human soul was the ability to rule the earth, for when Adam was created he was the ruler of the earth and he lost dominion to Satan through the Fall. Simultaneously imputed to us at birth is Adam’s original sin and it is imputed to the genetically formed old sin nature. This becomes a very important principle because when it says the wages of sin is death, Romans 5:17ff, we are sinners by birth, and we came under the wages of sin at birth. God didn’t stand around and wait for us to commit a sin, Adam’s sin was imputed to us and had to be because there was a vacuum until Adam’s sin was imputed. The vacuum was created by the old sin nature, and the fact that we have it genetically in the cell structure of our body becomes the basis of a great conflict as to whether the old sin nature or the Holy Spirit will control the human soul. When the Holy Spirit controls the soul we are said to be spiritual and when the old sin nature controls the soul the Bible says we are carnal. Both carnality and spirituality are absolutes, mutually exclusive. There is no such thing as being partially spiritual and partially carnal. When we sin we become carnal and when we rebound we become filled with the Spirit, but that anticipates an application of this doctrine. What we need to understand here is that you and I are not sinners because we commit personal sins, we are sinners and are spiritually dead because Adam’s sin was imputed to us.

When human life is imputed with members of the human race since the fall of Adam there is also genetically passed down through the 23 males chromosomes in copulation, the old sin nature. The old sin nature which is passed down demands, it is a vacuum, residence as a home. What goes with the old sin nature? That which originated the old sin nature: Adam’s original sin. The old sin nature is passed down genetically, that is why the virgin birth is so important to the hypostatic union. Apart from the virgin birth Jesus Christ could not have gone to the cross. The fact that Mary had a virgin pregnancy and the 23 female chromosomes through meiosis and polar body were free from the old sin nature meant that when the Holy Spirit provided the 23 male chromosomes because of that it immediately cut off the imputation of Adam’s sin because there was no old sin nature transmitted. Male and female both have the old sin nature but we are not talking about the possession of it, we are talking about the transmission of it. It is transmitted through the male and the reason is because Adam willfully sinned, knew what he was doing and committed the sin of cognizance, whereas the woman sinned in ignorance — she didn’t know what she was doing but she was equally guilty, and that is why she is the one who has the womb and bears the children. That is why through meiosis and polar body the 23 female chromosomes are totally free from the old sin nature. The only way that they can ever be related to an old sin nature is for 23 male chromosomes to be added through copulation, which is the reason why we are born physically alive, because God imputes life. But God is just and the justice of God demands that there be a complete imputation at birth, and there is the old sin nature which is transmitted through the male which demands a residence. The only residence that the old sin nature will take is Adam’s original sin. That is why we call these “real imputations.” A real imputation has an affinity. There is a home and there is a natural occupant for that home. The soul is a home and it demands something that has affinity and the thing that has affinity is human life. There is a tremendous arrogance in the world today, and that is the arrogance that there is life in the womb. There is reflex motility and there is physiological activity but there is no life in the womb. God is the giver of life and if there was life in the womb sooner or later science would have been able to create life. Only God can create life.

When did you commit your first sin? You don’t know. We all did have a starting point when we committed sin, but it doesn’t make any difference when we committed our first sin because we were already spiritually dead. You and I are spiritually dead at birth. Spiritual death is the cause of sin. When did you come under the wages of sin? When Adam looked at the woman and said, “I’ll take it.” Personal sins are not the wages of sin that brought death, it was one thing that brought death: God in His matchless, perfect wisdom imputed Adam’s sin to each one of us. All of our personal sins were in the computer of divine decrees and every sin that has ever been committed in the history of the human race was imputed to Christ on the cross. Christ was qualified to go to the cross and die for those sins. Why could not someone else? For one very simple reason: the hypostatic union. There is only one person in all of human history who was qualified to bear the sins of the world and to be judged for them, to be our substitute. He was God, and as God He couldn’t do it. Jesus Christ under the hypostatic union is eternal God and eternal God can simply not die for the sins of the world, or have anything to do with sins. The very essence of God makes it impossible for God to bear sin or be judged for sin or die for sin. God can’t even die. So what does it mean when it says that Christ died for our sins? For Jesus Christ to do this wonderful thing for us He had to become true humanity, but in becoming true humanity there could be no bleed-over of the divine attributes into His human nature, and the human attributes could not bleed into the divine nature. He had to be two separate and distinct persons. He had to continue to be God and He had to continue to the be Man. So He had to be born like a human being and the virgin birth guaranteed that he would not come under imputed sin or have an old sin nature. As eternal God the attributes of His deity always stay with His deity, they never bleed over to His humanity; and the attributes of His humanity never bleed over into His deity. Jesus Christ is God; Jesus Christ is Man, and Jesus Christ is the God-Man forever without any crossover of attributes. Because the humanity of Christ was in the prototype divine dynasphere, He arrived at the cross without ever committing a personal sin, though he was tempted far beyond anything we have ever known.

None of the divine attributes are in any jeopardised or compromised by the hypostatic union. The incarnate person of Christ is true humanity with a body, soul and spirit. Because of the virgin birth He was born without the old sin nature and the imputation of Adam’s sin and, what is even more important, Jesus Christ was born as Adam was created in the image of God. And that is the relationship between the image of God passages in Genesis and the doctrine of the hypostatic union. When God the Father gave the Lord Jesus Christ the spark of life it was the only case on record where He provided both human life and spiritual life. So God the Father imputed human life to the human soul of our Lord. He gave His uniquely-born Son — His was a unique birth — “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” And why can we simply believe in Him apart from any human merit? Because all of the merit resides in Him in the hypostatic union. The hypostatic union, then, is the key to the glory of Jesus Christ.

Our Lord was also born with a human spirit and therefore what could be imputed to the human spirit? He already had eternal life as God. Jesus Christ already had eternal life so what could God the Father impute? Something that becomes the key to the modus operandi of every believer. He imputed to the human spirit of our Lord the protocol system, the prototype divine dynasphere. We now live under the mandate of the operational type divine dynasphere.

When we accept Christ as saviour we have a judicial imputation. God the Father takes one half of His holiness which is perfect righteousness and he imputes it to us. So every believer has God’s perfect righteousness. At the same time He imputed God’s life. There are two things you must have if you are going to live with God forever: His life (eternal life) and His righteousness. Since we can’t make it ourselves He provides the means. That also is the system for logistical grace. God takes this eternal life and He imputes it, and just before it arrives God the Holy Spirit creates the human spirit for each one of us. Now each one of us who are believers is trichotomous.

So in the hypostatic union we have the two natures of Christ united without transfer of attributes. In other words, the attributes of deity adhere to the divine nature; the attributes of humanity adhere to the human nature. The attributes adhere to their corresponding natures. The essence of deity cannot be changed, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, immutability. The infinite: Jesus Christ is God, infinity cannot be transferred to His humanity. Man does not become infinite in the hypostatic union. To take from God a single attribute of His deity would destroy His deity; to take from the humanity of our Lord a single attribute of His humanity would destroy His humanity. In fulfilling the Father’s plan for the first advent certain attributes of Christ’s deity were not used in obedience to the Father’s plan. But this does not imply that they were surrendered or destroyed (the false doctrine of Kenosis). In the true doctrine of Kenosis Christ voluntarily took on Himself the form of mankind in order to redeem man from sin, to reconcile man to God, and to propitiate God the Father. In completing the mission of the first advent our Lord did not exercise His divine attributes to benefit Himself or to provide for Himself or to glorify Himself. Therefore the union of divine essence and the human nature in the incarnate person of Christ must be considered both hypostatic and personal. It is this doctrine which explains the many crowns in our passage and it is the key to all theology.

“and on his head many crowns,” the multiplicity of crowns is based upon the various categories of royalty of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is eternal God. As eternal and infinite God He possesses all of the attributes of the essence of God, which means that infinitely and eternally he has coexistence with the Father and with the Holy Spirit on a coequal basis.

We now move in the last half of the verse to the royal title of infinite deity, known as the unknown royal title. We begin with the present active participle of the verb e)xw, “to have.” This is a static present for a condition which has always existed. Jesus Christ is eternal God and the unknown title is the royal eternal title of God, the royal dignity of Christ as infinite eternal God. This title is unknown to us only in the sense that we do not know Christ as God as he has eternally known Himself. The active voice: Jesus Christ produces the action of the verb as eternal and infinite God. The participle is circumstantial, best rendered in the English by the conjunction “and” plus the finite construction of the verb, “and he has.” Then we have the accusative singular direct object from onoma. The word means name or title, personality, reputation. Here, of course, it refers to a royal title, “and he has a royal title.” The word “crowns” indicates that it is not just a name, it is a royal title. Then we have finally the perfect passive participle from the verb grafw which means written, and it has the connotation of “recorded.” The perfect tense is a dramatic perfect which is the rhetorical use of the intensive perfect. The dramatic perfect emphasises the results of a completed action. The results include the removal of Satan as the ruler of this world. Also, the results are threefold. As divine royalty Christ judges the world as per the baptism of fire; as Jewish royalty Christ regathers Israel and fulfills the unconditional covenants; as battlefield royalty Christ terminates the Armageddon campaign and the last world war of history, removing Satan as the ruler of this world. The passive voice: the royal warrant has been recorded. The participle is circumstantial.

“And his eyes were a flame of fire, and also on his head were many crowns [representing the three royal warrants plus the unknown one which has to do with infinity]; and he has a royal title which has been written, which no one understood except himself.”

O)ida in the perfect tense has to do with knowledge that has always existed. O)udeij is the subject and it means no one [human race], and does not refer to the Father or to the Holy Spirit. The three members of the Trinity all understand the title.

Neither the unbeliever nor fallen angels can properly interpret history or understand historical trends. That is impossible and that is because the pattern of history throughout the entire Church Age is set up under doctrinal and spiritual principles. The unbeliever is the yuxikoj man. He is dichotomous, therefore he cannot understand spiritual things, he can only learn from past history. No creature outside of the plan of God can understand or appreciate our Lord’s royal titles or their significance as far as the second advent in concerned. The key to history is the understanding of Bible doctrine as found in the Word of God. Since they cannot understand doctrine they cannot interpret history. Therefore both fallen angels and those living in the cosmic system, unbelievers and cosmic believers, can only distort history. Doctrine resident in the soul of the positive believer is the key which fits the lock of historical trends. Therefore history overtakes and crushes both the fallen angels and the unbelievers of the Tribulation at the second advent. That is the importance and the gist of verse twelve. What you don’t understand will destroy you, that is the issue, the point being that we have volition and we have motivation to understand what we want to understand. The fact that people do not accept Christ, the fact that people do not know Bible doctrine, the fact that believers do not know doctrine, means that they are generally ruined by what they do not understand. The reason we have so much trouble and so many problems in our lives is not because we are great Christians and the devil is after us, it is because we are the products of our own bad decisions. We manufacture out of bad motivation and we manufacture out of the wrong priorities all of the troubles and disasters that come to us.

Verse 13 — we now come to the revelation of the royal title. We have the adverbial use of the conjunction kai, translated “Furthermore,” followed by the perfect passive participle of the verb periballw which means to wrap around or to be clothed, or to put on clothing. Furthermore, he was clothed.” The dramatic perfect is one in which the existing state is described in an unusual and vivid way. The passive voice: our Lord receives the action at the second advent. The participle is circumstantial and translated as a finite verb with the conjunction “and.” “Furthermore, he was wearing a robe.” The robe is a sign of His strategic victory of the angelic conflict, along with the title which follows. First we have the clothing of victory and then we have the title of victory in this verse.

Next we have another perfect passive participle from noun baptw which means to dip or to sprinkle. Here we translate it “splattered.” Then we have the instrumental singular from a(ima, “with blood.” The blood is used in relationship to both advents. The blood of Christ for the first advent to represent redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, the saving work of Christ on the cross; the blood here on His robe is literal blood. The fact that our Lord wears a robe splattered with blood is explained by several passages of scripture. Needless to say the blood is literal, the blood of those whom our Lord has slaughtered at the termination of the Armageddon campaign.

First we note the full uniform our Lord was wearing on the occasion of His second advent. It is described in Isaiah chapter 59 verse 17 which says, “he put on righteousness like a breastplate and a helmet of victory on his head; furthermore he put on the garments of vengeance for a uniform, and he wrapped around himself a military robe of zeal.” His military robe of zeal is splattered with blood, human blood of annihilated armies. We noted this first in Revelation 14:20. The blood of our Lord’s robe is also explained in Isaiah 34:2, 3, 5, 6. This is the termination of the last great world war in history. Other passages describe a similar scene: Joel 2:20; Revelation 19:21; and a more detailed passage is found in Isaiah 63:1-3 which describes the second advent. Ezekiel chapter 39 describes a similar slaughter. We simply note in passing that this is one of the signs of victory; A principle comes out of this: the violence that is involved in the last world war in history is put down by a greater violence from the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the second part of verse 13 we have the title that no one understood. We have a connective conjunction kai, and we noted in the previous verse that we had this unknown title of Christ as infinite and eternal God. In this verse we have the royal title of Jesus Christ as the strategic victor of the angelic conflict. This royal title also relates to the second advent of Christ or the tactical victory of the angelic conflict, for one category of victory leads to the other category. In verse 14 we have a royal title of Jesus Christ as the tactical victor in the angelic conflict, so all of these royal titles come together. But this one is probably the least understood of all. We have the adverbial use of the conjunction kai, translated “furthermore,” and next the nominative singular subject of o)noma which has many meanings, all related. It is generally translated “name” but it means “title,” “royal title,” “personality.” Here it means “royal title.” Then the perfect passive indicative of kalew, a verb used here for nomenclature, “has been designated [or called].” It is a dramatic perfect which is the rhetorical use of the intensive perfect. Completed action and the results of the completed action of the perfect tense are emphasised here is a vivid and dramatic way. The passive voice: Jesus Christ as the unique person of the universe is the one who is in hypostatic union and receives the action of the verb — the royal title for His strategic victory followed by His tactical victory in the second advent. The indicative mood is declarative for the verbal idea being presented from the viewpoint of reality. This title is given: o( logoj tou qeou, “the Word of God.” That would be a literal translation were it not for the fact that logoj just simply doesn’t mean word. Very rarely does it means word, it has meanings that are way beyond this. Translation: “now his title has been designated the Word of God.”

John 1:1 starts out E)n a)rxh h)n o( logoj, “In the beginning was the Word,” but that is not the translation at all. First of all a)rxh is very much in the picture here, the word “beginning.” Beginning does not always mean beginning, sometimes it is idiomatic. A)rxh has numerous meanings and they are always determined by the context. In John 1:1 a)rxh refers to eternity past; in 1 John 2:7 a)rxh refers to the time when the believer became a Christian; in 1 John 3:8 a)rxh refers to the time before the creation of mankind. In other words, prehistory; in 1 John 1:1 a)rxh refers to the incarnation; in 1 John 2:13,14 it refers again to eternity past. There are so many different meanings. How do they get the idiom “in eternity past” out of this? By omitting the definite article. The preposition e)n plus the locative of a)rxh should be translated “in a beginning which is not a beginning,” meaning in eternity past. This means that whatever is used here preexisted all creatures, and the word that is used for preexisting all creatures is logoj. Logoj means a thought, a vocabulary, a person with thought and vocabulary that preexisted all human beings. Logoj, therefore, is used in a very technical sense. It is a way of cracking the barrier of time and going back into eternity.

Every system of philosophy would like to establish a premise on the absolute but neither rationalism or empiricism has ever succeeded in doing so. Rationalism is the concept that reason is the source of knowledge in itself, superior to and independent of any sensory perception. Only the Word of God can penetrate the barrier of time and go into eternity past and tell us what happened in eternity past. And only faith as a non-meritorious system of perception can understand the events which preceded time, the creation of man, the planet earth, the existence of the universe, what is beyond all of these things. Empiricism is also a meritorious system of perception for empiricism is the pursuit of knowledge by observation and experimentation. Empiricism has not succeeded in breaking the time barrier and going into eternity past. The apostle John using faith as the system of perception reached beyond empirical knowledge and went beyond the incarnation, broke the barriers of time, and came up with this marvelous phrase, “In a beginning which is not a beginning, in eternity past.”

Then the verb, the imperfect active indicative of e)imi, the verb to be used here in its absolute sense in the imperfect tense of duration, hence linear aktionsart in past time and, with the idiom e)n arxh, meaning there always existed. “In a beginning which was not a beginning in eternity past there always existed.” The active voice: the Logoj produces the action of the verb, and the Logoj here is Jesus Christ. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of Bible doctrine. There existed in eternity past the Logoj. We know that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit existed in eternity past. Christ was and always has been eternal God, therefore He possesses all of the attributes of eternal God. All divine titles are ascribed to Christ for He is called God. He is called the Mighty God, He is called the great God, He is called God over all, He is called Jehovah, He is called Lord, He is called King of kings and Lord of lords. He declares that He and the Father are one; He is the creator of the universe; He is the object of worship from both mankind and angelic creatures. God is not more, therefore God cannot promise more; God cannot do more than Jesus Christ is said to be to promise and to do. Therefore the verb e)imi denotes absolute existence. Christ eternally existed in past time. There are many passages dealing with this, starting with Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; John 8:58; Colossians 1:16,17; Ephesians 1:14; Revelation 1:11, etc.

In contrast to the verb e)imi, used here for the eternal existence of Christ, we will see the meaning of the logoj related to another verb, ginomai, which means to become. There is a difference between e)imi and ginomai. Ginomai is used for something that has a beginning; e)imi can have a subject that has no beginning. So we have the two verbs in contrast in John chapter one. This prepares us to take a look at this title which links eternal God, the second person, with the incarnation, o( logoj, and that is the predicate nominative. Since we are talking about a title for the Lord Jesus Christ it should be Logoj, and it is used to indicate infinite God manifest to finite creatures, Homo Sapiens. Logoj connotes both thought and revelation of that thought. Logos often means doctrine but here it is used with the descriptive genitive of Qeoj to refer to Jesus Christ. Here it means the originator of doctrine, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Greeks used logoj as a metaphysical reality, a term in both their philosophy and their theology. They also used logoj for word, speech, utterance, revelation, thought, vocabulary, not in the sense of something proclaimed but thought in the sense of something displayed, clarified, recognised and understood. Therefore, when Heracleides used logoj extensively it must be understood that he not only used the noun to express relationship between man and God but between man and the world. He also used it to establish a relationship between man and virtue. The sofoj who broke away from Heracleides used logoj as the rational power inside of man — the power of thought, the power of speech. To Socrates and Plato logoj became not simply thought, but in the plural they both used logoi for a preexistent vocabulary, a preexistent harmony between thought of soul and the matter that existed with it. Aristotle summarised logoj by contending that man had the word in two ways, namely that his manner of life is determined by logoj or thought and he can express his manner of life by logoj, and therefore speech. The relationship between thought and speech is the issue.

When we were created in the image of God there were three characteristics involved. God is a spirit and therefore the immaterial part of man is the image of God. Man was created with a human soul and a human spirit in the image of God. When Adam sinned we lost the human spirit and became dichotomous but this much of the image of God we still have. First of all, I think, thought, vocabulary. Then we have volition, and that is self-determination. All of the philosophers recognised that they had to use something, they didn’t invent it, they did not invent vocabulary, they did not invent words, they did not invent language, it came through the barrier of eternity when man was created in the image of God. Therefore logoj, used of our Lord Jesus Christ, has a very unusual meaning. In John 1:1 we have Jesus Christ in eternity past, and this is the unknown title. This is the title that no one knew in the previous verse; it is now revealed as the Logoj. In 1 John 1:1 we have the Logos in time; in Revelation 19:13 we have the Logoj in eschatology, the Logoj in the future.

All of this discussion about etymology of logoj is to bring us to a single fact which could not have been said in the first place: logoj is not only a designation for Jesus Christ in hypostatic union but is the title of our Lord Jesus Christ as the test pilot for the divine dynasphere, the entire protocol system that belongs to the family of God. There is only one period in all of human history where there is no legitimate tabernacle and no legitimate temple. There is no sacred building in the Church Age and it is the only dispensation in which there is no sacred building, but there is a statement of scripture which says that there is no temple in the eternal state. In the eternal state there is a satellite city called the holy city, the New Jerusalem, but there is no temple. Only twice in all of the scripture do we have this significant statement, “no temple.” In this dispensation only the body of the believer is the scared building, it is the temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:19,20. Only the body. Why? What does that have to do with Logoj?

“In the beginning which was not a beginning, in eternity past, there always existed the Logoj.” The next verse, John 1:2, says, “He existed in eternity past face to face with God.” There always existed the Logoj, furthermore the Logoj always existed face to face with God, and finally it says, “and the Logoj was God.” In other words, we have a distinction between God the Father and God the Son. Both existed in eternity past, both were eternal, both were infinite, both had identical eternal and infinite attributes, one did not have more attributes than the other. So they eternally coexisted, “the Logoj was God.” That is Jesus Christ in eternity past and that is the unknown title. In verse 2 we see that “the same one was in the beginning with God.” O(utoj is a nominative singular demonstrative pronoun, it can be translated “this one,” but a demonstrative pronoun of this emphasis can be used as a personal pronoun. He always existed in eternity past face to face with God, proj plus the accusative of qeoj. Verse two just reinforces the fact that when this unknown title logos is used it takes us out of time in the Church Age and takes us back into infinity in eternity past and indicates that Jesus Christ is, always was, and there never was a time when He was not eternal God. To prove that John 1:3 simply says that He is the creator of everything.

Verse 14 is going to explain why the Christian way of life is entirely different from the way of life of believers in the Old Testament dispensation, the way of life of believers in the Tribulation, the way of life of believers in the Millennium, why we have something unique and why we have never been given a sacred building, why there is no temple and why we do not go to Jerusalem to worship, why there is no tabernacle in existence extant any longer. It is very simple: Kai o( logoj sarc e)geneto, “And the Logoj became flesh.” Notice that we have here the constative aorist, the aorist active indicative of ginomai. When we are talking about eternity past we have e)imi; when we are talking about the incarnation we have ginomai. Jesus Christ who was eternal God in eternity past and the creator of the universe became something He never was before; He became sarc — “flesh.” God is not flesh, God is not material, the image of God is not material. Jesus Christ became sarc — “flesh.” The constative aorist tense contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. It refers to a momentary action, it refers to the virgin birth. That is when Christ became flesh, at which time He became the God-Man, the unique person of the universe, i.e. hypostatic union. We have one more verb, the aorist active indicative of skhnow, which is translated “dwelt” in the King James version but it means to tabernacle, “and the Logoj became flesh and tabernacled among us.” The tabernacle came to the earth, “among us.” Jesus Christ tabernacled on earth for 33 years during the first advent. Logoj Qeou refers to God the Father; Logoj refers to God the Son. Tou can be ablative or genitive of source, “the Logoj from God the Father.”

Why is it that we are priests? That never occurred before and will never occur again. Why is it that God the Holy Spirit for the first time in all of human history indwells every believer? It has never happened before? Why is it that we have union with Christ, the baptism of the Spirit, retroactive and current positional truth, and it never happened before? Why is it that we have a protocol system that has never preexisted? Why is it that we do not have ritual, except for the Lord’s table? This is not the age of ritual, this is the age of protocol. Every other dispensation is a dispensation of ritual, including the Millennium. Why? In human history, except for the Church Age, there has always been a tabernacle or a temple, a sacred building representing the invisible presence of God and portraying a system of Christology which did not exist prior to the first advent. This invisible presence in the Old Testament is called the Shekinah glory. What is the Shekinah glory? The Hebrew noun, shekinah, doesn’t occur in the Old Testament, and it comes from the Hebrew verb shakan which means to dwell. But there is one thing that Jesus Christ never did in the Old Testament. He did not dwell on the earth; He did not skhnow, but He did have a shekinah presence: the Shekinah glory. So while the Hebrew noun shekinah is not found in the Old Testament it was used by Jews since time immemorial to express the invisible presence of Jesus Christ in the Tabernacle.

Between the two cherubs looking down on the mercy seat in the tabernacle was the Shekinah glory. When the cloud was over the tabernacle that meant that there was a glory inside between the cherubs, and that glory was called in the Hebrew, kabhodh. That was the invisible presence of the God of Israel, Jesus Christ. He didn’t come in the flesh, He came in light. He was invisible. There was a cloud above that they could see and they knew when that cloud was there. And when he spoke out of that cloud there was a glorious light. There was no light inside of the holy of holies. Where was the light? The candle was in the holy place; there was no light inside of the holy of holies, it was dark and it was supposed to be dark because the only light that was ever supposed to be in the holy of holies was Jesus Christ the Shekinah glory, the light of the world. So Jesus Christ, the invisible God of the Old Testament, occupied that sacred building. That is why it was sacred, because in the form of light He was there. Cf. Exodus 25:22 with Leviticus 16:2. This same Shekinah glory represents the invisible presence of Christ and is mentioned in the New Testament. Hebrews 9:25, that glorious light, whatever it is, is in certain passages equivalent to doca, “glory.” There is a passage in which the tabernacle is described in the New Testament, Hebrews 9:25 where it is describing the mercy seat, and above it the cherubs representing the holiness or the integrity of God. They are called the cherubs of doca. Why? They are just made out of gold, there is no glory in the cherubs. This glory is related to something alive, eternally alive, and doca is the same as kabhodh and kabhodh is the Shekinah glory, and the reason they had sacred buildings in the Old Testament is because there in that building is the invisible presence of the second person of the Trinity who had not yet become visible, had not yet become the God-Man. This is His pre-hypostatic union relationship with Israel, and in the Tribulation the temple is a false one and there is no glory there. In the Millennium there is a legitimate temple as a memorial to all of this: that Jesus Christ has throughout all the Old Testament dispensation been always faithful because always there. When they failed miserably the cloud went away. A pillar of fire at night, a cloud by daytime, the Shekinah glory in the tent called the tabernacle. So, above it the “glory,” the Shekinah glory, the invisible presence of Christ as the God of Israel overshadowing the mercy seat. Overshadow means life, the only life. Doca refers to the presence of Jesus Christ as the God of Israel.

Jesus Christ is also mentioned as Shekinah glory in James 2:1, “My brethren, do not exhibit partiality,” partiality is living in cosmic one; when you do not exhibit partiality you are living at gate six of the divine dynasphere, “as you keep having the doctrine from our Lord Jesus Christ.” Then something is added, “we have doctrine from our Lord Jesus Christ.” We have doctrine we are to use. When it is doctrine we are to apply it is called pistij; when it is doctrine we are to learn it is called a)lhqeia; if it is doctrine we are to put together categorically it is logoj. Here we have doctrine — “as you have doctrine from our Lord Jesus Christ.” Who has doctrine? Some don’t have enough doctrine to fill a thimble. In what form do we have the Shekinah glory? Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. We have the Shekinah glory in doctrine. How do we know that? This is what James says in 2:1, “My brethren, do not exhibit partiality as you keep having doctrine from our Lord Jesus Christ, the glory.” The last two words: the Shekinah glory of the tabernacle is the glory of the hypostatic union where His humanity functioned in a prototype divine dynasphere.

That explains something. Shekinah is derived from shakan which means to dwell. The Shekinah glory is the dwelling glory. Jesus Christ, the God of Israel, dwelt with Israel overshadowing the mercy seat. The presence of the Lord Jesus Christ between the cherubs was the Shekinah glory. At the virgin birth the Shekinah glory became the incarnate Christ, the God-Man, the hypostatic union which exists forever. During the first advent the humanity of Christ produced a new glory inside a protocol system, the Father’s protocol system, the prototype divine dynasphere. Believers in the Church Age have it now. They have something that no one could even touch before. They couldn’t even go into the holy of holies, the Shekinah glory would have killed them if they had even tried to step into the holy of holies and see it. Yet that glory is available to us now. That Shekinah glory is Jesus Christ inside the prototype divine dynasphere. He made the Shekinah glory available and now for one dispensation only, while the royal family is being called out, their way of life is that same divine dynasphere, and they only glorify God, and they only produce glory inside of those eight gates of the divine dynasphere. That is why our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, that is why gate one is being filled with the Spirit, and that is something that has never existed before and will be shut down and never seen again until the eternal state.

John 1:14, “And the Logoj became flesh,” Jesus Christ as eternal God, “and he tabernacled among us,” the Shekina glory became for the first time visible God-Man. The God-Man was the tabernacle. It isn’t the tabernacle that counts, it is the One who occupied it, and the One who occupied it came in the flesh. The presence of God supersedes all sacred buildings that represent God, “and we observed his glory,” the invisible God of Israel residing between the cherubs. No Jew could ever see His glory and live, that is why the holy of holies was off limits. Now, we can not only look and live but it is a part of the protocol plan. We observe His glory in the prototype divine dynasphere. It is not His glory as God but His glory as true humanity inside the prototype divine dynasphere. Why is that important? Because that is the glory He left us, the operational type divine dynasphere, and it never was given to anyone else, “the glory of the uniquely born one from the Father,” we observe monogenhj glory, not the glory of God but monogenhj (uniquely born), the glory of His humanity functioning inside the prototype divine dynasphere. The glory of His deity was never in question — “full of grace [the policy for the protocol system] and doctrine [the authority and instruction for function in the system].” The only glory that can exist today is the glory of the believer inside the divine dynasphere.

Israel in the past had many failures. One of them was found in 1 Samuel 4:21,22 when the ark of the covenant was in the camp of the Philistines, “And she called the boy Ichabod [no glory], saying. ‘The glory has departed from Israel because the ark of God was taken’.” What is the ark of God? It is not just that box, it is the mercy seat, the golden throne, and the golden throne was in the hands of the Philistines. So the woman called her son Ichabod, meaning no glory. Why? Because glory had departed from Israel. Without that piece of furniture in the holy of holies there is no residence of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The glory of the Lord only resided there when the furniture was in place. “And she said, ‘The glory [Shekinah glory] has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken’.” The Shekinah glory represents the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ dwelling between the cherubs until such time as He would become Immanuel, “God with us.” So that the glory of the past is gone, and should be; a greater glory has come.

The rest of the story is the fact that the Logoj went to the cross. So He is called the Logoj of the cross in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “The Logoj of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved he is the power of God.”

In describing the eternal state and the capital of the eternal state in chapter 21 we have the New Jerusalem called the holy city coming down from heaven, and actually it is a satellite city suspended above the new planet earth. In that satellite city a very remarkable statement is made in chapter 21:3, “Then I heard a voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with mankind...” In the eternal state we have a tabernacle, but the tabernacle is immediately defined as Jesus Christ who is the Shekinah glory “… and he will tabernacle with them.”

There are two questions that arise from this statement in Revelation 21:3. The first question: What is the tabernacle of God? The second question: What does it mean, “he will tabernacle with them”? This has to do in context with the eternal state.

The tabernacle of God is Jesus Christ as the Shekinah glory, Jesus Christ who dwelt in the tabernacle of Israel. The tabernacle is the beginning of a series of sacred buildings which exist throughout human history, and these sacred buildings include both the doctrinal significance of the furniture and the ritual which goes with it. They teach, of course, both Christology and soteriology. The first of these sacred buildings was a giant tent called the tabernacle of Moses, Exodus chapters 25-40. It was not only a portrayal of the person and the work of Jesus Christ but it included the actual presence of Christ. Christ actually resided in that tabernacle.

In the history of Israel two temples followed of more permanent type structure. The first temple is called the temple of Solomon, described in 1 Kings 6-8; the second is called the temple of Zerubbabel, described in Ezra 3-6. There is also a temple in Jerusalem during the Tribulation. This is the temple in which in the middle of the Tribulation the abomination of desolation is set up, Matthew 25:15. This temple of the tribulation is mentioned in Revelation 11:1. There will also be a Millennial temple in Jerusalem during the last dispensation of history and this temple not only represents the restoration of Israel as a client nation to God but it also acts and functions as Israel’s communion table, Ezekiel 40-47. There is also a temple/tabernacle in heaven which gives testimony to the person and the work of Christ during the first advent, Revelation 11:19; 13:6; and 15:5 which says, “And after these things I looked, and the temple tabernacle which serves as a testimony in heaven was opened.” With Christ the Shekinah glory in heaven there would naturally be a temple tabernacle there.

In all of this there are two exceptions to sacred buildings, and they are extremely important. The first is that there is no such thing as a sacred building in the Church Age — no sanctuary, no temple, no tabernacle. Sacred buildings simply do not exist in the Church Age. The exception includes the fact that your body as a believer is said to be the only sacred building. So instead of a tent, instead of some building constructed to be a temple, the only temple in existence is found in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God.” In other words, this is the only dispensation in which the body of every believer is the temple of God, “and the Spirit of God dwells in you.” That is a radical change from any sacred building in any previous dispensation to the Church Age and is also a radical change to any dispensation or part of a dispensation (there are seven years of the dispensation of Israel to run, the Tribulation) after the Rapture, after the Church Age. The second exception is the eternal state. There is no temple and no tabernacle in the new Jerusalem, the satellite city suspended in space above planet earth, Revelation 21:22, “And I saw no temple in it: for the Lord God the Almighty one, even the Lamb, is its temple.” Note that in these two exceptions, in place of a sacred building we have human bodies. In the Church Age the only sacred building is the body of every believer, said to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:19,20. That passage goes on to say, “therefore glorify God in your body.” That word “glorify” means that the body is a temple only for the purpose of glorifying God, for the presence of God in the sacred buildings of the past was called the Shekinah glory. The sacred building, of course, emphasises ritual whereas the body of the believer in the Church Age and the presence of Christ as the Shekinah glory in the new Jerusalem in the eternal state indicate protocol and power. So all dispensations are ritualistic except the Church Age. There is only one authorised ritual for the post-canon period of the Church Age, the Lord’s table. In all other dispensations there is extensive ritual.

The next question is: What is the Shekinah glory? During the entire course of human history, from the Exodus to the Millennium, except the Church Age, there has always been a tabernacle or a temple to represent the presence of invisible God. This invisible presence is called the Shekinah glory. The Hebrew word for shekinah is a word not found in the canon of scripture but used as a technical theological term to describe something in scripture. It means the dwelling place and it is taken from the Hebrew verb that is taken many times in the scripture, shakan. Shekinah means the dwelling place: the dwelling place of God, the dwelling place of glory. Jesus Christ as the God of Israel is also called kabhodh, which means “the glory.” The Shekinah glory lived or tabernacled in the holy of holies over the mercy seat between the cherubs and was the only light in the holy of holies, according to Exodus 25. The Shekinah glory means God dwelling in the tabernacle or in the temple. Jesus Christ as the God of Israel is called the Shekinah glory.

What are the titles of Christ as the Shekinah glory? There is one title that is especially important that is found in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Shema Israel [Hear O Israel], Adonai Elohenu [Jesus Christ is our God], Adonai echad [Jesus Christ is unique].” In the New Testament there are two basic words used for the Shekinah glory. The first is doca, translated “glory.” The second is the noun logos, generally translated in the King James version by the word “word.”

Romans 9:4, describing the privileges that belonged to Israel in the past dispensation: “who are Israelites, to whom is given the adoption [referring to the unconditional covenants and the client nation] and the glory [the Shekinah glory,” Israel had something in the Old Testament no Gentile group ever had. They had doca, the exact equivalent of the Hebrew kabhodh. The Jews had the Shekinah glory, the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the tabernacle as the God of Israel, “and the gift of the law, both the worship and the promises.” The worship has to do with the functions of the Levitical priesthood related to the tabernacle, and the promises has to do with the unconditional covenants to be fulfilled at the second advent.

Exodus 25:21, 22, the description of the mercy seat and the holy of holies. “And you [Moses] will put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you will put the testimony which I shall give you.”

“And there I will meet with you” notice: God says, There, at the mercy seat, I will meet with you, the presence of God, “and from above the mercy seat, and between the cherubs [the Shekinah glory would reside above the mercy seat],” so the Shekinah glory was the brilliant light in the holy of holies. The light that brought out all of the beauty of the beautiful colours of the tabernacle is the Lord, “which are on the ark of the testimony.” Romans 3:25-28 identifies Christ as the mercy seat. The only light in the holy of holies was Jesus Christ the Shekinah glory.

1 Samuel 4:19, Eli was the high priest of Israel and he had a son by the name of Phinehas. Eli and Phinehas died the sin unto death. The wife of Phinehas heard the news, “Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken [captured by the Philistines] and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she knelt down and gave birth, for her labour pains came upon her.”

Verse 20, “Then about the time of her death [she died after giving birth] the women who stood by her said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.’ But she did not answer or pay attention.”

Verse 21, “Then she called the boy Ichabod [No glory; no presence of God in Israel],” she heard that the Philistines had captured an article sacred furniture: the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat on top of it, and the two cherubs, which means that God had departed from Israel — “saying, ‘The glory [Shekinah glory] has departed from Israel,’ for the ark of the Lord was captured.”

Verse 22, “And she said, ‘The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was captured’.”

Leviticus 10:1, we have what is called “strange fire.” Aaron had four sons. Aaron was to be the source of the Levitical priesthood and his elder son was Nadab; his next son was Abihu. Nadab should have been the next high priest but that was not to be. The reason is because Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire. What they did is not that difficult to understand when the Hebrew of Leviticus 10:12; Numbers 3:4; 26:61 is studied. What they did was to take fire from the altar and go into the holy place. As members of the family, the next priests under Aaron, they are allowed to go that far. And they came to the altar of incense and offered strange incense there with the idea of breaking through the curtain, pulling back the curtain and going to see what was in the holy of holies. When they threw back the curtain and started to go in with strange fire they died instantly. They were killed right then and there by the Shekinah glory. The first result was that the Levitical priesthood of Israel descends through the youngest sons, the third son and the fourth son. The third son who became the next high priest was Eleazar. Eventually the priesthood went over to Ithamar in the days of David, but the priestly line came down through the two youngest sons of Aaron.

The second result is stated in Leviticus 16:1,2, “Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they approached the presence of the Lord.” In other words, what they were going to do was satisfy their curiosity. That explains the meaning of the phrase “strange fire.” Nadab and Abihu tried to enter the holy of holies with strange fire to see what was there, “and died.” No one was to see the Shekinah glory ever.

Verse 2, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell you brother Aaron that he shall not at any time enter the holy place inside the veil [the holy of holies], before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in a cloud over the mercy seat’.” That is the Lord Jesus Christ and His presence as the Shekinah glory. That is why the tabernacle was sacred, why the temples were sacred, why sacred buildings existed.

Hebrews 9:5, the tabernacle of Moses is described in the Greek just as it is described in passages in the Hebrew: “And above it [the mercy seat] the cherubs of glory [doca], referring to the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, “overshadowing the mercy seat.” In the Old Testament tabernacle the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ between the cherubs was the Shekinah glory. The cloud over the tabernacle indicated the fact that He was present in the holy of holies. However, beginning with the virgin birth of Christ, the incarnation, and the hypostatic union, Jesus Christ produced a new glory, a new glory in the sphere of His human nature. Before the incarnation Jesus Christ was eternal, infinite God, not true humanity. This new glory was produced in the protocol system, the prototype divine dynasphere. The humanity of Christ produced this glory. As God Jesus Christ is glory; in His humanity He produced this phenomenal glory. This same protocol system has been given today to us as members of His royal family. Because we have this protocol system we have no sacred building, and for the first time in all of human history God the Holy Spirit indwells every believer so that his body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The protocol system for glory has become the unique plan of God: residence, function, momentum inside the operational type divine dynasphere.

There were certain things that never existed before the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. There were certain privileges that believers did not have. Never in the history of the human race was there such a wonderful thing as was given after the Shekinah glory came.

2 Corinthians 3:17,18, we live in the most exciting dispensation of all human history, the dispensation of the greatest privileges and the greatest opportunity, when things have been given that were never given to any Old testament saint nor will ever be given again. The most phenomenal things have been provided but they are all on an optional basis. “Now the Lord [Kurioj] is the Spirit,” a reference to the deity of God the Holy Spirit, a reference to the function of gate one of the divine dynasphere. God is actually there to help produce glory in us and the filling of the Holy Spirit is gate one in the protocol system. This is the power of God being provided for us to fulfill this function, “and where the Spirit of the Lord is,” never in the Old Testament was there such a thing as the indwelling of the Spirit. There was enduement for a few believers. For the first time in history we have the indwelling of the Spirit. Where is he? He indwells every believer, “there is freedom [to execute the plan of God, to produce a greater glory than ever existed in OT times].”

Verse 18, “But we all [all believers], with unveiled face [the filling of the Spirit making it possible for the believer to walk by means of the Spirit at the other gates],” for the believer who fails his brain remains veiled, he is in cosmic one under the blackout of the soul; he is in cosmic two under scar tissue of the soul. In cosmic one he is said to be grieving the Holy Spirit; in cosmic two he is said to be quenching the Spirit, “looking into a mirror to produce a reflection,” it takes all of those words to translate one Greek verb, katoptrizw, which means to look in a mirror to see a reflection. It is a present middle participle, the mirror is perception of Bible doctrine, i.e. “the glory of the Lord,” the Shekinah glory is not in a scared building any more. That is, not in the tabernacle or the temple. The Shekinah glory is produced by looking in the mirror of the Word of God, “we are being transformed into the same image,” we are able to produce (without the perfection) what our Lord produced in the prototype given at the virgin birth. The operational type is only extant in the Church Age, “from glory [the Shekinah glory of Christ in the prototype] to glory [gate eight of the operational type], from the Spirit of the Lord.” God the Holy Spirit provides the power, that is why we call it the divine dynasphere. The same glory that our Lord produced in the divine dynasphere can now be produced in the Church Age believer. The believer can be transformed into the same image from the source of glory, that is, the same as produced by the humanity of Christ when He was in the prototype. We can’t have perfection; we can produce a glory. That is why the operational type divine dynasphere has been given to us. The protocol system used by our Lord’s humanity in the first advent has become the plan of God for the Church Age believer: residence, function, momentum inside the divine dynasphere.

The first advent of Christ changed everything. Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold a virgin shall become pregnant consequently bearing a son, therefore his name shall be called Immanuel” [God is with us]. Once the virgin birth occurs the presence of the Lord is no longer in a sacred building. The sacred building of the Millennium is a memorial just as the Eucharist is a memorial, but here we have Immanuel, God is with us. The Shekinah glory has come to earth in the hypostatic union and once the hypostatic union occurs there can be no more Shekinah glory, no more sacred buildings. In the Old Testament God was with Israel in the Tabernacle, above the mercy seat, but in the New Testament God is with mankind in the hypostatic union, His true humanity residing in the prototype divine dynasphere. The Lord’s title related to His eternal deity and this great event is the title Logoj. The Lord’s title related to His eternal and infinite glory is Logoj tou Qeou, the Logoj of God. The Shekinah glory is the Logoj of God. The Shekinah glory comes in the flesh and therefore supersedes all sacred buildings. He tabernacled among us; He is now in human form, the God-Man forever.

Next we note that as a result of His coming in the flesh, He lived in the prototype divine dynasphere. He was able to succeed in doing what the first Adam did not do, and that is to remain impeccable for His thirty-three years on the earth. He had no imputed sin, He had no sin nature, He used His volition inside the prototype divine dynasphere to resist all sin, and therefore He was able to go to the cross. As God Jesus Christ cannot be judged for our sins. To be judged for our sins He had to arrive at the cross as perfect humanity, and He did so in the Shekinah glory protocol system. Therefore in 1 Corinthians 1:18 He is called Logoj once again, related to the Shekinah glory. This time He is called the Logoj of the cross. To those who are saved it is the power of God, dunamij, and that is the whole system. Now, instead of all the things that they did in the Old Testament, we have it all in a protocol system; we have the operational divine dynasphere. So glory is now produced by believers whose body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore no sacred building. The Shekinah glory is therefore visible to believers, 1 John 1:1. No one ever saw God in the Old Testament. Now the veil has been removed and, therefore, when Jesus Christ came in the flesh he was observed empirically by John.

Then we have the Shekinah glory at the second advent — Revelation 19:12-13. In verse 13: “… now His title has been designated o( Logoj tou Qeou [the Logoj of God].” That is the title that no one understood because they didn’t relate it with the Shekinah glory of the Old Testament. All of this means simply this: that the Shekinah glory comes to the believer of the Church Age through the Logos. We have noted before that Heracleides used logoj for the principle that controls the universe. He thought of logoj as the original thinker, the one who had vocabulary originally, the one who invented language and thought. hence, from the beginning logos had the connotation of vocabulary and thinking, and life is nothing unless you are able to think, unless you have vocabulary, unless you can build thought upon thought, concept upon concept. But related to the Shekinah glory logoj means the originator of doctrine, our Lord Jesus Christ. When the Sofoj were fighting Heracleides and finally broke away from his school they used logoj in a different way. They used it for rational power inside of man. Socrates and Plato used logoj for preexistent harmony between matter and the thoughts of man’s mind. Aristotle said no, that logoj represents manner of life: what you think is what you really are. Neoplatonism came along and in its debate with stoicism recaptured the meaning of logoj as revelation. Today, of course, the Shekinah glory is revealed through Bible doctrine. So they all had a piece of the action but they all missed the point. They couldn’t put it all together and therefore this title of the Lord remained obscure. That is why it is so stated in Revelation. Today the Shekinah glory is revealed only through doctrine — categorical protocol system, no ritual. In the Old Testament doctrine was taught through ritual. We live, therefore in the dispensation of protocol rather than ritual, and to learn through protocol requires the function of the privacy of your priesthood, the individual motivation, positive volition, and understanding such phrases as o( logoj tou Qeou: the Logoj of God.

In Hebrews 4:12 we have that same phrase again, but it no longer refers to Jesus Christ as such, it refers to what He thinks, “The word of God is alive and powerful.” That is the same phrase used again, used for the Shekinah glory. In the Old Testament the Shekinah glory had to be covered by a sacred building, it had to be hidden from the eyes of people. But now, o( Logoj tou Qeou, the Word of God, is alive and powerful. Now it is opened up to us through doctrine, through thought, through what we find in the scriptures. And there is no substitute for Bible doctrine. If doctrine is not everything in your life, doctrine is nothing in your life and you will never see the Shekinah glory this side of heaven. But God has now permitted us to do something that even Moses couldn’t do. It says that Moses saw His backward parts on the mountain but he never saw His Shekinah glory. The Shekinah glory was reserved for the royal family of God.

So we have, therefore, the Shekinah glory in the Church Age. 1 Corinthians 2:7, “We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery [Church Age doctrine formerly hidden, now revealed because the Shekinah glory became flesh], the hidden doctrine, which God predestined before the ages to our glory,” in a very special sense, through the perception of Bible doctrine, the Shekinah glory becomes ours.

Colossians 1:25-29, “Of which [the dispensation of the Church] I have become a minister according to this dispensation from God,” the dispensation of the Church calls for the ministry rather than the priesthood and the gift of prophecy as existed in the Old Testament, “which was given to me for your benefit.” What is for our benefit? The fact that we can have the Shekinah glory. We can see the Shekinah glory in doctrine resident in our souls. We can come to the point of occupation with Christ, gate five of the system, “that I might implement your deficiency of ton Logon tou Qeou [the doctrine of God].” Deficiency of the Logoj of God means that we miss the boat, we miss the glory, we are losers in this dispensation.

Verse 26, “that is, the mystery which has been hidden from past ages and other generations; but has now been revealed to his saints,” it was always a mystery. Nadab and Abihu wanted to solve the mystery. They died. No one ever solved the mystery, the mystery was reserved for this dispensation. We are the resolvers of the mystery as we learn Bible doctrine at gate four.

Verse 27, “to whom God has decreed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery,” the riches of the glory of this mystery is Bible doctrine which will change our lives, “among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory.” If you learn the protocol system you will go from glory to glory, as per 2 Corinthians 3:18, and you will have eternal reward, you will be a winner in time, you will see the glory in time.

Verse 28, “Whom we teach,” teaching doctrine is the proclamation of the Shekinah glory — “admonishing [or warning] every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we might present every person mature in Christ,” there is the Shekinah glory.

Verse 29, “For this purpose I also labour to the point of exhaustion, competing according to his [God’s] game plan,” the word “competing” is a)gonizw which means to compete as an athlete. What is God’s game plan? We have seen the glory; we are therefore to participate in the glory — “which is operational inside the divine dynasphere.”

Revelation 19:14, the second advent order of battle. There are three separate and distinct armies in heaven. First of all, there is the army of the elect angels. There is the angelic order of battle which we have noted in the past. We have seen the seraphim officers of the angelic order of battle, the ones that have six wings as their insignia of rank, who are the highest-ranking angels in that order of battle. There is the powerful angel of Revelation 5:2 who ranks as a king of arms in the angelic college of heralds. So we note that the angelic college of heralds had seraphs; but there are also ones in the order of battle as well. For example, the archangels, two army commanders, Michael and Gabriel are mentioned in the Bible; the book of Enoch mentions Rahael and Uriel. Michael commands the army of angels who defend Israel, therefore he is called the prince of Israel in Daniel 10:21. So Michael will be leading “army group A.” Along with Michael is Gabriel who is not only an archangel and an army commander in the angelic order of battle but is mentioned as being in connection with the college of heralds as well. We have studied the angelic general staff, the 24 elders who are 24 staff officers. We have also noted the rank and file who are called the “hosts.” The second army is “army group B” made up of the royal family of God or Church Age believers in their resurrection bodies which were received at the Rapture of the Church. Then there is “army group C” which is the family of God or the Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs in their resurrection bodies. We are talking about millions of creatures, angelic and human. The angelic creatures of army group A are already in whatever is equivalent to our resurrection body.

While Revelation chapters 5 and 12 discussed in detail the angelic order of battle, in this context we are actually dealing with the armies of heaven pertaining to mankind. So army group A, the elect angels in the angelic order of battle will not be under discussion. Army group B, the royal family, will be, as well as army group C, the Old Testament saints. The Church or the royal family returns with Christ, Colossians 3:4, “When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you also [we as believers] will be revealed with him in glory.” So it is true that the army group A of heaven will be involved, Matthew 25:31, but the emphasis here is on the armies of regenerate Homo Sapien.

They are called armies for a special reason. Heaven has its system of protocol as we have noted in the past. Heaven has organisation, heaven has authority, and heaven has something else that is very important: heaven is going to be filled with creatures of unequal status. Some believers will have decorations and some will not. Everyone will have a resurrection body but there is no equality in the eternal future. Happiness does not depend on being equal. So these army groups indicate immediately inequality. Whenever you see the word “army” there are several things implied. The word is used in the Bible all the time but hasn’t been translated right. The word “hosts” is armies. The Lord of hosts is the Lord of armies. Army means, first of all, discipline. Discipline means authority, there is a system of authority. Authority means protocol; protocol means rank; rank means inequality; inequality means happiness. When any military organisation has these things and they turn out to pass in review it is one of the most beautiful sights sin the world. There is discipline and authority in heaven, and when Jesus Christ returns he returns with organisation — three army groups.

Verse 14 begins: “And the armies in heaven.” Armies in peace time have a system for going from point A to point B. We then have an imperfect active indicative from the verb a)kolouqew which means to follow, “in heaven,” the prepositional phrase e)n plus the locative o)uranoj. The active voice: the armies of heaven produce the action. The indicative mood is declarative for the eschatological reality of these armies coming to the earth with the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says, “[they] followed him,” the dative singular indirect object from a)utoj, referring to the Lord Jesus Christ at the second advent.

Now the strange thing. Jesus Christ is coming back to end the greatest world war in history, the last one, but there will be no fighting as far as the armies are concerned. Only the Commander-in-Chief fights. All the fighting is accomplished by one person, Jesus Christ the God-Man, the Lord of the armies. Well, that is not unusual because the whole principle of the spiritual way of life is based on that concept, the battle is the Lords. Hence the principle of grace applies at the second advent just as at the first advent. At the first advent Jesus Christ did all the work. He received the imputation of our sins and He was judged on the cross. He took our place. At the second advent Jesus Christ does all the work, all the fighting, alone, without our help. But that is the way it has always been. Grace means God does the work. We need God’s help; God does not need our help.

“And the armies of heaven followed him on white horses.” What is the significance of this passage? First of all, believers have victory only by means of the grace policy of God and the protocol system. No believer is a winner apart from grace. Believers do nothing; Christ does the fighting, the battle is the Lord’s. The only way to be a winner is through grace, and grace means God provides, God does the work. We simply latch on to what He has provided.

We are now ready for the third paragraph in this chapter, verses 15-21. It deals with the judgment feast which has to do with the last world war in history which will be the greatest world war of all time. We do not know when it will occur because we do not know when the resurrection or the Rapture of the Church will occur. But after the resurrection of the Church there will be a period of seven years which is the end of the dispensation of Israel. It will be the greatest period of concentrated power politics of all time. In that connection there will be the rise of a great Asian power. If the Rapture should occur sometime soon that Asian power could involve an amalgamation of China, Japan, and the various Asiatic peoples of south east Asia. Then there will be a great king of the north, and if the Rapture should take place anytime soon it is now comparable to the Russian communist empire. We have passages like Ezekiel chapters 38 & 39, Daniel chapter 11, and other passages like Joel chapters 2 & 3 which all add up that when that great world war comes, as inevitably it will as a part of the eschatological doctrine of scripture, then this king of the north will play a major part. Then, of course, there is the troubled Middle East. The Arabs cannot get together now but the time will come when Iraq and Iran and the Arab world will unite and form a very powerful Middle East sphere of influence, and they are called the king of the south in the eschatological passages of scripture. They will make a very major contribution to the last world war in history because they will stir up the trouble that leads to the Armageddon campaign. Then there is Western Europe. People are not aware of it today but when General Charles de Gaule made a decision to give up the North African empire he recognised that the only way that he could save France from a Russian takeover was to lose out there. He had to concentrate and he was a smart enough military man to realise that a concentration of forces was the only deterrent, and he gave up the North African empire. Now, today, France is about to become one of the greatest industrial powers in Europe. Germany, of course, is still in the picture but the point is that with the Common Market and with NATO, and with the rise of France again as a major power there is every possibility that we are getting closer than we think to the Tribulation. Of course, it could be a hundred years from now or it could be even longer. We just simply do not know when the Rapture will occur, but when it does there is going to be the king of the west and the revived Roman empire and there will then be all of the spheres of influence that will lead to the greatest world war in all of history.

We now note the end of the greatest war of history, verse 15, the termination of the last world war in history. We have seen the causes and some of the activities of this war. We have also noted that the second advent of Jesus Christ means that He is going to fight, even though He has available three army groups: the elect angels, the royal family of God, and all of the Tribulational martyrs and Old Testament saints in their resurrection bodies. But as we have seen, Jesus Christ fights alone, a perfect illustration of grace.

In the first part of verse 15 we have the concept of peace through military victory. Peace is not a real peace unless there is decisive victory. We begin with the connective use of the conjunction kai indicating the continuation of the subject. With it we have a nominative singular subject made up of two words: o)couj, meaning sharp, and with it the r(omphia, the famous broadsword of Thrace, “sharp sword.” This is a long sword, not the maxiara which is used in the analogy, “The word of God is alive and powerful,” and which is the Roman short sword. Whenever maxaira is used it talks about success in ranks because you are well trained with the maxaira. The maxaira speaks of balance, self-discipline, of having a solid base from which to function in your life, and that is why it is used with regard to the Word of God. But when it comes to great power and slaughter we have a different word used here, r(omphia, referring to the long Thracian broadsword which requires a man of considerable strength to use it. It was a barbarian sword and was used by the giant barbarian six and a half feet tall. The sword was often six feet long.

This sword is said to proceed from our Lord’s mouth, the present middle indicative of the verb e)kporeuomai which means to go out or to proceed. The sword produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative for the future reality of a great slaughter by which our Lord Jesus Christ terminates the last world war of history. And it is said to come from His mouth, e)k plus the ablative of stoma. The mouth emphasises the fact that the deity of Christ is invisible at the second advent but His humanity is visible. “And a sharp broadsword comes out of his mouth.” Here is the principle of freedom through military victory. The only thing organised evil can understand is force and punishment. Organised evil does not understand and is not impressed by words or by threats. Only force and punishment impresses organised evil. Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ from His perfect integrity, from the perfection of His deity and humanity, uses force. The last and greatest world war in history was terminated by the use of force. When integrity uses force it always functions professionally, and that is how it all ended. When integrity uses forces it is in no way related to murder, and the principle is: It takes violence to stop violence when the violence is initiated from arrogance and organised evil. Our Lord Jesus Christ returns the second time with the greatest violence the world has ever known and with the greatest slaughter of people the world has ever known. The same principle is found in the control of crime through capital punishment.

Next in our verse we have a purpose clause which begins with the conjunction i(na. This conjunction plus the subjunctive mood introduces a purpose clause. Behind this all is a purpose. I(na introduces a final clause in the Greek which expresses a purpose, an objective, and a goal. This is the purpose, objective and goal of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have following that prepositional phrase, e)n plus the instrumental from the intensive pronoun a)utoj, and it should be correctly translated “with it,” “in order that with it.” That is, with the sword that He uses, “he might strike and kill,” the aorist active subjunctive of the verb patassw, and it means to strike, to hit, and to kill. Homer in the Iliad used this verb to knock on a door very loudly and therefore to strike a door. Eventually it was used to destroy a door, and from that Demosthenes and Polybius used the verb for a fatal blow, a blow that kills and destroys. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, uses this verb patassw for the Hebrew verb makah, and this demonstrates the meaning of the verb because it is used for the act of Moses when he killed the taskmaster in Egypt, according to Exodus 2:12. So it means to kill with the maximum amount of violence, and the subject of the verb is the Lord Jesus Christ. So we translate: “And a sharp broadsword comes out of his mouth in order that he might strike the nations,” the accusative plural direct object from e)qnoj, referring to Gentile nations. The aorist tense of patassw is a constative aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety, it collects into one concept every time our Lord strokes one of the nations at the second advent. The active voice: Jesus Christ produces the action of the verb by the annihilation of the armies.

As we have noted, this war will be a war of spheres of influence, of power blocs. These are antichrist nations, they are involved in the greatest world war in history. The war will be fought in every part of the globe. With this we have the subjunctive mood indicating the purpose of our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 34:6, “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood.” That is the way wars are won. Apart from the slaughter and resultant military victory there would be no blessing and no perfect environment for the Millennium for when Jesus Christ returns to the earth He is going to introduce 1000 years of perfect environment, in the last dispensation of history, but you cannot introduce perfect environment without slaughtering the enemy. One of the keys to the perfect environment that follows is the fact that the enemy is going to be slaughtered in every part of the world so that people can see other people die and know that they cannot contend with the power of the Lord. For one thousand years after that there will be no wars. Victory in battle precedes the prosperity of a nation; victory in battle means the destruction of the enemy army.

The victory is won by our Lord Jesus Christ and the result is now given. We have next the sequential use of the conjunctive kai, which means “then,” after military victory, after the slaughter of the nations, “then he,” the nominative singular subject “he” is from a)utoj, the intensive pronoun used as a personal pronoun, and “he” refers to our Lord Jesus Christ, the God-Man, “shall govern,” the future active indicative of the verb poimainw. Poimainw meant originally to shepherd, to rule, to govern. Here the future tense is a predictive future for an event which is expected to occur at the second advent and thereafter, after military victory.

Whenever you have indecisiveness in some area of the world you are constantly having warfare. This means that the lessons that are learned from decisive victory have disappeared and as they gradually move over the horizon of history then new ambitious, arrogant people replace them, and warfare of all kinds begin to develop.

When it says “he shall rule” it is a predictive future, it is an event that is expected to occur after military victory. The active voice: Jesus Christ produces the action of the verb after terminating the last world war in history. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of eschatological doctrine.

How does our Lord rule? When there is going to be perfect environment in the world there must be a policy, and the policy is given in the prepositional phrase that follows, e)n plus the instrumental of r(abdoj. R(abdoj is a sceptre. The Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written and a sceptre was simply a sign of rank. People did not wear their crowns all the time when they were rulers in the ancient world but they carried a badge of rank called a sceptre, a stick of some kind. What kind of a sceptre does our Lord have? We have an adjective, sidhreoj, which means an iron scepter, “he shall rule them with an iron sceptre.” An iron sceptre means an inflexible instrument, an instrument that was consolidated into some form and remained that way. The iron sceptre then stands for the laws of divine establishment, category #1 truth in the Bible, the laws of divine establishment to guarantee freedom for all. The laws of divine establishment recognise the importance of privacy and they interpret freedom in terms of privacy. You cannot have freedom unless you have privacy. To have privacy two things must be sacred: your life and your property. The sacredness of life and property are necessary for privacy; privacy is necessary for freedom. Then you must have one other thing. When you have freedom you must also have a system for the maintenance of freedom, and that is authority. If you have freedom without authority you have anarchy; if you have authority without freedom you have tyranny. So you can have tyranny or anarchy. There must be a balance and the laws of divine establishment recognise that balance. Therefore the ruling with the rod of iron refers to the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, the tremendous system of jurisprudence which will exist throughout the earth; a perfect system of laws to process and to administer every violation to privacy or property and life. This is only one of many blessings because it says in Psalm 46:9 — “He makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth,” that is because of the great slaughter, “He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; he burns the chariot with fire.” Isaiah 2:4, “And he will judge between nations, in fact he will render decisions for many people; and they will therefore hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war.” That will be the result of the decisive victory of our Lord at the second advent.

This fulfills, therefore, a prophecy which is found in Isaiah 9:6,7, “For a child is born to us, and a son will be given to us.” The word “child” refers to the humanity of Christ coming from the virgin birth. The “son” refers to Jesus Christ as eternal God, coequal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. So it refers to the first advent of Christ. The first advent of Christ could not accomplish these things because it was necessary to do something else. The omniscience of God programmed into the computer of divine decrees a special chip, and on that chip are all the sins of the world since human history began down to the end of time. All of those sins were actually in that chip so that when Jesus Christ came the first time He had to be true humanity, and His true humanity functioned in the prototype divine dynasphere so that He would get to the cross the way Adam was created — perfect. Adam was created perfect; Jesus Christ arrived at the cross perfect. At the cross God the Father had to set aside His love for God the Son and He functioned under His justice. The justice of God the Father programmed out of the computer all of those sins and imputed them all to Christ on the cross, and there they were judged. Having accomplished this so great salvation and having broken the back of Satan by His saving work on the cross Jesus Christ died, rose again, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father while a royal family for his third royal warrant is being formed, the royal family of the Church Age. Jesus Christ had to solve the sin problem and he did that on the cross. Now, when He returns the second time He is going to return with that same royal family which is formed during the Church Age. The royal family will return with our Lord Jesus Christ at the second advent, and after the annihilation of the enemy and the end of the last great world war of history, then He will rule for a thousand years with an iron sceptre. In that rule of the iron sceptre you will have a perfect function of the laws of divine establishment plus perfect jurisprudence operating on the earth. All of that is brought out when it says in the middle of Isaiah 9:6, “And the government [of the world] will be on his shoulders [that is second advent]; furthermore his name will be called Wonderful Counselor [the perfect judge],” our Lord Jesus Christ will judge or have a system of administration of law that will be perfect, “Mighty Hero,” corrected translation from the Hebrew referring to the fact that he slaughtered the enemy and ended the last great world war of history, “the Father of Eternity,” Jesus Christ is the saviour of all who believe in Him during the Millennium and He will be the Father of eternal life for all the citizens who receive Christ as saviour during the Millennium, “Prince of Peace [or prosperity],” as a result of slaughtering the enemy in the last world war both peace and prosperity will exist for the last 1000 years of history, called the Millennium.

Verse 7, “There will be no end to the increase of his government or of world peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it,” He will not only rule the world but He will fulfill the unconditional covenants to Israel, mentioned here as the Davidic covenant under the phrase throne of David. Note how all of this is accomplished. It is not accomplished through love, it is accomplished through integrity, “with justice and righteousness from then [the Millennial reign of Christ] on and forevermore [the eternal rule of Christ],” and how did he establish His rule? By military victory. The last phrase of this verse says, “The zeal of the Lord of the armies will accomplish this.” He will accomplish it through military victory.

Notice the last phrase of Revelation 19:15. How does He rule the nations with an iron sceptre? “and [prior to this] he treads down the winepress of the wine of the wrath, even the anger of God the omnipotent one.” Thereis a series of five different genitives in the exegesis in the description. First of all we have the descriptive genitives of o)inoj, meaning of the wine. Then the subjective genitive of qumoj meaning “of the wrath.” Then the genitive of apposition from o)rgh meaning “even the anger.” Then the possessive genitive of qeoj, “of God,” and finally, the appositional genitive “the omnipotent one.”

What does it all mean? The winepress was used in the first stage of manufacturing wine after the harvest from the vineyard. Each vineyard possessed a winepress to extract the juice of the grape for the distillation process. The juice of the grape was extracted by trampling the grapes. The juice of the grapes filled the press, stained the robes of the workers, and became a euphemism for the slaughter or annihilation of the enemy army in the field of battle. Then when it says who is going to do this, “God the omnipotent one,” that is a reference to Jesus Christ, for the word for omnipotent one is pantokratwr which means the all-powerful ruler. Satan rules the world at the present time and he rules the world through the kosmokratwr, demon rulers, Ephesians 6. So there are two references in this verse to the annihilation of the armies of the antichrist, the great slaughter which precedes the Millennial reign of Christ.

Principle: it takes virtuous violence, holy violence, the violence of integrity to neutralise and destroy the violence of evil, the violence of arrogance. No country can survive the loss of its integrity. Integrity is what makes a nation great.

Our Lord assumes the role of military establishment at the second advent in order to destroy the violence of arrogance and evil. There are two legitimate systems of violence which represent establishment doctrine: the professional function of the military establishment and the professional function of law enforcement. The principle of these two systems is the doctrine of fighting violence with violence to end violence, the same concept as freedom through military victory. The 1000 years of world peace directly related to the military victory of our Lord Jesus Christ is the termination of the last world war in history.

Note that believers have a perfect seat for watching our Lord win the victory. They are mounted in comfortable saddles secure in our Lord’s victory. Under the grace policy believers go along for the ride just as believers living inside the divine dynasphere are securely mounted on the white horse of victory. Today, in bodies of corruption, our mount is the divine dynasphere; tomorrow in resurrection bodies we will come back with our Lord Jesus Christ mounted on the white horse.

1 John 5:4,5 describes the winner, “For whoever is born from God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith [not works, faith]. And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” Faith is the key; faith is the pattern. We are saved by faith, we walk by faith, “For by faith we stand,” says Paul to the Corinthians.

So this victory is celebrated when believers in resurrection bodies mounted on white horses of victory return with Christ at the second advent.

Now we note the uniform of the army groups in this passage. We have the perfect passive participle from the verb e)nduw, “and they were clothed.” There is no “and” here in the Greek but this is a circumstantial participle and to translate a circumstantial participle it is legitimate to put it in the normal verb form with the conjunction “and.” The perfect tense is a dramatic perfect which is a rhetorical use of the intensive perfect, it is used for completed action with the existing status quo described in a vivid and realistic way. The completed action is the ultimate sanctification of the believer in a resurrection body: Church Age believers who receive their resurrection bodies at the Rapture plus Old Testament believers and Tribulational martyrs who receive their resurrection bodies at the second advent. Therefore their uniform is the uniform of ultimate sanctification. The passive voice: two categories of believers receive the action of the verb — army group B, the royal family at the Rapture; army group C, the family of God and/or Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs at the second advent. Just before Christ returns there is a resurrection of all the Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs. The participle is circumstantial which can be translated with the conjunction “and,” and the finite construction of the verb.

With this we have the accusative singular direct object made up of three words. First of all, a very fascinating noun, bussinoj which has the concept of white, white in the sense of the resurrection body here. It is not the usual word for white which has to do with the concept of the uniform of glory. This is the word for linen, and with it leukoj, “white linen.” Sometimes the word leukoj alone refers to the uniform of glory; here it refers to everyone’s resurrection body. The Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written and linen was considered to be one of the most valuable of all garments. The resurrection body is the most valuable garment we will ever know. With it we have an adjective kaqaroj referring to the fact that we are now in a state of purity. In the resurrection body which we will have for all eternity there will never again be any sinning or any failure of any kind.

“and they were clothed with fine linen [ultimate sanctification], white [resurrection body] and pure [the ultimate sanctification of the eternal state].”

That brings up the question: What is sanctification? Sanctification is a very technical term. Unfortunately some technical terms get distorted. In theology it is a very good word. It is a technical theological word for the status of the believer in the three phases of the plan of God. Phase one of the plan of God is salvation and that takes place in an instant of time. The second phase is the believer in time, and the third phase is the believer in eternity. Sanctification as a word means to set apart as sacred, or set apart as consecrated to God. Therefore sanctification is a priestly term, it ties the Church Age believer into God’s grace contract forever. The resurrection, ascension and session of our Lord Jesus Christ abrogated the old contract which we call the Mosaic law and simultaneously interrupted the dispensation of Israel. The interruption of the Jewish dispensation was caused by our Lord’s new battlefield royalty. Our Lord, after His ascension and session was given His third title of royalty but He was minus a royal family. So the Age of Israel came to a halt and we now have the Church Age and the calling out of the royal family of God. Certain privileges occur here that have never existed before, like the baptism of the Spirit, the sealing ministry of the Spirit, God the Holy Spirit regenerated Old Testament saints but four ministries of the Holy Spirit have been added, the whole protocol system has been added. For the first time in history every believer is a priest, every believer is an ambassador, every believer has two royal warrants. There are many unique things about the Church Age and they all have to do with the fact that this is the dispensation of the royal family of God. Therefore we have a new contract or new covenant to the Church. It authorises a royal family, a royal priesthood consecrated under three stages of sanctification. Sanctification was the ministry of the priest. In the past the priest carried on the functions of sanctification. The priest offered the animal sacrifices, the priest went into the holy place and performed certain functions. The priest went through certain rituals on certain holy days such as the day of atonement. Sanctification means that God has a purpose for every one of us now because every believer is a priest representing himself to God.

In the framework of our royal priesthood there are three categories of sanctification. The etymology of sanctification is important because it says in John 6:69, “And we have believed, in fact we have come to know that you are the Holy One come from God.” This is a young man speaking with regard to Jesus Christ, and just as we have seen Jesus Christ as o( Logoj tou Qeou now we have almost a similar phrase, only this time it o( a(gioj tou Qeou. Jesus Christ is called the Holy One of God and that is where sanctification originates, it comes from this word a(gioj which is translated “holy.” The word is used to describe technically the royal family of God. Jesus Christ is the Holy One from God but when Jesus Christ ascended into heaven he was minus a royal family. Therefore the Church Age is the calling out of the royal family, and one of the titles for people in the royal family is saint. Every believer is a saint as of the moment they accept Jesus Christ as saviour. Saint, therefore, becomes synonymous with the royal family of God in contrast to believers in other dispensations who are simply known as family of God. This means quality possessed by persons who approach God. If there ever was a word described the meaning of saint this is it, quality. It means that God gave you 37 things at salvation, that is quality, not experiential quality. The issue here is that the moment that you believed in Christ God the Holy Spirit entered you into union with Christ, the baptism of the Spirit. It means that the moment you accepted Christ as saviour you became royal family. A saint is a believer who is different from all other believers of all other dispensations because he is a member of the royal family of God. Sanctification means that God has a purpose for your life all the way from salvation to eternity.

There are certain words that are used. The first is a(gioj. That means that you are consecrated to God. God has a plan for your life; God has a system for your life. With this there is another word very closely related to it, a(giothj which is translated holiness, which means the status quo of the believer as royal family of God. It describes the principle by which all believers are related to the integrity of God. Then there are several words that are translated the same. The first of these is a(giosunh, one of several words translated “sanctification.” It emphasises the first blessing to flow through the grace pipeline from the integrity of God. It means the possession of divine righteousness, one half of God’s holiness or perfect integrity. It describes the relationship between the royal family of believers and the integrity of God in this dispensation. There is one other noun, a(giosmoj, which means holiness, consecration, sanctification, and it refers to the state of being made holy and is used for the three categories of sanctification. There is also a verb which generally means to sanctify, a(giazw.

There are agents in sanctification. Phase one sanctification is salvation, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and though shalt be saved.” So the agent who provided phase one sanctification is Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10:9, “then [at that time, in the cradle] he [Jesus Christ said [in the past with the result that it stands spoken forever], ‘Behold, I have arrived to accomplish your plan [purpose]’.” He has abrogated the first covenant, the law, in order that he might establish the second .

Verse 10 adds, “By means of which will [purpose, design] we have been sanctified [in the past, salvation] with the result that we remain consecrated to God forever through the offering of the body of Christ at one time [on the cross].”

Verse 14, “By means of one offering [the work of Christ on the cross] he has perfected for all time the ones being sanctified.”

So in phase one sanctification Jesus Christ is the one who accomplished it. We do not accomplish sanctification, Christ accomplishes it. We simply accept it by faith.

Next we have, after salvation, two agents in phase two. God the Holy Spirit, Romans 15:16, “To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as the priest the gospel of God, that my offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

2 Thessalonians 2:13, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because the God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit by faith in doctrine.”

John 17:17, “Sanctify them by means of doctrine; your word is doctrine.”

The next three verses teach the lesson related to the second advent that you cannot depend upon people for your happiness. To the extent that you depend upon people to make you happy to that extent you are going to be miserable all of your life. People were not designed to make other people happy. You can be happy with people if you already have happiness but the idea that you depend upon people for happiness is always a disaster. The second advent brings out many concepts of eschatological doctrine but this passage has some very practical aspects. Happiness depends upon your relationship to the plan of God as a believer; happiness depends upon your cognisance of the protocol system and functioning in it. Happiness depends entirely on who and what the Lord is. As the scripture says, “Cursed is the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm.” If you depend on people for happiness you are trusting in man, if you are trying to use people for your happiness you are making flesh your arm. There is absolutely no way that people will ever make you happy if you depend on them for happiness. If you do not depend on them for happiness and you find your happiness in God’s plan then you are going to have a most wonderful relationship with people. Love will have significance in all of its human categories. But these are not designed to make you happy, they are really designed for happy people. The social life of unhappy people is a rat race and no matter how many VIPs you contact or how many people of success or prominence or fame you know, name dropping is a sign of unhappiness and instability, and you will never find happiness from famous people. As a matter of fact famous people are more insecure than infamous people, than the average man in the street. The higher you go in life the greater become your insecurities and your instabilities apart from finding your happiness and your blessing in the Lord.

Verse 16 does not start with unhappiness in depending upon people, it starts with the royal title of our Lord Jesus Christ at the second advent. But the royal title itself reminds us of the fact that only in the Lord is there happiness both in time and in eternity. Happy people are wonderful to know. Happy people who find their happiness in the Lord are wonderful to be with and are wonderful to love and to be loved by them. Unhappy people are a pain in the neck.

In verse 16 we simply have, “Furthermore he has a royal title which has been written on his robe [His military tunic] and on his thigh,” that is the corrected translation. The title on His tunic has been customary for 2000 years. It identifies the rider of the white horse by His third royal warrant, His battlefield royalty of our Lord Jesus Christ. The title on His thigh is a little different, it goes back to an ancient custom of engraving one’s name or title as an artist. Of course, the Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written. To understand the title on His thigh we have to thank Cicero. Cicero once remarked about a beautiful statue of Apollo on the thigh of which was the name of Myron engraved in tiny letters of silver. Myron was one of the great sculptors of all time and he lived in the fifth century BC. Always Myron in very small letters in silver actually inscribed his name on the thigh of his statues, the purpose being that any time you were successful or any time you were royalty you put that down in two different places in the ancient world. So the Bible being interpreted in the time in which it was written this refers to the battlefield title of our Lord Jesus Christ. Written on His tunic or military robe referring to His tactical victory of the second advent; the same royal title written on the thigh indicates that our Lord Jesus Christ is the author of the dispensation of the Millennial kingdom — perfect environment on earth for 1000 years. The fact that he has these titles, of course, becomes extremely important as far as where we are putting our trust and what is the source of our happiness. The answer to the next two verses is found here. If your happiness is not anchored in the person of Christ then you have no true happiness. You can be stimulated and have your ups and have your downs, but being up and being down is not being happy. Being up means that you are depending upon overt stimuli of one source or another, one of which is people. Too many born again believers are simply depending on some person to make them happy. Happiness does not come in that way.

Then we have the revelation of the royal title, “King over kings.” The translation comes from the objective genitive of the noun basileuj which occurs twice. The objective genitive should be translated “King over kings,” and, of course, “Lord over lords,” the nominative of basileuj followed by the objective of basileuj.

The entire verse simply sounds like this: “Furthermore he has a royal title which has been written on his robe and on his thigh, KING OVER KING [a reference to our Lord’s sovereignty over all human rulers], AND LORD OVER LORDS [our Lord’s sovereignty over all angelic rulers, both fallen angels and elect angels.” The Bible indicates our Lord’s total victory in both phases of the angelic conflict: our Lord’s victory in the prehistoric phase as well as in the historical phase. Our Lord has additional titles related to the angelic conflict: His title of Angel of the Lord, which makes Him the head of the angelic college of heralds, and His title Lord of the armies, which means He is the ruler over the angelic order of battle.

Verse 17, we have the invitation to the judgment feast. We have this time a sequential conjunction kai which is translated “Then.” Along with this we have the usual introduction to the vision, “The I saw one angel.” The words “one angel” probably means “unique” and it refers to the seraph rank king of arms from the angelic college of heralds. He is said to be standing, the perfect passive participle of the verb i(stemi. The perfect tense is an intensive perfect in which special attention is directed to the results of the action, therefore the existing result is intensified. This is an emphatic method for presenting a fact or condition in the Koine Greek. The English language has no equivalent to the idiom and it is generally translated by the English present, though not always. The active voice: the king of arms of the angelic college of heralds produces the action and he is said to be standing not in the sun but in the sunlight, a reference to the fact that the supernatural darkness which occurs at the second advent in the final phase of the Armageddon campaign is now replaced by sunshine. Hence, the war is over. The enemy has been annihilated and defeated. And in our Lord’s deliverance in the Middle east campaign, known as the Armageddon campaign, Jesus Christ destroyed the enemy armies. In this great slaughter of the enemies a feast is being prepared for the vultures of Palestine. The significance of standing in the sunlight is the fact that the supernatural darkness of the second advent has been removed and now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The carrion birds can find the rotting carcasses of invading armies which signifies the end of the last world war in history.

“Then I saw one angel standing in the sunlight; and he shouted with a loud voice.” This phrase introduces the king of arms, the highest ranking angelic herald, and he is going to invite birds to a feast. We have already seen the great banquet to which we are invited in the future, the wedding banquet of the Lamb. This is the second of the two banquets in this chapter. The once-great armies that invaded the Middle East, the armies of the great spheres of influence, are now carcasses. The manner in which the mandate was communicated to the vultures is unknown but the gist of it has been translated into human language for our edification.

Why have we spent a relatively unusual amount of time talking about corpses, about putrefying flesh, about dead soldiers scattered throughout the earth? The answer is because great armies are fighting for wrong causes at the end of the Tribulation, and great armies fighting for wrong causes are destroyed. The reason they are fighting for wrong causes is because they have related to their esprit de corpse arrogance. Arrogance destroys the great virtue in esprit de corpse and now makes them proper food for the vultures. The vultures profit more than anyone else from the last great world war. So the first lesson for the banquet for the vultures is the fact that arrogant an unthinking men fight for wrong causes. The wrong cause here is the attempt to destroy the Jewish nation in the Middle East campaign, and the attempt to destroy the plan of God for planet earth. Anti-Semitism is a part of that cause and is sponsored by Satan himself. The personnel of armies dedicated to the annihilation of the Jews became rations for the vultures. This means that their arrogant and evil thinking is not even on a level with that of the vulture. The armies have invaded Israel like vultures and consequently they become food for the vultures. Glory becomes gory. The invading armies in an evil cause become a feed for the vultures in a good cause. The vultures in the Millennium are going to be very, very healthy!

The guest list for the judgment seat follows, all the birds that fly in midair. And here is the invitation: “Come and gather to the great feast [banquet] from the God.” It is called a great banquet because the vultures and the other carrion birds are going to have plenty to eat for a long time. “The God” here refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, the manifest person of the Trinity, as taught in John 1:18; 6:46; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 4:12.

Verse 18, the purpose clause or the finale of the divine judgment. The principle that comes out of it: You cannot depend upon human beings for happiness. This second banquet demonstrates a number of principles:

1. Jesus Christ controls history.

2. Jesus Christ is the judge of history.

3. Jesus Christ demonstrates grace in the administration of judgment.

4. You cannot depend upon famous people, great people, or any people for happiness.

We now begin to see some of the applications from this buzzard feast. It is no accident that God the Holy Spirit has selected certain categories on whom people depend for their happiness. The banquet table is not just Palestine, the banquet table is the entire earth. The banquet for the vultures is the finale for judgment by death.

In order that we might understand that this is a judgment we have the purpose clause, the conjunction i(na with the aorist active subjunctive of e)sqiw, “in order that you may eat.” The point is, there will be no honourable burial of the dead. These dead have fought on the wrong side. The constative aorist tense contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety, it takes the banquet of the vultures, the judgment feast of carrion eating birds, and gathers them up into one entirety, The active voice: the vultures produce the action of the verb throughout the world where the corpses from the judgment of our Lord at the second advent occur. Remember that “killed in action” covers planet earth for all of these armies. To be an unbeliever and to be under the Satanic influence of the cosmic system at the end of the Tribulation means becoming a victim of history. First, miserably alive under the category of judgment by pain, then horribly dead, a putrefying corpse on a forgotten battlefield being devoured by vultures and finally spending eternity in the lake of fire. That certainly doesn’t spell happiness for those involved. We have seen, however, that they had a grace opportunity. Judgment by pain is crisis evangelism prior to the Armageddon campaign, the word war of the devil’s desperation. Every soldier executed by our Lord Jesus Christ at the second advent was given a final call through crisis evangelism. Then judgment by death, our Lord’s return killed millions and millions of troops fighting in the field. Finally judgment for eternity, the unbeliever stands before the great white throne.

This is the finale of the last world war and those who reject Christ as saviour are on the wrong side of history. There is nothing worse than being on the wrong side of history. The profile of those who are on the wrong side of history includes the fact that they had God-consciousness, they had normal evangelism, they had crisis evangelism, and they were still negative. Those who came up negative at every opportunity are subjected to the following judgments. First of all, being on the wrong side of history they are dependent upon people for happiness. That is self-induced misery. Then they had judgment by pain to give them another chance at objectivity and listening to the gospel. Then they had judgment by death, clearing the decks for action for the perfect environment of the Millennium. Finally, they have eternal judgment in the lake of fire. The transition between judgment by death and eternal judgment finds the vultures hard at work having a great banquet on all the battlefields of planet earth. The armies are composed of those who resisted the grace of God and were caught up in the cosmic system.

Now we have a roll call, and in this roll call of judgment by death we have almost every category of person on whom people depend for happiness. But these people on whom people depend for happiness were miserable in themselves. We notice first an accusative plural direct object from sarc with a descriptive genitive plural from basileuj, referring to world rulers at the time of the second advent. These kings were rulers who had attained the highest political rank and distinction in history at that time. Being rulers they have a number of things. Any ruler at any time in history has power, he also has wealth, fame. That goes with being a ruler. They also have control, maximum opportunity for gratification of every lust and every ambition in life. Ordinarily one thinks of rulers as having great security in life, but if there is anything that rulers do not have it is security. When faced with divine judgment by death these rulers have no security. They are casualties to their own negative volition and people associated with them can have no greater security than they have, and even though people might be the friends of these rulers and dependent upon these kings for happiness, all that they are going to get out of it is the misery and unhappiness of great insecurity. For the kings are the most insecure of all. They saw how easy it was to gain their power; they also know how easy it is to lose that power. These kings include those we have noted: the king of the north, the kings of the east, the king of the south and the king of the west. It would also include other rulers throughout the earth.

What is the principle? A lot of people depend upon the rulers whom they know personally for happiness. They depend upon them as influence peddlers, they depend upon them in order to gain a little slice of the wealth, to gain a little recognition, in order to move up into what they think is a better society. These rulers make wrong decisions personally and in the administration of their foreign and domestic policies. They are very insecure. Power is useless unless one has the capacity for power, and these rulers in the Tribulation do not even have the capacity for power. Capacity for power comes from truth, or categorical doctrine which they have rejected. In essence, they have rejected three categories of Bible doctrine: the laws of divine establishment which would give them a sense of responsibility and leadership; the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ which would provide the beginning of happiness through eternal salvation; the doctrine for believers and the responsibility to God and to man which is mandated in the Word of God. Hence, these kings and rulers hold maximum power and authority but as people they are losers, and everyone who depends on them inevitably by association becomes a loser. So we have the principle by association. Losers have no capacity for power or wisdom or its proper use, and through bad decisions these rulers have lost control of their personal lives and the historical situation at the end of the Tribulation. Being negative toward truth or doctrine these kings have no capacity for life, no capacity for happiness, and having no capacity for happiness they are simply going to make those who depend on them for happiness very unhappy. Hence, they demonstrate the principle that great human power, great human success, which most people are very ambitious to achieve, is the basis for the greatest insecurity and the greatest unhappiness in life. Jesus Christ controls history and no attainment of wealth, power or success is meaningful unless one has personally believed in Christ for salvation and has daily fellowship with Him through life inside the divine dynasphere. And while those with maximum human power become a feast for the vultures the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ at the second advent are enjoying the great party, the wedding banquet of the Lamb. A good decision today brings great happiness tomorrow. Your good decision today is to take in doctrine today and take in doctrine tomorrow.

Next we have a second category, field marshals and generals. Again we have the word sarc for corpses, and also we have a descriptive genitive from xiliarxoj. A xiliarxoj is supposed to be a person who commands a thousand men but actually it is for anyone who commands more than a thousand men. So we simply translate it “top brass” or the corpses of general officers and field marshals. So next to the rulers of nations the greatest authority on earth during the last world war of history at the end of the Tribulation are the field marshals, general officers. There is no safety nor security in attaining the highest military rank. The implication is that this rank has no real leadership, being influenced by the degeneracy which exists during the last half of the Tribulation. That is not necessarily true in every case but one thing is true, if you are in the military and you are ambitious to attain the highest rank, and you think you are going to be happy as a general officer, etc., success in the military or any other profession is not going to make you happy.

The next category is the officer corps, that is, below the rank of general. This time we have again the word for corps and with it the noun i)sxuroj which means power or rank, used in a technical sense here, and it refers to company grade and field grade officers of the various nations in that last world war of history. They all had one thing in common: they were negative toward the truth, the were unbelievers, and their volition at each stage of opportunity rejected Christ and therefore they failed to avail themselves of the only hope they had, and as a result, they are the corpses strewn throughout the world. They are all commanding units designed to execute the mandates of Satan in the last world war of history. All had experienced judgment by pain, and all experienced judgment by death.

The next, of course, is the mechanised army. Mechanisation does not protect an army from destruction. We have here “the corpses of horses, and of those mounted on them,” that is their riders. In this case, of course, we are talking about mechanised armies today. The Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written and the only mechanisation was the cavalry and the chariot at the time of writing. Military effectiveness and victory depends upon the born-again Jewish soldiers whom we have already noted in the Armageddon campaign and they are survivors, along with other believers involved in the world wars.

The fifth category are the combat service support groups, and they are dead too. The word “free,” e)leuqeroj here, refers to volunteers; the word douloj, translated “slaves,” refers to draftees. The word “small,” mikroj, refers to enlisted personnel, and the word “great, megaj, refers to the officer corps.

This fulfills the second advent prophecy of Matthew 24:27-28, “For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpses are located, there the vultures will gather.”

Corrected translation of verse 18: “In order that you [the vultures] may eat the corpses of kings, the corpses of general officers, the corpses of the mighty, both the corpses of horses and their riders, in fact the corpses of all combat service support organisations, both volunteers and draftees, both enlisted personnel and officer corps.” Notice the translation takes cognisance of modern terminology for ancient functions.

Jesus Christ completely annihilates every military category in every army of antiChrist involved in the last world war of history. But the greatest application to us belongs not just to the military, whose categories are mentioned exclusively here because of this war, but it belongs to all of us today because some of us, perhaps all of us, have at some time or another placed the entire happiness of our lives in the hands of another person, so that that person has the power to make us happy, that person has the power to make us unhappy, that person has the influence over our life. This is a terrible trap, for your relationships with people under those conditions can only make you unhappy. The only secret to happiness is to have the happiness before you meet these people to whom you are attracted, the people that you love, the people that you admire. There is only one way to be happy when you are going up or you are going down, and that happiness depends on Bible doctrine.

As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you must find your happiness in God’s protocol system. There is no happiness in love, sex, or marriage. If marriage is your source of happiness then you are going to be miserable and off balance all of your life. This does not imply that there is anything wrong with marriage, it is a divine institution, but it does imply that people who enter marriage must bring their happiness with them. The same thing can be said for another category: wealth and prosperity. If you come into wealth, success and prosperity and you do not have capacity for happiness, if you do not bring your happiness with you, these things will not bring you happiness as such.

Your happiness must come from a greater source and therefore the existence of God’s protocol system, God’s plan for your life, the residence, function, momentum inside the divine dynasphere. The key, of course, is Bible doctrine, your daily perception of Bible doctrine as a believer. Our Lord Jesus Christ in the first advent was the pioneer, the perfect pattern of happiness in the original protocol system. In that most dramatic moment of history our Lord Jesus Christ came to the cross and was crucified as a result of seven trials. All seven trials violated the jurisprudence of both Israel and the Roman empire. These two systems met in the seven trials of our Lord Jesus Christ and they malfunctioned. But the malfunction became the benefit of the entire human race, “all things working together for good,” for out of it came our so great salvation. In the most dramatic moment of history, in that six hours when our Lord was hanging on the cross bearing our sins, he spoke seven times, giving us the key to happiness and the answer to this riddle of success not bringing happiness.

Luke 23:32-34, we have several of our Lord’s expressions. In this passage we see that he was not crucified alone, there was a criminal crucified on each side of Him. These men had been tried by Roman law and had been found guilty. Roman law had three systems of capital punishment. For the aristocrats, the senators or those of Patrician background, they were permitted to get into a tub of hot water and slit their wrists. Roman citizens in general were decapitated. Then, the third category was for non-Romans, and that was crucifixion. All of the enemies of Rome, anyone who was not a Roman citizens, was crucified. Our Lord Jesus Christ as the King of Israel was not a Roman citizen and as such He was put on the cross.

Verse 32, “And two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with him.”

Verse 33, “And when they came to that place called The Skull, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on his right hand and one on his left.”

Verse 34, “Now Jesus kept saying,” the first comment that He made on the cross was one that indicated the fact that He had lived in His humanity inside the protocol divine dynasphere. The protocol of heaven provided for the humanity of Christ this marvelous system, the first Christmas present. At the point of the virgin birth our Lord Jesus Christ was given a protocol system. As eternal God He doesn’t need support but as true humanity He needed to be sustained during His first advent. This first comment is present linear aktionsart, He kept saying it. He said: “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” He repeated this many times. So the first category of remarks has to do with the expression of His functional virtue. He had perfect virtue and perfect virtue means perfect happiness. The achievement of virtue is the only source of true happiness in life. Therefore virtue means humility directed toward authority, motivational virtue directed toward God, functional virtue directed toward mankind. For example, Jesus Christ had perfect love for God the Father. That is motivational virtue. That was a personal love. The only personal love that has virtue is personal love for God. Functional virtue was impersonal love toward all mankind. Here, of course, the emphasis is on the integrity of the subject. Jesus Christ could love His persecutors, He could love the judges who failed in the function of jurisprudence, he could fulfill every concept of impersonal love. Our Lord Jesus Christ pioneered the system of perfect happiness in life, a happiness you can have regardless of circumstances. Our Lord’s perfect expression of integrity is given when He said, “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” They were ridiculing Him, they were despising Him, they were making fun of Him, they were doing everything to express their antagonism toward Him. They were implacable but He loved them, they were absolutely filled with hatred but He returned the favour with love. He was not disturbed by their negative attitude. It was a demonstration of perfect happiness. Jesus Christ had perfect happiness without any of the things that we regard as being important in happiness. So His impersonal love inside the prototype divine dynasphere is manifest in the expression of His first statement on the cross. This phrase was uttered while He was beginning to endure physical pain.

The second statement on the cross is also found in this chapter, in verse 39, where it says, “And one of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him, saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ ” This is the manifestation of the criminal status. He was in the cosmic system, a place of great arrogance. While cosmic one was his mental attitude arrogance it interlocked with gate seven of cosmic one, which is criminal arrogance. All criminals are arrogant. The other criminal in verse 40 had a different attitude by this time. He was much more observant, he was objective. The criminal who rejected our Lord was subjective in the cosmic system, but this man under the pressure of his dying had a surge of objectivity. “But the other [criminal] answered, and rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?’ ” And then he adds in verse 41, “And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this one has nothing wrong.” He recognised the perfection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore he began to concentrate on our Lord and “he kept on repeating,” says verse 42, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom!” And the Lord, of course, gave him and answer, an answer that once again expressed the perfect stability, the perfect happiness of our Lord. “And he replied to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise’.” The criminal at that moment had expressed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is said, therefore, to be with our Lord in Paradise. When our Lord died physically His soul went to Paradise, the place where all of the Old Testament saints resided until the resurrection. His body went into the tomb, His human spirit went into the presence of the Father. When this criminal expressed, even though he was under the penalty of death, these words he had personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. All of his sins, all of his evil, all of his past were forgiven at that moment when he believed in the Lord. He will be in the first resurrection but the other criminal is going to be in the second resurrection, the judgment. So two criminals were crucified. One became a believer; one remained an unbeliever. And so the human race is separated by attitude toward Jesus Christ.

The third statement of our Lord on the cross is found in John 19:25. Happy people have integrity, they are thoughtful of others, they have constructed into their souls that protocol system of happiness that guarantees stability in life. Happy people take their happiness with them. In John 19:25 even though our Lord is in great pain He is still thoughtful of loved ones. There was standing there the mother of His humanity. In verse 26, “When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved [John] nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Woman [gunh], behold, your son!’ ” Then in verse 27, “He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.” From that time until she died she was under the care of the apostle John.

The fourth expression is that of spiritual death and it is found in Matthew 27:45, “Now from the sixth hour [noon] darkness fell on all the land until the ninth hour [3pm].” So from noon until three o’clock in the afternoon our Lord Jesus Christ was constantly receiving the imputation of every sin in the history of the human race. “And about the ninth hour Jesus uttered a cry with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ ” The forsaking of our Lord Jesus Christ is very simple. God the Father loved God the Son with an eternal love, but when Jesus Christ became true humanity so He could bear our sins in His own body on the tree, then love had to be set aside and the justice of God had to function. Justice supersedes love in the provision of our so great salvation. The justice of God the Father fed out of the computer of divine decrees all the sins of the history of the human race. So when our Lord was using the vocative, “My God”, He was addressing God the Father who was imputing our sins to Him and judging every one of them. The courtroom in which all human sin was judged was the cross and it took three hours for this to occur. In judging our sins in the body of Christ on the cross the Father and the Holy Spirit had to forsake Him. “He who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

In John 19:28 we have the expression of His human suffering. Even though He was bearing our sins in His own body on the tree and fulfilling the plan of the Father He recognised that not only was He now in possession still of His perfect happiness but that perfect happiness would be the heritage of any believer who lived in the protocol system. Very few believers are truly happy today. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning. Being a believer does not guarantee happiness in time, only happiness in eternity, but you can have perfect happiness. You can take it wherever you go. “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I am thirsty’.” Thirst is one of the great physical agonies of the cross. “A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge into the jar of wine and moved it up to our Lord’s mouth.” That was His expression of great suffering, but even in great suffering he still has His happiness. For every person there is suffering somewhere on the horizon. The one who has happiness doesn’t lose it when suffering comes.

The sixth expression of the cross is that of a completed mission, fulfilling the purpose for the residence of His humanity on this earth, John 19:30: “When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, he said, Tetelestai, the perfect tense of the verb telew. It means it has been finished now with the result that is stands completed forever with the result that for anyone who has believed in the past their salvation has now been provided. And for anyone who believes in the future there is a message from God: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” Salvation for the human race was accomplished by the spiritual death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was still alive when He finished dying for our sins, this was His spiritual death on the cross bearing our sins. The implications are many. When He said, “It is finished,” nothing can be added to the work of Christ for salvation. “And having pushed forward his head he handed over his spirit [human spirit].” The human spirit goes into the presence of God the Father. Why did he push Himself forward? John 19:34 tells us what happened. “One of the soldiers pierced his side [chest cavity] with a spear, and immediately there came out a(ima and o(udor [blood clots and serum].” The issue of John 19:34 is somatic death. He was dead physically at this point as proved by the fact that when His side was pierced the blood clots and the serum came out. In dying on the cross our Lord Jesus Christ positioned His body so that a maximum amount of blood would settle in the dependent part of His heart in the lower chest cavity. He pushed His body forward in dying to prove that He did not bleed to death on the cross. Jesus Christ did not bleed to death on the cross. The blood of Christ refers to His saving work. It refers to redemption, reconciliation, propitiation. He moved His head forward and exhaled His last breath. he did not inhale again. The arrangement of the order in the pulmonary artery in the diaphragm and the various veins were such that a large amount of blood remained and settled in His left and right ventricles where it would be vulnerable to the spear thrust. He was thrust with the spear in that lower region of His heart. When the Roman soldier plunged the spear into His chest cavity out came blood clots and serum. While hanging on the cross our Lord Jesus Christ anticipated the distortion and the perversion of the true connotation of the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses from all sin. By distorting the true meaning of the blood of Christ Satan would attack the cross in several ways. First he would obscure the fact of the hypostatic union by denying the existence of the true humanity of Christ. Secondly, he would obscure the importance of our Lord’s spiritual death on the cross bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. Thirdly, Satan would philosophise the cross through declaring the cross to be an optical illusion. One of the greatest problems with emotional believers who are ignorant of Bible doctrine — therefore also without that true happiness of life — is the fact that they somehow think that there is a mysterious “something” in the blood of Christ, and that He bled to death, and that the blood was caught in a pot by an angel and carried to heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There is one more expression, and the expression is the key to human happiness, Luke 23:46. This is the expression of the royal family of God heritage. This is why we are here and why we have a special mission in life. This is where the protocol of heaven meets the protocol of earth in the fantastic system of the plan of God. “And Jesus, having cried out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I deposit my spirit.’ And having said this, he expired.”

In the great prophecy of our Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah 53, verse 12 becomes pertinent. “Therefore, I [God the Father] will distribute the spoil [the plunder of victory] to him [Christ] because of the many [royal family believers], that he [Christ] will distribute the spoil to the great ones [believers who attain the victory gate eight in the protocol system]; because he [Christ] poured out his soul to death [physical death]. Prior to this physical death he was identified with the offerings of sin [He fulfilled the Levitical offerings]; because he himself carried the sins of the many, and concerning the offering for sin it [the whole thing] was caused to fall on him.”

The key to what was said in its entirety is found in Psalm 31:5 where this was quoted prophetically, “Into thy hand I deposit my spirit.” That part is recorded in Luke, but the rest is not recorded, “For you have delivered me, O Lord, God of doctrine.” That was the last thing uttered by our Lord: the word “doctrine.” The key to happiness, the key to capacity for life, for blessing, the secret to the believer’s modus operandi, the protocol of heaven meeting the protocol of earth, is Bible doctrine. It is the heritage of the royal family of God, the basis for momentum inside the divine dynasphere, the secret to the protocol of heaven being brought to earth so that our life can be full of meaning and purpose and definition. Doctrine must be the number one priority for every believer. Doctrine becomes the true greatness of the individual. Doctrine, of course, is located in the pages of the scripture but doctrine is useless unless it is transferred into your individual soul.

The introduction to this verse is found in Revelation 13:6, speaking of the beast dictator: “And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to slander his people and his tabernacle,” the word for “tabernacle” is the Greek skhnh and it has something to do with the shekinah glory, the shekinah glory in heaven a memorial to the person and the work of Christ in His strategic victory of the first advent, “and those believers who tabernacled in heaven,” and again we have the verb skhnow, the same verb that we studied in connection with the shekinah glory coming to earth in the first advent. This is a paronomasia and it introduces the profile of the beast dictator. We have noted that first of all he was a military genius, he gains control of the revived Roman empire through defeating three of the ten nations of the old Roman empire. This was noted in Revelation 13:1 as well as Daniel 7:20,21. He is certainly a political genius and this is basically the story of Revelation 13, Daniel 7, and 2 Thessalonians 2. He is thirdly a religious genius and this is his story of his support of the ecumenical religious system of the Tribulation which is known under the code name Babylon the great, the great harlot. Fourth, he has the power of miracles as we have noted in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. This is the appeal to the emotionalism of the masses, and is also man’s worship of power and the idolising of evil because of involvement in Satan’s cosmic system. Those who worship power and idolise evil will never appreciate freedom or have the capacity for happiness in this life. When people do not have truth or doctrine they are always impressed by the wrong things. We have also noted in profile that he had the dynamics of verbal communication, he had a good voice. The ability to communicate is one of the most important functions in life and Satan gives this dictator a supernatural power of communication in order to communicate evil concepts. We noted that he had, however, a time limitation on his power, and so it always is. Those who have power always have a time limitation. Time runs out and when it does the power is gone, Revelation 13:5. We also noted that evil power is frustrated by humour and the power of the paronomasia, Revelation 13:6. Humour is a great weapon in the hands of those who adhere to Bible doctrine. The paronomasia of the first advent strategic victory of Christ is emphasised in John 1:14 where our Lord tabernacled among us, the shekinah glory came to earth. With all of his great power the beast dictator cannot laugh at himself and he can only slander those who are beyond his power. That was the way it was with the Tribulational martyrs whom he slaughtered. They were beyond his power, they tabernacled in heaven with the shekinah glory. So the play on words produced a marvelous pun describing the fact that the believer in heaven and the believer on earth with maximum doctrine in the soul are beyond the power of any beast dictator. Furthermore, at this time Satan is confined to the earth and these martyrs are in heaven. Therefore the humour of it all, they have gone where Satan can never go again. It is a bad joke to Satan but it is very humorous to us. People who have too much power have no sense of humour. Too much power is defined as power acquired by arrogance. Arrogance plus power cannot laugh at self or at anything that is humorous. Any arrogant preoccupation with self always takes self too seriously and therefore the omission of a sense of humour. The believer with maximum doctrine in the soul with that happiness that we have noted is beyond the power of any dictator of this earth. In life he will not compromise doctrine; in death the interim life puts the believer way beyond the power of Satan or any dictatorial power of tyranny. Even by killing believers the beast dictator puts the martyr believer beyond his own power. The beast dictator is miserable in his frustration while the martyred believer is happy in heaven. The dictator cannot see the humour in the situation, namely that with all of his tremendous power with which he is able to kill the believer he cannot control him in time and the believer martyr is beyond his control in eternity. The mature believer is beyond the control of any dictatorial power in life because of the greater power of Bible doctrine in his soul. Furthermore, he is beyond dictatorial power in death because he is transferred to heaven. What is humorous is the fact that Satan who has this great power and who has delegated it to the beast dictator has been driven out of heaven permanently in the last half of the Tribulation. As the ruler of this world he has no power, no authority over believers apart from his cosmic system.

The introduction to Revelation 19:19 is in the principle that comes out of this concept, the principle of organised evil, for the beast dictator represents organised evil in contrast to disorganised evil. The beast dictator has a systematic or organised system of evil. As the ruler of the revived Roman empire, as the leader of ecumenical religion, disorganised or non-systematic evil is simply a degeneracy without power. With the martyrdom of Tribulational believers in the last half of the Tribulation we learn the principle that while doctrinal believers can coexist with degeneracy or disorganised evil they cannot coexist with organised evil. The society of organised or systematic evil always persecutes the truth. Organised or systematic evil cannot stand any form of truth or doctrine. When a client nation has too much degeneracy and disorganised evil is not controlled by the laws of divine establishment some dictator rises up to suppress degeneracy and disorganised evil. In so doing he often substitutes what is far worse: systematic evil or organised evil in which the government commits the crimes instead of private citizens. The power of degeneracy or disorganised evil is crime and violence while the power of systematic evil is government using its authority to destroy freedom, to confiscate property, and to murder behind the facade of the greater good for the greater number. Systematic evil is characterised by self-righteous arrogance while disorganised evil is characterised by criminal arrogance. The dictator eliminates private crime because the dictator wants a monopoly on private crime. He substitutes public crime for private crime. The enlarged pivot of mature believers, the effective function of law and order, free enterprise and the military establishment plus law enforcement and good jurisprudence, hinders the effectiveness of organised evil. Disorganised evil generally opens the way for the use of a systematic system of evil. The pattern if systematic evil replaces disorganised evil and this is often seen in history, as illustrated by the French revolution, the Russian revolution, the communist takeover of China, the rise of Adolf Hitler. It proves the point that self-righteous arrogance has more power than criminal arrogance. Self-righteous arrogance is morality without virtue, therefore the importance of the priority of the plan of God which is virtue first. Morality minus virtue becomes self-righteousness and self-righteous arrogance leads to organised evil, the systematic evil by which the dictator rises to power.

In permitting evil to run its course in human history God demonstrates the power of doctrine resident in the soul of the mature believer and the tremendous happiness that comes from that doctrine mentioned in our Lord’s dying words. The mature believer keeps his priorities straight, doctrine is more important than life itself and a period of martyrdom often occurs under these circumstances. The dictator, of course, demands and gains respect from the wrong kind of people. The leader functions under the principle of mutual respect but with the dictator he demands respect through the infusion of fear, and therefore the dictator uses his power to gain respect rather than any leadership ability that he may possess. The worship of power is the dictator’s way of controlling people in contrast to the person who is a leader. The ability that comes to the dictator comes from evil; the ability of true leadership comes from the truth. This also leads to the fact that now, as well as in the future, there is no real power or real significance to public opinion. Public opinion caters to the viewpoint of the majority and the majority has no power or control in history. This is one thing that disorganised evil demonstrates: that there is no power or control in history from that standpoint. The control always comes from organised evil. Organised evil means a minority control. It is always a minority which controls and influences history. Sometimes it is a good minority, like the pivot of mature believers in the client nation to God, but frequently it is the minority of evil which controls the historical trend. Public opinion reacts to minorities but public opinion has no power, no organisation. Public opinion is news today and gone tomorrow. A Gallup poll in representing public opinion is only good in a republic or in a democracy with an overextended voting franchise, but public opinion has no power against organised minorities and their depredations. Public opinion can only bully the weak and flatter the successful. Public opinion has no power with the communists who ignore it in their invasions. Public opinion is all to often a system of arrogance, a system of public self-righteousness, a system of mass hysteria which assumes that their condemnation has power or influence. In reality, evil cares nothing for public opinion.

The power of the dictator, therefore, prevents him from thinking beyond the inventory of his own ideas. The corrupting influence of power not only erases the norms of the divine establishment and supersedes the standards of category #1 truth, but hinders the cosmic dictator from utilising any previous inventory of honourable principles that he might have possessed. This explains the conflict between organised and disorganised evil, the conflict between free enterprise and evil. While disorganised evil and degeneracy coexist with Christianity organised evil always persecutes Christianity. Self-righteous arrogance and its accompanying fanaticism is just as cruel and just as degenerate as any other category of degeneracy. That is why we have in verse 19 organised evil, the last conspiracy of the last war.

In this passage there are three categories of evil. All three categories are organised evil. Category #1 is the chief conspirator and agitator of history, Satan himself. He is introduced first with a connective and sequential use of the conjunction kai, followed by the aorist active indicative of the verb o(raw. The aorist tense is a constative aorist contemplating the action of the verb in its entirety, John’s vision of organised evil at the end of the Tribulation. The active voice: John as the human author produces the action. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality. The accusative singular from the noun qhrion introduces the object of the vision, the dictator. The word means “beast,” we call him the beast dictator. “Then I saw the beast dictator,” the beast dictator of the revived Roman empire of the Tribulation.

In the trinity of evil the beast dictator is number two. The trinity of organised evil includes first of all Satan, and secondly, the beast dictator. The trinity of organised evil includes Satan as the ruler of this world and the beast dictator as the chief agitator. Along with these two is the false prophet or “beast out of the land,” the religious motivator. So we have to distinguish between the conspiracy at the beginning of the world war and those which occur at the end. In other words, there are several conspiracies around this world war. The first conspiracy occurred at the beginning of the last world war of history. This is the one we studied in Revelation 16:13-16, a Satanic conspiracy to destroy the Jew so that Christ cannot return to deliver Israel and fulfill the four unconditional covenants. Satan seeks to frustrate the plan of God for Israel by total annihilation of all Jews on the earth. Therefore the Middle east campaign came into very sharp focus in chapter 16. It included the battle of Armageddon, the battle of Idumea, the battle of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and the siege of Jerusalem. But with the second advent of Christ a second conspiracy is formed. This is the conspiracy at the end of the last world war of history, the conspiracy mentioned first in 17:14, then 19:19-21. This conspiracy is the most ambitious of all Satanic attacks until he is released from prison at the end of the Millennium. It involves the use of violence inspired by Satan to turn the warring armies of the last world war all against our Lord Jesus Christ and the three army groups who return with Him. The conspiracy refers to 17:14 and emphasises the believers of the Church Age, the royal family of God. This conspiracy emphasises also the attack on all three army groups who come back with our Lord. However, this conspiracy fails, Satan’s time is running out, and therefore his power is running out. The elapse of time is always against a dictator.

So Satan cannot stem the tide and he cannot prevent the blessing of eternal life in resurrection bodies to all categories of believers. Nor can he harm elect angels or believers who survive on earth. Satan’s power is completely destroyed by the second advent. Note the principle of grace: Only Christ does the fighting. The accompanying armies observe only.

The second category of organised evil are the political rulers alive on the earth, the dictators in the last half of the Tribulation. They are involved in the conspiracy under the title of the accusative plural basileuj. These are the political rulers of various nations involved in the last world war. They are rulers especially under the influence of the beast dictator. These would include the seven nations of the revived Roman empire who came voluntarily under the control of the beast. Furthermore, he is the leader of ecumenical religion and that means that other national leaders will be brought under his sphere of influence. In addition, rulers in three great spheres of influence, Tribulation empires, are involved. The king of the north, the kings of the east, the king of the south and, of course, the ten proconsuls under the rule of the revived Roman empire. They are said to be the first two sources of organised evil.

“Then I saw the beast dictator, and the kings of the earth.” The third are the military forces involved in the conspiracy, and this is our third direct object from the verb, the accusative plural direct object from strateuma which means “and their armies.” The conspiracy calls for the use of force to gain the objectives of Satan which are to destroy the Lord and His elect angels plus all resurrected believers who are accompany Him at the second advent. The principle: When force is used for evil it must be destroyed. Satan’s violence cannot cancel the power of our Lord. These armies are organised evil, they use violence to fulfill Satan’s policy. This explains the resistance to their armies on the part of Jewish believers in the state of Israel. This explains why Christ slaughters them at the end of the Tribulation. These armies and their rulers are going to become a banquet for all the vultures of the world. Violence of disorganised evil can only be restrained by law — law enforcement, capital punishment during human history — but the violence of organised evil can only be restrained by military establishment. Therefore we have two restraints on violence. For the violence of disorganised evil, law enforcement and capital punishment, but organised evil requires more. Organised evil is lawless; organised evil is the law. Organised evil can only be restrained by military power, therefore the importance of our military establishment. In the very last conspiracy only the force of our Lord Jesus Christ neutralises the power of the last great conspiracy.

Translation: “Then I saw the beast dictator, and the kings of the earth, plus their armies.”

This represents the violence of organised evil. There are many systems of organised evil on the earth

today.

The application of all of this is found in Psalm two where the last great conspiracy is described. The first three verses gives us the situation, the status quo in the last half of the Tribulation, where the evil trinity, organised evil in general, has developed the tremendous conspiracy.

Verse 1, “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?

Verse 2, the kings of the earth take their stand [the great conspiracy of Revelation 19:19], and the rulers plot together against the Lord [God the Father], and against his anointed one [God the Son], saying,

Verse 3, “Let us break their bands [the authority of divine establishment], let us destroy their restraining forces and throw of the chains [the chains with which they bind us].” The principle is: Let us destroy the principle that Jesus Christ controls history.

In answer to this in verses 4-6 we have the plan of God the Father. The protocol of heaven comes into action.

Verse 4, “He [God the Father, author of the divine plan] who is enthroned in heaven laughs,” it is nice to know that the absolute power of heaven has a marvelous sense of humour, “the Lord scoffs at them,” the anthropopathism for divine power.

Verse 5, “Then [at the end of the Tribulation] he will speak to them in his anger [the anthropopathism for divine judgment], and he will terrify them in his wrath [the seven last plagues of Revelation 16, the seven bowl judgments].”

Verse 6, “But as for me [God the Father] I have installed my King [the coronation of Christ at the second advent] on Zion [fulfillment of the Davidic covenant], my holy mountain [the ultimate victory of Christ in the angelic conflict].”

In verses 7-9 we have Jesus Christ coming into the picture. Jesus Christ controls history.

Verse 7, “I will proclaim the decree of the Lord [the printout of the computer of divine decrees]: he [God the Father] said to me [God the Son], You are my Son [first advent]; today [moment of the virgin birth, the incarnation] I have begotten you.”

Verse 8, this is after the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ: “Ask from me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance [anticipating the Millennial reign of Christ] plus the very ends of the earth as your possession [Christ will rule in the last dispensation of history].”

Verse 9, “And you will rule them with an iron sceptre [the Millennial reign of Christ is a rule of virtue] and you will shatter them to pieces like pottery [the function of jurisprudence and capital punishment in the Millennium].”

Verses 10-12, the final strophe.

Verse 10, “Therefore [divine advice to nations of the Tribulation] you kings [rulers of the earth]; become wise [believe in Christ and then learn the protocol system from Bible doctrine]; be warned [crisis evangelism] you rulers of the earth.”

Verse 11, “Serve the Lord with a sense of responsibility [with reverence], and rejoice with trembling [rulers can be happy if they are born again, if they have learned Bible doctrine].”

Verse 12, “Kiss [pay homage] to the Son [faith in Christ, perception of doctrine after salvation], lest he become angry and you perish in the way [rulers without Christ have no chance], for his wrath may soon be kindled. How happy are those who take refuge in him.”

Leviticus 16:1,2, “Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron [Nadab and Abihu], when they approached the presence of the Lord [the explanation for the strange fire which they offered and for which they died]. Then the Lord said to Moses, Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not at any time enter the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lets he die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.”

As we have noted, this was the shekinah glory, the presence of Jesus Christ as the God of Israel. In Hezekiah’s prayer of Isaiah 37:16, he said, “O Lord of the armies, the God of Israel, who is enthroned between the cherubs,” that golden throne is called the mercy seat. The reason it is called a seat is because no one ever had the nerve just to say that the Lord actually sat there since the shekinah glory was between the cherubs or over that mercy seat. So when Hezekiah got down to serious praying he prayed to the Lord who resided between the two cherubs, to the shekinah glory.

The Jews got into a war with the Philistines and in the first battle the force that went were almost annihilated, about 4000 casualties. So they decided that they were a little rusty and needed some good luck. The good luck charm they selected was the ark of the covenant, which means the golden throne and the cherubs on each side, the whole package. So in 1 Samuel 4:4 it says, “The people went up to Shiloh [where the tabernacle was being kept at the time], and from there they carried the ark of the Lord of the armies, who sits between the cherubs: and the two sons of Eli [the high priest], Hophni and Pinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God [they carried it into battle].”

A second battle was fought in which the Jews were defeated again and in the course of the defeat both Hophni and Pinehas were killed in battle. The ark was not designed to be a good luck charm. The ark itself was taken by the Philistines to Ashdod and put in their temple there, the temple of Dagon. When they brought the word to Eli [he was 98 years old] he was apparently sitting on a fence and when he heard that the ark was taken he fell over backwards and broke his neck and died. That meant that there was only one person left in the clan and that was the wife of Pinehas and the news resulted in the events of 1 Samuel 4:19-22. She named her newborn son Ichabod which means “there is no glory” or simply “no glory,” saying, “the glory [kabhodh] has departed from Israel; because the ark of God was captured.” Then her dying words were, “The glory [kabhodh] is departed from Israel; for the ark of God is captured.” The woman understood in dying that the shekinah glory, or the dwelling presence of Jesus Christ as the God of Israel between the mercy seat, was the key to understanding Israel in time of blessing. Israel is a client nation to God and any time the glory departs then it is all over.

The application to us is obvious: No pivot of mature believers means that the glory of the Lord has departed from the client nation. We live in the dispensation of no sacred buildings. The shekinah glory today resides in the divine dynasphere, as it were, and our function in the divine dynasphere is the only way our country can be delivered. In the Old Testament the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ between the cherubs was the shekinah glory and the cloud over the tabernacle indicated His presence in the holy of holies. However, beginning with the virgin birth and the incarnation we know that the hypostatic union made a great difference. Once the shekinah glory came in the flesh the shekinah glory lived in the prototype divine dynasphere. Now in the Church Age the client nation depends on believers living in the operational type divine dynasphere. When you find believers not living in the divine dynasphere and not understanding the significance of the protocol plan of God, then the glory has departed from the client nation just as obviously as the glory departed from Israel in that day. That is why 2 Corinthians 3:17,18 is so important because in essence it describes our responsibility as believers, not only to God but to the client nation. There is no solution to the problems of the client nation apart from the believer living, functioning, having momentum, and achieving maturity, inside the divine dynasphere. “Now the Lord is the Spirit [reference to the deity of the Holy Spirit and His function at gate one]; and where the Spirit of the Lord is [the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer’s body], there is freedom [freedom to execute the plan of God].” The same concept is Galatians 5:1, “Stand fast, therefore, in the freedom wherewith Christ has made you free.” That can only be accomplished inside the divine dynasphere.

The application to this is found in our passage in Revelation chapter 19 for we find divine judgment coming to the beast dictator and his nation at the second advent. So far we have covered this much of verse 19: “Then I saw the beast dictator, and the kings of the earth who had been concentrated to make war against him who is mounted on the horse [our Lord Jesus Christ at the second advent] and against his army.”

This is the last phase of the last world war of history, Satan’s last effort to frustrate the plan of God as the ruler of this world. Of course, Satan has to use violence because he cannot fight truth with the lie. The concentration of the combined armies of the political blocs and the systems of power politics in the Tribulation under many dictators, and especially at the end under the dictator of the revived Roman empire, is the greatest concentration of Gentile troops in all of human history. It is designed to destroy the Lord, the elect angels and believers, in one fell swoop. The invasion of the kings of the east, of the Asiatic bloc; the invasion of the king of the north plus the attempted invasion of the armies of the revived Roman empire, plus the attack of Arabic nations known as the king of the south, are all combined to meet the challenge of the second advent at this point. In many cases they have been fighting each other but Satan in one last tremendous effort takes all of the fighting armies and gets them to have an armistice and turn against the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is one eschatological problem in this connection: the treaty between the Jewish dictator and the revived Roman empire in the middle of the Tribulation. This is not a case of a broken treaty but a new phase of the last world war, and the dictator of the revived Roman empire turns his forces toward the invasion from heaven in contrast to the previous conspiracy. A simpler passage is found in Joel chapter three, verses nine though seventeen:

“Proclaim among the nations, Prepare for war [necessary to survive in the last half of the Tribulation], assemble the warriors [troops], let all the fighting men advance and attack. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears [revive the industrial complex for war]; let the weakling say, I am strong. Concentrate your armies, and all you surrounding nations invade [attack Israel, concentrate there, because Christ returns to Israel]; bring down your armies, O lord [the prayer for the second advent of Christ and the three armies that we have previously noted]. Let the nations be aroused [propagandised],” if you are going to get into a full scale war you have to have people aroused, you have to arouse their antagonism, they have to get mad, and you have to use propaganda to do it. One of the major signs of degeneracy is the principle of getting people angry from that which is false, “therefore attack [motivation for attacking another country comes from propaganda] the valley of Jehoshaphat [attack Israel]; for there [our Lord’s answer] I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.”

One conspiracy starts a word war, Revelation 16; one terminates it, Joel 3; Revelation 19:19.

“Put in the sickle [the seven last plagues].” What do the seven bowl judgments add to this? First of all, there are a lot of people there under pressure of warfare, economic disaster, disease, the four horsemen in other words. This is the judgment by pain. As a result of the four horsemen many people are going to believe in Christ. Some of them will even survive and spend 1000 years in perfect environment in the Millennium; many will die because they continue to make negative and bad decisions. That is judgment by death. Then there is going to be judgment by finesse in which great nations will be destroyed. New nations will come out of those nations in the Millennial reign of Christ. So the three major judgments are always God’s grace opportunity, “for the harvest [the five bowl judgments, crisis evangelism] is ripe; come [prayer for the second advent], trample the grapes [our Lord’s destruction of all the armies of the world]; for the winepress is full [the sixth bowl judgment, judgment by death], the vats overflow; for their evil is great.”

“Multitudes, multitudes [millions, millions, millions of troops] in the valley of decision.… The sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness [the earth will be completely enveloped in darkness just before the second advent]. Then the Lord roars from Zion, and thunders from Jerusalem [where He comes at the second advent], consequently the heavens and the earth tremble; however the Lord will be a refuge for his people [many millions will survive], and a fortification for the citizens of Israel. Then you, o Israel, will know that I [the Lord Jesus Christ] am the Lord, your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain; therefore Jerusalem will be holy, and strange [armies] will no longer pass through it.”

The last world war of history is terminated, it is all over, there is nothing left but the dead. That is the reason for the vultures’ banquet that we have been noting.

Revelation 19:20,21: Verse 20, the judgment of the Satanic conspirators. The termination of the last conspiracy means that the conspirators do not get away with it. We have the aorist passive indicative of piazw can be translated arrested as long as you understand he, the dictator, was arrested violently ‘Then the beast dictator was seized,” the constative aorist contemplates the action of the verb in its entirety. He was not just captured, he was seized violently. The passive voice: the Tribulational dictator receives the action. The indicative mood is declarative for the eschatological reality of the arrest of the great agitator of the last conspiracy. he is the arch conspirator, he is the agitator of Satan’s organisation, he is the chief human conspirator in starting the last world war of history, “and with him the false prophet,” the coconspirator, the religious motivator. As coconspirator the false prophet is the religious motivator and he joins in the conspiracy with Satan which began the last world war in history. That is how so many gung-ho religious types wind up on the battlefield and wind up as the vultures’ banquet. The “false prophet” here is a nominative of exclamation, it is the title of the Jewish dictator.

We have a series now of relative clauses. The first of these is “who performed the miracles in his presence.” “Then the beast dictator was seized, and with him the false prophet [the religious motivator] who performed miracles in his presence,” the function of demonism is a part of that miracle worker. There are always certain people who are so stupid that the only thing that will move them is a miracle, or what appears to be a miracle, therefore the function of demonism and Satanic miracles. Religion, of course, emphasises miracles while Christianity emphasises the content of doctrine. Christianity emphasises thought, accurate thought, Bible doctrine; religion emphasises miracles and fanaticism, and gung-ho’ism. The power of the Word is greater than the power of miracles, for the power of the Word is in the soul while the power of miracles is in the function of empiricism. The legitimate function of miracles to call attention to doctrine was no longer valid in the Church Age after the completion of the canon of scripture, so no one is performing miracles today in the name of the Lord. The miracles of the false prophet are primarily demon-type miracles.

“In his presence” is a reference to the Gentile dictator of the revived Roman empire.

The second relative clause “by which [miracles] he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast,” “he deceived those,” and a third relative clause, “who received the mark of the beast,” computerised tyranny, the ID card indicating that the holder is a member of the ecumenical religious system, hence a system for identifying the converts of Satan’s cosmic system. The ID card or mark is given to everyone who becomes a member of the ecumenical religious system, and on this card is a code number, 666, which is printed on the hand and on the forehead. This number 666 is tied into a computer memory system which has detailed information about each convert to Satan’s cosmic system. Without this card and the system of computerised tyranny the people of the Tribulation will not be able to survive in certain areas of the world. Those who accept this system are the ones who are entered into this giant computer programmed under the code number 666. The memory bank of the computer under the code number 666 destroys all privacy, all freedom, of the converts to ecumenical religion.

Application: Religion destroys your privacy. Christianity is designed to give you your privacy. In Christianity every believer has the privacy of his priesthood; under religion you live in a glass cage, and there is no more vulnerable cage than the one that will be designed by computerised tyranny. Christianity is designed for you to get information and for you in the privacy of your priesthood to reject that information or accept it; to do with it what you will.

These converts to ecumenical religion have rejected normal and crisis evangelism, they are under the program 666 in the computer, and they are a part of the religious system. Even the first bowl judgment of skin cancer [God put His mark on them] is a reminder that where there is life there is hope, and they could still have accepted Christ as saviour under the skin cancer of Judgment by pain. Those who do not have the mark of the beast or this ID card with code number 666, cannot buy or sell, therefore they are excluded from the economy of the revived Roman empire and anywhere else where ecumenical religion is operative. Generally those who possess the card or mark are unbelievers who have rejected the gospel under normal evangelism and are under the influence of the cosmic system. The mark of the beast is rejected by winners, believers who have advanced to maturity, and we have studied them as the Tribulational martyrs. These winners are not only frequently martyred for their stand but we have also noted their prayers as well.

There is a fourth relative clause — “even those who worship his idol.” It is a reference to the abomination of desolation, the idol which is the facsimile of the dictator of the revived Roman empire. The idol is called not only the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24:15 but even in Old Testament passages like Daniel 11:31. Demonism in the Old Testament is related to idolatry and human sacrifice, therefore sacrifice to demons was prohibited. The function of idolatry and demon worship includes always human sacrifice. Nations in the ancient world, like Canaan, were destroyed because of this demon activity. Hence, idolatry and resultant demonism is what we call the devil’s communion table, 1 Corinthians 10:19-21.

The punishment of the two dictators follows in the final statement, “though still alive these two were thrown into the lake of fire burning with sulphur.” This is the fact that they are physically alive when thrown into the lake of fire, and they do not lose consciousness in the lake of fire. They continue in a state of terrible suffering without dying physically. This is, of course, extreme punishment which indicates the gravity of their crimes. For one thousand years they are the only two human occupants of the lake of fire, and it is not until the end of the Millennium that the great white throne judgment and second resurrection of unbelievers occurs. Hence, they have the lake of fire all to themselves, and since all other believers go to Hades, the place of torments, they are the only two in the lake of fire. No two human beings ever sold out to Satan in the manner in which these two dictators, one Jew and one Gentile, have done. They reached the peak of organised evil in both religious and political categories, they were the worst unbelievers of history. Hence, they are the advance guard for the final and eternal hell. They are alive in the lake of fire for 1000 years.

Translation of verse 20: “Then the beast dictator was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed miracles in his presence, by which [miracles] he had deceived those who received the mark of the beast, even those who worshipped his idol. Though still alive, these two were thrown into the lake of fire burning with sulphur.”

Verse 21, The termination, then, of the Armageddon campaign and the last world war is mentioned in this final statement of the vultures’ banquet. “And the rest were slain with the sword of him that sat on the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

The “rest” refers to all the kings of the earth and their armies. This includes the armies which have invaded the Middle East and the armies that are fighting all over the world in that last world war. Note that the dictator of Israel is called the false prophet. This implies that he was overthrown by believers who resisted the king of the north in the siege of Jerusalem. So they were “slaughtered” literally. We have noted before that our Lord does it alone with the broadsword which came out of His mouth. The inevitable winner, then, of the last world war is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then the final phrase. The subject is made up of two words, the adjective paj and the noun o)rneon. O)rneon refers to birds. And what did they do? The aorist passive indicative of xortazw, they “gorged” themselves. The constative aorist: they had a banquet such as has never been known before. The passive voice: the carrion-eating birds receive the action of the verb. They have the greatest meal that any carrion bird group ever had, “then all the birds were gorged from eating their corpses.”

At the same time that this is going on the wedding banquet of the Lamb, where all of us will be attending, will be in progress where we will be having a marvelous party in the presence of the Lord.