Chapter Nineteen/Sealing of Israel of God - The Sealing of God's Slaves - Conclusion

 "Provided we suffer together"-what does this mean? In order to receive the crown of life, anointed Christians must endure, faithful even to death. (Revelation 2:10) It is not a matter of 'once saved, always saved.' (Matthew 10:22; Luke 12:34) Rather, they are admonished: "Do your utmost to make the calling and choosing of you sure for yourselves." Like the apostle Paul, ultimately they must be able to say: "I have fought the fine fight, I have run the course to the finish, I have observed the faith." (2 Peter 1:10, 11; 2 Timothy 4:7, 8) So here on earth the testing and shifting of the remaining spirit-begotten sons of God must go on until Jesus and his accompanying angels will have firmly implanted the seal in the forehead of all these, identifying them conclusively, irrevocably, as tried and faithful "slaves of our God." That seal then becomes a permanent mark. Evidently, when the four winds of tribulation are unleashed, all of spiritual Israel will have been sealed in finality, even though a few will still be alive in the flesh. (Matthew 24:13; Revelation 19:7) The entire membership will be complete! -ROMANS 11:25, 26. 

Next time: Chapter Nineteen/Sealing the Israel of God- How Many Are Sealed? 

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Chapter Nineteen/Sealing of Israel of God -The Sealing of God's Slaves - Continue

 What is this sealing, and who are these slaves of God? The sealing began at Pentecost 33 C.E. when the first Jewish Christians were anointed with holy spirit. Later, God proceeded to call out and anoint "people of the nations."(Romans 3:29; Acts 2:1-4, 14, 32, 33; 15:14) The apostle Paul wrote about the anointed Christians' having a guarantee that they "belong to Christ" and added that God "has also put his seal upon us and has given us the token of what is to come, that is, the spirit, in our hearts." (2 Corinthians 1:21, 22; compare Revelation 14:1) Thus, when these slaves are adopted as God's spiritual sons, they receive a token in advance of their heavenly inheritance-a seal, or pledge. (2 Corinthians 5:1, 5; Ephesians 1:10, 11) They can then say: "The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God's children. If then, we are children, we are also heirs; heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ, provided we suffer together that we may also be glorified together." - ROMANS 8:15-17. 

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Chapter Nineteen/Sealing the Israel of God/The Sealing of God's Slaves - Continue

 Though this fifth angel is not named, all the evidence indicate that he must be the glorified Lord Jesus. In line with Jesus' being the Archangel, he is here shown to have authority over the other angels. (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Jude 9) He ascends from the east, like "the kings from the rising sun" -Jehovah and his Christ-who come to execute judgment, as did kings Darius and Cyrus when they humbled ancient Babylon. (Revelation 16:12; Isaiah 45:1; Jeremiah 51:11; Daniel 5:31) This angel also resembles Jesus in that he in entrusted with sealing anointed Christians. (Ephesians 1:13, 14) Further, when the winds are unleashed, it is Jesus who leads the heavenly armies in executing judgment on the nations. (Revelation 19:11-16) Logically, then, Jesus would be the one to command that destruction of Satan's earthly organization be held back until God's slaves are sealed. 

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Chapter Nineteen/Sealing the Israel of God -The Sealing of God's Slaves

 John goes on to describe how some will be marked for survival, saying: "And I saw another angel ascending from the sunrising, have a seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying: 'Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed the slaves of our God in their foreheads.' " - REVELATION 7:2, 3. 

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Chapter Nineteen/Sealing the Israel of God - The Four Winds -Conclusion

 Can we be sure that God's judgments will ravage the entire earth? Listen again to his prophet Jeremiah: "Look! A calamity is going forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest itself will be r0used up from the remotest parts of the earth. And those slain by Jehovah will come to be in that day from end to the earth clear to the other end of the earth. (Jeremiah 25:32, 33) It is during this tempestuous storm that darkness will engulf this world. Its ruling agencies will be shaken into oblivion. (Revelation 6:12-14) But the future will not be dark for everyone. For whose sake, then, are the four winds held back? 

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Chapter Nineteen/Sealing the Israel of God - The Four Winds

 Before Jehovah unleashes this fury, heavenly angels perform a a special service. John now beholds this in vision: "After this I saw four angels standing upon the four winds of the earth, holding tight the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow upon the earth or upon the sea or upon any tree." (Revelation 7:1) What does this mean for us today? These "four winds" are a vivid symbol of destructive judgment about to be let loose on a wicked earthly society, on the surging "sea" of lawless humanity, and on lofty treelike rulers that draw support and sustenance from the people of the earth. - ISAIAH 57:20; PSALM37:35. 36. 

No doubt these four angels represent four angelic groups, whom Jehovah uses to hold back the execution of judgment until the appointed time. When the angels release those winds of divine wrath to whirl at one time from north, south, east, and west, the devastation will be tremendous. It will resemble, but on a stupendous scale, Jehovah's use of the four winds to scatter the ancient Elamites, shattering and exterminating them. (Jeremiah 49:36-38) It will be a gigantic storm wind far more devastating than the "tempest" by which Jehovah annihilated the nation of Ammon. (Amos 1:13-15) No part of Satan's organization on earth will be able to stand in the day of Jehovah's fury, when he vindicates his sovereignty for all eternity to come. PSALM 83:15, 18; ISAIAH 29:5, 6.

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Chapter Nineteen/Sealing the Israel of God

 "Who is able to stand?" (Revelation 6:17) Yes, who indeed? When the great day of divine wrath devastates Satan's system, rulers and peoples of the world may well ask that question. To them it will appear that the impending cataclysm will snuff out all human life. But will it? Happily, God's prophet assures us: "Everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will get away safe." (Joel 2:32) The apostles Peter and Paul confirm that fact. (Acts 2:19-21; Romans 10:13) Yes, those who call on the name of Jehovah will be survivors. Who are these ones? As the next vision unfolds, we shall see.

It is remarkable that anyone should come through Jehovah's day of judgment alive, for another of God's prophets describes it in these words: "Look! a windstorm of Jehovah's rage itself has gone forth, an onward-sweeping tempest. Upon the head of the wicked ones it will whirl. The burning anger of Jehovah will not turn back until he will have executed and until he will have carried out the ideas of his heart." (Jeremiah 30:23, 24) It is urgent that we take steps to weather that storm! - PROVERBS 2:22; ISAIAH55:6,6; ZEPHANIAH2:2, 3.

Next time: Chapter Nineteen/Sealing the Israel of God - The Four Winds

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - "Fall Over Us and Hide Us" - Conclusion

 Those who have refused to recognize the authority of the victorious Rider of the white horse will be forced to admit their error. Humans who have willingly been part of the seed of the Serpent will be faced with destruction when Satan's world passes away. (Genesis 3:15; 1 John 2:17) The world situation at that time will be such that many will in effect, ask: "Who is able to stand? They will apparently assume that no one at all can stand approved before Jehovah in that day of his judgment. But they will be wrong, as the book of Revelation goes on to show.

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - "Fall Over Us and Hide Us" - Continue

 Now the opening of the sixth seal has shown that something similar will happen during the coming day of Jehovah' wrath. At the final shaking of this earthly system of things, those committed to supporting it will desperately seed for a hiding place, but they will not find one. False religion, Babylon the Great, has already failed them miserably. Neither caves in the literal mountains nor symbolic mountainlike political and commercial organizations will provide financial security or any other kind of help. Nothing will shelter them from Jehovah's wrath. Their terror is well described by Jesus: "Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." - MATTHEW 24:30. 

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Chapter Eighteen/Earthquakes in the Lord's Day - "Fall Over Us and Hide Us" - Continue

 Similarly, when Jesus was being led to his death by the Roman soldiers, he addressed the women of Jerusalem and said: "Days are coming in which people will say, 'Happy are the barren women, and the wombs that did not give birth and the breasts that did not nurse!'  Then they will start to say to the mountains, 'Fall over us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us over!' " (Luke 23:29, 30) The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 C.E. is well documented, and it is evident that Jesus' words had an import similar to that of Hosea's. There was no hiding place then for the Jews, who remained in Judea. Wherever they tried to hide in Jerusalem, or even when they fled to the moutaintop citadel of Masada, they were unable to escape the violent expression of Jehovah's judgment.

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