Next Part 6 The 144,000
Chapter 14 The 144,000 and the Victorious Judgment of the Lamb
The phrase, </font>"the hour of His Judgment is come" (14:7), similarly refers to the "hour of temptation" (3:10), which is a period of 15 days from the Pre-Wrath Rapture (the Second "Come Up Hither" [11:12]) to the Millennial Reign of the LORD Jesus Christ. Though the Promise to the Church of Philadelphia, "I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation" (3:10), is commonly appropriated as a Promise for the Pre-Tribulational Rapture (the First "Come Up Hither" [4:1])-- which this writer believes to be spiritually true, since there is more than one Rapture-- but, it more specifically applies to the last 8-9 days of the Tribulation Week following the Pre-Wrath Rapture, as well as the approximately 6 days following the Tribulation Week, i.e., Armageddon and the Second Coming, up to the beginning of the Millennial Reign of the LORD Jesus Christ. An appropriate Scripture of encouragement for the Pre-Tribulational Rapture would be Luke 21:36, which promises escape fromall the events of the Tribulation Week for those who watch and pray, thus, necessitating a Pre-Tribulational deliverance. "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).</p>
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- "8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
Advising all Earth dwellers that "Babylon is fallen" (14:8) is appropriate, because at this point Babylon has already fallen. By this, it is meant that the judgment of"Babylon the Great" (18:2), the Harlot Religious System that seats itself in that "great city" (14:8) of Rome, must have already occurred at the beginning of the"hour of [Jehovah's] Judgment" (14:7) upon the world. It appears that this judgment of Religious-Economic Babylon, as described in Revelation 17 and 18 occurs immediately after the Pre-Wrath Rapture, which takes place about 8-9 days before the End of the Tribulation Week. Few cities have ever had the infamy of representing the wickedness of the world system than Babylon and Rome. "Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon" (Acts 7:43). Babylon the Great is primarily the Harlot Religious System that makes "all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication" (14:8) through an ecumenical sharing of her false religious practices; however, she exerts inordinately large influence through her enormous economic power throughout the Earth. "The love of money is the root of all evil" (1Timothy 6:10).
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- "9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,"