95EN-PART 1-TEXT-THE 24 ELDERS-THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION-THE

MARK OF THE BEAST-Revelation 4-5-13 Daniel 7-8-12-Micah 7

The peace of Christ, beloved brethren, the little flock of the Lord Jesus Christ. We greet
you on the holy day of the Lord, the seventh day. We greet you on this day, still a day of
war, on this earth, the three hundred and eightieth day of war between the east and the
west, between Russia or Putin and Ukraine. Three hundred and eighty days counted
one by one since the beginning of the war, three hundred and eighty days of death, of
destroying lives, of a terror on earth that has not been seen since the two world wars.
This should make us meditate deeply on the end of the world and on the fact that if GOD
allows this on earth, it is for warning and because something worse is coming. Let us
remember that we have had, a few years ago, the blood moons, which announced
blood, blood moons in spring, blood moons in autumn. This war will not be the last. In
Matthew twenty-four the Lord clearly announces that we will hear of wars and rumors of
wars. If wars, the first part of the verse, refers to this war that began, the second part has
also been fulfilled because we hear rumors of wars, of still more wars. The world is
trembling in anticipation of a confrontation between the United States, together with
Europe, clearly, against China. We live in times when despite the many peace alliances
that have been made, there will be no peace on earth. The Lord has announced that the
end of the world will be a time of war, a time of sword, of blood, a terrible time, and I
think we cannot even imagine what will come. Let's start with what the Lord has given
since the one year of war in Ukraine. The Lord has begun to give so much, almost every
day, Daniel, and Daniel is at the same time Revelation, they are one and the same book.
Then we have recorded the last two themes, theme 93 and theme 94, which are
prophetic themes, where we have explained some things that will be difficult for
Laodicea to understand. Very difficult things. Just as the Lord spoke, and He has said
that He has spoken in many ways, but those who are deaf, blind, cannot understand.
The Lord speaks as He spoke of old. The Lord liberates through the truth. "Ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Free from darkness, free from lies,
free because those who will walk in the narrow way must walk free. Let us remember
that the Lord has set a people free. In former times, a people of slaves in Egypt, and he
has set them free. He has made them to walk free, but they quickly lost this because of
their unfaithfulness. The same thing is happening at the end of the world. The Lord has
a church, an inheritance, a heritage, as Daniel prayed. An inheritance that must free the
five wise virgins. And they are not called wise because they are wise, but it refers to their
first love. It refers that at the beginning of their spiritual experience, they have acted with
love. And they have gathered some oil in their lives. Then they have fallen asleep in
selfishness, in the darkness of Laodicea, in the traditions of Laodicea, just like the
traditions of ancient Judaism, in the Talmud of Laodicea, just like the Talmud that
replaced the Bible, the word of GOD, in Israel. In the same way it has happened with this
Laodicean people, which according to Revelation has no truth. Laodicea only thinks it is
rich, rich in truth, but it has no truth. It has a little bit of truth, but it has made a tradition
out of what is not truth. And the Lord, however, has promised that the Holy Spirit, when
He comes, will lead us into all truth. This will not be fulfilled, beloved brethren, in
Laodicea. Just as the Holy Spirit has not fallen upon the temple abandoned by the Lord
Jesus two thousand years ago, the Holy Spirit has fallen upon a humble house, there
separated from the temple, a house where 120 people were together, not theologians,
not doctors of the law, not pastors, humble people, who had been set free by the Lord
Jesus with the truth. They had been liberated from the Jewish traditions. And because
they opened their minds, they received the Holy Spirit. GOD is the same yesterday,
today and forever, and I believe He will work the same way. In spite of all that Laodicea
may say, let us remember that the Lord warned that he who follows the blind, a blind
man who follows the blind will fall into the same pit. The fate of the blind is to fall into the
pit. Let us remember the fate of Judas. He was a blind man who could not see with
spiritual eyes because of his unvanquished self, and so he fell into the pit of perdition.
The same threat is spoken by Laodicea. In Revelation it says that Laodicea will be
vomited out, and that only those few, "if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I
will come in to him and dine with him". Jesus dined with the saved always. Jesus dined
and entered houses where there were people to be saved.
Although He dined with Zacchaeus or with Simon or with other people, He has always
entered and dined with those who would repent. And every day He dined with His
disciples. So in this expression, "I will come in to him, I will dine with him and he with
me," is reflected the salvation of those few who will open their door for the Lord to come
in. And the Lord is the light of the world. There is so much to say that it could not be said
even in lifetimes, speaking of what the Lord has done, has said, of all that the inspired
Word reveals. But in this subject we are going to present something that will be very
difficult for Laodicea to understand. Very difficult it will be. And it will be such a
disappointment. It will be as great a test as John chapter 6, when the Lord spoke words
that caused great multitudes to depart from the Lord Jesus. And the Lord Jesus asked
the question even to His disciples, "Are you not going away?" Notice how different the
Lord Jesus is from us and especially from Laodicea. Laodicea strives to bring all sinners,
all unconverted, all scoffers, liars, haters of fathers and all that it says in the Bible, to
bring them into the kingdom of GOD, just as they are, unrepentant. So many
abominations are done in Laodicea. They are described in Ezekiel chapter 8, those
chapters before chapter 9. But going back to these themes that the Lord has given after
the war, let us remember, for all those who listen, and if someone does not listen, there
is no way he can be awakened, beloved brethren, deliverance from the chains of Satan
comes only through hearing. Faith comes through hearing, and hearing comes by the
word that GOD gives. This same work the Lord Jesus did at that time when He tried to
free these prisoners of Satan. And there was no way with most of them. Some children
were set free. Let us remember that when it was one year after the war, we recorded
these two themes, one about Revelation chapter 13, where we presented an application
of Revelation 13 to these end times, because we understand that the prophecies are of
double application. I know very well that in Laodicea something false is preached, it is
said that these interpretations and applications of the prophecies in the time of the end
are called futurism, and with this they have annulled the whole word of GOD. As the
Lord said to them, "You say this and you have canceled the law of GOD". Laodicea has
gotten into chains without biblical basis, from which they will hardly be able to get out.
Let us remember that the Lord has said that before a rich man enters the kingdom of
GOD, a camel will enter through the eye of a needle. Who are the rich? We have said so
many times, Laodicea. Those who think they are rich, those who are full of pride, as the
Jews were full of Jewish pride, these Laodiceans are full of Laodicean pride. And Satan
was lost through pride, and the Jews were lost through pride whose application is
prejudice. In the same way Laodicea will be lost by the prejudices that come from pride,
because they do not recognize their state before the Lord. They do not recognize that
they are poor, naked, blind, and in need of the truth. And truth does not come from
pulpits anointed with human unction. Christ Jesus said to the Jews, "You give glory to
one another". And that is why the Lord does not use such leadership. And in these last
days all will be disappointed, for the Lord will make His true people to know the whole
truth, but not through the regular channels, as they are called, about which Ellen White
declared from her time that they failed. The Lord will work through the irregular channels,
through the fishermen, through the farmers, through the summer fruit harvesters,
remember Amos, and through every humble man whom the Lord will anoint and put his
Spirit in him. Going back to the themes that we have begun to present as some very
difficult themes to accept, we have spoken of Revelation chapter 13 in a new light, in a
new interpretation or application which does not mean that it cancels the application
throughout history. The Lord is infinite. The Lord is a being of an infinite mind. His word
is as deep as an ocean. We cannot limit the word of the Lord to a single interpretation.
The word of the Lord can always mean something that we have not even suspected.
And I believe that in heaven we will know everything. But at least we know from Matthew
24 that the Lord's words have double application, at least. So we cannot close ourselves
in a Laodicean tradition about futurism and not be able to apply, not be able to interpret
and apply the obvious prophecies that are supported by so many arguments, to the time
of the end.
So this was theme 93 about Revelation 13. And theme 94 was the last theme, last
Sabbath, where we talked about the trumpets. Where we have talked about Revelation
14, in parallel Revelation 14 with Revelation 8 and also Revelation 18. This was the last
theme and we have seen some things that Laodicea in no way will accept. There is no
way the leadership of Laodicea will ever accept this interpretation. Where do we know
this from? We know from the four gospels and how the Lord Jesus has endeavored to
take them out of the traditions and show them the truth. They would not. It will be the
same way, sadly, and only those who break away from Laodicea, those who break away
from that leadership, those who begin to drink from the fountains of truth, these can be
saved. So the Lord has given almost daily, since two weeks ago, almost daily, and this
week, daily, He has given Daniel. He has given some chapter of Daniel, Daniel 7, Daniel
8, Daniel 9, Daniel 10, Daniel 11 and Daniel 12, all these chapters that are connected
with Revelation. And we are going to present on this occasion something that the Lord
has revealed to us in this week when there were three full moons. In the word of the
Lord it says that these full moon occasions and the Sabbath Feasts, are occasions when
the Lord sheds light, just as the moon is at its fullness. The Lord sheds light. Unwittingly
we have seen that there were three days in a row of full moon. Just as on the feasts, for
example at Passover, there were several days of full moon. And exactly on that full
moon GOD placed his feast. Also in autumn in the same way. Those were occasions
when the people were charged with light, regenerated so to say. And they read the law
of GOD, the statutes, the prophecies about Messiah, and everything they needed to
nourish their faith on those occasions. The Lord has given in this last biblical month of
the year, because in a few weeks, in less than two weeks, the new year will begin, the
new year according to the Bible. In less than a month it will be, once again, the occasion
of the Passover. But before that, in this biblical twelfth month, so to say, when the Lord
in the olden time has delivered the people sentenced to death in the time of Esther
through that wonderful deliverance, it was in the twelfth month in Purim. It was in that
twelfth month that the Lord worked an amazing deliverance. It is wonderful what the Lord
has done. So, we are not surprised that in this twelfth month the Lord has revealed so
many truths that will simply leave open-mouthed all those who will be sincere of heart.
And it will sweep away all those who are still sleeping in their Laodicean sins. For those
who have studied with the Spirit of the Lord the last two themes and have been able to
see the truth of the Word of GOD, we are going to invite you to open your minds even
more. To begin this study with that prayer that Ellen White said was essential before
receiving any new light. Any new truth. And she said that one must empty oneself of
prejudices. That one must pray fervently to the Lord, and insistently, "Lord, deliver me
from myself, deliver me from my prejudices, deliver me from any tradition that I have in
my mind, deliver me from anything that I have accepted as truth hitherto, if it is not true
in your sight. Lord, please free me. Open my mind, give me sincerity before your Word,
give me your Spirit. Forgive me of all darkness that I have lodged in my house, in my
mind." That should be the prayer, beloved brethren, in all sincerity. We must approach
the Word of GOD as children. For the Lord has given thanks to the Father. He has said,
"Thank you, Father, that you have revealed these truths to babes and have hidden them
from the wise." Referring to the titled ones of Laodicea, of Judaism and Laodicea. So
only with a childlike attitude, an innocent attitude, can we have the opportunity to believe
these words. It seems to me that the words of the Lord Jesus are a terrible warning. And
those three and a half years are a terrible warning to all those who will close themselves
in their traditions. So let's begin this amazing study of the Word of the Lord. Let's open
our Bibles to Revelation chapters 4 and 5. Let's now look at Revelation 4 and 5.
Before that, we want to say that the Lord has given this week, in addition to Daniel
almost every day, He has given Micah 7, what He has given last week. Micah 7 refers to
Laodicea, because in Micah 7 we have the story of the conversion of the five wise
virgins. We have spoken, we have commented so many times on this and we have said
that in Laodicea, in this time, when the Lord will call, as in Ezekiel 37, "prophesy son of
man, prophesy over these dry bones", when the Lord will preach the truth so that the dry
bones will resurrect, in this time there will be great tribulation, great persecution, among
the five wise virgins and the five foolish virgins. We have shown how, for example,
verses 5 and 6 show a mixture, through human relationships, relationships of familiarity
or friendship, between the five wise virgins and the five foolish virgins. And then that's
why it says, "believe neither in friend nor prince, nor of her that sleepeth by thee, put no
confidence in her: for a man's enemies are those of his own house", in Micah 7:5,6. That
is the time when the Lord will awaken the minds, the spirits, of the five wise virgins, and
as they will be awakened, they will be in more contradiction and in more enmity with the
five foolish virgins, even if they were one's own husband, or one's own wife, or one's
own children, or one's own parents-in-laws, or one's own friend, as it says here. There
will be in Laodicea such a situation that the Lord will not relieve it in any way. This is due
to the fact that they let themselves be lulled to sleep and lied to, the five wise virgins;
they let themselves be defiled with the selfish spirit also, and therefore they must suffer,
as it says here verse 9, "The wrath of I Am I will endure, because I have sinned against
him; until he judge my cause and do my judgment, he shall bring me forth, I shall see his
righteousness." And here it speaks of building the walls; that refers to the building of the
temple in the time of Nehemiah and Ezra, and of the wall. This is symbolic of the last
regeneration of the people of GOD, when the Lord will make a great army and call it the
144 thousand, from every tongue, tribe and nation. Then, it says, "I will show them
wonders." And then it says, "What GOD is like you, who forgives the iniquity and forgets
the sin of the remnant of his inheritance." Let us note that the Lord has an anger, but an
anger that will not utterly consume. The five wise virgins will have to suffer for a time
because of their sins, and those who will recognize that because of their sins this evil
came upon them, as it came upon Jonah, for example, or upon Jacob himself, those
who will recognize that and humble themselves will be saved. And they will be able to be
transformed and received back into the church of Philadelphia. This was in Micah. He
gave us Micah twice on the same day. Likewise he gave us Habakkuk chapters one and
two, and Nahum chapter three. These are words where the Lord speaks words that, for
example, in Nahum, apparently this book, Nahum, is for Nineveh. And here it will be very
difficult for some to understand that these words are not for Nineveh. Let's open up a
little bit in Nahum. We will study this another time, but just to be able to understand. Just
as the Lord has said that Israel or Jerusalem has become like Sodom, in the same way
we have to understand, beloved brethren, that the Lord applies ancient names that have
certain characteristics to Israel itself, to Laodicea itself. Nineveh here is Laodicea, it is
the leadership of Laodicea. And there are many evidences here about that. For example,
verses five and six. In verse six we have what Isaiah 33:14 says. Very similar. "Who
shall stand before his wrath? Who shall stand in the fierceness of his anger?" Those are
some questions that are asked in Isaiah thirty-three that are for the five wise virgins. It is
a time when the Lord asks, sends light, sends truths, wonderful truths, difficult to
understand. But he sends light and asks "Who will accept these truths? Who will be able
to stand? Who will stand before a consuming fire? Who will be able to live with eternal
flames?" He says in Isaiah, here he says "Who will stand before his wrath?" And in
Micah seven we have shown that those who will be saved out of the ten virgins will say
"I will endure the wrath of the Lord". It does not refer to the final wrath, the wrath that is
for those who will be lost. It does not refer to plagues, here it refers to an anger. In the
original the word is anger or indignation.
It is an indignation that must be endured. And it says in verse seven "Good is I Am to
strengthen in the day of trouble and He knows those who trust in Him." Here is the
shaking and here will the Lord know who truly, who will accept His spirit in them and who
will not. It says "This tribulation will not arise twice" refers to the omega apostasy. And it
is the same as Habakkuk 1:4, in Habakkuk 1:4 it says "Therefore the law is weakened
and the judgment is not true. For the wicked besiege the righteous". The righteous here
is not the perfect righteous. It refers to the wise, to the five wise virgins who are more
righteous than the others. And who once at the beginning of their experience have been
righteous. The wicked besiege the righteous, that is why the judgment is twisted, that is
why they also twist the judgment. These five foolish virgins hurt those who wake up, they
condemn them. They twist the word of GOD to show them that they are on the wrong
path. That is the situation that many people have gone through so far. So this chapter,
this book of Nahum along with Habakkuk chapter 1, which are practically a single
moment in history, is the time of the call and the awakening, it is the time of the midnight
cry of Matthew chapter 25. It is a time of shaking, of terrible disappointment, just as the
disappointment was with the Adventists before 1844. There were many, hundreds of
thousands in the United States who were waiting for the coming of the Lord, just like the
Adventists, which means spectators or those who are waiting for the coming of the Lord.
Same thing, we are at the same time. A terrible disappointment awaits Laodicea. The
Lord in that day of disappointment has made a terrible shaking, the saints who were
waiting and confessed that they were waiting, they had the Bibles in their hands, then
they became scoffers. In the same way it will be in these times, beloved brethren. But in
Nahum chapter 1, the last verse 15, says "See here upon the mountains the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace". Here it is not "preaches", here it is
"publishes", the word in original. "Celebrate, O Judah, thy feasts, keep thy vows, for no
more shall the wicked pass through thee, he perished altogether." This is the terrible
shaking that the Lord has done in the past in preparation for the day of atonement. And
He is going to do it now also in preparation for the end of the day of atonement. Because
the purpose of the day of atonement is to produce perfect, victorious people. That is the
purpose. That's why the Lord in the past could not admit into the antitypical day of
atonement these many, many Adventist people before 1844. And He will not accept
them now. The ungodly ones who call themselves Adventists, it says here, he will shake
them. He will make a shaking, a separation. And the Lord indicates that the truth will
come from the mountains, from some mountain, from where the truth is published. And
all those who will accept the truth, will also accept to keep the sacred calendar, the
calendar of the solemnities or feasts of the Lord. There are several signs for those who
will be awakened and forgiven by the Lord. And here there are more, there are still more
signs. For example, in chapter 3 it says, "Woe to the city of blood, of lies, of robbery."
The Lord has said to Jerusalem. It's a message to the princes, it says in verse 17 of
Nahum 3. In 15 he says, "They have multiplied like a locust and so shall the fire
consume you." Your people shall be as women, it says in verse 13. "There is no cure for
your brokenness. Upon whom did not thy malice continually pass?" the last verse 19.
And in 18 he says, "Thy shepherds slept." Here he calls him King of Assyria, but he is
referring to the leadership of Israel or Laodicea. So the Lord has given us all that to
understand Nahum, to understand Habakkuk. And He has given us the command, that
of Habakkuk chapter 2, to write the vision, to declare it on tablets. That he that readeth
therein may run, that he may run from the apostasy, that he may come out of darkness.
This is the context of what we are going to talk about. And Zephaniah is the time we live
in, which follows. "I will utterly destroy all things from off the face of the earth, says I Am.
I will destroy man and beast, I will destroy the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, the
stumbling blocks with the wicked." Here he refers especially to Laodicea. "And I will cut
off men from off the face of the earth, says I Am. And I will stretch out my hand upon
Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will exterminate from this place
the remnant of Baal with the priests." Such dire warnings should make at least the
princes of Laodicea tremble.
So the Lord announces that the end is coming and has already begun. There is much to
say about these Old Testament prophecies. The Lord gives them to us along with
Daniel, He has given them to us every day, and in a special way in Micah 7, to
understand what this time will be like. Because sadly, Laodicea still preaches not to
separate, not to do any shaking, not to act that way, not to be independent atoms. But,
nevertheless, the Lord's model is the right model. What we are going to study this
Sabbath day will shock many. The Lord has given us two illuminations, let's put it this
way. He has shed light on two portions of the book of Revelation. He has shed more
light. And in parallel we are going to show in the book of Daniel also what has not been
properly understood. If we will have time, we are going to reveal it on this day. If not, we
will speak of only one. Let's start, beloved brethren, with Revelation, chapter 4.
Revelation, chapter 4. From verse 1. "After these things I looked, and, behold, a door
was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as of a trumpet talking with
me, which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter." I
would like to tell you that in order to have a defense in our minds before the enemy, the
father of lies, who will be present at our ear to stop our ears and to make us reject the
light of the Lord and to call the light darkness, we have to forget for a moment, put aside
for a moment, the interpretation that the pioneers have given to these words. The many
preachers, we have shown, are the false anointed ones of Matthew 24. "Many false
Christs shall arise", that is, false anointed ones, false preachers who will preach
believing themselves to be anointed by the Lord to preach these things. There have
been so many interpretations of the book of Revelation and Daniel, so many great stars
that will fall, sadly, beloved brethren. These interpretations will fall because they will be
proven to be untrue. And Sister White, glory be to GOD because she left a quote where
she tells us that although we have believed for a long time in doctrines, in truths, we
have believed that some doctrines were truths, but if the future will demonstrate that they
are not, we must accept this and we must renounce these interpretations. These words
are spoken by Ellen White. Blessed is he who believes them. Let us study without
prejudice these words of the book of Revelation because the Lord has said that these
books are for the time of the end. And to know that they are for the end time we go to
Revelation, chapter 1, verse 1. It says: "The revelation of Jesus Christ which GOD gave
unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass, sending it
by his angel unto his servant John. Blessed is he who reads." Why does it say blessed is
he who reads? Because Laodicea, sadly, has abandoned the habit of reading the Bible,
not of reading the words of the pastors, of the interpreters. Blessed are those who read
and those who hear. That is to say, he who reads is not blind, he has sight. He who
hears is not deaf, he has hearing. These are the five wise virgins.
Blessed are the wise virgins who come out of their blindness, out of their deafness and
hear the words of this prophecy and keep the things which are written therein because
the time is near. Here it speaks of a time when according to verse six, the Lord will make
kings and priests for GOD and his Father. It is a time, not just any time, it is an end time.
Since many, many years ago, since I was still in Madrid, a voice always told me in my
mind that these words are for the one hundred and forty-four thousand. That this book of
revelation is for the one hundred and forty-four thousand. Let's go on to chapter four and
see if this interpretation fits in our minds. First of all, here it apparently says "after these
things" and repeats it. These are the same two words as at the end of the first verse.
"After these things" are the same two words at the beginning and the same two words at
the end. And he repeats it twice. And whoever reads that, should have interpreted, at
least in Laodicea, that what the Lord has revealed in chapter two and three of revelation,
that is, the message to the seven churches, is before what happens here in chapter four
and five. At least to be faithful to the translation, they should have interpreted these to be
after. But in original, these words "after these things," in original means "at the same
time with these things," something like that. Or in the midst of these things, at the same
time with these things of chapter two and three. At the same time, with these messages
that the Lord Jesus gives to the seven churches, which are the seven candlesticks, it
says in chapter one, verse twenty. "The seven candlesticks are the seven churches."
The seven churches is a symbolic name. Seven means wholeness, complete work.
Seven churches refers to the whole church. The Lord has seven messages to give to His
sleeping church, which is in the state of spiritual death. It is spiritual death. He has seven
messages to give to the dry bones. The prophet Ezekiel, in chapter thirty-seven, is told
to "prophesy, son of man, prophesy over these dry bones." These dry bones is the
whole house of Israel. And he has prophesied. What has he prophesied? These seven
messages that are here, that are for the whole church. Some are in one state, some are
in another, some are in another. Some are in the whole Laodicean state. And there are
messages for every state. And it says "at the same time of these things," please correct
in your Bibles. "After these" is "at the same time" in original.
At the same time with these things, he has seen an open door. He is invited, John, to
come up to receive visions. So, verse two. "And immediately I went in the spirit." What
does it mean "I went in the spirit"? That he has not gone physically. Paul, when he has
had visions that cannot be related, he said, he has seen things that cannot be related,
he has gone to the third heaven, he has heard things that he could not say, he has gone
in the spirit, not in the flesh. The prophets in the spirit, that is, with their mind, are taken
by the Lord to see. And let's see what John has seen from the island of Patmos, which
was happening at the same time with these messages. It says here, "And behold a
throne, it was set in heaven, and upon the throne was one seated." Here we find a
throne set. If he says it was set, perhaps he has been given to see when the throne was
set. There, "one sat," and it is described in verse three, looking like a jasper and
sardonyx stone, and the rainbow was around the throne, resembling in appearance the
emerald. Here, we have to ask the question, when did this happen? When was the
throne set? What throne is it? Who is sitting on the throne? And in order to answer that,
we go in the book of Daniel, chapter seven. Daniel, chapter seven, from verse nine, it
says, "I was watching until thrones were placed." We are a little surprised that in
Revelation it says "throne" in the singular, and here it says "thrones" in the plural. But
let's get past this stumbling block for the moment, let's move on, to see that it's really the
same scene. And it says, "And the Ancient of Days sat, whose raiment was white as
snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool, his throne a flame of fire, his wheels
burning fire." It then says in verse ten further on, "And judgment sat." Here, if you have
the word "the judge," you have to cut, here it is "the judgment." "The judgment sat and
the books were opened." What books? What book is it about here? And what judgment
is it about here? We have also, if we look a little further on, the same chapter, the
twenty-second verse, where it says, "I saw this horn making war with the saints and
overcoming them, until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given to the saints
of the Most High, and the time came and the saints possessed the kingdom." Here it is
said even more, that the saints possessed the kingdom. When can the saints of the
church possess the kingdom? When can they be kings? When can a king be king?
When can a person be king? When can a son of a king become king? When does he
receive the crown? When is he crowned? In Revelation we have seen that the Lord is
trying to make kings and priests. So here it is about a time when the Ancient of Days
comes, exactly as it says in verse nine, and in verse nine it says that the Ancient of Days
sat down. And here it says that judgment was given to the saints of the Most High. Let's
read verse twenty-six and twenty-seven. "Judgment shall sit, they shall take away his
dominion" refers to the beast, "that it may be destroyed and ruined to the uttermost, and
that the kingdom and dominion and the majesty of the kingdoms under the whole
heaven may be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." Let us notice, beloved
brethren, these words. Let us also read verses thirteen and fourteen. "I beheld in the
night vision, and behold how the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came
unto the Ancient of Days, and they caused him to come before him." It is evident that the
Ancient of Days is not Jesus, as I have sadly heard from Laodicean theologians. The
Ancient of Days is the Father, the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and
came to the Ancient of Days, and was given dominion and glory and kingdom that all
peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, which shall not be destroyed. We
notice the terrible similarity between verse fourteen and verse twenty-seven. But
surprisingly, in one it speaks of what will be given to Jesus, and in the other it speaks of
what will be given to the saints of the Lord. Thus we understand, relating also to
Revelation six, that what the Lord receives he gives to his saints.
"All things have been given into my hands by my Father, and I give them just as they
have been given to me. All that He has given me, the words that He has given me, I
have given them." The Lord Himself will reign through His saints, through the hundred
and forty-four thousand. And here we have the moment when after the four beasts, the
judgment sat, the Ancient of days sat, the throne was set, and here we have practically
what has been rightly interpreted, the beginning of the day of atonement. We know from
Ellen White that the Father moved from the holy place into the most holy place, and sat
there. We know of the Lord Jesus Christ, because here we find the Lord Jesus Christ
standing. We know that He said, and we can read it because it is here in Revelation, we
always have to have one finger in Revelation and one finger in Daniel. In Revelation
chapter three, verse twenty-one, it says, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with
me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his
throne. He that hath an ear..." So who is he referring to? To those who are awakened
from their blindness. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches." Here, all the messages of the seven churches end with the words "To him
that overcometh." By this we know that this message is for the one hundred and forty-
four thousand. These messages are for the one hundred and forty-four thousand. And
here it says, "That these who shall overcome shall sit down together with the Lord Jesus
Christ on His throne, even as He has sat down on the throne of the Father." If He has
sat on the throne of the Father, there is only a span of time when He was sitting,
because here we find Him standing. He was seated during the work of the Holy Place.
From His elevation to heaven, from the time He began the work in the Holy Place on the
day of Pentecost two thousand years ago, until 1844 when the day of atonement began.
This is the time when the Lord was seated. Ellen White comments that when this time
came to enter the Most Holy Place, the Father arose. First the Father went away, he left
the throne there. The empty throne stayed there. And he sat down in the Most Holy
Place. Then the Son of Man was brought before Him. So we understand that these
scenes are described here. And that the Lord Jesus was given dominion, glory and
kingdom. These are three things so that He can reign again as King. The Lord Jesus
Christ needs over whom to reign. He needs a redeemed people. And He needs a bride,
so to speak. He needs a queen. And the one hundred and forty-four thousand have
been told that they will be kings. Rather, queen. Not kings, but queen. Because they will
be the King's queen. Let's go back to the book of Revelation. I'm going to read on to see
that the thrones of Daniel chapter seven, where it speaks in the plural, we will find them
here right away. After the throne of GOD the Father is described, it says from verse four
onwards. "And round about the throne were twenty-four thrones." So it appears that in
the most holy place of the true temple raised up by GOD, as it says in the book of
Hebrews, there is not just one throne. There are twenty-five thrones. There are twenty-
four thrones plus the Father's throne. So we have made the connection with Daniel
chapter seven. It's the same moment in time. Here is the beginning of the judgment. The
beginning of the day of atonement. And everything that happens in this time of
Revelation chapter two and three, the messages, reflects the work that has been done
during this day of atonement, when the Lord has searched with a lamp for a people to
seal. He has sought a people. He has given them promises. He has told them that they
will receive if they overcome. And the first, the first attempt to bring the people into the
heavenly Canaan failed. We are now in the second attempt, Joshua's attempt, in the
conquering attempt. And we are now as if the first attempt did not exist. For the Lord,
when he does a work again, it is as if he had never done it. It is in the same way as with
marriage. When the Lord remarries a person who was betrayed, it is as if he married him
for the first time. Everything disappears from him. So let's place in our minds the image
that this whole day of atonement had just begun.
Judgment has only recently been placed. What is happening here, and those messages
from the churches, are messages that the present people living right now need. They are
messages for the five wise virgins and for the third Elijah. And for those who are
awakening, who are reflected in the church of Philadelphia. Let's move on. So, around
the Father's throne, there were twenty-four thrones. If you have the word "chairs" in
there, you have to cut it out because in the original it's exactly the same word that's used
to talk about the Father's throne. The same word but in plural. It is twenty-four thrones.
"And I saw upon the thrones twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes. And they
had on their heads crowns of gold." Now the question arises, who are the twenty-four
elders? And why do they have the right to reign with the Lord? Let's go back to Daniel
for a moment. Daniel chapter seven. And let's look again at that promise to reign. And it
says in 7:27. So the only ones that can reign with the Lord Jesus, with GOD, would be
the saints of the Most High. They would be the hundred and forty-four thousand,
theoretically. According to Daniel. But, let's see if this is so, why do we find here twenty-
four elders? Where do these come from? When did these get there? Because we are
still in the antitypical day of atonement. We are on this earth. The history of salvation is
not finished. Where do these twenty-four elders come from? Who are they? Why are
they elders? When were they resurrected? If they have risen from among men. I would
like to tell you that about that there are several interpretations in Laodicea that we are
not interested in right now. Because we already know that the last generation will have
the whole truth. I would like to tell you that the interpretation that has most misled
scholars. We are not talking about those who are just beginning to study. We are talking
about the scholars. Those who look for the quotes of Ellen White. Those who try to
support everything with that. I would like to say that the interpretation that has led most
astray about that is an interpretation given by Stephen Bohr about the twenty-four
elders. Interpretation that for a few years I have believed. Prior to that, since I came to
know the Lord, I have believed that these were redeemed. Holy people of the Lord. Then
the quotations from Ellen White he has given and misinterpreted. He has done nothing
wickedly. He has shown all the light that the Lord has allowed for that time. The Lord has
not allowed this to be known before the war began. All that is for the time of the end. It is
for the time when the hundred and forty-four thousand are awakened from their death.
Then, he has interpreted some quotes where Ellen White says that these are angels.
Chief angels, let's say. More special angels. But if they are angels, why are they elders?
I don't know of any angels in the Bible that are elders. From the Bible. If they are angels,
why do they have thrones? If they are angels, why are they clothed in white robes? We
know that in heaven they all wear white robes. But when this is mentioned in Revelation,
it is not mentioned with the intention of reminding us that in heaven we will all wear
white. When angels are spoken of in the Bible, they are spoken of as shining, as being
clothed in light. But in Revelation a clear sign of the saints of the Lord is that they wear
white linen clothes. White robes; they don't say they shine, they say they are white linen.
They are priestly robes. These will be the priests' robes. So, here it appears that we
have 24 elders who cannot be angels. They are clothed in priestly garments and there is
no angel that has been made a priest. They have offered themselves to die themselves,
but the Lord has not accepted. The only ones who can be priests are those who are
born in this condition, of this earth. The Lord Jesus is, He is to us, a great merciful priest
because He has made Himself a relative of the human family. He has taken upon
Himself our nature and therefore, because He knows what we go through and can
understand our trials, it says in Hebrews, He can be a priest. A priest must have mercy
on those who are tempted. He has to know from his experience what it means to be
tempted in order to save. Angels cannot fulfill this role. So, these here must be from this
earth. They must be elders, that is, people of experience.
People of great experience who have finally conquered because they have sat on their
thrones. And they had on their heads crowns of gold. Notice that here it does not speak
of crowns full of stars. Here he speaks of crowns of kings. Crowns like crowns of kings,
crowns of gold. Let's open up, to get a little bit of enlightenment on that, on Matthew
19:28. Notice that the picture or the context is that the Lord Jesus is speaking to whom?
To his disciples. And to the disciples he has said, let's read from verse 24, "Again I say
unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich man
to enter into the kingdom of GOD." And who is that rich man? A story had just
happened. A rich man had come to the Lord Jesus. A rich man who had kept the whole
law. Who was a Pharisee, let's say. But he was rich. He was a Pharisee, but he was
rich. He had kept the whole law, according to him. But he still had the question, what
must I do to inherit eternal life? And the Lord says to him, as if he had kept no
commandment. He says to him, therefore keep the commandments. And he says in
verse 20, in his pride, all these things have I kept from my youth, what do I still lack? He
felt he was missing something. But he didn't feel that he lacked following Christ. For the
Lord said to him, you lack to rid yourself of this earthly wealth. Turn it into treasure in
heaven and follow me as a disciple, like these poor people here. Who have nowhere to
sleep and who follow me. And he went away sad. This Pharisee, this rich man here
represents the five foolish virgins. Who have believed that they are Adventists, that they
are GOD's people. That they have kept the commandments. But at the time when the
Lord calls them to a total consecration, a consecration like that of all the prophets of old,
a consecration as has always been required by GOD of those who wanted to hear the
voice of GOD and wanted to walk with GOD in the past, in the schools of the prophets.
When they hear this invitation, these five foolish virgins are not willing to make this
sacrifice. And then he says to them in verse 24. Let's read from verse 23. Then Jesus
said to his disciples. "Verily I say unto you, that the rich man shall hardly enter into the
kingdom of the Lord." Who is this rich man, if all the words of the Lord Jesus Christ have
to do with Revelation? The Lord Jesus is the one who spoke to John. The Lord Jesus
here on earth was writing a book of Revelation. He was speaking prophetic words all the
time. Everything He says has to do with Daniel and Revelation. Everything He said to
Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and the minor prophets had to do with the book of Daniel. The
book of Daniel and all the books that follow it are Revelation. They have to do with the
final events. So the rich man here is Laodicea. We can read the message to Laodicea in
Revelation chapter 3 to convince us. And it says, "Again I say unto you, it is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter the kingdom of
GOD." What does he mean by that? That no rich man can enter the kingdom of GOD. It
is clear. You cannot put a camel through the eye of a needle. No rich man in Laodicea,
in this church called to be priests; the priests had no inheritance. They could not become
rich. They lived to serve. No rich among these Laodiceans will enter the kingdom of the
Lord. They will have to turn their riches into souls, their riches into heavenly treasures.
Sacrifice everything for the Lord as these disciples have sacrificed. Then, verse 25, "And
when his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly afraid, saying, Who then can be
saved? And looking upon them Jesus said unto them, This is impossible with men, but
with GOD all things are possible." What is impossible with men, beloved brethren? It is
impossible to give up your riches. This is impossible. If someone renounces his riches,
accepts to convert them, to support the work of GOD, that man has been touched by the
Holy Spirit. If he has left himself, he has left the door open to Jesus, that is why he has
no longer seen his riches above GOD and above his church, above the needy. The
same thing we read in Acts chapter 2 onwards, where it says that those who had
received the Spirit of the Lord, the early rain, and were converted, it says that they sold
what they had and brought it to the feet of the apostles, they put everything in common,
it was shared equally, there was a kind of, not to say communism, because we do not
like that word, but it is a living in common. The one who has gathered more, has been to
give to those who have gathered less, to those who have less. That is the heavenly
kingdom.
And it says here, verse 27, "Then Peter answered and said unto him, Behold, we have
left everything and followed thee, what then shall we have?" I would like to say that
these words, although they seem a little selfish, I believe that the Lord has inspired
Peter, because these words that follow are a key to understand Revelation. We who
have left everything and followed you, what will we receive, what will we have? His
words reflect the 144,000. They are a symbol of the 144,000. As we have shown in so
many recordings. The eleven are the twelve tribes of the house of Israel who are to be
awakened by the twelfth, who is the Lord Jesus. He is of the tribe of Judah. He is the
king, the lion of the tribe of Judah, who represents, in this case, the third Elijah. The
prophets had to awaken the people. So, his place has been replaced by one who has
worked more than all these eleven in order to symbolize also the work of the lion of the
tribe of Judah, by Paul. Paul who has never again slumbered. For example, Peter, after
being an apostle, he has fallen asleep and had to be rebuked by Paul. But Paul never
stopped advancing in the light until he received the victory, he said, before his death.
And that the crown of glory awaited him. So, here he says this key answer for us. Verse
28 "And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me,
when in the regeneration shall the Son of man sit upon the throne of his glory, ye also
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has
left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for
my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life. But many who
are first shall be last, and the last shall be first." Let us remember, and then he goes on
speaking, here is not the end of his words. In chapter 20, here there should be no
interruption. And he continues speaking, and then he says in chapter 20 with 16, "Many
are called, but few are chosen." So, let's meditate a little bit on those words. Here the
Lord has clearly stated the conditions for someone to be part of the 144,000. They have
to leave houses, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, wives, children, lands. That does not
mean that a faithful husband has to leave a faithful wife, or that a faithful son has to
leave a faithful father. Here it refers, as we have read in Micah chapter 7, verses 5 and
6: "Believe not in a friend, nor trust in a prince, of her that sleepeth by thy side (that is, of
thy wife keep thy mouth): for the son dishonoureth the father." What happens between
this son and father described in Matthew 19:28, 29? Here it speaks of fathers, that
fathers must be left, and children must be left. It is explained with Micah 7:6. Here it is a
son who dishonors the father. The disobedient, rebellious son dishonors the faithful
father. And the faithful son is persecuted by the unfaithful father. That's why it says, in
Micah, it ends like this, "And a man's enemies are those of his own household." We
have shown that here it is exactly this sword that the Lord came to bring. He said, "I
have come to bring a sword, not peace." And that it should be decided by those who
should follow the Lord, to separate themselves from rebellious foolish virgins, whether
they be fathers, whether they be mothers, whether they be brothers or sisters, or wife or
child, and also from riches, for His name's sake. This the disciples have done. They
have been able to do that, but they have done it because the Father has given it to the
Lord. He prayed a whole day, a whole night, for this, so that among the thousands who
followed Him, He could find the only ones willing to leave everything and become
disciples. They were able to leave their mother, to leave their father, to leave everything
to become disciples. We understand that this separation is only between the faithful and
the unfaithful. We understand that if two spouses are wise virgins, both will have to leave
perhaps other things. Maybe houses, lands, riches, but both will remain together in the
group of the 144 thousand. We do not know, this is a question mark, if there will be
women in this group, in the group of the 144 thousand. We know that in heaven we will
be like the angels, so there will be neither male nor female. And this makes us think that
possibly there could also be sisters in this group. But this is not the subject and this
should not occupy our minds. Sister White commanded us to strive with all our might to
be part of this group. Everyone, everyone, male, female, we all have to strive. For the
righteous shall hardly be saved in these times, says the word of GOD. It is a time when
the Lord has given the greatest light that has ever existed on this earth. And the Lord will
ask no less of us. Then, it says here, "And whosoever hath left, what shall he receive?
he shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."
Why will he receive a hundred times as much, beloved brethren? Who will receive a
hundred times as much?
The Lord has said that our riches must be converted into souls. Make friends for eternity
with your mammon, that is, your riches. This means that those who have done that, the
Lord will give them the honor of being able to have hundreds, many, many stars. A
hundred times as many brothers, fathers, mothers, relatives, a man can have a hundred
relatives or more. And a hundred times a hundred is ten thousand. The Lord promises
thousands and thousands and thousands of sons and brothers in the kingdom of the
Lord to those who can make this sacrifice. And we can see this in the acts of the
apostles. For those who have once been disciples and have been made apostles, by
their perseverance, we can see how at the simple preaching of a few words thousands
have been converted in a few minutes. Thousands. And then they have continued to
increase that number. Then, and we can understand also the same, as we have
preached some time ago, the past years, about the multiplication of the loaves, the two
multiplications, that the Lord was giving these loaves, the bread that represents the
word, the truth, he was breaking it and distributing it to the disciples, first of all, and the
disciples were giving it to the others. These, the others, also represent the souls who will
receive the bread of truth, will be delivered, freed from darkness and rescued. There the
Lord prophesied twice that those who become his disciples with those conditions and
that difficult life that his disciples lived, they will one day have the honor of having
thousands and thousands of souls in their crowns. This is what the Lord means here
with "a hundred times as much, and shall inherit eternal life". And the fact that before
inheriting eternal life it says that he will receive a hundred times as much, that means
that it is before he gets to heaven he will receive a hundred times as much. It refers to
the harvest of the harvest of the earth, the final harvest of souls, which the hundred and
forty-four thousand will have the honor of reaping. A miniature of this we have been able
to see in Acts of the Apostles, after the early rain. And what will be a spectacle among
the angels, the unfallen worlds and before the eyes of humans, will soon be done by the
hands of the one hundred and forty-four thousand. Now leaving that parenthesis, let's go
back to verse twenty-eight of Matthew nineteen. Matthew nineteen verse twenty-eight
says, "And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me,
when in the regeneration shall the Son of man sit upon the throne of his glory, ye also
shall sit upon twelve thrones." The question is, who sits on throne? A king, right? Here
he speaks in the plural, thrones, and he speaks of twelve thrones. And it says, "Judging
the twelve tribes of Israel." So the purpose of the thrones is to do judgment, as we read
in Daniel. Let's go again in Daniel. Daniel chapter seven. "Judgment shall sit." It says in
verse twenty-six. Then in the twenty-second it says, "Until the Ancient of days came,
judgment was given to the saints." To whom is judgment given at this time? To the
saints of the Most High. Who? Which saints of the Most High? To the twenty-four elders.
And to the hundred and forty-four thousand. But the judgment is really given to the four
and twenty elders. These are the ones who will judge, according to Matthew nineteen
verse twenty-eight, the twelve tribes of Israel. Twelve tribes of Israel, beloved brethren,
is a symbolic name. Let's go to Revelation chapter seven to understand what it means.
Revelation chapter seven. It says here, we don't read all of it, we know the first verse.
The winds of the earth must be stayed. Saying, verse three, saying, "Hurt not the earth,
neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our GOD in their
foreheads, and I heard the number of them that were sealed, an hundred and forty and
four thousand sealed, out of all the tribes of the children of Israel." And then he counts
the number of the conquering tribes, of the sons of Jacob who have been conquerors.
So, the Lord, here in Matthew nineteen, practically says, "Ye shall sit upon twelve
thrones, judging the hundred and forty-four thousand." Judging, judgment is not to
condemn, judgment is to save. Judging, to put it this way, Laodicea, judging the ten
virgins of Matthew chapter twenty-five. They will have to decide between sheep and
goats. They will have to say, this one to the right, this one to the left. If these twelve
apostles, which here we have only eleven, in Matthew nineteen, twenty-eight, but the
twelfth is Jesus Himself here, as the overcomer, the one who has sanctified His life
continually, and He was of the tribe of Judah, which is the first tribe in Revelation seven.
Judah is the first tribe. And the Lord Jesus was replaced on earth by Paul, by the apostle
Paul, who labored more than all, and had more zeal than all, and who counted all things
as garbage to win Christ. Then, it says here in verse twenty-eight, that "in regeneration
shall the Son of man sit down." To understand this word, regeneration, we would like to
tell you that the same word was used in Titus, chapter three, verse five. Let's go in Titus
to read this... let's go in Titus. Titus three, with five. It says thus the word of the Lord.
"Not by works of righteousness which we had done, but according to his mercy he saved
us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Here we speak,
beloved brethren, of a regeneration which in original, this word, means resurrection. It is
a regeneration of life, from death to life. It is a resurrection or regeneration. It is also very
good like this, regeneration, but in the sense of spiritual resurrection. Here it says clearly
in Titus that spiritual life, we receive it through the Holy Spirit. And that if there was need
of a spiritual resurrection, it means that there was spiritual death. Here it is not about
anything else, but about the valley of dry bones. "This is the whole house of Israel, O
son of man." Some dry bones, some spiritually dead. Spiritually dead. So, the Lord tells
him practically here, he tells the disciples, "Ye shall sit on twelve thrones and judge the
ten virgins, ye shall make a separation between the foolish and the wise at the time
when the time of the resurrection of the dry bones shall come." We have shown many,
many times that this time of the dry bones, of the resurrection, is the time of the third
Elijah, when the five wise virgins awake from their spiritual death. So here it speaks
practically of a time that the Lord knows, when it will come. When in heaven, in the most
holy place, there will be at least, next to the throne of GOD, twelve other thrones with
these twelve apostles, ministering, doing priestly work, and as judges, as kings, because
they will have been conquerors. This is nothing else but what is said here in Revelation
chapter four, verse four. "Round about the throne were four and twenty thrones, and I
saw upon the thrones four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white robes, and they had
on their heads crowns of gold." We must always remember verse six of Revelation
chapter one. "And hath made us kings and priests unto GOD and to his Father." Whom
has he made kings and priests? These twelve apostles. And now the question is, why
does he speak here of twenty-four thrones? Is twenty-four, being a multiple of twelve,
two times twelve, the same number, twelve? Or is it literally twenty-four elders? If twelve
of the elders are the twelve disciples made apostles, who are the other twelve elders?
And we are about to understand, beloved brothers, who are, by name, who are the
twenty-four elders that are right now around the throne of the Father in the most holy
place of the true temple. It is a truth that only His saints will know. To understand this, let
us go to Revelation 21:12. Revelation 21:12 reads as follows. Let's start with verse 2. It
says, "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven,
prepared of GOD, as a bride adorned for her husband." Who is the bride? The bride is
the one hundred and forty-four thousand. The bride is called the bride because of the
words of Hosea, chapter 2. Let's go to Hosea, chapter 2.
Chapter 2, verses 19 and 20. And it says, "And I will betroth thee unto me for ever. I will
betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in
mercies. And I will betroth thee unto me in faith, and thou shalt know GOD." And then it
says, "And it shall come to pass in that day that I will answer, I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth." And he talks about some symbols here that represent
the latter rain. He's talking about the latter rain. Here he speaks of the marriage between
Jesus and his church, the hundred and forty-four thousand. And that in order to betroth
her to him, this people, this bride, he has to do it in righteousness, judgment, mercy, and
mercies. And all these weeks the Lord has given us these books of the minor prophets
where it says, "What else does GOD require of you, O man, but to do mercy, and justice,
and to walk humbly with your GOD?" Here, probably, in "mercies" it refers to humility.
Justice, judgment, lovingkindness, and humility. These are the words that are repeated
every time the Lord speaks of Ephraim or speaks of Jacob, of the slumbering sons of
Jacob, of Israel. That is to say, of this part of Laodicea that is asleep. It needs to be
awakened to be betrothed to the Lord. So, going back to Revelation, we find, Revelation
twenty-one, we find that the New Jerusalem is a symbol, it is a symbolic name. It's a city
really, but that heavenly city has its name and its title betrothed as referring to it
symbolizing the one hundred and forty-four thousand. This city is like a cube, it has the
height, the length and the breadth equal. And all these are one hundred and forty-four
furlongs. It says here, let's read in the seventeenth, "he measured the city with the reed
and it had twelve thousand furlongs, the length and the breadth and the height. Twelve
thousand by twelve thousand by twelve thousand and "the wall of a hundred and forty
and four cubits of a man's measure, which is of an angel." There are only symbolic
numbers here referring to the one hundred and forty-four thousand. We have read that
Daniel speaks of the rebuilding of the wall. And elsewhere, other prophets speak of the
rebuilding of the wall, the building of the city. And here it really speaks of the work of
awakening and preparing the one hundred and forty-four thousand as priests and kings,
of preparing the bride, to adorn her for the marriage of the lamb. So, we understand that
the new Jerusalem is a symbol of the hundred and forty-four thousand. And now we go
to the verse that we had announced before, from verse twelve onwards. And before that,
with one more argument, verse eleven says that her light, her likeness, her appearance
was as a jasper stone, clear as crystal, which we have seen there in Revelation four.
Then, from verse twelve onwards, "and it had a great wall and high, and it had twelve
gates, and in the gates twelve angels, and the name written upon them, upon the gates,
apparently, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel." So the
gates have the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. And on the east,
three gates, and on the north, three gates, and on the south, three gates, and on the
west, three gates. "And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the
names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." Okay, here we find that there are twelve
apostles and there are twelve tribes of the children of Israel. They are the twelve names
of the twelve sons of Israel. Not just direct, literal sons. Recall that in Revelation seven,
we have seen that the sons of Joseph appear there. Manasseh appears under the name
of Joseph, so to say. The two sons that Jacob has taken as his own appear. Those sons
born to Joseph in Egypt, Jacob, before his death, practically took them from Joseph and
took them as his sons. This was a prophetic move given by the Lord because out of the
children of Israel one was going to fall. So, here we have the true ones, those who have
come out victorious over their evil characters. Twelve apostles who have come out
victorious over their evil characters. And twelve sons of Jacob who have overcome their
evil characters. Let's go back now to Revelation chapter four. Revelation chapter four
says like this. "clothed in white robes and had on their heads crowns of gold." The
question is, did these twenty-four people we just named need the white robes or have
they been saints forever? Evidently, they needed them because they have done terrible
wickedness, at least the sons of Jacob have done terrible wickedness, they had terrible
characters, terrible frightening characters. And yet they have overcome.
Those who can judge the twelve tribes of the house of Israel have to be people who
have come out of the same sins, the same deceptions. As it says in the book of
Hebrews, that He can have mercy on us and our temptations because He has gone
through that. So, we understand why the Lord has had to give this judgment to bad
people but they have come out victorious. Because in chapters two and three it says, "to
him that overcometh", "to him that overcometh", it says seven times "to him that
overcometh", they have to overcome. Therefore, the twelve who judge must also be
overcomers. The question is, have the twelve apostles been overcomers? Some will
stumble over the fact that Paul is not the twelfth because Peter appointed another in his
place. On this matter, Ellen White says absolutely nothing and the Bible never ever
mentions the one who has been appointed. But the Bible mentions Paul and he always
says that he is the apostle and we know that there are twelve apostles. And if he is
named apostle everywhere, we understand that he is the true apostle appointed by the
Lord because let us remember that the eleven were called by whom? The Lord. It is the
Lord who appoints apostles. It is not man, it is not the church that appoints apostles. It is
the Lord who calls to apostleship. That is why when Paul was called by the Lord Jesus
Himself on that road to Damascus, we understand that He called him to replace that
empty place to take the place of the fallen Judas. Or to take the place of Himself. For He
has lived as a man, but as a victorious man, as a conquering man. So the mystery of
these twenty-four elders, we already know, are the twenty-four who have been victorious
in this world. And they have done what the one hundred and forty-four thousand must
do. They have to judge the one hundred and forty-four thousand because they have
renounced everything to serve Christ. So they can judge and they can say, looking at
each one, they can say, this one is not able to renounce his riches, this one to the left,
this one, look how easily he has left, how easily he has understood and has left his
rebellious wife, this one to the right. This other one has been able to separate himself
from the rebellious parents who persecuted his soul and has separated himself - to the
right. And so on they make that judgment with their own experience. They don't even
need a lot of wisdom to do that. Simply the Lord has set them to compare these ten
virgins with their own lives, with their own conversion, with their own consecration. This
is simply what it refers to here. We're going to go on and if I remember any more details
I'll tell you about them. Then, we know, the throne is described, that there came forth
lightnings, thunderings, voices, we do not need now these indications, we are not going
to explain this now. And before the throne there was a sea of glass, we will not even
explain this now. We will explain only what the Lord has revealed to us so far. We
cannot go ahead and rush to give interpretations, but we are going to interpret as the
Lord reveals the truth to us. Then it says, here it speaks of four living creatures full of
eyes before and behind. Here are the four seraphim. This is very easy to know who it is,
everybody knows that. You just have to read Isaiah chapter 6 verse 2. So they are
angelic beings, they are seraphim. Let's stop a little bit because I have remembered
some details about the 24 elders. Some may wonder when these have been
resurrected, have they been resurrected in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ?
This cannot be true for at least twelve of them, because at that time twelve of them had
not died. These are the apostles, the disciples. At the time of the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ, of his resurrection, when so many prophets of old were resurrected, we can only
know that perhaps the twelve sons of Israel could have been resurrected. Perhaps they
could have been resurrected because they were dead, but the others could not. We do
not say with this that it was really so. We know from Ellen White that these were men of
GOD of old, dead, martyrs. We know that martyrdom can even be considered even if the
person lives, but his soul is martyred every day, is killed with words every day. It can
refer to this type of martyrdom as well.
But we have a problem here: when did the twelve apostles rise from the dead? To
decipher this mystery let's go back again to Matthew chapter 19. Let's go back to
Matthew chapter 19 and it says like this. "Verily I say unto you, that ye which have
followed me, when the spiritual resurrection shall be, the Son of man shall sit upon the
throne of his glory." He will not sit on the throne of the Father's glory. We understand
that this is another period, not the period of the holy place. It is the period of the day of
atonement, that is, of the most holy place. "He shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and
ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." And now let's
go to the book of Daniel chapter 12 to see something related to this that had not been
understood before. Daniel chapter 12 reads like this. "At that time shall Michael stand
up, the great prince which standeth for the children of his people." Why will he arise?
Because he, during the dispensation of the holy place, was seated on the throne of the
Father. "Michael shall arise, the great prince who is for the children of his people, and
there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there were people until then.
But at that time thy people shall be delivered, all they that shall be found written in the
book". Let's note one thing. This chapter, this verse, has been interpreted in an
interpretation that it is about the special resurrection just before, a little before the
coming of Christ, that is, after the beginning of the plagues, after the closing of grace. I
would like to tell you, beloved brethren, that the time of the plagues, after the end of all
grace, is a time that the Lord counts with few words. The time that most interests the
Savior is the time of salvation, it is the time when He is able to save. That is why here
this possibly refers to the time when Michael, that is, Jesus, rises from the throne of the
holy place, from the throne of his Father, passes into the most holy place, that is, 1844,
and when he does that, when Michael rises, he says, "at that time thy people shall be
delivered, all those who shall be found written in the book". At that time it refers to the
time of the day of atonement. At the time of the day of atonement all the righteous must
be resurrected and also those who crucified Him from the wicked, we know that. But
among all these righteous, the Lord will awaken some that he will need for his work. For
example, in order to understand this, let's think, when was Moses resurrected? When
was Moses resurrected? Was Moses resurrected in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ? No, because Moses appears on the mount of transfiguration together with Elijah.
When did Elijah get to heaven? We know, in his time. His body was glorified because
bodies that are not glorified cannot enter heaven. He was transformed. He appears as
an elder, Elijah. Moses also appears as an elder. But the question is, when was Moses
resurrected? We know very well that it is told in the book of Jude, before Revelation,
where it says at the beginning, in verse 9, "For when Michael the archangel was
contending with the devil, disputing about the body of Moses" What did the devil want to
do? What did he want to do with the body of Moses? Evidently he had evil plans. And
so, Michael, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, contended with the devil in order to resurrect
Moses. The devil objected and said, "This one belongs to me. Look, this one has
betrayed you exactly after all his experience, all your miracles, everything, this one has
betrayed you. This one has represented me. He is mine." But the Lord Jesus Christ will
show upon his final repentance and tell the enemy that one's one-time fall does not
define one's character, one's trajectory, just as it did with David. So the Lord woke up
Moses, saying to him, "The Lord rebuke you, Satan." Saying to Satan. And here he
speaks of the others, of Laodicea, of the five foolish virgins, who will not understand
these things. They say in 10, "But these curse the things which they know not. They
corrupt themselves like brute beasts. Woe to them, for they have gone in the way of
Cain." Cain was of the Christian family, but they have gone the way of Cain. What
happened to Cain? Cain was self-centered and Cain has gone the way of perdition. Cain
received a sign, the sign of Cain, a mark to say so, a mark of the beast. For he became
the son of Satan. To take the way of Cain, that is, to become a son of Satan, to receive
his mark. And then here he speaks of the sad situation of others. But going back to the
resurrection of Moses, we know from the Bible that he was resurrected. What Jude does
not say is when he was resurrected, but we know that it was before the Lord Jesus came
in the womb of Mary, to come to this earth, because the Lord needed his ministry,
needed his consolation.
Moses and Elijah have come, in persons they have come, they were resplendent
because they had bodies of glory, but they have come on the mount of transfiguration to
encourage Jesus. You see, the Lord Jesus lived as a man and He needed consolation,
consolation that He sought among the eleven disciples and He did not obtain it. They
betrayed Him and when He most needed consolation in Gethsemane, these three did
not care, they did not care about it, they fell asleep three times. Then He had no
consolation from His disciples, yet He forgave them. But the Lord was comforted and
strengthened in that way that He was going to take, by Moses and by Elijah. This means
that they fulfilled a small role that the Lord gave them. That was their role. They were not
going to be on the twenty-four thrones to judge Laodicea. Why? Because that had been
promised to the apostles. Because Elijah could not do that. Because Elijah has had a
holy life. He has sanctified himself, he has not come from such great sins as these that
they had to understand, from such great temptations. Although there was darkness in his
time, but rather, Elijah is a type of the third Elijah, the one who awakens the twelve tribes
of the house of Israel, the one who awakens the five wise virgins. Elijah, Moses, may be
types of the third Elijah, of those who have struggled to awaken others. Elijah has
struggled to awaken the people, Moses has struggled to awaken, to lead, he has
suffered them so much, he has done everything to awaken them. They are types of the
one who awakens, but of those who are awakened, they have to be people who have
been in the same state, like the sons of Jacob, like the twelve disciples. So, going back
to Daniel chapter twelve, we understand that here it is really about a time, when the Lord
awakens, before awakening, in the special resurrection, during the plagues, His people.
Before that, He awakens some whose ministry He needs. And these are the ones who
will sit on the twenty-four seats. We do not know if, indeed, twelve of them, He
awakened in His resurrection, two thousand years ago, but here what it says practically
is that, before, just when this work begins, when He rises, Michael, and here it says
exactly the name Michael, for us to go directly to the book of Jude, and understand that
there will be a resurrection, with this name Michael, He will make a resurrection. And the
most certain thing is that, at the beginning of the day of atonement, right at the
beginning, the Lord, when He rose from the holy place to pass into the most holy place,
He resurrected the twelve apostles and resurrected the twelve patriarchs, or the twelve
sons of Jacob. Let us read on, it says, "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth
shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and confusion." Here it clearly
refers to the second special resurrection, the special resurrection after the close of
grace, where bad people are resurrected too, not just good people. But in verse one it
speaks of Michael who will deliver from death, is that understood? Here it is a
deliverance from death, from the grave. He will deliver his people, those who have been
written in the book. But He will deliver at the beginning of the day of atonement, only a
few, because GOD does nothing without a purpose. Not that the Lord likes people to be
in the grave so long, but the Lord has to do everything according to His plans, at the
times He has appointed. So everything that is written in the Bible has to be fulfilled, just
as it has been written. If He has said that He will seat the twelve on twelve thrones on
the day of the resurrection of Laodicea, He has done it. And here He has given some
details. If we go to the end of chapter twelve, well, not the end, let's read verse four,
because Daniel, Daniel, is also a symbol. And let's see what it says in four. "Thou
therefore, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end." Well,
it says, "knowledge shall be multiplied." That is, the book of Daniel, which we have
shown so much that it is the sealed book, and that when the time of regeneration would
come, that is, the time of the antitypical day of atonement, the time when Laodicea will
be regenerated or resurrected, at that same time the book of Daniel will be known. And
we have shown in Isaiah 29 or 30, that on the hearing of the words of the sealed book
depends their awakening. For ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Free. That word, free, has been used in the book of Isaiah to show deliverance from
death. Let's read this. Isaiah 26:19, let's see what it says.
"Your dead shall live. With my dead body they shall rise again. Awake and sing ye
dwellers of the dust." Notice the word "awake." This is of interest to us here. That for
resurrection the word "awake" is used. This is in Isaiah 26:19. This means that here
Michael, in the same verse, rises, not only to pass into the most holy place, but to
awake. Let's notice that just before entering into the holy place, he did a resurrection.
And it was before, wasn't it? How many days before was it? It was 50 days before,
exactly. Exactly 50 days before, on the resurrection day, he resurrected some elders,
let's say, some workers, his co-workers, humans. In the same way it will happen with the
entrance into the most holy place. Just before entering the most holy place, history must
repeat itself. The Lord awakens some collaborators of the past whom He also needs in
the present. Surely He has awakened the 24 just before entering the most holy place.
Let's read now verses 9 and 10. We have read verse 4. Let's read again the same words
in verse 9, where Daniel in verse 8 asks, "Lord, when shall the end of these things be?"
And the Lord does not answer him. Or if He does answer him, He answers him in a
language that He does not understand. But we will see that the Lord will answer him in
another, more wonderful way. Let's read verse 9 and 10. And it goes on to say, And
none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. The wicked and the
wise here are the five foolish virgins and the five wise virgins. The ungodly will not
understand, not because they will not try to understand, but because they will simply
have ungodly lives, and they do not cleanse themselves, they do not purify themselves,
they do not sanctify themselves, and they walk with the Bible in their hand for nothing,
like the Pharisees of old, and the doctors of the law of old. They will fail to understand
the true interpretation of Daniel and Revelation. And then it says, "And thou shalt go to
the end, and thou shalt rest, and shalt arise in thy lot at the end of the days." I would like
to ask, what do these words mean? Thou shalt go to the end, thou shalt rest, and shalt
arise. It is the same word "thou shalt arise" as in verse one of chapter twelve. Practically
the Lord says here, Daniel, you have asked me this, but you cannot understand that
because the book is sealed until its fulfillment. Now is not the time of fulfillment, but you
will see it fulfilled. Thou shalt go to the end, thou shalt rest, that is, in the grave, thou
shalt rest, thou shalt arise, thou shalt be raised, in thy lot, at the end of the days. What is
the lot of them that have died in hope? He is referring to the heavenly Canaan, right? He
will rise for this, but the Lord will probably show Daniel also the fulfillments of these
words. Also to Ellen White, because Ellen White has seen herself along with the
hundred and forty-four thousand. And to these servants who have suffered so much and
who have written things so desirable to know, the Lord Jesus said that many great men
have desired to see what you see and to hear what you hear, and have not been able.
But the Lord will give honor to those who honored Him. Ellen White honored Him in the
midst of the apostasy. Then, probably, He will awaken her to see the end of the
fulfillment of this. All that will happen after the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four
thousand, or even with the sealing. And Daniel, probably he has also been awakened to
see the fulfillment of his prophecies that he has not understood. Let's go back to
Revelation right now. Revelation chapter four still. It reads. "The first living creature was
like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a
man, the fourth living creature like an eagle flying." We have commented on this. These
are the four phases of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have commented on this
verse, we are not going to insist so as not to make this recording long, very long.
Although they must be long. Paul's preachings were always long because they had to
cultivate patience and they had to be heard only by those who have patience, by those
who must be saved. The others will not have the patience to listen to these subjects, the
ungodly among the foolish virgins. Verse eight. "And the four living creatures had each
by himself six wings."
Here he gives us the hint of Isaiah chapter six. And also a second hint, although it is not
necessary, but it says it. That they said "holy, holy, holy day and night." This is revealed
in Isaiah chapter six. For us to understand that what is revealed to Isaiah there are
scenes of the most holy place. "And when those living creatures gave glory and honor
and thanksgiving to him who sat on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, the
twenty-four elders fall down before him who sat on the throne and worship him who lives
forever and ever. They cast their crowns before his throne saying worthy are you, O
Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and for your
pleasure they are and were created." It is the Creator, the Father or the Son. We have
shown from Daniel that it is possibly the Father. And now in chapter five, although in the
chapter you can very well delete the title because there is no interruption here. All these
words go on, all these scenes go on without any interruption. And it says "and I saw in
the right hand of him that sat upon the throne a book." Let's go to Isaiah twenty-nine with
eleven and with eighteen. Isaiah twenty-nine. Isaiah twenty-nine. Ten with eleven and
eighteen, it goes like this. Let's read from ten first. Although we've commented on this
chapter in other themes, let's just mention a few words. Verse ten. "For I AM hath spread
upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes, and hath covered your
prophets and your chief seers." Who is spoken of here? Evidently Laodicea. Blind. And
with false prophets who are the shepherds, Ellen White says. And verse eleven. "And
every vision shall be unto you as the words of the sealed book." That is, exactly the
visions that GOD has given for you, the blind, will be sealed. They will be exactly like the
book of Daniel. I would like to tell you, beloved brethren, that the Jews are forbidden to
read the book of Daniel. They do not even consider Daniel as one of the prophets. You
can look on the internet and you can see. The Jews do not consider Daniel as a prophet
and they are forbidden to read the book of Daniel. Because it says... let's see where it
says... It says onward. Well, let's fast forward a little bit to read one verse. It says in
verse four of Revelation five. "And I wept much because there was found none worthy to
open the book, neither to read it, neither to look thereon." Who are these who will not
even look at the book? The Jews. And the Jews, in a spiritual sense, is Laodicea. They
are the foolish virgins. They don't even read Daniel or Revelation. To the five foolish
virgins, maybe they only read the love passages of the Bible to understand, convince
themselves and lie to themselves that they are Christians. But here it says that there
was no one worthy to open the book, nor to read it, nor to look at it. This means for a
long time. It says here a long time. For a long time there will be no one who could, not
read it, because it can be read by many, but understood. The book of Daniel, for
hundreds of years, until the Lord Jesus Christ came, remained a forgotten book. The
Jews did not open it in the synagogues. It would be forbidden to them. And when the
Lord came, He was the only one who dared to break this law, their Talmudic law, and
speak of the prophet Daniel, in Matthew 24. Then here in Isaiah 29 it says, "And every
vision shall be unto you as the words of the sealed book, which if they shall give to him
that can read, and shall say unto him, Read this now, he shall say, I cannot; for it is
sealed." Let's not read the whole thing, let's go to verse 18, and it says, "And at that
time," notice the words, at that time, it refers to the time of resurrection or regeneration, it
says, "and at that time the deaf shall hear the words of the book." In the same chapter
he speaks of the book, and earlier, a few verses earlier, he spoke of the sealed book.
This is the book of Daniel. "At that time the deaf shall hear the words of the sealed book,
and the eyes of the blind shall see in the midst of darkness and gloominess. Then shall
the meek increase their joy in the Lord, in I Am, and the poor among men shall rejoice in
the Holy One of Israel. For the violent shall be cut off, and the scorner shall be
consumed. They shall be cut off, all they that rise up early to iniquity." And I want to tell
you, what happened on the day of atonement to those who still had cherished sins? The
Bible says that they were cut off, they were cut off, they were cut off from Israel. Exactly
this, this is the work of the 24 elders. This chapter of Isaiah 29 ends with verse 24 where
it says, "And the erring in spirit" Who are the erring in spirit?
The five wise virgins this time. They are the wise ones because it says, "And they that
err in spirit shall learn understanding, and they that murmur shall learn doctrine." Here
we see the transformation that the five wise virgins will undergo. And how they will be
resurrected because they have read, they have heard the correct interpretation of the
sealed book of Daniel. And of Revelation, because it's one book. So we go back to
Revelation chapter 5 and we read from verse 1. "And I saw in the right hand of him that
sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals." It
is a book sealed with seven seals. I don't know if there is any interpretation so far where
it said that this sealed book was the book of Daniel. But this book is the book of Daniel
and it is sealed with seven seals because in this book of Daniel, and not the whole book
of Daniel, it refers to the last chapters where the seven trumpets and the seven last
plagues are described. This is what is contained in the sealed book. The seals, the
seven seals, while the seals are being opened, while the correct interpretation is being
given, while the good news is being preached from the mountain, as we have read, that
is, the true interpretation of the sealed book, while this is being done, the Lord is
breaking the seals, that is, the book is opening more and more and more and more and
more to our understanding. The third Elijah reveals, publishes that to the deaf and blind
and at this time the twenty-four elders analyze each one separately and see if upon
receiving the light they awaken or do not awaken. Then they have to recognize those
who have done like them, that at the words of rebuke they repented. For example, the
twelve sons of Jacob, at the words of rebuke of Joseph, who in a spiritual sense is
Jesus, at the words of rebuke they repented. "And I saw a strong angel preaching with a
loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man
was able neither in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth to open the book,
neither to look thereon." Notice that not even the angels could open this book. Not even
the Father, because the Father has written it, of course, but the Father plays no role in
this story, in this matter, because the Father is the accused. The Father has given all the
judgment to the Son, and the Son gives it to whomever he wants. The Son has given it
to the twenty-four elders to play a small part. We will see hereafter that they have
prayers in their hands, they are clothed in priestly garments, so they have a priestly role.
They are collaborators or assistants, if you will, assistants of the high priest Christ Jesus.
Then, for a long time the words resounded, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? And no one for many hundreds of years and thousands was not found
to open the book. Neither among men, nor among angels. And it says that John wept
much, because no man was found worthy to open the book, neither to read it, nor to look
thereon. In verse four of Revelation five, the word translated "look", from the text "to
open the book, neither to read it, nor to look thereon", the word "look" in the original
means to discern. It means to discern and it means to see with the eyes of the mind, that
is, to comprehend, to discern, to understand. And there is another word in the original
that is not translated here, here sadly at least in this translation there is not, but it exists
in the original, it exists in English, it says "by himself" (the real translation of the word
"thereon"). "Nor of understanding it by himself." Why by himself? Because many over
the centuries have studied the prophecies through the eyes of others.
They did not come out of the traditions. The only one, the Lord Jesus Christ has come
out of the traditions, and his prophets, his men who had to show always the errors and
the traditions. "Then I wept much because there was found none worthy to open the
book, neither to look thereon (or to discern it or to understand it for himself)." Let us note
here the word "worthy" as well. To be able to open this book does not require strength,
nor is it necessary to be intelligent. Angels surpass men and surpassed Adam. Ellen
White says that Adam only with time, growing up, would become equal to the angels.
Here it is not that the Lord is looking for intellectual people, for people with degrees, for
theologians, to be able to understand that. So we should not look for the interpretation
among the many published interpretations, among the DVDs that are sold so
expensively, with false interpretations of Daniel and Revelation. Here we speak of a
dignity. And this dignity is given to the Father, it is given to the one who is seated, who
we have said is the Father. Here in verse 11 we really don't know 100% if it is the
Father. It says "Worthy art thou, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou
hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Probably that it
is the Father, but the same words that are said of the seated "he that liveth forever," the
Lord Jesus Christ says when he begins to speak to John on the island of Patmos, here
in 1, with verse 18. It says, from 17, it says that John saw him. It says "and when I saw
him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear
not, I am the first and the last." And notice now the words. "And he that liveth, was dead,
and here I am alive for ever and ever." These are the same words that have been
spoken here of the Father. It is clear that they both, the Holy Spirit, live forever and ever.
That is true. But they are the same words, so in time the Lord will reveal to us. For the
moment, we consider that here it is the Father, exactly as in Daniel 7, who has received,
and now we will see how the Son, how the Lord Jesus is presented before the Father.
Let's read in Revelation 5 onwards. "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not,
behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, which hath prevailed to open the
book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
"And I looked, and, behold, in the midst of the throne..." That is, not in the midst of the
throne, but in the midst of those who were there. In the midst of the throne and of the
four living creatures and in the midst of the elders. That is, they formed a circle, and in
the midst of them a lamb was standing. Notice the words "standing. It was not sitting, it
was standing, like one that had been slain. "Which had seven horns and seven eyes,
which are the seven spirits of GOD sent forth in all the earth." And here we are given
these details to understand that the lamb is the same in chapter 1, the last verse where it
talks about him being the one with the seven stars in his hand, the seven candlesticks,
and then in 1, with 4, that before his throne are the seven spirits. "The seven spirits that
are before his throne." Notice that here it speaks of the throne appearing to be the Son's.
This is the only evidence at the moment that we have. But this is not the subject for
today. Let's finish this chapter. Then, one of the elders says to him, "Weep not." We
don't know which of the elders, which of all the 24 elders was given the honor, the
privilege of saying to John, "Weep not". But one surely was. I wouldn't be surprised if it
was anyone, even John himself. And one of the elders said to me "Weep not, behold the
lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, who has overcome to open the book." What
is the dignity of being able to open the book? To overcome, it says here. Overcome.
Could the 144,000 have opened the book? No, because they are not in heaven and had
not yet overcome. Who could have opened? Could the 24 elders have opened the
book? No, because they have not overcome in the way that Christ has overcome. They
have overcome with His help. They have overcome in another way and they have
sinned. Here it speaks of a complete victory. Although at the same time it can also mean
as a possible enlargement of the meaning, because the Lord Jesus has always
recognized himself in his servants. "When ye have done this thing unto one of these my
humble brethren, ye have done it unto me." He has always identified Himself with His
people. We have shown it in Daniel 7, where it is said that Jesus is given the kingdom
and the power. And then it says, the kingdom and power is given to the saints of the
Most High. We understand that the Lord Jesus is a symbol also of the 144,000. They
have to become like Him, in character. And if it is said here that Jesus did not open this
book for so many hundreds of years and so long, and He could have opened it. He did
not open it for so long and He opened it just at the time when the five wise virgins must
be awakened. This means that those who understand the book that Jesus opens in
heaven are the 144 thousand. This book, the Lord breaks its seals, but His people, that
is, the third Elijah, understands more and more and more this book and publishes it. And
then the others are also enlightened and they also understand. But first of all the third
Elijah understands the book. So here we speak of a work that is simultaneous in heaven
and on earth. Just as we have read from the first verse. Instead of "after these things,"
"at the same time with these things." And here among the seven churches it speaks of
one which is called Philadelphia. Which may have one, two, three, a few persons or
more persons. But even if it has only one person, as Noah was in his time, that is the
church of GOD. In this state of Philadelphia we do not know how many there are, but the
third Elijah is surely here. For the prophets have always been awake. And they have
received words to direct to the people, to awake. So the Lord, the lion of the tribe of
Judah, and it is said lion of the tribe of Judah to understand that the Lord Jesus was of
the tribe of Judah. And the Lord Jesus when He was on earth played the role of the third
Elijah. Not only John the Baptist. John the Baptist died, but his role has been continued
by the Lord Jesus Christ. The same message, the same preaching, the same words that
John said were said by the Lord Jesus Christ. "Repent and believe the Gospel." So the
lion of the tribe of Judah, also in a spiritual sense are the prophets, is the third Elijah
also. And the Lord is breaking the seals and it says here, "He has overcome to open the
book, to loose the seven seals thereof." If there are seven it means that the Lord Himself
has sealed it in a divine way that cannot be understood. No matter how many studies we
have, what mind we have, this book has been sealed by GOD.

The next parts of this study will soon follow.

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We thank Jesus Christ for the blessing of understanding His Word!