Now we come to Revelation 8:1-5, the breaking of the seventh seal and the seven trumpets:

When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that was before the throne.

And...

         This week we continue our study of the 144,000 that were sealed from the twelve tribes of Israel in Revelation 7:4-8. I personally believe that these are a prophetic parallel of the sealing of the twelve tribes of “spiritual Israel”—the church through the church age. How did I come to that conclusion?

         You can see a general but accurate prophetic outline of church history in the twelve tribes of Israel, from the sequence of their birth, the prophecies given over them by Jacob and Moses, and their histories. So we would take Reuben as a type of the...

         As we seek to understand the possible symbolism of the 144,000, we need to first review the principles of biblical symbolism so that we do not drift into “free association”—the claim that something is representative without fully establishing the biblical connections that lead to this belief. Without doing this, almost anyone can claim that just about anything means just about anything. This is a recipe for delusion.

         Let us also consider that biblical symbolism is rarely so ironclad that it leaves us able to be dogmatic about our conclusions. Rather, it opens us to further understanding. By its...

         Anyone who believes in the atonement of the cross of Jesus is redeemed and will have eternal life. However, there is far more to our calling than just securing salvation. The Great Commission is to make disciples, not just converts. When we study the Lord’s teachings about the characteristics of His disciples, we may wonder if we know any. Being a disciple of Christ is not an easy life, but it is the path to the most fulfilling life we can live. This is a life of “growing up in all things into Him” (see Ephesians 4:15).

         A...

         We continue here our study of how Revelation was given to the Lord to give to His bondservants. In Revelation 7, we are told that the Lord will hold back the four winds of the earth until His bondservants have been sealed. Therefore, only those who have embraced the life of a bondservant can fully understand this vision and are assured of not taking the mark of the beast.

         One question some have is, does the life of a bondservant mean that we never do anything for ourselves? No. On the contrary, there is no greater freedom that...