Avoiding Great Tribulation and the 144,000 First Fruits
Notice that the topic is
avoiding “Great Tribulation”, not avoiding tribulation in general. Jesus said that in this world we would have
tribulation. But He did not teach that
we would necessarily all have Great Tribulation.
To avoid Great
Tribulation, we need to achieve beforehand that which Great Tribulation is
designed to do in us. In Revelation 7
we read of a people who have come out of Great Tribulation having washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So if our robes are white in the blood of the Lamb before the
start of Great Tribulation, we may not need to go through it.
I say this because of the
following reasons. Jesus said in His
letter to His church at Thyatira that He would throw those into Great
Tribulation who did not repent of their particular sins. And then He went on to say that all the
churches would know that He gives to each based on their hearts and minds. In other words, whatever is needed to clean
each one up and bring them each one forth dressed in white is given to them in
Great Tribulation. A possible analogy
is a washing machine. Heavy duty cycle
is different than gentle cycle. What we
need is what we will get. “All the
churches will know” suggests that all the churches will be around to experience
this process of each one getting what each one needs.
Unfortunately, the
nonsense of the pre-tribulation rapture teaching precludes those who believe in
it from even considering such things to be of any personal importance.
Jesus taught --- by
referring back to the prophet Daniel --- that the Great Tribulation takes place
during the last three and one-half years of the age. Before the start of this last three and one-half years we see a
people standing before the throne of God who are described as first fruits in
Revelation 14:1-5. They are clean in
every respect. These would be those who
had already washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb. Hence, they are not required to
go through Great Tribulation. We know
that they are in heaven before the start of Great Tribulation because it isn’t
until Revelation 14:6 that the gospel is preached to the entire world. And we know from reading Revelation 7 that a
great multitude without number come out of Great Tribulation “from every
nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues”.
So you see, the preaching of the gospel
to “to every nation and tribe and tongue and people” of Revelation 14:6 must
have taken place before the great multitude of Revelation 7 comes out of Great
Tribulation. How can anyone come out of
every nation, tribe, tongue, and people dressed in white robes unless they have
had the gospel preached to them? So
those we see in Revelation 14:1-5 are in heaven before the beginning of Great
Tribulation and that is why they are called first fruits of the harvest that we
see described at the end of Revelation 14.
We can read about their characteristics
and then we can know how to be among that number. We have been given everything we need for a life of
holiness. But it’s up to us to apply
God’s promises to our lives. He is
“giving us time to repent” right now.
Will we take advantage of that time and achieve the status of the first
fruits described in Revelation 14:1-5?
That’s a simple
explanation of how to avoid Great Tribulation.
We can clean our act up now, or God will put us in situations designed
to clean us up later. He is coming back
for a bride without spot or wrinkle. If
we have given ourselves to Him as living sacrifices and said to Him, “Lord,
clean me up and make something of me for your purposes”, then you can be sure
that He will.
People are curious to
know who the 144,000
are. More queries come into the
Restoring the Vision website on the 144,000 than any other topic. I believe the Lord is quickening interest on
the topic because a great blessing is there for the taking. These are days that the Lord is calling His
church to repent. Every thought and
deed and motive of the heart must be offered to Him for review. Our very innermost parts must be sought out
and weighed.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
try me and know my anxious thoughts;
and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. (Psalm 139:23-24)
V. Kuenzi
http://www.restoringthevision.com