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The Book of Revelation - September Supplement The Seven Angels and Seven Thunders

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Issue #192September 2004

The Book of Revelation - September Supplement The Seven Angels and Seven Thunders

For those of you who have studied the series on the Book of Revelation that we did in the past few years, I finally found time to correlate the Seven Thunders (FFI #172) with the Seven Angels who pour out the Seven Bowls (FFI #192). I had wanted to do this earlier, but never found the time to do it. And since both lists came by way of revelation, rather than by Biblical study, I received these revelations separately (at different times) with no thought of correlating them at the time. But finally, on Dec. 21, 2005 I remembered to do this at a moment when I actually had the time to do it.

Here is the quote from FFI #172 dated July 2003:

Unsealing the Seven Thunders

As revealed to me, these are the seven thunders.. .

    1. The Way into the Holiest. The decree to begin to break the power of the corrupted Church system, because the way into the Holiest was delayed as long as that system held sway (Heb. 9:8).
    2. The Image of the Beast. The religious, political, and economic governments of man based on the mortal image of Adam coming under judgment in order to set the people free.
    3. The Manifested Sons. The coming of Christ in His people, who, like Moses, come off the mount with the new tables of the law on their hearts.
    4. Transfiguration. Like Jesus in Matt. 17, the Sons of God will house His glory in immortal bodies. This is the purpose of the feast of Tabernacles.
    5. Authority of the Sons. God specifically gave me John 14:14, “ If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
    6. The Law taught to all nations. Micah 4:1-4. The overcoming Sons of God are the administrators of the Kingdom on the earth, the teachers and final interpreters of the law by the mind of God. Deut. 33:2, 3 says “From His right hand went a fiery law” and “all His saints are in Thy hand.” The law is the lake of fire and also represents His character (Deut. 4:24). The fire is in the hand of God, and His saints are also in His hand. That is, they will manifest His character and actually administer the corrective judgments of God, called “the lake of fire.”
    7. Division: Disobedient from Obedient. This is a reference to the final age after the Great White Throne in Rev. 20. New Jerusalem fully manifests, but there are still many who must be subdued to Christ (Rev. 22:11). Hence, a division between them until the Creation Jubilee, when all men are set free at the end of time.

(End of quote)

Here is what I wrote in FFI #192 dated September 2004 about the Seven Angels who pour out the Seven Bowls in Revelation 16:

The Seven Angels

The book of Revelation does not give us the names of the seven angels or, indeed, of any angels. It is therefore not essential to know their names. The main thing is to see their function and the earthly results of what they do.

Having said this, let me also add that it is always helpful to our understanding to know their names, for that helps us to broaden our understanding of what they do. The problem is that the only way to know such things is to pray for wisdom and revelation as James 1:5, 6 tells us,

5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

The seven angels with the seven bowls of wine are:

    1. The Redemption Angel
    2. The Cleansing Angel
    3. The Appearing of Sons Angel
    4. All Consuming Breath Angel
    5. Overcoming Flesh Angel
    6. Angel of Pure Influence
    7. Angel of the Approaching Fullness of God

(End of Quote)

The correlations are obvious.

The Redemption Angel and the First Thunder

The Redemption Angel is responsible to bring us into the Way into the Holiest. This has to do with the lamb redeeming the firstborn of the asses (Ex. 13:13). Because the Church is pictured in Scripture as an ass, it must be redeemed by the Lamb of God.

There are actually two redemptions. The first was Israel's redemption from Egypt, where God called His son out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1). That son (Israel) was an Ishmael, because their “mother” was Egypt. Since Ishmael was a “wild ass man” (Gen. 16:12), this means also that Israel was spiritually an Ishmaelite son, not yet qualified to be the kind of son that can be the inheritor (Isaac).

For this reason, God would not allow Israel to leave Egypt until they had been redeemed by the Passover lamb. This Passover lamb redeemed Israel by making them (legally) the sheep of His pasture, rather than the asses of His corral. This redemption and justification by faith gave them a legal position of righteousness with God as “sheep,” even though subsequent events proved they were not yet qualified to enter the kingdom. This is why that generation had to die in the wilderness without entering the Promised Land.

It takes a second redemption to complete this process. In other studies we have related this to the two doves and two goats, as well as to the two-step process of being imputed righteous and then being made actually righteous. In our Ishmaelite stage, we are imputed righteous by being redeemed by the Lamb—Jesus Christ—through the Feast of Passover. But to enter fully into the type of Isaac-Sonship that can inherit the Kingdom, it requires

Passover Redemption, which makes us citizens of His Kingdom. In this first redemption, we come out of Egypt as children of Abram and Hagar. That is, we are spiritual Ishmaelites. Since Ishmael was a wild ass man (Gen. 16:12), so was Israel, which had God as his Father and Egypt as his mother. So the Passover redemption applies to our justification by faith that makes us “sons of God” (Hos. 12:1).

The second redemption is from Pentecost (asses) to Tabernacles. This redemption takes us from being imputed righteous to being actually righteous. This actual perfection comes as a result of being made immortal on the first day of Tabernacles. Recall that we sin because we are mortal, as Paul says in Rom. 5:12, “ and so death passed upon all men, on which all sin.” Thus, we can only be actually perfected when every aspect of death is removed from us.

This is how we must keep the feast of Tabernacles. It is no longer kept by building a booth with living branches. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 that it is to be kept by receiving that tabernacle which is from above, so that death may be swallowed up by life. At the present time we are still in the final stages of Pentecost, the leavened feast, the mixture realm, where we—like Ishmael—have a heavenly Father and an earthly mother. It is pictured in Ishmael as Abram and Hagar. It is pictured in Israel as God and Egypt.

The Redemption Angel is responsible for redeeming us from death. His message is the first thunder. This message shows us “the Way into the Holiest” (Heb. 9:8), because it is the way by which we must keep the feast of Tabernacles.

The Cleansing Angel and the Second Thunder

The second thunder is “the image of the beast.” This image is the opposite of the mark of God upon our foreheads. In the law, we read in Deut. 5:6-8 that the people were to bind the law of God upon their forehead and hands to remember the word of God. The opposite of that is have the mark of the beast upon one's forehead and hand. It is the difference between being lawful and being lawless.

The Cleansing Angel is responsible to cleanse us by the word of God, as Jesus said in John 15:3, “ Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you .” It is the word which cleanses us from lawlessness. The second thunder is a word of cleansing.

The Appearing of Sons Angel and the Third Thunder

The third thunder is “the manifested sons.” The word of the manifestation of the sons of God is the message of the Appearing of Sons Angel. It tells us how to be good servants so that we qualify for Sonship. Paul says in Gal. 4:7, “ Wherefore thou art no more a servant but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. ”

Pentecost is the time of servanthood, because it is the time we learn obedience, even as Israel was to learn obedience in the wilderness prior to entering the Promised Land. Most of that generation refused to learn obedience, so they were disqualified as sons and could not enter the Promised Land. “ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God ” (Rom. 8:14). Their children (sons) were able to enter the land, for they represented the sons of God.

Paul says in Rom. 8:21-23 says that the entire creation is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God, because this is the beginning of the redemption of all creation. Even as Jesus' resurrection is the proof that we will be raised in like manner (1 Cor. 15:20), so also the first resurrection of the sons of God will prove that the rest of creation will come into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. It is the hope of creation. This is the message of the third thunder, given by the Appearing of Sons Angel.

All Consuming Breath Angel and the Fourth Thunder

The fourth thunder is the message of the transfiguration. The angel delivering this message is the All Consuming Breath Angel. Deut. 4:24 says, “ For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire.” God has manifested Himself on earth as a fire (Deut. 4:12). The fire of God consumes the flesh and all of its works. When there is nothing to consume, the person is transfigured.

This is seen in the example of Daniel's three friends who were cast into the furnace of fire for refusing to bow down to the image of gold (Dan. 3:20-23). But they were unhurt. Yet the men who had cast them into the fire were burned and killed. This pictures the role of the fire of God and the “baptism of fire” (Matt. 3:11). Its purpose is to bring us fully into the place of transfiguration, as seen in the example of Jesus in Matt. 17.

Isaiah 11:4 says, “ with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. ” Job 4:9 says, “ By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of His nostrils are they consumed. ” Yet it is that same breath that gives life (Isaiah 42:5).

The message of the All Consuming Breath angel tells us how to come into the same experience of transfiguration that Jesus experienced. Allow the Spirit of God and the baptism of fire to work within your life to consume all flesh. This is the true work of Pentecost in our lives, by which we learn obedience and qualify for Tabernacles.

Overcoming Flesh Angel and the Fifth Thunder

The fifth thunder is the message of the Authority of the Sons. It is the authority mentioned in John 14:14, “ If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” If a carnal man, even an average Christian, were to be given such authority, the first thing he would ask for is some fleshly benefit that would prosper him materially. In the early part of the reign of Solomon, he asked for wisdom and received it.

The Overcoming Flesh Angel leads us to use this Authority of the Sons to bring all things under His feet (1 Cor. 15:25-28). All flesh must be put under Him in order for the physical world to manifest His glory and fulfill the purpose for its creation. This is the big picture. Its goal is to reverse the curse from Adam's sin, which brought the creation under the dominion of the flesh.

Angel of Pure Influence and the Sixth Thunder

The message of the sixth thunder is the law taught to all nations. This goes back to Isaiah 2:2, 3,

2 Now it will come about that in the last days, the mountain [kingdom] of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains [kingdoms], and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. 3 And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways, and that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion [Heb. 12:22], and the word of the Lord from [New, or Heavenly] Jerusalem.

Under the “pure influence” of this angel, the law will be taught as Jesus Himself would teach it. It is the law without legalism. In fact, the angel's message will be taught by the Sons of God who are manifested, transfigured, and who have received the authority to establish the Stone Kingdom of Daniel 2:34. This Kingdom will then grow into a great mountain, or kingdom, until it fills the whole earth.

Angel of the Approaching Fullness of God and the Seventh Thunder

The seventh thunder divides the obedient from the disobedient. This division takes place on two occasions. The first division comes at the end of the Pentecostal Age in the first resurrection. Rev. 20:4-6 says,

4. .. and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

This speaks of a division between the overcomers and “the rest of the dead.” These are the sons of God who will reign with Christ during the Tabernacles Age to come, which will last a thousand years.

When the Tabernacles Age has been completed, then will come another great division. This time it will be the division between the believers and the unbelievers at the Great White Throne Judgment. Of this resurrection, Jesus says in John 5:28, 29,

28 Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice 29 and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

This is obviously not the first resurrection that includes only believers. It is the second resurrection in which all who are yet in the tombs will be raised for judgment. Some will receive life (immortality) at that time, and others will receive the judgment of the “lake of fire” (as Rev. 20:14, 15 puts it). This fire is the divine law, called in Deut. 33:2 the “fiery law.” At the Great White Throne, the unbelievers will become believers, but they will then have to be trained in Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles in that final Age. The overcomers will be given authority over them to teach them the ways of God, by verbal teaching as well as by personal example. Then will be fulfilled Isaiah 26:9,

9. .. for when the earth experiences Thy judgments, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Thus, the Angel of the Approaching Fullness of God is called to discern who is qualified to receive the fullness of the Spirit and who is not. Those who receive the fullness will be those who properly used the earnest of the Spirit under Pentecost.