The seven vials of the wrath of God begin the last chronological sequence in Revelation. This wrath is selectively poured out on the Antichrist and his followers. Those who have God's seal upon them are exempt from these plagues.

Revelation 16
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grevious sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

In chapter nine the plague of locusts was only upon "those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." Believers will be present during these plagues but will be exempt from their effects. If Christians were not present, the statement that the plagues fell upon those with the mark of the beast would be redundant. We are the ones with the seal of God, it is the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 1
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory

2 Corinthians 1
21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Ephesians 4
30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

These verses show that believers will not need to be resealed for protection during the tribulation. All Christians are already sealed if they have the Holy Spirit. The seal is the means of identifying those whom God will protect from His wrath. The Jewish remnant will be sealed after the sun and moon sign of the sixth seal, as they see Jesus coming, and believe on Him. Revelation is very clear; those with God's seal will be exempt from His wrath.

There are other verses which show that God's wrath is dealt selectively. When the seventh vial is poured out, the destruction of Babylon follows. But John heard a warning to the Christians who are in the city.

Revelation 18
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not her plagues.

Christians will be warned in advance to evacuate this city before it is destroyed. In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus gave a warning to those in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, to flee when Antichrist defiles the temple, [Matt. 24:15,16]. Advanced notice is only one of the ways God will protect His people. The protection of the children of Israel in Egypt is a perfect illustration of how God deals out wrath.

Immediately prior to the second coming of Jesus, we find the following scene in heaven. All of the saints who have died are singing in joyous anticipation of the marriage of the Lamb.

Revelation 19
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready,
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the white linen is the righteousness of the saints.
9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God...
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness doth he judge and make war...
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean.

Here, John heard a great multitude praising God because "the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." How has the bride made herself ready? By overcoming Satan and Antichrist. [Rev. 12:11] "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb." Then John heard a decree made. [vs.8] "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white." Notice, here, at the very end of the tribulation, and immediately prior to the second coming, the marriage of the Lamb has not yet taken place. Only at this point in time has the Bride made herself ready. One would think, if the rapture was pre-tribulational, the marriage would have occurred at the beginning of the tribulation. The bride would have been ready then. The fact that she is only ready after all of the martyrs have been killed by the Antichrist suggests that the saints in the tribulation are a part of the Bride of Christ.

Next, John heard a blessing pronounced. [vs. 9] "And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb." There is no record of the marriage supper taking place here. John was only told to write the blessing. Immediately John saw heaven opened and Jesus descending with the armies of heaven. Who makes up this army? They are the millions of saints who have gone on to be with the Lord since the beginning of time, including Old and New Testament saints and the martyrs of the tribulation. The marriage of the Lamb is simply the union with Christ of all saints at the second coming, as he sends out the angels to gather together His elect from the north, south, east and west. The marriage cannot take place until the bride is complete and those who are alive and remain are picked up at the rapture.

The marriage supper will not take place in heaven. It will take place on earth in Israel, when Jesus sets up His Kingdom.

Isaiah 24
23 Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
25:6 And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined.
7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the LORD God shall wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.

These verses describe the marriage supper on mount Zion, at the beginning of Christ's Kingdom. Jesus may have had this very passage in view at the last supper.

Luke 22
16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

Jesus was referring to the feast of meat and wine described by Isaiah. Jesus will not participate in a feast until the Kingdom of God comes. This rules out a marriage supper in heaven.

Chapter nineteen concludes with the most complete description of the battle of Armageddon. In chapter twenty, John described the resurrected saints being given places of authority in Christ's Kingdom.

Revelation 20
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

This resurrection of the saints is the only one in the book of Revelation. Notice that John did not actually see the resurrection of the saints, but described resurrected saints being given their places of authority in the Kingdom. It is clear that they had been previously resurrected. According to verse four, this resurrection includes those who were slain by the Antichrist. Therefore, they must have come through the tribulation, not bypassed it. This resurrection, which is clearly post-tribulational, was called by John, the "first resurrection." He contrasted it with the resurrection of the ungodly after the millennium. Of those who will experience the "first resurrection" he said: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." The implication is that all those who will reign with Christ will be raised in the "first resurrection." The fact that he called this the "first resurrection" precludes the possibility of there being a resurrection before this one at the beginning of the tribulation. By placing the "first resurrection" after the tribulation, John has also placed the rapture after the tribulation.

Many try to escape this obvious conclusion by claiming there are two stages to the "first resurrection" of the saints. The first stage being before the tribulation, and the second being after the tribulation, as described in Revelation twenty. But this interpretation is extremely strained and unnatural. If John meant this was the second stage of the "first resurrection" he would have said so, especially since there is no other resurrection mentioned in Revelation. For that matter, there is no resurrection before the tribulation anywhere in the Bible! The original readers of this epistle would have had no basis to draw such a conclusion. The natural, unforced, interpretation of Revelation twenty requires a post-tribulation resurrection of the Church of Jesus Christ.

The final chronological sequence concludes with the last judgement, the new earth, and the final reward of all God's children, the New Jerusalem. To the faithful who will overcome in the tribulation, he wrote;

Revelation 21
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write; for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

All saints will inherit these things, but God has a special place for those who overcome in the final hour of testing.

The Bible teaches that Christ's Kingdom on earth will last forever, [Isaiah 9:6,7, Dan. 7:13,14, Luke 1:31-33]. This is not contradicted by the statements in Revelation twenty-one. Here John saw a "new heaven and new earth." The word "new" means "fresh". It does not mean a different earth.

Psalm 104
5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it SHOULD NOT BE REMOVED FOREVER.

The "new heaven" is a new atmosphere, and the "new earth" is this earth, reborn. All sin, and all sinners, will forever be removed from this planet. Then, the new Jerusalem built by God himself can descend onto an earth pure and holy.

In Revelation 21:2, John saw the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." The unveiling of this incredible city is likened to a virgin bride in her wedding garments. In Bible times, the bride was completely covered until after the wedding. John's analogy, of this city to a virgin bride covered until the consummation of the wedding, indicates that no saints have ever set foot within the New Jerusalem until the unveiling at the end of the millennium. It is not likely that she had previously been defiled by the presence of anyone during the tribulation. Some believe Christians will live in this city temporarily during the tribulation, only to evacuate and return to earth for the Millennium. However, I believe the analogy to a virgin bride forbids this view. Not until the end of the Millennium will we set foot on the streets of gold.

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