Earth Dwellers and Those Dwelling With Christ
Revelation 13:14: " And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live."
Them that dwell on the earth are told by the second beast to make an image to the beast. Which beast? Revelation 13: 12 says this second beast "...exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." So, in Revelation 13: 14 the beast that the earth dwellers are told to make an image to must be that part of the first beast - Revelation 13: 1-3 - that received the deadly wound that was healed. Revelation 13:2 identifies the first beast as a composite of beast governments or nations which include those four in Daniel 7: 4-7, the first three of which are mentioned in Revelation 13: 2.
In fact, Revelation 13: 14 says in an explicit way that the image is to be made to the beast "which had the wound by a sword, and did live" This is the Little Horn nation which appears alongside or immediately following the appearance of the four great beasts of Daniel 7: 4-7.
The first beast, by implication, is the fourth "great beast" seen in Daniel 7: 7, and has some of the traits of the leopard, bear and lion beasts or empires. Daniel 7: 8 says "...there came up among them another little horn...." This Little Horn is part of the first beast of Revelation 13, where it says "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast." The Little Horn is a small nation, but powerful, and is somehow allied with or part of the first beast.
Lets look at the phrase τους κατοικουντας επι της γης, those who dwell on the earth. This phrase is found in a number of other scriptures.
Does "those who dwell on the earth" mean just all who are living on earth, or does it have another meaning?
Luke 21:35: "For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth."
Revelation 3:10: "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."
Revelation 6:10 "And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?"
In Revelation 6: 10 those who are praying to God to judge those that dwell on the earth are those who were killed for their testimony to the word of God and are at that time under the alter, in heaven, as stated in revelation 6: 9.
Those in heaven cry to God to judge those who dwell on the earth, indicating a conflict or opposition spiritually (and probably physically also) between those who dwell on the earth and those in heaven who apparently were killed by those who dwell on the earth because of their testimony to the word of God.
Luke 21:35-36: "For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
Here again, in Luke 21: 35-36, there is an implied separation, or difference between the earth dwellers and those who are accounted worthy to escape those things that are coming upon the earth dwellers.
Luke 21 is a parallel chapter to Matthew 24, on the tribulation. And so what is said about the tribulation in both chapters can be combined. Deception is mentioned in Matthew 24: 4, 5, 11, 24 - and the false prophets who carry out the deception are seen Matthew 24: 11 and Matthew 24: 24.
The tribulation is a time in which the false prophets deceive the people, those claiming to be Christians. The earth dwellers are deceived by the false prophets, but those in Luke 21: 35-36 accounted worthy to escape the things of the tribulation are not deceived.
Lets look at more texts which include the phrase them that dwell on the earth or earth dwellers. Revelation 11:10: "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth."
Revelation 11 on the two witnesses, or δυσιν μαρτυσιν, two martyrs, is in difficult metaphoric language. And, it is the earth dwellers, who tend to insist that Revelation 11 - the two witnesses - are two literal guys.
"And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." Revelation 11: 8.
Revelation 11: 8 is metaphor, and is not saying that literally the bodies of the two witnesses are to lie in the street of Jerusalem over in the Middle East. The earth dwellers in Revelation 11: 10 rejoice because the witnesses are killed by the beast out of the bottomless pit, which is more metaphor. The Serpent-Dragon spiritually kills the two witnesses, but it is his minions who are the earth dwellers who actually carry out the spiritual killing.
But in Revelation 11: 11-12 the spirit of life from God enters into the two witnesses; they are reborn spiritually.
The two witnesses are going through the refining process. While they are being refined the earth dwellers, who love this world hate them. The tribulation is, in part, that conflict between the earth dwellers and the elect of God.
"And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God" Zechariah 13: 8-9
Zechariah 13: 8-9 is a principle. It can include seeing the three parts of man, as body, mind and man's spirit, given by God. Two parts - body and mind, are cut off in the refining fire, and the third part, man's spirit from God, is saved.
There are more scriptures that include the phrase earth dwellers. Revelation 13:8: "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." The names of the earth dwellers are not written in the Lamb's book of life.
Revelation 14:6 "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,"
This is the true gospel being preached to the earth dwellers by the elect, those who are physically on earth but are not "earth dwellers."
Revelation 13:6: "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven."
There it is. "Them that dwell in heaven" are the elect who are physically on earth, but who are, at the same time, seated "... in heavenly places in Christ Jesus "
"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2: 5
Revelation 14:3: "And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth."
The remnant, the 144,000, are redeemed from the earth; they are no longer earth dwellers but dwell with God.
Revelation 21:3 "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."
There are other scriptures in which the earth dwellers, as being those who reject the truth, can be explored, such as the falling away of II Thessalonians 2: 3-4, being saved and coming to the knowledge of the truth, rejection of the truth and accepting fables.
And there is the theology which begins from the assumption that all scripture must be interpreted as being literal and which affirms the letter rather than the Spirit (II Corinthians 3: 6). "...for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." The letter than kills spiritually is affirmed by the earth dwellers
Revelation 13:14: " And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live."
Them that dwell on the earth are told by the second beast to make an image to the beast. Which beast? Revelation 13: 12 says this second beast "...exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." So, in Revelation 13: 14 the beast that the earth dwellers are told to make an image to must be that part of the first beast - Revelation 13: 1-3 - that received the deadly wound that was healed. Revelation 13:2 identifies the first beast as a composite of beast governments or nations which include those four in Daniel 7: 4-7, the first three of which are mentioned in Revelation 13: 2.
In fact, Revelation 13: 14 says in an explicit way that the image is to be made to the beast "which had the wound by a sword, and did live" This is the Little Horn nation which appears alongside or immediately following the appearance of the four great beasts of Daniel 7: 4-7.
The first beast, by implication, is the fourth "great beast" seen in Daniel 7: 7, and has some of the traits of the leopard, bear and lion beasts or empires. Daniel 7: 8 says "...there came up among them another little horn...." This Little Horn is part of the first beast of Revelation 13, where it says "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast." The Little Horn is a small nation, but powerful, and is somehow allied with or part of the first beast.
Lets look at the phrase τους κατοικουντας επι της γης, those who dwell on the earth. This phrase is found in a number of other scriptures.
Does "those who dwell on the earth" mean just all who are living on earth, or does it have another meaning?
Luke 21:35: "For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth."
Revelation 3:10: "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."
Revelation 6:10 "And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?"
In Revelation 6: 10 those who are praying to God to judge those that dwell on the earth are those who were killed for their testimony to the word of God and are at that time under the alter, in heaven, as stated in revelation 6: 9.
Those in heaven cry to God to judge those who dwell on the earth, indicating a conflict or opposition spiritually (and probably physically also) between those who dwell on the earth and those in heaven who apparently were killed by those who dwell on the earth because of their testimony to the word of God.
Luke 21:35-36: "For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
Here again, in Luke 21: 35-36, there is an implied separation, or difference between the earth dwellers and those who are accounted worthy to escape those things that are coming upon the earth dwellers.
Luke 21 is a parallel chapter to Matthew 24, on the tribulation. And so what is said about the tribulation in both chapters can be combined. Deception is mentioned in Matthew 24: 4, 5, 11, 24 - and the false prophets who carry out the deception are seen Matthew 24: 11 and Matthew 24: 24.
The tribulation is a time in which the false prophets deceive the people, those claiming to be Christians. The earth dwellers are deceived by the false prophets, but those in Luke 21: 35-36 accounted worthy to escape the things of the tribulation are not deceived.
Lets look at more texts which include the phrase them that dwell on the earth or earth dwellers. Revelation 11:10: "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth."
Revelation 11 on the two witnesses, or δυσιν μαρτυσιν, two martyrs, is in difficult metaphoric language. And, it is the earth dwellers, who tend to insist that Revelation 11 - the two witnesses - are two literal guys.
"And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." Revelation 11: 8.
Revelation 11: 8 is metaphor, and is not saying that literally the bodies of the two witnesses are to lie in the street of Jerusalem over in the Middle East. The earth dwellers in Revelation 11: 10 rejoice because the witnesses are killed by the beast out of the bottomless pit, which is more metaphor. The Serpent-Dragon spiritually kills the two witnesses, but it is his minions who are the earth dwellers who actually carry out the spiritual killing.
But in Revelation 11: 11-12 the spirit of life from God enters into the two witnesses; they are reborn spiritually.
The two witnesses are going through the refining process. While they are being refined the earth dwellers, who love this world hate them. The tribulation is, in part, that conflict between the earth dwellers and the elect of God.
"And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God" Zechariah 13: 8-9
Zechariah 13: 8-9 is a principle. It can include seeing the three parts of man, as body, mind and man's spirit, given by God. Two parts - body and mind, are cut off in the refining fire, and the third part, man's spirit from God, is saved.
There are more scriptures that include the phrase earth dwellers. Revelation 13:8: "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." The names of the earth dwellers are not written in the Lamb's book of life.
Revelation 14:6 "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,"
This is the true gospel being preached to the earth dwellers by the elect, those who are physically on earth but are not "earth dwellers."
Revelation 13:6: "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven."
There it is. "Them that dwell in heaven" are the elect who are physically on earth, but who are, at the same time, seated "... in heavenly places in Christ Jesus "
"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2: 5Revelation 14:3: "And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth."
The remnant, the 144,000, are redeemed from the earth; they are no longer earth dwellers but dwell with God.
Revelation 21:3 "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."
There are other scriptures in which the earth dwellers, as being those who reject the truth, can be explored, such as the falling away of II Thessalonians 2: 3-4, being saved and coming to the knowledge of the truth, rejection of the truth and accepting fables.
And there is the theology which begins from the assumption that all scripture must be interpreted as being literal and which affirms the letter rather than the Spirit (II Corinthians 3: 6). "...for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." The letter than kills spiritually is affirmed by the earth dwellers
