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The Great Divide

by Phil Maxwell (09/20/2005 -  )

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34-42

Numerous passages of the Bible speak of great catastrophes, huge death tolls, and the identification and subsequent persecution of the true servants of Christ in the world in the last days.  This comes on the heals of many generations of apostasy and division within the demon-infested ranks of Christianity, but the promise of a full harvest of the Lord's wheat with nothing lost remains, tares notwithstanding.   Obviously, not all who call Yahshua (Jesus) 'Lord' do so in earnest, and that is the problem that must be fixed before the true sons of God can be fully manifested, again, as promised.  There must be a great division, and there will be, for the Lord's people must above all be unified and distinct from the world on the deepest levels. 

The judgment seat of Christ, end time tribulation, and the manifestation of the sons of God all refer to events that have no historical precedent, so they are naturally revealed in Scripture through many parables and metaphors, but that doesn't mean the messages and warnings of these passages should be minimalized.  Judgment begins with the "household of God" and doesn't end until the whole world and all its kingdoms are brought into full and unconditional subjection to the saints. 

As in the days following the flood, the world will be a very different place when all is said and done, but comprehending the degree of horrors and challenges facing mankind in the meantime can be quite difficult.   The following illustrations are rungs in the ladder and, for those aspiring to pass the Lord's muster with their souls intact, it is a ladder that needs to be climbed.

The Judgment Seat of Christ

Division Before the Harvest

The Parable of the Wheat and Tares describes what was, at the time Yahshua authored it, a panoramic view of the future of the church He was setting the foundation for at the time.  Now it serves best as an unflattering spiritual expose' of Christianity in the world...and what Yahshua intends to do about it.  It describes the seemingly impossible magnitude of the task of harvesting Yahshua's true servants from amongst the masses of hypocrites infiltrating their ranks with absolutely righteous precision, but offers all assurance that He will do so.

The picture of a field of wheat infested with weeds is a dismal view of the "faith once delivered to the saints" in the world and the foundations of the one true church laid by the apostles, but the prevailing conclusion is that the faithful will prevail.  The Lord guarantees the harvest to those who do it His way, their own failures notwithstanding.  The parable and subsequent explanation are offered separately in Matthew 13, but the following paraphrase combines the two:

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man [the Son of Man] who sowed good seed [the sons of the kingdom] in his field [the world].  But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares [the sons of the devil] also among the wheat, and went away.  But when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.  And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'

And he said to them, 'An enemy [the devil] has done this!'  And the slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'   But he said, 'No; lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest [the end of the age]; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers [angels], 'First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.'

Therefore just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Matthew 13:24-43 NASB paraphrase

Here, in a nutshell, is the history of the church built upon the apostles' testimony over the last two millennia -- written before it happened.  Since the controversies arising from the introduction of Gentiles into the ranks of the Christian Jews in the first century, Christian history has been one division after another mixed with a lot of strife and persecution.  Even the apostles recorded the infiltration of disingenuous members into the ranks of believers within the pages of the New Testament and predicted the trend to grow and spread over time, like weeds in a garden. 

Few are willing to admit the sorry state of Christianity in the world today, but the facts are evident: There is no unity of doctrine, spirit, faith, standards, or anything else.  There is no discernible church; instead there are thousands of walls and fences defining endless hyphenated Christ's, all fashioned according to various individual and group preferences with varying degrees of disregard for Yahshua and the apostles' own words.  Each believes their own stairway to heaven reaches higher than the other, while none seem to consider that none actually get there.  Two millennia later, the product of the apostles' words being spread throughout the world (as promised) is a huge field dominated by weeds striving to choke the life out of the remaining wheat. 

The real source of the problem seems to trace back some time before the servants realize there is any problem at all, which is specified to be near the "end of the age".  In fact, the apostles recorded their own battles against false doctrines and factious people throughout the New Testament, but never saw the disintegration of the church that followed their deaths.  As the designated apostles of Christ, their word and testimony formed the center and boundaries of the faith, adversaries notwithstanding.  Obviously, many followed after heretics and opposed even them under the banner of Christianity in the first century, but there remained no doubt where the true line of the faith was drawn -- between those who stood with the apostles and everyone else. 

With no designated successors, the apostles' deaths left the scattered and persecuted ranks of believers with nothing but their words to bind them together, and that was destined to fail.  Following over two centuries of persecution that first divided Christianity from Judaism, then fostered both the spread and growth of Christianity, a unity of faith of sorts was found by the unseemly collusion between religious leaders and the Roman Emperor Constantine.  This formed a marriage called the "Holy Roman Empire" which systematically defined Christian doctrine and practice by the force of arms for the next 1,200 years and beyond, mercilessly crushing dissenters for the most part.

The branches of Protestantism spawned in the 16th century quickly embraced both the doctrines and oppressions of their Roman Catholic mother.  However, the Protestant Reformation coupled with the advent of Bibles printed in common languages and the colonization of the "New World" to literally spread the gospel to the furthest corners of the world.  These things also passed a degree of heavenly accountability to individuals previously somewhat shielded by the way Roman Catholicism had the Scriptures locked away from all but their own clergy.   As the effects of the Reformation spread throughout the world over the centuries that followed, so has the real account of the life, teachings, and promises of the man Yahshua become known to all, with more information available to about anyone interested.  With it, however, has also been the spread doctrines of demons founded thousands of years ago and a constant influx of wolves wrapped in sheep's wool insuring constant discord and division amongst the saints.  And so is the state of affairs amongst the two billion or so counted as Christians in the world today -- an untenable dilution of the true teachings of Yahshua and the apostles in a sea of man-made doctrines and divisions.

It is at this point that the parable reaches to us, those considering ourselves Christians in the world today, but lacking any clear marker identifying who is really serving Christ amongst all those calling Him 'Lord'.  Thus, prompted by the appearance of grain on the wheat, or the spiritual fruit of the righteous, strife occurs between the competing tares and the wheat, and this ultimately serves to accomplish the prevailing purpose of separating the wheat from the tares.  Clearly, the Lord has not called His servants in the world to war against those falsely representing Him in the world, period.   As servants, each is to focus on cultivating the wheat rather than eliminating the competing weeds.  As wheat, each is to focus on being fruitful in their works according to the Lord's standards. 

Having no such fruit to bear, the tares resort to seeking only to devour the wheat, their chosen lot in life.  In the process, they reveal themselves as not only unfruitful servants of Christ, but traitors and enemies, too, effectively uprooting themselves and joining the bundles of tares marked for burning.  Thus, inherent in this encounter between Yahshua and His servants is a test of their carnal instincts against His command of patience and forbearance.  The servants unanimously desire to rid their ranks of those who they perceive as corrupting influences, but good intentions don't always yield good results, as the Apostle Paul later testified regarding his former misguided violence against his Christian brethren.  The tares devour and the wheat endures to the end, ultimately taking their place in the safety of the Lord's kingdom.

Universal Judgment

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 2 Cor 5:10

For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?  And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? 1 Peter 4:17-18

Regardless of how this is administered, the point remains that the Scriptures allow no exemptions with regard to Christ's judgment, though it should be noted that this refers specifically to those who claim to serve Him.  The judgment seat of Christ is for the expressed purpose of rewarding His servants, not issuing punishments, though there's a catch: The world is already condemned, so no reward equals no refuge from the world's self-inflicted condemnation. 

Since the aim of this judgment is to reward those who call Him 'Lord' according to their works, Yahshua's role is more like a paymaster than a judge, though, unlike the world, He will not be shortchanging or overpaying anyone.  While this may seem benign enough, history shows that those who disingenuously seek God's blessing tend and get rewarded accordingly tend to not take it too well.  Like Cain and Joseph's siblings, they reject the wisdom and justice of God when it doesn't favor them, which naturally leads to violence against those who've "stolen their reward," as they see it.

Obviously, this view casts the "judgment seat of Christ" as an event that manifests in plain sight in the world, at least insofar as it pertains to end time events.  While broader implications of the topic can certainly be considered, the end time saints in the world will be distinguished in many ways by their election by the God who is on record with many promises towards the same end, many specifically referring to the great tribulation of the last days.  

Divided by Reward

One of the means by which the Lord will accomplish such a monumental task of dividing all of man according to the righteousness of their hearts is by the mere issuance of heavenly rewards to those found righteous at the onset of the tribulation.  As mentioned before, this will provoke the hypocrite "tares" to envy their supposed brethren, like Yahshua and the apostles' greater wisdom and works provoked the Pharisees and scribes to murder. 

The first of many such occasions in the Bible is the story of Cain and Abel, which serves as a clear foreshadow of the judgment seat of Christ.

So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.  And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;  but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."  And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Genesis 4:3-8

As in the above case, the judgment seat of Christ will ultimately render a just reward to all mankind, including the reward of nothing earned by pretentious servants who serve Him in word only.  Note that, consistent with the judgment seat of Christ, Cain wasn't punished here.  Rather, though failing to obtain a reward that he obviously felt entitled to, he was given grace and the opportunity to do better in the future.  However, instead of applying himself better towards his own reward, he sought to steal or at least eliminate the object of his envy, his brother.  His basic error was measuring himself against his brother instead of towards the mark set by Yahweh.  This fueled the delusion that his brother's righteousness was the cause of his overwhelming sense of shame, which drove him to destroy his own soul through murdering his brother.  What he apparently thought would somehow balance the scales of justice only sealed his own previously undecided fate.

Cain and Abel personify the ultimate division to be effected in the world and particularly amongst those who name Christ in the last days.  One represents the righteous and openly rewarded children of God, the other the self-serving children of the devil seeking to destroy the object of their envy.  The open reward of the children of God provokes the children of the devil to expose themselves as the enemies of God by opposing His children, and, thus, the line will be drawn with explicit clarity, just as Yahshua described in the following:     

31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 "And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats ; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? 38 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 'And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'

40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'

44 "Then they themselves also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'

45 "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46 "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Matthew 25:31-46

More will be said regarding how and why people are separated like sheep and goats later, but the point here is that Yahshua Himself made it abundantly clear that there will be no doubt regarding who is truly His and who isn't in that time.  That is, except the delusional masses who believe that their majority numbers and power over the saints makes them the true children of God. 

Although the account begins with an illustration ('sheep and goats'), what follows is a straightforward account of how Christ's judgment of man will be administered, not a parable.  There is no reason to think that the examples given aren't fully intended as literal examples.  Neither is there any reason to consider it any less conclusive regarding the single-line division of mankind He intends to draw between those who truly serve Him and those who don't.

One of the main points of this account coincides with one of my wife's favorite maxims, 'character is what you are in the dark,' and that seems to be exactly the point of the discreet tests of character that will delineate the great division Christ is bringing about.  Like a business owner might send a mystery shopper to anonymously investigate the service his employees give, Yahshua knows that character-defining circumstances like those described are only revealing to the extent that His servants aren't aware of the test.

Alluded to is what is elsewhere referred to elsewhere as the "thief in the night" visitation upon the supposed people of God, wherein Yahshua puts His own face on the needy of the world encountered in fairly ordinary circumstances of life, like the wounded stranger in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  In this judgment, both the righteous and the unrighteous will be surprised at how He personalizes what had been perceived as routine human encounters.  How easy to forget that even the least of Yahshua's brethren have angels who are in continual contact with the heavenly Father, especially when confronted with the prospect of paying a price to do right or simply bypassing the need, as the illustrations show. 

Note also how there are no rules, laws, or violations in view, only those who actually do the works of Christ, and those who don't bother.  The preceding age of the law was all about the don'ts and punishment, whereas the age of grace is focused on the do's and rewards.  People either do the do's or they don't, but no one will be rewarded beyond what their own works merit before the judgment seat of Christ.  Those who carefully budget their good works and excuse themselves from lending a hand to a fellow human being for greed, vanity, or whatever will not pass muster when the Lord judges his own house. 

This will be a concise division that will ultimately lead to the triumphant manifestation of the sons of God, though it begins in the world with what seems an almost implausible premise, that Yahshua will gather all the nations before Him in order to judge the people of the world individually.  How this is to be done isn't in view in the account, but the point is no less clear: By the time this event passes, the world will be divided into two clear groups -- those that stand with Yahshua and everyone else.

1 John 3:11-12

11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;

12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous.
NASB

Jude 11

11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
NASB


 

  Thus, though His judgment is for the expressed purpose of rewarding the faithful, it will also reveal the unfaithful in the same way that Cain's character was revealed by Abel's greater blessing from God.  Cain then sealed his own fate by reviling his brother through his envy rather than seeking his own reward, though the opportunity remained.

.  In the spirit of Cain, they will help distinguish the saints through their envious opposition, as well as establish their own fate.  As in the great flood, those who are with Christ no matter what the cost, they will be kept safe; everyone else, regardless of professions, will be on their own.  The saints must, like Noah, distinguish themselves from everyone around them through their works.  There is no consolation prize for missing the boat with Christ.

Divided by Betrayal vs. Compassion

Matthew 10:34-42

34 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 "For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. 37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 "He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it.

40 "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41 "He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. 42 "And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you he shall not lose his reward." NASB

Obviously, truly serving Christ comes at a high price, most notably the price of one's reputation in the eyes of their nearest relatives and friends.  Key to this insofar as Christ's judgment goes is the willingness to be associated with those who serve Christ from the least to the greatest.  Those who are ashamed of Him -- measured by their reception of those He counts as His -- will find themselves excluded when He selects out His own people in the last days.

This is one of many Bible passages that deal directly with the judgment seat of Christ, which is a symbolic representation of a great division promised in the last days, a separating out or sanctification of the relative few who truly distinguish themselves as servants of Yahshua from the masses of hypocrites who call Him 'Lord' but disregard His commandments.  As the events unfold, the line will become absolutely clear, as circumstances will compel everyone to either declare themselves for Christ at great peril or acquiesce to the status quo.  In this, each individual will be judged according to Christ's righteous standards according to their own works.

Measuring the Temple

Revelation 11:1-2

And there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, "Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it.  And leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months." NASB

With a measurement of God's people, a clear division based on the results, and cataclysmic events to follow, this is obviously about judgment, particularly judgment of the "household of God," as Peter wrote would be where it all begins.  It is a measurement of the work commissioned to the people of God, symbolized by the "temple" they'd been commissioned to construct according to the word of God, especially as delivered by Yahshua through the apostles.  The work was to join together with other believers as He taught and as the apostles and early believers both taught and demonstrated, changing the world in the process.  Inherent in the very concept of Christianity is the unction to love all others rightfully claiming the title in ways that distinguish the true followers of Christ from the world.  The members of the body of Christ are supposed to be as the "lively stones" of this temple, bound together with the mortar of the love of God.

There are actually two lines to be set here -- the line between the temple and the outer courts and beyond, plus the more specific measure of the altar at the center of the temple and entrance to the Holy of Holies.  Those found worshipping inside the temple boundary are to be protected from the 42 months of tribulation coming upon those on the outside, while those found worshipping at the altar are subsequently identified as the two witnesses that are the main subject of the passage.  Notice that those counted on the inside are included because of their proximity to the temple, which is the body of Christ.  As in other cases describing the judgment seat of Christ, the fate of believers rests entirely upon their relationship with Christ, which is established by how they relate to others. 

Rather than measuring a collective temple as though the product of human works, the measurement focuses entirely on individual proximity to the altar at entrance to the Holy of Holies where Yahshua rules at the right hand of the Father, where the work of priests is done.  According to numerous illustrations, this represents Yahshua going forth as a thief in the night to take account of His people, and it seems to be a fairly easy task in some ways.  Those nearby are the ones He knows and finds reason to rescue from the coming calamities.  All others are simply those affording Him no reason to give them special consideration; they are the ones He will say "I never knew you" to when they claim to be victims of divine injustice.  The judgment seat of Christ is where His servants get rewarded for their deeds, so only those who show up get rewarded.  Others aren't punished, per se, they just aren't granted safe passage through the tribulation that follows.

Worshipping at the altar in this context relates to boarding the ark before the flood or receiving the messengers that delivered Lot from Sodom before its destruction.  It also relates to the marking of the forehead promised to those who renounce the abominations of the time as a protective measure, as discussed by Ezekiel and John elsewhere in the Apocalypse:

Ezekiel 9:2-6

And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; ...And Yahweh said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst."

But to the others He said in my hearing, "Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity, and do not spare. Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary." So they started with the elders who were before the temple. NASB

Revelation 6:12-7:3

And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.  And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand? "

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind should blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads." NASB

Ezekiel gives the best glimpse of how those found "worshipping at the altar" are identified: They are the ones openly renouncing the egregious abominations committed all around them in the land targeted for this harsh judgment at the hands of human enemies serving at the behest of God Himself. 

If we accept the natural correlation between these two accounts from John, then we can see a more clear view of how this mystical heavenly vision plays out in the world.  Clearly, the line between the elect and everyone else is to be drawn on the heals of the horrific events described in connection with the breaking of the sixth seal, and before a series of even more calamities.  Those understanding this will already recognize that everything outside the wall "has been given to the nations," and it isn't unreasonable conjecture to paint the picture as a measure of people's response to the events that obviously serve as a wake-up call to a sleepy world.  The fact that the Father and Yahshua are responding in force to the abominations of their people will be evident to all, though the question remains as to whether this will drive people to their knees before God or seek other remedies for their despair.  As John's prophecy unfolds, it becomes apparent that most will shake their fist at God in self-righteous spite.   

Revelation 11:3-4

"And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."  These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.  NASB

It is interesting to note that there are actually two demarcation lines implied in this measurement of the people of God.  The first is illustrated as the distinction between the temple proper and the outer court surrounding it, and the second more specifically refers to the altar at the very center of the temple.  (Not all who are within the temple would be at the altar, which had very limited access allowed only to the priest) The first distinguishes who is to be marked for safekeeping, while the second identifies the so-called two witnesses who will be anointed with a powerful prophetic ministry.  Apparently, they are the only two actually found worshipping at the altar, and their election is thereby sealed.

5 And if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and if anyone would desire to harm them, in this manner he must be killed.

6 These have the power to shut up the sky, in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.

8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

9 And those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.

10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

11 And after the three and a half days the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were beholding them.

12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them.

13 And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."

16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God,

17 saying, "We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast begun to reign.

18 "And the nations were enraged, and Thy wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy bond-servants the prophets and to the saints and to those who fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."
NASB
Rev 20:4-6

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; 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.
NASB

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