7 Seals of REVELATION SERIES: 144,000 Interlude

 The account given to the apostle concerning that noble army of martyrs who stood before the throne of God in white robes, with palms of victory in their hands.

Revelation has four portraits of the 144,000 each with its own emphasis:

Revelation 7:1-8: Emphasis falls on the sealing of the 144,000 for

their protection during the time of trouble and at the second coming followed by the jubilatory singing after victory has been gained. (Revelation 7:9 17). 

Revelation 14:1-5: Emphasis on the character of the 144,000.

Revelation 15:2-4: Emphasis on the victory of the 144,000 over the beast, his image and his mark. 

Revelation 19:1-8: Emphasis on the jubilatory singing of the 144,000 because the harlot has been judged and God’s people have been avenged.

***The 144,000 sealed ones from the twelve tribes of Israel are not literal Jews.

“The message of the renewing power of God's grace will be carried to every country and clime, until the truth shall belt the world. Of the number of them that shall be sealed [Revelation 14:1] will be those who have come from every nation and kindred and tongue and people. From every country will be gathered men and women who will stand before the throne of God and before the Lamb, crying, "Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." [Revelation 7:10]. But before this work can be accomplished, we must experience here in our own country the work of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts.” E.G.W.

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. 

Romans 2:28, 29

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

Galatians 3:26-29
But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, In Isaac your seed shall be called. That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

Romans 9:6-8

Q: If God stamps His seal only on literal Jews, then why would God warn every nation, kindred tongue and people about the dangers of worshiping the beast and his image and receiving his mark? 

A: The fact that God warns all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples about the seal of God and the mark of the beast clearly indicates that it is possible for people from every nation, kindred, tongue and people to receive the seal of God or the mark of the beast. Clearly, then, the sealed ones from the twelve tribes of Israel cannot be literal Jews only!

Literal or Symbolic Number? 

Q: Are we to understand that there will be only 144,000 living saints when Jesus comes?
A: First, the book of Revelation presents its message in symbolic language. Persons, names, places and numbers are all symbolic. Numbers such as seven, three and a half times, three and a half days, 42 months, 1260 days, 666, two hundred million, are all symbolic. Revelation 7 and 14 (where the 144,000 appear) are saturated with symbols such as the Lamb, winds, trees, tribes of Israel, seal, four corners of the earth, earth, sea, white robes, virgins, first-fruits, etc.

Second, if there will only be 144,000 faithful living saints when Jesus comes (not one more and not one less!) then we would have to conclude that God pre determined, pre-chose or hand-picked them. It is very unlikely that exactly 144,000 would exercise their freedom of choice to be among the living righteous when Jesus comes.

***The 144,000 who in the chapter before us are said to be sealed with the seal of God in their foreheads, are again brought to view in Revelation 14:1, where they are said to have the Father's name written in their foreheads.
Q: What Is the Seal of God?

A: From the foregoing reasoning, facts, and declarations of Scripture, two conclusions inevitably follow:
1. The seal of God is found in the law.
2. The seal of God is that part of His law which contains His name, or descriptive title, showing who He is, the extent of His dominion, and His right to rule.
The law of God is admitted by all the leading evangelical denominations to be summarily contained in the decalogue, or ten commandments. 

We have, then, but to examine these commandments to see which one it is that constitutes the seal of the law, or in other words, makes known the true God, the lawmaking power.

The first three commandments mention the word "God," but we cannot tell from these who is meant, for there are multitudes of objects to which this name is applied. 

We pass over the fourth commandment for the time being. 

The fifth contains the words "Lord" and "God," but does not define them, and the remaining five precepts do not contain the name of God at all. 

With that part of the law which we have examined, it would be impossible to convict the grossest idolater of sin. The worshiper of images could say, This idol before me is my god, and I worship him according to this law. 

Thus without the fourth commandment the decalogue is null and void, as far as it pertains to the definition of the worship of the true God.

But let us now add the fourth commandment. As we examine this commandment, which contains the declaration, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is," we see at once that we are reading the requirements of Him who created all things. 

---The Author of this law has declared who He is, the extent of His dominion, and His right to rule; for every created intelligence must at once assent that He who is the Creator of all has a right to demand obedience from all His creatures. 

Thus the fourth commandment in its place, this wonderful document, the decalogue, the only document among men which God ever wrote with His own finger, has a signature, it has that which renders it intelligible and authentic, it has a seal. 

But without the fourth commandment, the law is incomplete and unauthoritative.

From the foregoing logic it is evident that the fourth commandment constitutes the seal of the law of God, or the seal of God.

Drawn/taken from the book Daniel & Revelation by Uriah Smith---Study Guide by Stephen Bohr---Sermon by Walter Veith---Commentaries from Matthew Henry/Adam Clark---Revelation Made Clear

IN the NEWS - The "Friars of Sodom" may cost Church $162,450,000 in Louisiana

But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
Genesis 13:13

"Authorities in south-west Louisiana recently arrested a Roman Catholic priest on accusations of behaving indecently with a child, igniting a new scandal in the diocese where the US church’s reckoning with clergy abuse began – an institution that just disclosed it could lose up to $162m over pending litigation.
Korey LaVergne was jailed Friday evening on three counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile, according to Acadia parish

sheriff KP Gibson, whose agency arrested the priest. LaVergne had presided over mass at St. Edward church in Richard – where the Lafayette diocese had assigned him as pastor – hours before he was booked into the Acadia lockup.
Records showed LaVergne made bail in the amount of $15,000 less than 90 minutes after he was jailed to secure his release from custody pending the outcome of the case.
LaVergne, 37, had previously served as the Lafayette diocese’s official courier. In that role, he had drawn news headlines for bringing thousands of pages of documents to the Vatican outlining the cause for sainthood for Charlene Richard, who died from acute lymphatic leukemia at age 12 in 1959 and became known for offering her suffering up to God as well as others.
Richard, nicknamed the Little Cajun Saint, is buried at St Edward.
LaVergne’s arrest comes at a relatively fragile time for the Lafayette diocese, which was founded in 1918 and tends to a congregation of about 150,000 Catholics.
In a financial report posted in November, the diocese disclosed its “total range of potential loss on [pending litigation] claims with a reasonably possible likelihood of unfavorable outcome is $88,187,500 to $162,450,000”. That range derived from an estimate conducted by its legal counsel, which had “reviewed the lawsuits in order to evaluate the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome”, the diocese’s 39-page report said." 

Guradian

AI: The Plague of his own heart (& incantation-response)

....which shall know every man the plague of his own heart.... 

1 Kings 8:38

"While LLMs may be “just math” and statistically choose the next word as “autocomplete on steroids,” they aren’t reliably connected to reality. 

They don’t know the meaning of anything. 

In fact, they know precisely nothing (Big Tech propaganda notwithstanding). So, the words they generate are not grounded in reality. It’s not just that they hallucinate: it’s that they confabulate.

ChatGPT is the archetype of today’s AI chatbots. Its leader, Sam

Altman, is widely known for his willingness to say anything people want to hear. And he’s made ChatGPT in his image: it says anything to get us to become more dependent upon it, to build a trust relationship with it.
And students are particularly vulnerable to chatbot manipulation.

GenAI chatbots are designed for one thing: to build a trust relationship. Users aren’t going to be better thinkers, and become wiser or discerning. They’re going to be better at having relationships with chatbots. And in the process, as Marshall McLuhan teaches us, the mental abilities they’ve extended by their use of the chatbot will be amputated over time, while they are numbed to the process.

AI is completely different from reading a book. A book reader can go into a state of focused attention we call “flow,” and that’s where the powerful learning happens. If a reader gets stuck, they can re-read, rethink, wrestle, and fight to understand what the author is saying.
In a “conversation” with a chatbot, the “flow” state never happens. The user interface encourages quick dopamine-spiking interactions, incantation-response. A few students might try to figure out whether the output is right, but they’ll get tired before the AI does, and will eventually just keep asking the AI questions and accept the answers.
The recent MIT study shows how the brain is disconnected when we use AI chatbots for writing." 

MindMatters

IN the NEWS - VIOLENCE: Signs of the Times

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice./Thou shalt do no murder, ...Matthew 19:18/Romans 1:29 NIV

"A new poll shows that women are more likely than men to believe that political assassination is at least somewhat justified.
The Daily Wire reported that a new Network Contagion Research Institute poll shows...“Contrary to conventional assumptions that

political violence is more closely associated with male respondents, we observe a reversal of this pattern in expressed justification,” the Network Contagion Research Institute stated. Female respondents were more likely than male respondents to tolerate some degree of justification.
The Network Contagion Research Institute noted that the poll suggests that “support for political violence in this context does not conform to traditional gender-based expectations.”
Joel Finkelstein, co-founder of the Network Contagion Research Institute, told The Daily Wire that the surprising information obtained in the recent poll is the fact that the individuals who supported the justification of political assassinations were from all demographics and persuasions.
“We dug into the data because this felt like it was describing a deeper moral crisis,” Finkelstein said. “We assumed young men would be driving this, given unemployment, disengagement, and declining graduation rates. That’s why we explicitly examined gender. What surprised us, honestly shocked us, was that women were more likely to show tolerance for political violence.”
“Over the past decade, women, especially younger women have become more politically polarized, more emotionally moralized, and more immersed in online political identity formation,” Finkelstein stated." 

AmericanMilitaryNews

Creation Moment 1/26/2026 - Two-word incantation of "science" for "other gods"

Do not forget the covenant I made with you, and do not worship other gods. 1 Kings 17:38 NLT

"Evolutionists, of course, believe that they are appealing to science, in
contrast to the religionists' reliance on faith. But the truth is that when they utter their two-word incantation, "natural selection," they are not being remotely scientific. Nor are they expected to provide any details.... To today's biologist, in short, natural selection operates as an omnipotent force, just as divine fiat once did." 

Tom Bethell, Darwin's House of Cards (2016), p 123

7 Seals of REVELATION SERIES: Sixth Seal

 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a

great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood [not darkened]. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs [unripe] when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 

Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 

And the kings of the earth [rulers who govern the nations of the world], the great men [high officers of the state], the rich men [the socially wealthy], the commanders [commanders of armies], the mighty men [the great men in battle], every slave and every free man [regular everyday citizens], hid themselves [they are found naked according to Genesis 3:8; Revelation 16:15 and hide like Adam and Eve after sin] in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us [Hosea 10:8; Luke 23:30] from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand? [Ephesians 6:14; I Peter 5:12; Luke 11:18].

Revelation 6:12-17

....the great earthquake and the signs in the sun, the moon were literal events.

Q: Why? 

A: We find the reason in the meaning of a Greek word that appears four times in Revelation 6:12, 13, the word “as” (hos). Ranko Stefanovic explained the meaning of this word: “. . . the repeated usage of the word ‘as’ or ‘like’ (Gr. hos) in the text appears to be very significant. The sun becomes black as sackcloth, the moon as blood, the stars of the sky fall as do the figs of the fig tree, and heaven splits as the papyrus scroll. In Greek, this word ‘introduces a figurative analogy to an actual event’ that is compared with something figurative. This suggests that these heavenly signs are intended to be taken literally.” (Ranko Stefanovic, Revelation of Jesus Christ, p. 244).

*The plea of the martyrs of the dark ages (“how long until you judge and avenge?”) in Revelation 6:10 finds its answer in Daniel 7:8-10; 8:13, 14 where the process of judgment begins to exonerate them from the faulty verdicts of earthly courts. 

*According to these passages in Daniel, the trampling of the sanctuary and of God’s people would last until the conclusion of the 2300 days where the process of vindicating the sanctuary and its worshipers would begin. 

*The signs in Revelation 6:12, 13 are the earthly announcement that the vindicating judgment is about to begin.

--It is noteworthy that the sixth church (the open door to the most holy place), the sixth seal (the sealing the 144,000) and the sixth trumpet (the vision of the Ark of the Covenant) all point to the events connected with the investigative judgment in the most holy place of the sanctuary.

The signs of Revelation 6:12, 13 play several specific functions.  

First, they announce that the great tribulation is about to end (Matthew 24:29).

Second, they serve as an omen of the fall of the papal power.  

Third, they serve to draw attention to the approaching judgment in 1844.

Fourth, they serve as indicators of the beginning of the time of the end. 

Finally, they announce the soon coming of Jesus.

C. Mervyn Maxwell well explained: “The location of the classic signs was highly significant. They happened in Europe and America primarily, where people were studying the Bible and pondering the prophecies. 

A dark day in the Sahara Desert or a star shower over New Guinea would have said little in those days about the second coming of Christ to cannibal headhunters or Muslim nomads. 

Events need not be universal to deliver a global message. A few square miles at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were sufficient to announce the atomic age. A stable in Bethlehem ushered in the Christian era. Only a few hundred people saw Jesus after His resurrection—but they told others.” Magnificent Disappointment, pp. 93, 94.

Revelation 6 describes the signs in the very order in which they historically occurred: 

The great earthquake (1755) 

The darkening of the sun (1780) 

The moon becoming like blood (1780) 

The stars falling from heaven (1833)

Lisbon Earthquake: 

Charles Lyell wrote the following graphic description of the event: "In no part of the volcanic region of Southern Europe has so tremendous an earthquake occurred in modern times as that which began on the 1st of November, 1755, at Lisbon. A sound of thunder was heard underground and immediately afterwards a violent shock threw down the greater part of that city. In the course of about six minutes, sixty thousand persons perished. The sea retired, and laid the bar dry; it then rolled in, rising fifty feet above ordinary level. ... Among other extraordinary events related to have occurred at Lisbon during the catastrophe was the subsidence of a new quay, built entirely of marble, at an immense expense. A great concourse of people had collected there for safety, at a spot where they might be beyond the reach of falling ruins; but suddenly the quay sank down with all the people on it, and not one of the dead bodies ever floated to the surface." Sir Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology, p. 495.

The Dark Day: 

"May 19, 1780, stands in history as "The Dark Day." Since the time of Moses no period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration, has ever been recorded. The description of this event, as given by eyewitnesses, is but an echo of the words of the Lord, recorded by the prophet Joel, twenty-five hundred years previous to their fulfillment: "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31." E.G.W.

"Though at nine o'clock that night the moon rose to the full, "it had not the least effect to dispel the deathlike shadows." After midnight the darkness disappeared, and the moon, when first visible, had the appearance of blood." Letter by Dr. Samuel Tenney, of Exeter, New Hampshire, December, 1785 (in Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 1792, 1st series, vol. 1, p. 97).

Whittier, in a well-known poem, pictures it thus:

"Twas on a May-day of the far old year

Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell

Over the bloom and sweet life of the Spring,

Over the fresh earth and the heaven of noon,

A horror of great darkness, like the night

In day of which the Norland sagas tell,--

The Twilight of the Gods. The low-hung sky

Was black with ominous clouds, save where its rim

Was fringed with a dull glow, like that which climbs

The crater's sides from the red hell below.

Birds ceased to sing, and all the barnyard fowls

Roosted; the cattle at the pasture bars

Lowed, and looked homeward; bats on leathern wings

Flitted abroad; the sounds of labor died;

Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp

To hear the doom-blast of the trumpet shatter

The black sky, that the dreadful face of Christ

Might look from the rent clouds, not as He looked

A loving guest at Bethany, but stern

As Justice and inexorable Law."

Samuel Williams who did extensive scientific research of the dark day had this to say: 

“The time of this extraordinary darkness was May 19, 1780. It came on between the hours of ten and eleven A. M., and continued until the middle of the next night, but with different appearances at different places. . . The degree to which the darkness arose was different in different places. In most parts of the country, it was so great that people were unable to read common print, determine the time of day by their clocks or watches, dine, or manage their domestic business, without the light of candles. In some places, the darkness was so great that persons could not see to read common print in the open air, for several hours together; but I believe this was not generally the case. The extent of this darkness was very remarkable. Our intelligence in this respect is not so particular as I could wish; but from the accounts that have been received, it seems to have extended all over the New England States. It was observed as far east as Falmouth [Portland, Maine]. To the westward, we hear of its reaching to the furthest parts of Connecticut, and Albany. To the southward, it was observed all along the seacoasts, and to the north as far as our settlements extend. It is probable it extended much beyond these limits in some directions, but the exact boundaries cannot be ascertained by any observations that I have been able to collect."

Falling of the Stars:

It began between two and four o’clock in the morning and continued until daybreak. 

It extended all over North America and as far south as Mexico and the Island of Jamaica. 

Lucy Reese lived in Lookout Georgia on November 13, 1833. She says: “I was fourteen years old at the time the stars fell. It seemed to me like a shower of rain. The people were greatly frightened, and there was much reading of the Bible because they thought the judgment had come.” 

Rose Grace was living in Marion, Alabama: “I was seventeen years old when the stars fell. I watched them a long time. They appeared to go out when they were about ten feet from the ground. Everybody thought that the judgment day had come. I told them if that was so it was too late to pray.” 

Henry Lewis, a slave of Harrisburg, Kentucky was nineteen years old at the time: “It seemed as if the starry heavens were coming down. I was about twelve miles from home with a horse I had stolen from my master, but when I returned they were all so excited and engaged in prayer that I slipped the house into the stable and escaped detection.”

“After collecting and collating the accounts given in all the periodicals of the country, and also in numerous letters addressed either to my scientific friends or to myself, the following appeared to be the leading facts attending the phenomenon. The shower pervaded nearly the whole of North America, having appeared in nearly equal splendor from the British possessions on the north, to the West India Islands and Mexico on the south, and from sixty one degrees of longitude east of the American coast, quite to the Pacific Ocean on the west. Throughout this immense region, the duration was nearly the same. The meteors began to attract attention by their unusual frequency and brilliancy, from nine to twelve o’clock in the evening; were most striking in their appearance from two to five; arrived at their maximum, in many places, about four o’clock; and continued until rendered invisible by the light of day.” Denison Olmstead, The Mechanism of the Heavens, p. 328

--As men have their day of opportunity, and their seasons of grace, so God has His day of righteous wrath; and, when that day shall come, the most stout-hearted sinners will not be able to stand before Him: 

Said to the mountains and rocks - Expressions which denote the strongest perturbation and alarm. They preferred any kind of death to that which they apprehended from this most awful revolution.

From the face of Him that sitteth on the throne - They now saw that all these terrible judgments came from the Almighty; and that Christ, the author of Christianity, was now judging, condemning, and destroying them for their cruel persecutions of his followers.

***Revelation 6:17 ends with a question “For the great day of His wrath has come and who shall be able to stand?”
--Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11
--Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 2 Timothy 2:19
--Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. Luke 21:36

For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible,

 who can endure it? 

Joel 2:11

Drawn/taken from the book Daniel & Revelation by Uriah Smith---Study Guide by Stephen Bohr---Sermon by Walter Veith---Commentaries from Matthew Henry/Adam Clark---Revelation Made Clear

The Broad Road's Lullaby

"And over time, you begin to treat pardon like a payment that clears the account while you keep spending the same debt. 

But Proverbs 28:13 says, He that coverth his sins shall not prosper. But who so confessth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

We mercy is promised not to confession alone, but to confession with forsaking. 

*This is why many churchgoers will not enter. 

They want Christ as insurance, not as Lord. 

They want heaven as reward, not as God. 

They want forgiveness to soothe guilt, not holiness to destroy sin. They want spiritual benefits without spiritual death. 

But the narrow gate is Christ. 

And Christ does not negotiate His throne. 

Luke 9:23 says, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

That is narrow. Few there be that find it. If that sentence does not

disturb you, you may already be sleeping under the broad road's lullaby because the human heart naturally assumes the best about itself.
Luke 13 gives a picture that should haunt every churchgoer. Luke 13:2 says, When once the master of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door, notice that the door does not remain open forever. There is a point where God's patience reaches its appointed limit. 

The door shuts, 

not because sinners suddenly become less welcome, 

but because time ends, life ends." 

Jonathon Edwards

The Narrow Gate

Enter through the narrow gate.

For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, 

and only a few find it. 

Matthew 7:13-14

"In these verses, Jesus presents a sobering truth: the way to life is narrow, and few find it; while the way to destruction is broad and heavily traveled. 

*This passage stands as a solemn warning against self-deception. 

The broad road is appealing because it requires no self-denial, no

submission to God's Word, and no transformation of heart. 

It is the road of pride, worldliness, and self-sufficiency--the very things that sinful man loves. Tragically, this road ends in eternal destruction.

Conversely, the narrow gate is the way of faith, repentance, and holiness. It is a path marked by trial, persecution, and self-denial--but it leads to eternal life.

 Only those whom the Spirit has regenerated and drawn to Christ in true saving faith, walk in the narrow road.
This passage dismantles the false gospel of easy-believism that pervades much of modern Christianity. Jesus does not present the narrow road as an optional, higher-tier discipleship path for the especially devout. It is the only road to eternal life.

Many profess faith in Christ, yet walk the broad road, deceived into thinking they are saved, while refusing to submit to Christ's Lordship!

True faith produces obedience; not perfection, but a life genuinely marked by repentance and growing holiness.

Let us not be numbered among the many who take the broad and easy road to destruction, but among the few who follow Jesus on narrow road that leads to eternal life."
Charles Spurgeon

2 Corinthians 13:5

"The tragedy is that many imitate fruit while remaining rootless.

They learn the language. 

They adopt the habits. 

They join the culture. 

But the secret life is untouched. 

They can talk about doctrine and still feed hidden lust. 

The remnant is exposed when no one is watching because true religion is what you are when the stage is removed. 

The human heart can use religion as a disguise. 

--It can hide from God while speaking about God.
--It can build a reputation while remaining unconverted.

So scripture demands self-examination.
2 Corinthians 13:5 says, Examine yourselves. Whether ye be in the faith, prove your own selves. 

That is not a suggestion. 

It is a command." 

Jonathon Edwards

Genetics vs. Evolution SERIES PAGE

For by Him were all things created, 

that are in heaven, and that are in earth, 

visible and invisible,...

 Colossians 1:16 

Intro

Dig Deeper: Creation Moment 1/19/2026 - Genetics vs. Evolution SERIES: Intro

Environment

Dig Deeper: Creation Moment 1/20/2026 - Genetics vs. Evolution SERIES: Environment

Recombination

Dig Deeper: Creation Moment 1/21/2026 - Genetics vs. Evolution SERIES: Recombination

Mutation

Dig Deeper: Creation Moment 1/22/2026 - Genetics vs. Evolution SERIES: Mutation

Natural Selection

Dig Deeper: Creation Moment 1/23/2026 - Genetics vs. Evolution SERIES: Natural Selection

SUMMARY

Dig Deeper: Creation Moment 1/24/2026 - Genetics vs. Evolution SERIES: SUMMARY

Creation Moment 1/25/2026 - Those Pristine Rings

"Q: What are Saturn’s spectacular rings composed of? 

This was a great mystery to scientists ever since Christian Huygens first suggested in 1655 that Saturn had rings. It was solved by the great creationist physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1859: they could not be solid, because they would be unstable; so instead, they comprised independently orbiting particles.

But there are still huge unsolved problems for evolutionists. 

Q: Why are Saturn’s rings comprised mostly of water ice, whereas the less massive rings of Neptune and Uranus have more rock in them? 

---Current evolutionary theories of ring formation, which mostly

presume passing objects were captured and pulverized by large planets’ gravitational forces, struggle to provide satisfactory explanations.

---Aside from the difficulty of explaining how the icy rings formed, one of the problems is the “question of timing” i.e. according to the evolutionary timeline. That’s because the water ice of Saturn’s rings is too clean to be the claimed billions of years in age—interplanetary dust ought to have polluted it, if it really were that old.

As Matthew Tiscareno of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, observed regarding Saturn’s ring ice, “Even if you can get it in the first place, how does it survive for four billion years and still look pristine?”

Actually, one might say that the One whose handiwork adorns the skies did so in such a way as to thwart naturalistic attempts to explain our solar system and the universe beyond. 

The evidence from NASA probes and other studies of Saturn and its rings and moons now overwhelmingly points to a ‘Young Saturn’. This is right in line with the Bible’s account of our universe having been created only thousands of years ago, not billions. The Psalmist indeed said it well: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1)." 

CMI

7 Seals of REVELATION SERIES: Fifth Seal

 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the

testimony which they held and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

Revelation 6:9-11

The blood of the martyrs that the papacy killed during her reign now cry out for justice. God gives these martyrs a white robe and tells them to rest for a while until the number of the end time martyrs is complete.

Following the period of papal persecution, the time covered by this seal would begin when the Reformation began to undermine the papal fabrication, and restrain the persecuting power of the Roman Catholic Church.

Here observe, (1.) Where he saw them - under the altar; at the foot of the altar of incense, in the most holy place; (2.) What was the cause in which they suffered - the word of God and the testimony which they held, for believing the word of God, and attesting or confessing the truth of it; this profession of their faith they held fast without wavering, even though they died for it.

Q: How can dead souls cry out?
Genesis 4:3, 4: And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.  Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering. 

Note: Both Cain and Abel brought an offering to place on the altar of sacrifice. Besides bringing a grain offering, Abel also offered an animal sacrifice. Thus, Abel obeyed God and worshiped Him as He had commanded. Abel was righteous. The central issue of the story of Cain and Abel was obedience and worship.

Hebrews 11:4: By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness [marturía] that he was righteous, God testifying [marturía] of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. 

Note: Abel’s sacrifice gave witness. Remarkably, the word ‘witness’, used twice in this verse, is marturía from where we get the word ‘martyr’. Even after his death, Abel’s sacrifice gives witness or testimony of his faithfulness to God.

Genesis 4:8: Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
Genesis 4:10: And He said, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. 

Note: Satan was the ringleader in Abel’s death: not as Cain who was

of the wicked one and murdered his brother, and why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. 1 John 3:12. The death of Abel was a great travesty in justice.

Abel’s blood cried out for vindication and justice. To all appearances, the unrighteous won and righteous lost. At some point, the record needed to be rectified. The blood of Abel symbolically cried out for reparation.

Hebrews 12:24: To Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. Note: The blood of Jesus speaks more powerfully than that of Abel. Abel’s blood cried out for justice, however, the blood of Jesus provides justice.

Leviticus 17:11: For the life [nephesh] of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

Note: The Bible describes the death of the righteous at the hands of the wicked as an oblation or offering. In John 16:2 Jesus explained that those who would slay His followers would actually believe that they were offering God an act of worship. The word “service” in this text is latrein (where we get the word idolatry from) which is generally translated ‘service’ in the King James Version but actually means ‘worship’.

Significantly, Paul refers to his martyr’s death as a pouring out of sacrifice (2 Timothy 4:6-8). The death of the righteous at the hands of the wicked was a sweet savor unto God because it revealed the faithfulness of His people (Ephesians 5:2)

“In the thirteenth century was established that most terrible of all the engines of the papacy—the Inquisition. The prince of darkness wrought with the leaders of the papal hierarchy. In their secret councils Satan and his angels controlled the minds of evil men, while unseen in the midst stood an angel of God, taking the fearful record of their iniquitous decrees and writing the history of deeds too horrible to appear to human eyes. “Babylon the great” was “drunken with the blood of the saints.” The mangled forms of millions of martyrs cried to God for vengeance [notice the allusion to the fifth seal] upon that apostate power.” E.G.W.

*The fifth seal makes it clear that the crying out of the martyrs has two distinct historical stages—the martyrs of the past (those that the papacy killed during the fourth seal) and the martyrs of the future (those whom the papacy will kill when it resurrects from its deadly wound).  

*The conferral of the white robe is another way of expressing that the martyrs formed a character fit for heaven. In the investigative judgment, God will vindicate before the universe the martyrs who were faithful to Jesus and died for Him.

*The Second Stage of Martyrs Revelation 13:3: And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed and all the world marveled and followed the beast. After the deadly wound heals, the papacy will persecute a future group of martyrs as it did the martyrs of the past.

Summarizing: The papacy slew the saints of the Most High during the 1260 years and therefore their innocent blood symbolically cried out for justice and vindication. 

In 1844, God began to examine the case of each one. God assigned to the faithful martyrs white robes and told them to rest (in the grave) until the number of the future martyrs is complete. The Roman Catholic papacy, in union with apostate Protestantism during the little time of trouble preceding probation will slay the rest of the martyrs when the land beast heals the wound of the sea beast. Those who refuse to worship the beast and his image and to receive the mark will be slain (Revelation 20:4). God will then vindicate the end time martyrs and assign them white robes in the final stages of the judgment of the living.

The Protestant Reformation began its work. It began to be seen that the church was corrupt and disreputable, and those against whom it vented its rage were the good, the pure, and the true.

Drawn/taken from the book Daniel & Revelation by Uriah Smith---Study Guide by Stephen Bohr---Sermon by Walter Veith---Commentaries from Matthew Henry/Adam Clark---Revelation Made Clear

Creation Moment 1/24/2026 - Genetics vs. Evolution SERIES: SUMMARY

For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.... Colossians 1:16 NIV

"The first three sources of variation are woefully inadequate to account for the diversity of life we see on earth today. 

An essential feature of the creation model is the placement of considerable genetic variety in each created kind at the beginning.

Only thus can we explain the possible origin of horses, donkeys, and

zebras from the same kind; of lions, tigers, and leopards from the same kind; of some 118 varieties of the domestic dog, as well as jackals, wolves and coyotes from the same kind. 

*As each kind obeyed the Creator’s command to be fruitful and multiply, the chance processes of recombination and the more purposeful process of natural selection caused each kind to subdivide into the vast array we now see." 

CMI

7 Seals of REVELATION SERIES: Fourth Seal

 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come and see. So I looked, and behold, a pale horse and the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death [pestilence], and by the beasts of the earth. 

Revelation 6:7, 8

The period of the fourth horse is parallel to the period of the fourth church, Thyatira. 

The fourth seal represents the period of papal dominion during the ‘dark ages’. The scarcity of God’s Word and of rain led to spiritual famine, pestilence and death. In addition, the apostate church literally killed the martyrs who did not agree with the traditions of men.

*Color pale (chloros: The color of this horse is really a greenish pale as when a young shoot comes out of a tree. It is the paleness of death).

*Death and Hades (when a person dies, the grave follows).

*Fourth part of the earth (the devastating power of the fourth horse and its rider is not universal). 

*Famine (scarcity because of a scarcity of God’s word).
*Pestilence (in New Testament Greek the word thánatos technically means ‘death’. However, in 30 of the 50 times it appears in the Greek Old Testament (LXX) the Hebrew word deber is translated “pestilence”. To say that the fourth horse kills with death would be redundant. Death by the sword and famine brings pestilence or disease in its train and ultimately leads to death and the grave.

*Wild beasts (wicked leaders and nations who were inimical to God’s people and behaved like wild beasts).

Psalm 74:18, 19: Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O LORD, and that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name. Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast! Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.

“The symbols of earthly governments are wild beasts, but in the kingdom of Christ, men are called upon to behold, not a ferocious beast, but the Lamb of God.” E.G.W.

--The immediate aftermath of death is the place where the dead go, the grave. The word hades is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Sheol and it should consistently be translated “the grave”.

Hosea 13:14: I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction!

*The New King James Version of Revelation 6:8 tells us that power [the proper translation of exousia is ‘authority’] ‘was given’ to death and the grave to kill with the sword. 

It is hardly a coincidence that the little horn ‘was given’ power to make war against the saints and to overcome them for time, times and the dividing of time (Daniel 7:25). Likewise Revelation 13: 7 tells us that the beast ‘was given’ power to make war against the saints and to overcome them. The expression ‘was given’ connects the fourth rider with the Papal church.

*In symbolic terms, famine comes when the Holy Spirit, speaking through the Word of God is scarce. 

--During the Dark Ages, there was no rain (Revelation 11:6), and therefore bread (the Word of God) was scarce. 

--The result was famine (spiritual hunger). Famine, in turn, led to malnutrition and malnutrition led to pestilence and ultimately to spiritual death.

By the fourth part of the earth is doubtless meant the territory over which this power had jurisdiction; and the words "sword," and beasts of the earth, are figures denoting the means by which it has put to death millions of martyrs.

Drawn/taken from the book Daniel & Revelation by Uriah Smith---Study Guide by Stephen Bohr---Sermon by Walter Veith---Commentaries from Matthew Henry/Adam Clark---Revelation Made Clear