The Seed Principle

Matthew 13:3 - 23 (NKJV) ³Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ⁶But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. ⁷And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. ⁸But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” ¹⁰And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ¹¹He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹²For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; ¹⁵ For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I ^should heal them.’^{ 16}But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; ¹⁷for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. ¹⁸“Therefore hear the parable of the sower: ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. ²⁰But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. ²²Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. ²³But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

1. All the Seed was good

Isaiah 40:6 - 8 (NKJV) ⁶ The voice said, “Cry out!” And ^he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. ⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. ⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

Isaiah 45:23 (NKJV) ²³ I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath.

Isaiah 55:10 - 11 (NKJV) ¹⁰ “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, ¹¹ So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

2 Corinthians 1:18 - 21 (NKJV) ¹⁸But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. ¹⁹For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. ²⁰For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. ²¹Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,

II. The problem is in the soil – the heart

Proverbs 23:6 - 9 (NKJV) ⁶ Do not eat the bread of a^ miser, Nor desire his delicacies; ⁷ For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you. ⁸ The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up, And waste your pleasant words. ⁹ Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

The four kinds of soil

• A hard heart

Matthew 13:18 - 19 (NKJV) ¹⁸“Therefore hear the parable of the sower: ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.

Ill; The wayside is the dirt by the side of the road – It hasn’t been plowed – it’s been packed down by the wheels of carts and the pounding of the horses hoofs.

Mark 11:22 - 24 (NKJV) ²²So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. ²³For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. ²⁴Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Matthew 13:53 - 58 (NKJV) ⁵³Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. ⁵⁴When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? ⁵⁵Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, ^Joses, Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” ⁵⁷So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” ⁵⁸Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Matthew 17:17 - 21 (NKJV) ¹⁷Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. ¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” ²⁰So Jesus said to them, “Because of your ^unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. ^21However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

ILL; The seed did not fail – it accomplished God’s purpose – it showed the hardness of their heart!

Isaiah 55:10 - 11 (NKJV) ¹⁰ “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, ¹¹ So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

ILL: Satan’s seed will grow in a hard heart – weeds will even come up in concrete.

Hate – doubt – unbelief are all satanic seeds that will grow in a hard heart!

Matthew 13:24 - 30 (NKJV) ²⁴Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. ²⁶But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. ²⁷So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

• A heart that has not been cleansed – has un-repented sin in it

Matthew 13:20 - 21 (NKJV) ²⁰But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

Matthew 12:43 - 45 (NKJV) ⁴³“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. ⁴⁴Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

ILL: The seed did not fail - it’s purpose was to bring conviction

• A heart that is full of the thorns of deceit and avarice.

Matthew 13:22 (NKJV) ²²Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

ILL Anxiety and worry are seeds that will grown into thorn vines and choke of the Word of God

Philippians 4:6 - 9 (NKJV) ⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. ⁸Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. ⁹The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

2. The prepared heart

Matthew 13:23 (NKJV) ²³But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

• How the seed grows

Mark 4:26 - 29 (NKJV) ²⁶And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. ²⁸For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. ²⁹But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

ILL: The seed grows with out perception

• The fruit

Galatians 5:22 - 26 (NKJV) ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

• Love-joy-peace-longsuffering-kindness-goodness-faithfulness-gentleness-self control = 100%

• Love-joy-peace-longsuffering-kindness-goodness= 60%

• Love-joy-peace = 30%

100% is in the seed (Word) how much grows in your life depends upon the condition of your heart and how much rain (The Holy Spirit Anointing) What fruit is the seed in your heart producing?

3. The fruit of the evil heart

Matthew 15:13 - 20 (NKJV) ¹³But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” ¹⁵Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.” ¹⁶So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? ¹⁸But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. ¹⁹For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. ²⁰These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

• The words we speak are the results of seeds allowed to grow in our heart

• The fruit of an evil plant

“Evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” are all the product of the seed (words) of weeds.

Conclusion: To hell with weeds! – Oh! What I said!

Matthew 13:37 - 43 (NKJV) ³⁷He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. ³⁹The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. ⁴⁰Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, ⁴²and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

If you have ears to hear – Jesus said “to hell with the weeds!” Only the fruit of Good Word will shine as the sun in the Kingdom!

Ezekiel #6

C. Paul Willis

The Book of Ezekiel # 6

Ezekiel 8:1 - 7 (NKJV) ¹And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there. ²Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber. ³He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy. ⁴And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain. ⁵Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance. ⁶Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.” ⁷So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall.

The Visions of the Prophet

The date is in August/September of the year 592BC. The prophet is seated among the elders in exile who had probably come to visit and talk about the state of affairs of the nation. They had witnessed the prophets strange behavior in demonstrating the battle and fall of the city of Jerusalem. While the prophet is physically seated among them he has a vision and an apparition much like the one John had on the Island of Patmos, a Theopheny of the Christ, burning in the fires of judgment. Ezekiel is snatched up by a lock of his hair and taken to Jerusalem. In the temple he sees an idol that provokes the Lord, God to jealousy. The abomination is in the north gate of the altar with worshipers prostrating themselves around the idol.

The greater abomination

Ezekiel 8:6 - 12 (NKJV) ⁶Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.” ⁷So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. ⁸Then He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall”; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door. ⁹And He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.” ¹⁰So I went in and saw, and there—every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. ¹¹And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. ¹²Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’”

The seventy men represent the whole of the nation. They are hidden by a hole in the wall and behind the door they are performing secret rituals and worship. Leading them is Jaazaniah so of Shaphan who red the book of the law to Josiah in the reform.

2 Kings 22:8 - 13 (NKJV) ⁸Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. ⁹So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the Lord.” ¹⁰Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. ¹¹Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. ¹²Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, ^Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, ¹³“Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

God hates secret cults

Deuteronomy 27:14 - 15 (NKJV) ¹⁴“And the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel: ¹⁵‘Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ “And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen!’

Numbers 25:1 - 4 (NKJV) ¹Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove,^ and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. ²They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. ⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”

Leviticus 26:30 (NKJV) ³⁰ I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you.

Isaiah 45:18 - 22 (NKJV) ¹⁸ For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. ¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret, In a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’; I, the Lord, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. ²⁰ “Assemble yourselves and come; Draw near together, You who have escaped from the nations. They have no knowledge, Who carry the wood of their carved image, And pray to a god that cannot save. ²¹ Tell and bring forth your case; Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me. ²² “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

• Attached practices

1. Ritual for the dead

Deuteronomy 14:1 - 2 (NKJV) ¹“You are the children of the Lord your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead. ²For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

2 Kings 23:3 - 14 (NKJV) ³Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant. ⁴And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for ^Asherah, and for all ^the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. ⁶And he brought out the wooden image^ from the house of the Lord, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people. ⁷Then he tore down the ritual booths of the ^perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. ⁸And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate. ⁹Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren. ¹⁰And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the ^Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech. ¹¹Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ¹²The altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. ¹³Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. ¹⁴And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.

2. Sexual ritual

Numbers 25:1 (NKJV) ¹Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove,^ and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab.

Deuteronomy 23:17 - 18 (NKJV) ¹⁷“There shall be no ritual ^harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted^ one of the sons of Israel. ¹⁸You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the Lord your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.

ILL: Modern religions who have secret ritual – Mormons have secret ritual, secret plural marriages and baptism for the dead – Masons have secret ritual, and ritual for the dead.

Tammuz Worship

Ezekiel 8:13 - 14 (NKJV) ¹³And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” ¹⁴So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’S house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

Tammus was the Babylonian Dumuzi beloved of Ishtar, identified with the Greek Adonis. He died by conflict with a great bull and women wept until he would come again in the spring.

Sun Worship

Ezekiel 8:15 - 16 (NKJV) ¹⁵Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” ¹⁶So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’S house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.

The twenty four priests of Israel and the High Priest had their backs to the altar of God and were worshiping the sun god of Egypt.

God will judge and He will not spare

Ezekiel 8:17 - 18 (NKJV) ¹⁷And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose. ¹⁸Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

The Man with an Inkhorn

Ezekiel 9:1 - 11 (NKJV) ¹Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.” ²And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar. ³Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the ^temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; ⁴and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” ⁵To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. ⁶Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple. ⁷Then He said to them, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city. ⁸So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?” ⁹Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’ ¹⁰And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head.” ¹¹Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, “I have done as You commanded me.”

Only those had the mark of the ink because they cried over the abominations will be spared.

Revelation 7:1-12 (NKJV) ¹After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. ²Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, ³saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” ⁴And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

⁵ of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand ^£were sealed;

of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;

⁶ of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;

⁷ of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;

⁸ of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

⁹After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,

Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,

Be to our God forever and ever.

Amen.”

¹³Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴And I said to him, ^£“Sir, you know.”

So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.