Ok I can see you have given this a lot of thought and you know your history but just play along with me here for a minuet. after reading Revelation about a hundred times in the last 6 months things are starting to look different to me and instead of thinking that this is complicated stuff I am starting to think that it is embarrassingly simple.
Consider this, Revelation 2&3 looks like a great big red flashing warning sign!
about 30% rebuke 40% warning 10% attaboy with some greeting and promise thrown in.
7 times while addressing the church he use the phrase "to he that overcometh"
He that overcometh what? it's obvious that Satan has been playing church! (2 Cor 11:14)
and seven times he uses the phrase "he that hath an ear let him here"
now when I see this in scripture I am thinking there is more here than meets the eye.
So here is the simple part,
Notice in chapter 3:1 he tells the church in Sardis "thou livest, and art dead"
If you believe in a pre tribulation rapture as I do then consider this,
If the Lord is gong to descend with a shout (1 Thes 4:16) the rapture
and if the Lord has a sharp twoedged sword coming out of his mouth (Rev 1:16)
Hello again,
It's not that I have put a lot of thought into it, though I have, but it is because I live in the book of Revelation and have been studying end-time events for over 40 years. Therefore, I have gone over every scenario regarding Revelation and all related scriptures.
Revelation 1:19 divides the book of Revelation into three parts, as John was told to write the following:
What you have seen = Everything from Rev.1:1 to 1:19
What is now = Represented by the letters to the seven churches, which also stands for the entire church period
What must take place later = The events that will take place after the "what is now" i.e. after the church period
In Rev.4:1, John then hears a voice that sounds like a trumpet saying "come up here and I will show you what must take place after this," which is synonymous with the "what must take place later" as stated above. Revelation 4:1-2 is a prophetic allusion to the church being caught up to heaven in fulfillment of the Lord's promise in John 14:1-3 and I Thes.4:13-17. This is the reason why we don't see the word "Ekklesia" translated "church" after the end of chapter 3 and during the time of the narrative of God's wrath.
After using the word "church" 19 times within chapters 1 thru 3, The word then disappears from the narrative and is not seen again until Rev.22:16, which is outside of the narrative and during the epilog. After the church is gone, the word "Hagios" translated "saints" is only used thereafter. The saints referred to are the great tribulation saints who are introduced in Rev.7:9-17. These are those who will have been unbelievers, but will become believers after the church has been removed and during the time of God's wrath.
The church is referred to again as the bride in Rev.19:6-8, where she is seen in heaven attending the wedding of the Lamb and receiving her fine linen, white and clean and where in Rev.19:14 she is seen as that army following Christ out of heaven and wearing her same fine linen that she will have previously received.
He will deliver a deadly blow to the church (head of the beast) by removing the saved.
the world will then enter the "hour of temptation" Rev 3:10v (the first half of the tribulation) when many will repent and be saved bringing life back to the church. Deadly wound healed. So simple!
people don't fight with swords anymore and suffering a physical deadly blow to the head with a sword and coming back to life just doesn't make much sense especially since we both agree the 6th head of the beast out of the sea is not a man
The deadly or fatal blow is to one of the heads of the beast, which is referring to that beast who once was, now is not and will come up out of the Abyss who is that eighth king and belongs to the seven. That fatal blow, along with the miracles, signs and wonders that the false prophet will be performing on his behalf, will be to give the beast credibility, to authenticate his claim of being God or anything that is called God. The church is gone at 4:1-2 and is therefore not on the earth during the time of the beast.
By the way, regarding the "hour of trial" for those who overcome, Jesus promised that He would keep us out of that hour of trial, which is another designation referring to the time of God's wrath. There again, true believers will not be here, for we are not appointed to suffer God's wrath and because Jesus already suffered it on behalf of every believer.