A Bittersweet Revelation (#14) - November 18, 2020

tonight i want us to open our book of revelation to the 10th chapter and the title of the message is a bittersweet revelation and in the 10th chapter we're going to see what john describes as something that is both bitter and sweet concerning a revelation that god gave him as we talked about last week and at other times as well that there is an interlude between the sixth and seventh in each of the three sequences of sevens in the book of revelation a pause between the sixth and seventh seal a pause between the sixth and seventh trumpet a pause an interlude between the sixth and seventh bowl and so last week we ended with the sounding of the sixth trumpet and the release of those spirits from the euphrates river and we're in that pause now between the sounding of the sixth trumpet and the sounding of the seventh trumpet and in this interlude there are two many dramas that unfold and i'm i'm calling it the mighty angel with the little book which is what we're going to focus on tonight and then in two weeks we'll pick up with the two mighty witnesses so tonight's focus will be the mighty angel with the little book and i want us to go ahead and turn to the 10th chapter and i'm going to just take it verse by verse but we'll actually go ahead and take in the first four here of chapter 10. john says i saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven clothed with a cloud and a rainbow was on his head his face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire he had a little book open in his hand and he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land and he cried with a loud voice as when a lion roars and when he cried out seven thunders uttered their voices now when the seven thunders uttered their voices i was about to write down what what i heard but i heard a voice from heaven saying to me seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered and do not write them so i want us to stop there because remember we're in this pause the sixth trumpet is sounded and now there's a distraction to some other things that god wants to reveal to his servant john and one of them is this mighty angel as he's described in verse number one and he comes down from heaven and look at the description he is clothed with a cloud and as you know a cloud is a symbol of god's presence remember we talked about how the book of revelation is saturated it is replete with illusions and references sometimes very explicit and at other times very nuanced and subtle references back to the sacred writings of the old testament and when we go back to this idea of god's glory in the holy of holies in the tabernacle it was typified or symbolized with a cloud or with smoke and this angel is said to be clothed with a cloud not only that but john says he had a rainbow on his head this angel did and perhaps a rainbow on his head is a reminder of god's covenant with noah that followed a time of universal judgment and it is the universal judgment which this angel is coming to announce so around his head there is this rainbow and i just want to say for a moment that without meaning to be unkind to any group of people the rainbow symbol has been pirated the rainbow was god's sign and god set it as a sphere around the universe to reflect like a prism the rays of the sun's light through the moisture in the earth's atmosphere and it was given to noah as a sign that the earth would never again be judged with a universal flood and even that as a symbol is a message of god's mercy but the mercy of god followed the judgment of god so whenever you see the rainbow being used to [Music] completely trample on the laws of god and to ridicule the laws of god and to basically tell god what he can do with it you and i should have a jealous regard for the real meaning of the rainbow here the rainbow is said to be around the head of this angel that john sees coming down from heaven john described the face of the angel shining like that of the sun and if you'll remember when moses came down from the mountain he had to put a veil over his face because the glory of god was reflecting off of his face and we believe that the countenance of this angel is reflecting the brightness of god's glory but when it gets down to the feet of this angel he describes the feet as being like pillars of fire and fire of course is a symbol of god's judgment so with this angel having feet like fire it is a harbinger of the judgment that is about to come when when god is going to literally stamp the earth with his judgment and these feet of fire are a symbol of the impending judgment which this angel is going to announce so that's a description of the angel's appearance that john gives us but look at what the angel was holding john told us that he was holding a little book in his hand and we'll have more to say about that little book in a moment but look at where john says the angel stood his right foot was on the sea and his left foot was on the land as we read a moment ago and for this angel to be straddling if you will with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land this tells us that the judgment of god is going to be comprehensive in scope we've already seen the evidences through the judgments of seals and trumpets that both land and sea have been affected but by this angel standing symbolically of course with one foot on the the sea and one foot on the land it was the angel's way of saying that the entire globe is about to be blanketed with the most intense and severe of god's judgments even more than what has taken place with the breaking of the six seals and the sounding of the six trumpets which we have already talked about the question then is who is this angel he's called a mighty angel and we know what he looks like we know what he's holding and we know where he's standing but who is this angel some have assumed that this angel symbolizes the person of the lord jesus christ and they can make a good case for that but i don't think that this is jesus because when john was describing this angel in verse number one he said i saw still another mighty angel and that word another in greek means another of the same kind so he's obviously comparing this angel in chapter 10 to another angel that he's already seen which tells us that we know jesus is not an angel so this must literally be a created angelic being that god is using to symbolize this message of coming judgment for his servant john so jesus was depicted in chapter 5 of revelation as the lamb if you remember and the lamb is the one who is worthy to take the scroll from out of the right hand of god but in this account the angel is holding a little book in his hand so where there where whereas there might be a similarity i do believe there's enough distinction to make the case that this is not jesus this is actually an angel just as john describes him it may be that it's more than just a rank and file angel and it could be that this is one of the highest ranking angels among god's divine hosts now we're going to see in just a moment that there are some parallels between revelation chapter 10 and daniel chapter 12. and daniel chapter 12 begins with a reference to michael the archangel who we know to be one of god's chief messengers one of god's highest ranking created beings so you know it's just interesting to compare the 12th chapter of daniel with the 10th chapter of revelation and it builds the case even more that this is an angel and not the lord jesus christ but when we were reading as we saw in verses 3 and 4 it says that after this angel this mighty angel cried out his cry being compared to the roaring sound of a lion after the cry of this angel like a lion john describes in verse 3 that he heard the sound of seven thunders the new american standard says seven peals of thunder we could say seven loud claps of thunder in succession that's how he was able to count them they weren't all simultaneously given it was seven consecutive soundings of thunder and according to john these seven pills of thunder were actually intelligible voices which lets us know that john understood these voices to be communicating a message and he knew exactly what they were saying now step back for a moment and realize how many peels of thunder did he hear after this mighty angel cried out he heard these seven peels of thunder and they communicated a message to him and there's that number seven again the number of completion the number of totality the number that we find woven throughout the book of revelation we've had seven seals that are broken we are now at the sixth of seven trumpets that will have sounded and in this pause between the sixth and seventh trumpet john hears a message through yet seven claps or peels of thunder and the reason we know he understood the message as you'll recall when we were reading it john tells us he was about to write down what he heard in those voices of the seven thunders but a heavenly voice told him not to write it down not to write it down but to seal it up to close it up and keep that to himself and this is a reminder to us that although god allowed john to understand the mystery communicated through those seven pills of thunder there are certain messages and certain mysteries and certain realities which god reserves unto himself if you'll remember jesus even said of that day and hour no one knows except the father so jesus even taught us that it is the father's prerogative to keep information to himself it is the father's prerogative to reveal to certain people information that he does not reveal to other people and in this case he used these seven claps of thunder to reveal a message to don which john understood in which john was getting ready to write down but god said not so fast i only want you to understand the message you heard in those seven pills of thunder so what does that mean it means that for the 2000 years that people have been reading the apocalypse the book of revelation we have all been as students of this book left in the dark as to this message that john was not allowed to write down which was conveyed through these seven pills of of thunder when we were reading it this voice from heaven that spoke to john said do not write them look at the last part of verse 4 seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered now what i want you to do is to notice the similarity between the fourth verse of revelation 10 where john was told seal up the message close put put it in the container put the lid on it put a vacuum seal on it you can't write down you can't share what those seven claps of thunder communicated to you but when we go to the 12th chapter of daniel which i mentioned earlier daniel was told in in in daniel 12 and verse 4 but you daniel shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase see shut up the words seal the book same language of revelation 10 and verse 4 with what john was told to do with this message from the seven claps of thunder in daniel chapter 12 and verse 9 daniel writes and he said go your way daniel for the words that you've heard are closed up and sealed till the time of the end same vocabulary same phraseology that is used in in revelation chapter 10. so if daniel was told seal these things up till the end by this time in the book of revelation if we are not in the time of the end then the end shall never be certainly at the at the place where we find ourselves in the 10th chapter the prophetic outline of the tribulation is drawing to its culmination point to its termination and so there is no doubt in my mind that there is to be a line drawn between daniel and revelation but especially between the 12th chapter of daniel and the 10th chapter of the book of revelation all right so those are just the first four verses of the tenth chapter now i want us to look back and read verses five through seven together the angel whom i saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever who created heaven and the things that are in it the earth and the things that are in it and the sea and the things that are in it that there should be delay no longer but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel when he is about to sound the mystery of god would be finished as he declared to his servants the prophets now once again i want us to draw a parallel because if when when these verses were displayed on the screen from revelation chapter 10 where it says he raised up his hand to heaven and he swore by him who lives forever and ever this is the vision john wrote down about this angel that came down that had the little book in his hand standing on the sea and on the land and here he's saying he raised his hands to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever once again i want to go back to daniel chapter 12 and when you look in verse 6 it says and one said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river these were angels talking one to another how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be and in the seventh verse of daniel chapter 12 daniel says i heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river when he looked at this held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven and what did he do he swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time times and half a time which is three and a half and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered all these things shall be finished now we'll eventually revisit this later in the book of revelation the only reason i wanted you to see this is because the same thing that this linen clothed angel over the waters of daniel's vision in chapter 12 raising his hands and and swearing an oath before the god who lives forever and ever that's exactly what this angel did raised his hand to heaven swore by him who lives forever and ever exact parallel and that's why there is yet another proof as to why we must go back and look more closely at this 12th chapter of daniel which we will eventually do in a later study however the angel in daniel clothed in lenin who swore by him who lives forever he he left it at that when he invoked an oath before god but here in the sixth chapter of in the sixth verse of revelation chapter 10 this angel that john is seeing he added some declarations to him who lives forever and ever so john tells us this angel raised his hands to heaven and he swore by him who lives forever and ever that's as much as the angel in daniel said but this angel in revelation adds and the one who lives forever and ever is he who did what created heaven and the things that are in it the earth and the things that are in it and the sea and the things that are in it that there should be delay no longer so when this angel of revelation 10 swears this oath before almighty god he not only refers to god as eternal him who lives forever and ever but he invokes god's attribute as creator and this is fascinating to me that throughout the last book of the bible to god is attributed the act of having created the the planet on which we live and the universe of which it is apart and even the abode where god lives was itself created by god who occupies it so earth and the heavens and heaven itself and this isn't this interesting that in the last book of the bible the proclamations of glory to god refer to his act of creation here in the last book and where do we read about his acts of creation in the first book and what this angel in revelation chapter 10 is doing he is symbolizing and proclaiming imminent doom for all who dwell on the earth and he is referring to god as creator as if to say those of you who have denied that god created what is and that he even created you you will now be consumed by the wrath of that holy god who created all things which creation you have willfully rebelliously and blasphemously denied god does not take lightly the denial of his work of creation and so that's what we see here not only that but i think what this angel is letting us know is that if god is the one who created the earth and the sea and the skies then it belongs to god since he made it it is his and that means it is his right to judge it all it is his right to unleash the plagues and his wrath upon the earth and and the and the sky and atmosphere and even the universe god made it all god can curse it and judge it all to god is the sovereignty and the prerogative of judgment that's what this angel is declaring but as we see that what what john tells us is that there should be delay no longer did you see that in the last part of verse 6 delay no longer delay no longer is an important expression there in verse number 6. and when we were reading in verse number seven the angel gave the warning that when the seventh angel is about to sound not when the seventh angel sounds but when the seventh angel is about to sound and what is the seventh angel the seventh angel that is about to sound is the angel who will sound the last trumpet the seventh trumpet okay and he says this seventh trumpet is going to mean that there will be no longer any delay in the end hastening no longer will there be a delay in the consummation of god's wrath being poured out i mean folks it's been bad the seal judgments have been bad the six trumpet judgments have been worse but what this angel is saying is that just before the seventh angel sounds the seventh and final trumpet all the stops are going to be pulled out just before he sounds that that trumpet call which will unleash as we all know the seven remaining bowls of wrath and just understand this the seven bowls of wrath wrap it all up and the seven bowls of wrath really are housed under the seventh trumpet and what this angel is saying to john is that when this seventh angel who's already got the trumpet up to his lips right when he's about to sound that's the sign that there will be no more delay to final wrath say final wrath that's what this angel is warning of and he says that this just before this seventh trumpet sounds we read it there in uh verse number seven he says when he is about to sound the mystery of god the mystery of god would be finished as he declared to his servants a prophet so the question is this what is the mystery of god that would be finished just before the seventh trumpet sounds and we haven't gotten to the seventh trumpet we're not going to get there for a couple more weeks well some have speculated that this mystery that will unfold really coincides with the sounding of the seventh trumpet some have speculated it could be it could be the rapture now you know i have already presented to you my belief that the rapture of the church the removal of the church from the earth takes place in this in this unstated event in revelation between the last verse of chapter 3 in the first verse of chapter 4 a pre-tribulation rapture another position that some people hold and and i have found that this position is growing in in its popularity is what is called a pre-wrath rapture not a pre-tribulation rapture but a pre-wrath rapture meaning that just before god's consummation of wrath the worst of wrath is poured out in the tribulation it is just before the consummation of wrath that the church will be taken out so let me ask you a question if there are seven trumpets then the seventh could accurately be called the last correct the seventh trumpet which we're going to see in several weeks will finally be sounded and that will be the last trumpet look at what paul wrote in first corinthians chapter 15 verse 51 paul said behold i tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet and it is that reference to the last trumpet that some bible interpreters see being fulfilled here and even what this angel in revelation 10 is saying to john when he says when the seventh angel is about to sound that last trumpet then god's mystery would have come to an end there would be no more delay last trumpet last trumpet now the reason i'm pointing this out to you is not because i believe that that's an accurate interpretation but it's because i believe i i can understand there is some validity to that position and uh the the truth is that if you listen to to people who who can build their case with proof text from scripture you can be convinced of a pre-tribulation rapture you can also be convinced of a mid-tribulation rapture or a pre-wrath rapture and you can reasonably be convinced of even a post-tribulation rapture the reason that i'm sharing this with you is to say that these are legitimate interpretations across the spectrum and the fact of the matter is this whether it happens pre-mid or post in reference to the seven year tribulation what i do know is that the rapture is clearly taught in first corinthians chapter 15 and in first thessalonians chapter 4. i know the rapture's taught in those places among other places so i'm going up in the rapture whether it's pre-mid or post i'm going up how about you but i don't believe it's worth squabbling over and fighting over i think we can have fun trying to convince one another of our differing understandings of the timing of the rapture but i just thought this was interesting to link the last trumpet paul refers to in first corinthians 15 with the sounding of the seventh or last trumpet in the seven trumpets of the tribulation so it's one possibility another possibility of this mystery that will have come to an end as god revealed to his servants the prophets spoken of here in the seventh verse of the tenth chapter could be this the mystery of the rapture was not revealed to god's servants the prophets in fact the mystery of the church according to the book of ephesians was not revealed to the prophets of the old testament this idea of jew and gentile being united in one body under the lordship of jesus christ that was a hidden reality to the prophets of the old testament so therefore if the doctrine of the church was hidden from the prophets and the doctrine of the rapture which belongs exclusively to the church and was revealed only in the new testament in writings to the church that was a mystery not revealed to the old testament prophets what the last part of verse 7 here what is it that that this angel could be describing that was a mystery given to the old testament prophets well one possibility or probability even is that that mystery is the day of the lord the day of judgment all the prophets foretold a time of universal judgment when god would establish his reign on the earth and when god himself threw his visible bodily presence on the earth through a messiah would vindicate himself among the human race and you find that theme throughout the prophetic writings of the old testament so i happen to believe that what this angel is saying is that just before that seventh angel sounds the seventh trumpet god is letting everyone know that this mystery of his universal judgment and even his bodily presence on the earth to reign is hastening in its fulfillment in other words the clock's going to speed up now we know the clock literally won't speed up but i mean that in a figurative way all right let's go forward looking into verses 8 through 11. then the voice which i heard from heaven spoke to me again and said john go take the little book which is open in the hand of that angel who stands on the sea and on the earth so i went up to that angel and i said to him give me the little book and the angel said to me all right take it and eat it but it's going to make your stomach bitter however it's going to be as sweet as honey in your mouth when you taste it verse 10. then i took the little book out of the angel's hand and i ate it like the angel told him and like the angel said john tells us it was as sweet as honey in my mouth but when i had eaten it i got sick to my stomach my stomach became bitter and he said to me you must prophesy again about many peoples nations tongues and kings so i want you to understand that that all 11 chapters here are about this angel the john sees coming down from heaven he described the appearance of the angel he described what the angel was holding he described where the angel was standing and now he's telling us about the conversation he's having with the angel and a voice that john hearses go and get the book out of the angel's hand and john you know you can just see him in this out of body experience he's having he's obeying the order he heard to go and take this book out of the hand of this of this angel now once again we're going to see that all of this leads us back to the pages of the old testament because there was a prophet in the old testament named ezekiel who had a very similar experience and in ezekiel chapter 3 beginning in verse 1 ezekiel says moreover he said to me son of man eat what you find look at this eat this scroll and go speak to the house of israel so i opened my mouth and he caused me to eat that scroll and he said to me son of man feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll that i give you so i ate and it was in my mouth look at this like honey in sweetness then he said to me son of man go to the house of israel and speak with my words to them do you see the striking similarity between ezekiel's experience of being told to eat the scroll ingest it into his belly and then go and prophesy to the house of israel and and we're going to see in just a moment in the last verse as we read of the 10th chapter john was told after having eaten this book that he too was going to go and prophesy but not to the house of israel to all peoples and tribes and language groups and all the peoples of the earth okay so the parallel to me fascinating and you can tell i get excited when i connect dots between new and old testaments but for a moment i want to step back and think about ezekiel's experience was god saying eat this scroll then go prophesy because it's my word you're to speak the scroll ezekiel was to eat is a symbol of the word of god and i believe that this scroll in the hand of the angel could also be interpreted as symbolic for the word of of god and what was he told he was told when you first taste it it'll be sweet like honey but when you when it gets down in your system it's going to upset your stomach it'll be bitter john said sure enough it happened just like the angel told me but i want us to think for a moment about the sweet part of the word of god and and in in david's psalm psalm 19 looking in verse 9 he says the judgments of the lord are true and righteous all together more to be desired are they than gold yay than much fine gold sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb every one of the preceding verses in psalm 19 all the way down to the to the ninth and tenth verses every one of them are about the word of god and what david was saying is the word of god is sweet like honey the writer of psalm 119 the longest chapter in the bible every verse is about the bible verse 103 says how sweet are your words to my taste look at this sweeter than honey to my mouth and so think with me for a moment whether it is from psalm 19 or psalm 119 or from ezekiel 3 or from revelation 10. when we take in the word of god we know of all of the passages in scripture that are sweet to the taste for instance one of the first ones we learn is john 3 16. the god loved the world so much he made a way for the world to be saved if they would believe on jesus christ they don't have to perish and we could go through all the wonderful assurances of god's love to me sweeter than honey is the the proclamation that in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth and we're we're getting ready to come into the christmas season and i never tire reading the luke 2 narrative about joseph and mary and her giving birth to the baby jesus and though that nativity story is sweet like honey and so much of the word of god is that way it's pleasant it's desirable we want to hear more but john said it's not just sweet there's also a bitter aspect when the word of god gets down inside of you and one of the things one of the passages that i'll remind you of if you remember when nehemiah led the people to rebuild the walls around the city of jerusalem and they did it in just 52 days record time they got it all done and he realized it was time to have a spiritual revival among the jewish people now that the walls were rebuilt and he got ezra the scribe and together they built this big platform and the carpenters did everything to elevate them and so they could open the law of of moses and preach before an assembly of all the jewish people the commandments of god to read just read the bible and then sermonize on it and apply it to their lives and i want you to notice the effect that it had in nehemiah chapter eight in verse nine it says nehemiah who was the governor ezra the priest and scribe and the levites who taught the people said to all the people this day is holy to the lord your god in other words we're celebrating the wall has been rebuilt do not mourn nor weep why did they tell them to stop crying he tells us for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law why were they weeping and broken and sad it is because the law of god this word of god is holy and true and righteous and it is the very holiness of god put to print and we all know that the word of god is like a sword that slices and cuts and opens up wounds in our lives the word of god has a sweet part to it but the word of god can can can make us ill when it gets to work and it starts cutting out cancerous growths and pardon expression but i'm here to tell you the word of god works like a like a laxative works to our physical body the word of god is a spiritual laxative the word of god purges us and causes our soul to eliminate impurities and sin and things that defile us that's why john said it tasted sweet when it first went in my mouth but when i swallowed that book my stomach got sour and so you think about the unpleasant aspect of the scriptures god asked jeremiah in jeremiah 23 29 he said is not my word like a fire fire is not pleasant when when you're being burned by it and is not my word god says like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces so the reason i could go on and on showing you we know there are sweet scriptures and scriptures that are pleasant to the taste pleasant to our hearts but there are also scriptures that make us uncomfortable in scriptures that we used to use some old-fashioned language put you under conviction you don't hear that much anymore but that's what the word of god will do to you let me tell you something that's why so many people don't want to read the bible that's why they got it out of the schools that's why they want to outlaw the bible that is why they are more and more going to censor us on these social media platforms through which you're viewing this message right now the word of god is like a fire that burns it's like a sword that cuts it's like a hammer that breaks the rock of our callous heart into pieces so that's one interpretation of what this book that john is told to eat when he takes it from the angel's hand it could symbolize the word of god but you know narrowing it down perhaps this book does not just symbolize all of scripture perhaps this book simply is what remains in the plan of god's judgment when the seventh trumpet will sound perhaps this book is more narrow in scope than all the word of god perhaps this book simply contains god's final consummation of wrath for planet earth you say well if this book is just the summary of what remains in god's wrath how could that be sweet like honey john said he tasted it was sweet well it can be sweet like honey because even in god's judgment god is glorified that's sweet like honey when god gets the glory he deserves and do you know what god not only gets glory through blessing god gets glory through judging he is glorified in all that he does that is sweet it is sweet because in god's final pouring out of wrath every saint who's been persecuted or killed as these tribulation martyrs will have been will be vindicated by god's judgment that's sweet when when god brings justice not only that but but god's plan of judgment can be sweet to the taste because all evil will be punished and we live in a world where evil seems to be getting away with evil where perpetrators and transgressors mock god and seem to be having the time of their lives but the plan for god's final judgment is sweet because no evil will squeak past his wrath not only that but you know something else that's sweet about the consummation of god's judgment is that in the consummation of god's judgment we as we will see in the book of revelation all israel will eventually be saved that is sweet like honey i can tell you and you know something else this final phase of judgment that this seventh trumpet is going to unleash with the seven bowls this will bring the world closer to the return of christ and the establishment of his kingdom oh i can see why john said it was sweet to the taste and then you know why god's consummate judgment can be sweet as well as bitter it is because when christ returns to the earth after god having blanketed the globe with his holy wrath and vindication and justice in that moment when christ raises his flag over jerusalem and summons all the peoples of the earth to worship him by coercion i'm telling you the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of god like the waters of the sea blanket this globe that is sweet but what is bitter about that what's bitter about the judgments that are to come is that even though the judgments of the seals and the six trumpets have been severe they're about to get even more bitter in their severity not only that but the judgments god is pouring out the judgments that have already taken place but the judgments that are about to be intensified and taken to an unprecedented level these judgments are an indictment on the sinful condition of the human race and you and i and even john who started crying back in revelation chapter 5 when no one was worthy to come take the scroll john recognizes that human beings are wicked and sinful and none of us is worthy and the only thing we're worthy of and deserving of is god's judgment are you ever ashamed to belong to the human race when you see what our capacity for evil is when you see what we do to unborn babies and that we can cast our vo vote for baby murderers and be proud of it when you see the way we can treat one another with such contempt and injustice and deprive people of their rights and so many of the atrocities that we've committed in our country against people and that people all over the world have committed one against another i'm telling you we realize when we see what people are doing to little innocent children through child abuse and sexual abuse that is rampant now what i'm telling you is there are no limits to the depravity of the human race and what this seventh trumpet is going to announce is that everything god is about to do is because humanity deserves to be judged humanity deserves to be judged and we cannot forget this another reason that the plan for god's judgment if that's what this book symbolizes which john has now swallowed another reason the plan for god's judgment is bitter once it sets into john's belly is because during the last half of the tribulation god's judgment is going to be poured out not only on all the peoples of the earth but god is going to allow the jewish people to experience unprecedented judgment in the history of their existence daniel warned and even jesus repeated daniel's words that this last three and a half years of the tribulation will have no rival in the long jaded history of the suffering of the precious jewish people while precious as a people and while in a covenant relationship with god god calls them himself stiff-necked and rebellious and resistant to his love and this is what jesus said about the last half of the tribulation and he was speaking specifically about those people who live in judea the regathered jewish people the israel the people of israel in the last days jesus said this in matthew 24 21 for then there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time no nor ever shall be and it is going to be during this time the last half of the tribulation and building closer to the the termination point of the tribulation that the jewish population is going to be reduced down through death to a small remnant a remaining remnant all of whom will put their faith in jesus as the messiah when he appears when he returns to the earth the second time all of this is leading to god's plan and daniel talked about zechariah talked about it other pro isaiah talked about it ezekiel talked about it now the book of revelation is just telling us how all of what they said is going to take place so it's going to be through these final stages that the jewish people are going to suffer and i would say that part of god's judgment would be bitter in his belly i want us to focus before we pray once more on on that 11th verse we already read it but i want you to see it again this angel said to me john writes the angel told john john you now that you've swallowed that book you must prophesy again about many peoples nations tongues and kings like ezekiel god said swallow the scroll those are my words because i want you to speak my words john swallow the book in the angel's hand because i'm wanting you to prophesy about many nations peoples tongues and kings so i want you to think about verse 11 for a moment because many nations peoples tongues and kings this has to do with the allied gentile nations of the end times and what we're going to see as we continue going through the book of revelation is that the antichrist is going to emerge with a clearer identity in the following chapters but that he is going to be the leader of a global gentile alliance he's going to seduce the jewish people with a promise of peace and protection but his real strength is going to come from the gentile nations of the world that is all nations except israel and this global alliance of nations will eventually through the lead of this antichrist reveal their anti-semitic that means anti-jewish hostilities most especially will this be betrayed or revealed at the midway point of the tribulation which is what jesus referred to in matthew 24. not only are they going to reveal their anti-jewish hostilities but this global alliance of nations and we're going to talk about in moving into next year we're going to talk about how all of the collaboration of the media in america and of the tech giants in america that literally have a monopoly on the flow and control of information that we receive the media and the tech giants who control all things knowledge information and internet they it is unmistakable especially during this political season we've seen it they are all in the sack together and what we're going to see is that these alliances and let there be no question as to the world view of the secular media and the tech giants do you believe it's a god-based worldview do you believe it's a christ-centered worldview do you believe it is a worldview with regard for scripture and the gospel and the church of the lord jesus christ and all of the leftist ideology that they're applauding and they're protecting the the disagreements with which they are censoring and silencing i'm telling you all of this is setting the stage for the one world government of the end times and when this hegemony is established this universal grip on power on control on the flow of information which will ultimately lead to restrictions and our access to food and essential items that we need and having to meet certain conditions in order to have certain goods and services provided for you we are going to see how all of this is already in place and back to verse 11 of this 10th chapter john has swallowed the book that he took out of the angel's hand it tasted sweet on the way down but when it got into his tummy it was sour and and then the last verse is now that you've swallowed the plan of god you are going to reveal the final stages of god's judgment on the global alliance of gentile nations that's all in verse 11. you say i don't see that in verse 11. that's because you don't you don't see what you ought to see because verse 11 is just the gateway that opens up the rest of the book and you're going to see it as clearly as you have ever saw it and in the days of the tribulation the line is going to be drawn such that there will be only two national entities there will be the coalesced gentile nations of the world and israel did you hear that the coalesced one world global alliance and little bitty israel no reference to america no reference to the great united states of america and old glory and our military and our pledge of allegiance and the wonderful country that we love and so many have fought for and defended no and what this means is there's going to come a time when our country is assimilated into verse 11 many nations and peoples and languages and kings we our nation will eventually forfeit our sovereignty to the global order and that is why we've got to allow the prophetic books of the bible and especially book of revelation to shape our worldview to shape how we vote how we think about our country and here's what i say forget all of the preferences all the political party labels forget pro-life forget traditional marriage and all the things we you know limited government and and obama can't forget all the stuff we make elections about here's when i read the book of revelation i'm i'm i'm a pretty simple arbiter of all things political and that is which leader is going to fight to maintain the sovereignty of a judeo-christian country like america versus which leader and worldview is going to be inclined to move america to rush america into the global coalition of nations even willing to forfeit our sovereignty as a country yielding to the will of the global order because it would be too arrogant to do otherwise in the last days it's going to be all the gentile nations and israel and in my opinion the longer our country can hold out against against being absorbed or led into a global order of nations the longer we can withstand that temptation and resist it the longer we can forego being in a place where we find ourselves in the book of revelation becoming an enemy to israel instead of a friend because i got news for you when christ returns the moment of his return is going to be when the global alliance of gentile nations have all descended into the valley of armageddon to completely exterminate the jewish people the good news is they're not going to get away with it because christ is going to come and breathe the fire of his wrath all over them but folks what i'm telling you is this stuff isn't just for the future this stuff isn't just something some christians should be interested in and other christians should say i'm too busy we've got people who ought to be watching these programs but they've they've got other things they're watching and doing i'm telling you in the last days they're going to be people who know their prophecy and people who don't christians who know their prophecy and christians who don't and the christians who know their prophecy they get it they see it they can call it for what it is and i want you to be among those who get it god thank you for this study tonight as we all want to allow your word we want to be like john and swallow that word get it inside so we can see as we should see and hear as we should hear and speak as we should speak in jesus name amen

Channel: FirstBaptistAtlanta

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Id: 0tEA3EHNFAc

Length: 57min 11sec (3431 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 18 2020