Shalom everyone, this is Amir Tsarfati. This is a special teaching that really was on my heart for the longest time. But in light of the coronavirus epidemic and the crisis all around the world, the fear and anxiety and so much that is going on. Certainly, in light of what a lot of people around the world say, this looks like the end of the world. What we see now are apocalyptic sights: To see no one in the streets of the busiest cities in the world; To see the Vatican St. Peter's Basilica area completely empty; To see the Jerusalem Wailing Wall is empty; To see the Kaaba in Mecca, the whole area, that is normally filled with tens of thousands of people, completely empty. This is something that is phenomenal. To see world leaders contracting the coronavirus, testing positive to it such as the UK Prime Minister, and Prince Charles. Of course, we're talking about wives of prime ministers and presidents, such as in Spain, in Canada and celebrities around the world. Unbelievable. We're watching a time and we're witnessing time that is unprecedented. I've said to many people that history is being written right now as we speak. But those pages of history might mean something to some people, maybe in a few weeks or months or maybe even years. I'm not even sure. But one thing is for sure. The pages of history regarding the future of this planet have already been written 2000 years ago. In a marvelous, special, unbelievable, and amazing revelation given to the Apostle John directly, by Jesus himself. Through obviously an angel that came and gave him the revelation of Jesus, Jesus himself. It's a revelation that was given 2000 years ago. Now we might argue on: Who is that John? And when was that written? I know that there are several schools of teachings. But we will... try to look at this book in just a few seconds. So why don't we just start with a prayer and dive into this view of the Book of Revelation. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Your word is truth. We ask now that you will sanctify us by your truth. Father, we thank you that you know the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. Saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. We also thank you, Father, that you by your grace reveal to your children your plan. So we ask, Father, that this time of looking into your word, that you will also give us a Spirit of understanding. Open the eyes of our hearts to understand the wonders of your word. We thank you and we bless you. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Again, thank you everyone. Again, I told you know when we started that the coronavirus epidemic that is going on all over the world, and the fact that so many people from over 190 countries are locked-down basically. They're all confined into their houses right now. It's something that the world has not seen before. ... I believe that triggers many, many people around the world to ask themselves, "Is this the end of the world?" "Is this the end of humanity?" Of course, we all know that epidemics such as this, viruses maybe even worse than this, came to this planet. Unfortunately, Planet Earth is contaminated. Not necessarily by air pollution or emission of CO2, but mostly by sin. And ever since sin entered the world, that perfect world is no longer there. Now we have, after the flood, a completely different ecosystem that unfortunately allowed a lot of things such as diseases, viruses and natural disasters to come upon us. So, make no mistake, sin is responsible for most of what we see now. But... nothing takes God by surprise, nothing. In fact, not only that, we can see through the Book of Revelation that God is in full control. He knows all, he is everywhere, and he's all powerful. The Book of Revelation is definitely, giving us a picture of an amazing authority of God, himself. Now, I will be very, very honest with you. It wasn't easy for me to decide to teach on the Book of Revelation. Because this is the book that I, myself, struggled with for the longest time, as a young believer. And I stayed away from it for most of my life as a believer. I believe that that's the case of so many Christians around the world. The book is scary and the book sounds fantastic or almost on the verge of fantasy. The book sounds too strange with too many scary things that are going to happen. And do you know what? A lot of... symbolic things, a lot of spooky things and a lot of people think, you know what? I'll just stay away from it. I can live my life without learning, studying, and knowing the Book of Revelation. What breaks my heart is that this is the only book in the entire Bible, in the 66 books of the Bible. It is the only book that God says that anyone who: Reads the book; Teaches the book; Or listens; Or hears the teaching - all those will be blessed. In other words, there is a blessing that is promised to those who teach, and those who study the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation is not just a book, like a movie to watch. It's a book that you have to listen to and read, and then do the things that the book is asking you to do. We'll see, at the very end, what he actually wants us to do. But the point is very simple. This is an unusual book. It's a book that most likely Satan doesn't want you to study. It's a book that prescribes the end of everything including the end of Satan, himself. No one wants to admit his defeat. No one wants to publish a story that tells it. And wrongly painted in colors that .... I do believe with all my heart that the only one that gains from believers not studying the word of God is Satan, himself. I'm talking about those Christians that don't study that specific book. It's important to me that you understand that the Book of Revelation is probably, the only record that we have of the end of the story. The only record that we have of the true full picture of not only the heart of God, but the plan of God. Look, when the Bible says, "In the beginning ..." then there was a beginning. And every beginning has an end. For the longest time people were asking themselves, "When is the end coming?" Even the disciples asked Jesus, "When is going to be the end of this age?" I mean, they knew there is an end to every beginning. Jesus took the time to elaborate on that in Luke 21 and Matthew 24, speaking of the signs that are going to come. Then even telling them look, even such things, it's not yet the end. It's just the beginning. Then he continued and told him more and more things that only the Book of Revelation, in reality, is elaborating on. So, it's very interesting. Now, let's talk a little bit about the timing of the writing of this book. Of course, one of the efforts of Satan, to cause you not to read the book, is to tell you that the book is not relevant. It's irrelevant; Therefore, no need to read it. By the way, show me one book in the Bible that is irrelevant for us? I mean, there's no such thing. Otherwise the Holy Spirit would have removed it from the canon. But the thing is, there is a movement of people known as Preterists. They believe that the Book of Revelation was fully fulfilled in the year 70 AD, when Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans. By the way, that's why they believe that it had to have been written before that year. It had to have been written around anywhere between 66 to 70 AD. Which, by the way, makes it almost impossible, because most of the believers ran away from Jerusalem, at the time. They had no idea what was going on in Jerusalem. They actually returned to Jerusalem, after the events of the Great Jewish Revolt against the Romans. In the aftermath of the revolt and the defeat of the Jews, some of them returned, and many of them never did. Probably, John was one of them. ... Another question is okay, if it's not written before and if it's not talking about the events of the year 70? Which by the way obviously it's not because: The year 70 did not have the lake of fire; Did not produce the Millennial Kingdom; And it doesn't have any world leader that performs unbelievable events, such as resurrecting himself from the dead and all that. All of these things, they are of the future. They are not of the past. But another thing is, from careful examination of Church Fathers' writings, we know that the book had been written in a certain time period of certain world rulers, that could have only brought it to the point of either 95 or 96 AD. Right towards the end of the 1st Century. By the way, this is the case of also the writings of Paul. They were all written in the very latter part of the 1st Century. Therefore, Paul did not really think for a second, when he wrote to the Thessalonians, that the rapture of the church had already happened. In fact, he encouraged them not to think that it had happened. ... He told them no world events took place then, in his time, that would have caused it to have already happened. So he, of course, encouraged them that it's about to happen. But he said, don't lose heart. So, we truly believe it is a book that was written roughly, 95 - 96 AD. Way after Jerusalem is destroyed and the temple is destroyed, Jews returned back to Jerusalem. But it's certainly without a temple and without the sacrificial ceremonies. Judaism was scrambling during that time to find a place for the Sanhedrin, to... find a way to worship God without a temple. It wasn't an easy thing. But we know that there is definitely in the Book of Revelation, no mentioning of... the events prior to the destruction of the first temple. No mentioning of the actual revolt and certainly no mentioning of the destruction itself. If it would have been written during that time before, it would have been mentioned it. Of course, it's a big thing. But it was written far after that, when that is no longer a question and an issue. Now, we're moving to a world view of events rather than just the one in Jerusalem. Now, some people say also, that the writer of the book could have been an elder from the Church of Ephesus that was exiled to the Island of Patmos. Well, let me make it very clear that that's another thing that I believe is not true. Because when you examine the writing of someone, you don't only examine the writing of that person that you're reading. But you're actually examining the writing of the same person elsewhere, other writings, other books. It's interesting because in the Book of John, the Gospel of John, we can see that John was very much into signs. The number seven was very important to him. They say that the Book of John, the Gospel of John, from chapter 1 verse 19, all the way to chapter 12, is known as a "Book of Signs". We're talking about: The changing of the water into wine; The healing of the royal official's son; The healing of the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda; The feeding of the five thousand; The walking on water; Healing the man born blind; Raising Lazarus from the dead. These are 7 signs that was to show that Jesus is the Messiah. And that he is not a man. He is Emmanuel; God is with us. It's very interesting because you can clearly see, clearly see that the number 7 and the issue of signs, miracles or of judgments, appears later on in... the same revelation. We can see the 7 seals, and the 7 trumpets, and the 7 bowls. I mean there is definitely, the same style of the same person writing in the same way. So there is no doubt in my mind, it's the Apostle John. ... One thing for sure, remember, the church was built on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles. All the prophets and all the apostles must have been alive during the time: ... Either predicting that Jesus is about to come; Or when he already came, being alive and seeing him. Either seeing him, the resurrected Jesus face to face, just like John did. Or having the resurrected Jesus appearing to them in a regular manner. Sometimes for years to teach them directly, such as the case of the Apostle Paul. No doubt it was John, the apostle. No doubt it was the very end of the 1st Century. As I said before, this book has a special promise to its readers. I'm reading from Revelation 1:3, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it. For the time is near." There's a blessing here that is conditioned with, what? With keeping those things. First of all, if ... the devil is trying to tell you not to read that book? He's robbing the blessing from reading, understanding, and doing those things. ... It's interesting because this is a revelation of Jesus Christ. Verse one, "... which God gave Him to show His servants, and things which must shortly take place. And he sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John. It's very interesting because later on... We understand Jesus was given the things to share with the people. In Matthew 11, it says in verses 25 to 27, "At that time Jesus said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. [and then look what he says] All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son. And those whom the Son chooses to reveal him.' " This revelation is the choice of Jesus to reveal himself. The revelation from Jesus that came through the angel, to reveal to John, Him and the Father, in a very special way. That's why Revelation 1:2 says, "...who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that [what?] he saw." John saw the things that he wrote. He had to write the testimony and he had to be a witness to the word of God. Look, there is no way, the Book of Revelation could contradict any book of the Bible. No way. The Book of Revelation had to be, what? The witness to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, himself. ... What I love about this book, it's that it's just like, "Back to the Future". God by his grace, God knows everything. He knows the end from the beginning, remember. But God knows everything; We don't know everything. But God shared with us not what might happen, could happen. But what will happen. God already knows. It's like a roll of a film inside a tape, where God already knows the whole thing. Now he's sharing with us the end of the movie and we're not there yet. We're not there yet But we know, through that book, what to expect. We know, through that book, what's going to happen. ... The power of knowing what's going to happen is not just to quench our curiosity. It's not for the purpose of gossip or the purpose of, "I know more than you do". What is the Bible saying? It's saying, "Keep those words." In other words, there are things to come. There are things that we are going to see, from here. There are things that we're going to see, from above. John, by all means represents us, here. There are things that we need to keep. And there's things that we need, now to do, until all these things will happen. It's very, very interesting This book is super important. This book is a source of so many blessings. Again, just by reading and keeping those words, you are already blessed. But we can see through the book, what's going to happen to the believers, in a world that is so evil. These words are told to us only to encourage us, not to discourage us. You are going to see throughout the description of the book that it's, them and us. Because we are not of this world. The words of the book are meant not only to be read, but also to be implemented. That is so important for us to understand. The Bible is very clear the time is near. Of course, many people think, how can it be near when John wrote it 2000 years ago and many of those things haven't happened yet? Well, first of all, "... a day in God's eyes are like a thousand years for us, and a thousand years are like one day," just like 2 Peter chapter 3 [verse 8] says. ... God is not late. He is long suffering, not willing that any should perish. But all will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus. It's not like God is late. He is giving us more time to repent. He is giving the people one more chance. I believe, by the way, this coronavirus crisis is a great chance for many people to: Re-evaluate their life; Re-evaluate their standards; Re-evaluate their time. And also ask themselves, "What is their relationship, if they have any with God, himself? Obviously, everyone understands, everyone agrees, God can stop this epidemic. ... We'll see what the people in the Book of Revelation are going to do, knowing that God can stop a lot of judgment that will come. Yet not asking him to. So, what time is near? The time of judgment. Look, [Hebrew 9:27] "... it is appointed for man once to die, and after comes the judgment." Judgment is something that is known from the Book of Job already, known to be one of the earliest books in the Bible. All the way through... of course, Genesis through Revelation. Judgement is coming. ... The time of judgment is near. It's going to be judgment time. We know that the Lord is a righteous judge. We know that he will never judge us in an unrighteous way. Whatever we are going to get? Whatever we're going to see that others get? Whatever we're going to see that is a display of his judgment? It is a display of a righteous judge. It's super important. We know that the restrainer is going to be removed. Then the wrath of God is going to be poured over this ungodly world. And it's time to tell the story and keep nothing untold from everyone. This is the essence of the Book of Revelation, to tell the story and not to keep anything from you. Again, remember the book is "they and us". A lot of what we're going to see in this book is not about us and for us, necessarily. But it's for us to know. If it wasn't so, he wouldn't have written that. Because obviously, who is reading that book? Who is studying that book? Who is being blessed by this book, if not the believers? But God wants us to understand that he is aware of what's going on around the world. He knows that it's going to get worse and worse and worse. But he is going to do something about it. We need to hold on to this: Jesus, He is risen, as promised! He will return to take us, as promised! He will return to Jerusalem with us, as promised! He will reign over the world, as promised! And he will judge the world, as promised! Why don't we start looking at the Book of Revelation right now. Again 22 chapters, and we start with chapter 1, which is a look behind the curtain, basically. We get here a glimpse of who is truly in charge of world events. And of course, it's Jesus Christ himself, who testifies that He is the Aleph and Tav, the Alpha and the Omega. He is that truly in-Charge. But we know what is going to happen, of course. Before we move to the events, we see that Jesus is sending... a message to the messengers of the 7 churches in Asia Minor, which is Turkey of today. Which, in a very interesting way, messages that are describing the state of the church, even today. In chapter 2 and chapter 3, it's first referring to those who call themselves, "Followers of Jesus Christ". Before he takes his bride up to heaven, He wants to tell the bride what the bride looks like, Or what those who call themselves "bride", look like. Shaping up the church: Jesus sends messages to the first 4 churches in Asia in chapter 2, to get their "house in order". In other words, the first 4 churches in Chapter 2 are not really churches that are perfect or churches that are pleasing him in all that they do. There's a lot of "household issues" there. We have the Church of Ephesus; We have the Church of Smyrna; We have the Church of Thyatira; Sardis; Philadelphia; And Laodicea. In Ephesus where John originally came from, he... knew that they lost their first love. They lost their love. In fact, the Church of Ephesus, Jesus finds a lot of praise. But his heart is broken by the glaring absence: Love. It was just not there. The church of Smyrna, Izmir of today. We see that the church itself had gone through a lot of persecution. Jesus tried to tell them of the attractiveness of the self-suffering. Again, we're talking about persecution for their faith. Jesus speaks to these men and women and reminds them that he is greater than any suffering, greater even than death. Wow, that's a message that all of us needs to hear even today, even nowadays. To the Church of Pergamon, and you have to understand, Pergamon was a very evil place that was there in Turkey, in the 1st Century. That Greco-Roman city had an altar for Zeus and an altar for Lucifer, Satan, himself. In fact, we know that it was known as the "Seat of Satan". And Jesus refers to that. You would think that in a city where there is the seat of Satan, you would think that there is going to be... great persecution against the Church of Jesus and all of that. But believe it or not, it wasn't the case in Pergamon. Yes, we know of the person who was martyred there in a very gruesome way. But overall, we know that Jesus calls the city of Pergamon, not only where Satan was having his throne. But also, we can see that Satan's tactic against the church there was much more effective than persecution. He sought to corrupt the church from the inside. That's, by the way, the case we see around the world. Even today, we see that you don't really have to attack the church from outside in the evil place. All you need to do is to bring evil teachers who will teach, inside, evil doctrines. And the church is gone. There you go. We can also see in the Church of Thyatira, ... where Jesus is telling them of the finding of a moral compass. Jesus expresses anger at the Church of Thyatira, coming to them with a rod of judgment and the sword to cut them apart. He gives them time to repent. But if they refuse his grace, he says he will come in swift judgment. Wow. In other words, there's no doubt that Jesus finds churches where everything there is being done in an evil way, in a wrong way. And Jesus is saying, look I'm giving you time to repent. I'm giving you time to repent, but do you know what? Judgement begins in the house of God. Interesting because then we see the churches in chapter 3. The last 3 churches: The Church of Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Sardis, of course, we see that it was a dead church that is revived. The Church of Sardis had the reputation of being: Alive, vibrant, Spirit-filled, open to God's work, obedient to God's word. But as Jesus looked at this church, he saw a deeper reality. The church was not wicked or immoral like maybe the one in Thyatira. But it was dead and unresponsive to Christ. That's another danger that we become automatic in the way we do things in the church. We don't listen anymore to the voice of the Spirit of God. We don't tune ourselves to what God has to say to us. We just become people who follow rituals. By the way, that's the definition of religious people. The people of Israel worshiped in the Temple of God for the longest time, not knowing even that the Spirit of God left the temple. In chapter 8 of Ezekiel through chapter 9, 10 and eventually 11, we see how God couldn't tolerate any more. That on one hand, they come and do all their sacrifices. But on the other hand, they worship... other deities including the sun itself. We know that in the case of that church, they were dead and unresponsive to Christ. Then we see the church that I hope all of us will always compare to. And that's the Church of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, brotherly love, ... We see a church that finds us faithful. It's a church, the Bible says, "... The city of Philadelphia was a door to the Greek language and culture to spread into the surrounding region." So it was a very important place. ... In the letter that he wrote to them we see, a new door of opportunity was wide open in Philadelphia for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was very open to a small band of seemingly weak and uninfluential Christians in that place. In other words, look, a small band of weak and uninfluential Christians are given the task to use an open door. ... Just like us, a very small band of Christians, maybe like us that have nowadays the biggest door ever! Every person today that speaks online can get to millions of homes around the world. Now we are going to do something about it. By the way, ... to this church Jesus said, "I will keep you from the... hour of trial that is about to come upon this world. Out of, "ek". In other words he will take us, not take us through, but out of. Then, of course, the Church of Laodicea which is unfortunately, a picture of so many churches even today. The church that makes Jesus sick, basically. Jesus says that this church, Laodicea is lukewarm, neither cold nor hot. In this letter, Jesus expresses his desire for this church to see the reality of their own condition and of the world around them. So chapter 2 and 3 we can already see are basically, like a prognosis of the state of the church today. But then something very interesting happens in chapter 4, in the very beginning of chapter 4. After Jesus addressed the spiritual and cultural condition of the churches then, which can easily be reflected on the churches today. We see that the sky opened and a voice came with a trumpet, sound of a trumpet. Remember when skies open and there's a sound of a trumpet, we already know from 1 Corinthians 15 and from 1 Thessalonians 4, that something amazing is going to happen. The Bible says that the voice came and says, "Come up!" John is raptured, is caught up to heaven, "rapturo". To learn and write about what was, what is, and what is going to come. So in a very interesting manner, from chapter 4 to chapter 20, the church is no longer mentioned. In other words, up until chapter 3, we hear about the church on earth. We hear what God has to say to those churches. But from chapter 4 verse 1, onto almost chapter 20, the church is not on earth. The church is not even being mentioned or described in the events that are going to happen upon this earth. That's super important that you understand that. Because this is one of the main reasons why I and many others believe that the rapture of the church will be before the tribulation. Because what's coming next are the 7 seals, and the 7 trumpets, and the 7 bowls, which are the tribulation that is coming upon this world. In chapter 5, John is standing, now he's in heaven. Everything is new; He's never seen anything like that. He sees the elders and he sees the angels. But he sees the scroll and there is a seal on that scroll. And no one can open that scroll. That scroll is such an important source of information of what's going to happen. Information, and hope, and future, and promises also. Only the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb that was slain have the authority to open the 7 seals and bring judgment on earth. Ladies and gentlemen, then we move to chapter 6, when we see the beginning of troubles. God brings his judgment by opening the 7 seals of the scroll, one at a time. So much so that in chapter 7, we're already witnessing that God by his grace... We see a mentioning of 144,000 Jewish Billy Graham's, call people to repentance during this tribulation period, resulting in a great multitude of tribulation saints. That's not the church. 144,000 of the 12 tribes of Israel will call for repentance, to the world that was left behind. And from them, people are going to be saved. And they have a new name, the "Tribulation Saints". In chapter 8, we see ecological disasters. If we think that global warming, or climate change, or all of that is something serious? Wait until... hopefully you won't. But, if you're here during the fulfillment of Revelation 8? You'll see the first 4 trumpet sounds and God creates an ecological disaster. Followed in chapter 9 by a human holocaust when the last 3 trumpets sound, and God spares the ecology. But brings tremendous misery on the unbelieving, wicked, population on earth. Wicked unbelieving population of earth. Chapter 10 gives us a bittersweet moment, where John takes a little scroll and eats it. And the scroll is sweet as honey in his mouth. But sour in his stomach as a sign of judgments to come. John cannot really enjoy it when he knows what's coming next. We can see that in chapter 11, Jerusalem is going to see preachers and earthquakes at the same time. It will hear from the 2 witnesses with miraculous powers. The mass population wants them dead, and God permits the beast from the abyss to kill them. We see that after 3 days, they are raised from the dead, just like Jesus. Then they ascend into heaven just like Jesus, a tenth of the city is destroyed by a massive earthquake. Wow. That is going to be very, very amazing. Now I also want you to see in chapter 12 that there is... With all that is going to happen with world events, God did not forget to mention what he's going to do with Israel. We see an interesting sign in heaven. Then we see, of course, that John is seeing a woman, a child, and a dragon. We know the dragon is Satan and he attempts to devour the child, which is Jesus that came out of the nation of Israel. Of course, Jesus is snatched up to heaven. Jesus himself ascended to heaven. While the woman, Israel, is now going to be protected in the desert for 3.5 years. So it speaks of the past protection of Israel, that, of course, we are still alive after 2000 years. But it also speaks of a very specific number of days that Israel, as a nation, will be protected in the desert. And yes, the desert could have been the last 2000 years of being exiled from the land. But the desert, in this context, is also a specific desert, a literal desert. Because there is a literal count of 1260 days, which is exactly 3.5 years in biblical terms. We all remember Daniel chapter 9, when the Antichrist will rise and increase. ... In English it says, "confirms a covenant for 7 years, for that last week, and then he will break it." That, of course, appears again in chapter 11 and chapter 12 of Daniel. Time and two times and a half; 3 and 1/2 years. So we see that Israel is protected in the desert for 3.5 years. We are talking about the latter part of the 7-years judgment. Where now Israel is not just deceived by Antichrist, but now they woke up to understand that he is not God. This is not for us. We have been deceived and they run away. And, of course, God is protecting them because they're not done. He's not done with them. We know that in chapter 13, we see 2 beasts. If a beast is a sign of the Antichrist? Then it's in a sense, 2 Antichrists: One is more of a political, and new; The other one is something that had been there for a while. It comes from the earth. The 2 beasts emerge on the scene: One comes from the sea; The other from the earth. The first is the Antichrist and the second is the false prophet. But in reality, they are Antichrists, 1 and 2. Because, until the one comes from the sea, there is the one that already exists on earth. We are speaking of how the world is moving towards a one world religion. The leader of that religion whether it's the pope, which is my guess. Or anyone that might be a leader of it. He will be preparing the way, in a sense, for their emerging political leader that will emerge from a great catastrophe that is befalling upon the world. It's interesting because right after that, we can still see that 144,000 Jewish evangelists appear, once again. Only this time they are presented as the "first fruits" to God, which means that there will be an evangelism explosion during the tribulation resulting in many tribulation saints, many of whom will be martyred. If you think that it's hard to be a believer today? Kiss that thought good bye. It will mean that you will probably have to lose your head, and have it... detached from your body. If you believe during those days. Chapter 15 brings us to a refreshing pause. This chapter provides a reprise of worship from all the judgements that came, and are to come. But then comes one of the most saddest and tragic chapters in the whole Bible, and of course, in that Book of Revelation. Chapter 16 speaks of the final set of judgments, the bowel judgments. ... Realize, by the way, that they are to devastate the earth's ecology and mankind's physical bodies. The 6th bowel judgment calls for the kings of the world to battle against Jerusalem. This is of course where the term, Armageddon, is mentioned for the first and the only time in the entire New Testament, Har Megiddo. But before that, remember, if you read, you see plagues that are coming upon the world. And you see that the people who know that God is the one who sent it, they acknowledge that and he has the power to stop it. They still did not acknowledge him. They did not give him glory but they actually blasphemed him. There is going to be such a spiritual blindness and such a satanic brainwash, that the people knowing it's God and knowing he can stop it. They will not be able to even repent. But they will actually blaspheme the name of God. They will be so drenched with a satanic spirit. Of course, that will cause the great gathering in the Valley of Armageddon. Of course, the great war will take place 60 miles south of it, in Jerusalem. They meet in the Valley of Jezreel to march up to Jerusalem. We see how it started with seals, then moved to trumpets, and to bowls. The seals in Revelation 6; The trumpets in Revelation 8, 9 and 11; And the bowls in Revelation 15 and 16. It starts with: False peace of the Antichrist; War; Famine; Death. The death of a quarter of population of the world that is destroyed. Earth and heaven are shaken and 144,000 are sealed. They will act later on, of course. There is silence in heaven. Then the trumpets, the 7 trumpets start sounding in chapters 8, 9, and 11. 1/3 of the trees and the grass is destroyed. 1/3 of the sea life and ships are destroyed. 1/3 of freshwater is poisoned. 1/3 of the sun, moon, and stars are darkened. The 1st woe, we see the demonic locusts that are going to come, which are basically demons that look like Locusts. Then the 2nd woe is about fire and brimstone with 1/3 of the people left are killed. Then the 2 prophets preach and do miracles. And Christ's reign is foreseen. But then, of course, in Revelation 15 and 16, the last 7 bowls bring: Boils; All sea life is destroyed; All water is poisoned; Scorching sun will literally cause people to have great suffering; Deep darkness; Rebellious mankind curses God, as I said. The Euphrates River dry; The battle that starts in Armageddon and then goes to Jerusalem, starts; And then worldwide earthquake; Babylon destroyed; And huge hail stones. Look at that progression, ladies and gentlemen. We're watching... The reason why I'm saying that is this coronavirus right now? It's nothing! It's not even a foretaste. It's nothing. If this one causes people to be afraid? Can you imagine how people are going to feel, when all these great disasters are going to befall? This is why I believe that when the Bible says that people live, they marry, are given in marriage and they do business like in the days of Noah? The days of Noah are not the description of the tribulation time. They are the description of now. This pandemic will pass and people will go back to their old ways. And people will get back to maybe even worse. They will probably go and say, "Carpe diem", live today. And do whatever they want. But then when the real tribulation is going to come? The description that we have in the Book of Revelation is very vivid. Especially in chapter 6 [verse 15-17] in the latter verses, "And the sky receded as a scroll and when it rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. "And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, and the mighty men, every slave, and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. And they said... to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of the wrath has come and who is able to stand?' " That is a true description of how people are going to be in the tribulation. Chapter 17 is the collapse of worldwide religion. If you thought that, that religion will hold too long? The world... religious system that formerly controlled the political and economic world, collapses under the domination of the world powers. Chapter 18, bankruptcy of the world economy. ... If you think now the markets fell and it's tragic and it's over? No! God will destroy the political and economic systems in one hour. That's not what we see now. What we see now, again is a little foretaste. And we're going to see something very different. Chapter 19 is the foreclosure of Planet Earth. The Lord Jesus returns and forecloses on Planet Earth. No longer do the kings of the earth have power, for the King... of kings and Lord of lords has arrived. Chapter 19, wonderful chapter. Then brings us to chapter 20, Planet Earth under new management. Ladies and gentlemen, the 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom will begin once Satan will be thrown down to the bottomless pit. Earth will be under new management. But at the end of that time Satan, who had been bound is now let loose to deceive the nations once again. That's also his end because he will call them from the 4 corners of the world for another Gog and Magog. And God will send fire and destroy him forever and ever, chapter 20. We know your end, Satan. Chapter 21 and chapter 22, back to the drawing board. Ladies and gentlemen, recognizing that the old heaven and earth was defiled beyond being solvable. God goes back to the drawing board. He designs and then creates a new heaven, new earth, and a new Jerusalem. Chapter 22, ready or not, here I come. This last chapter reflects back on the Lord's promise to return to his own. In a way, the last chapter brings us back to our time, to our reality. And speaks of the urgency, the prophecy, the love of God, the hope for the believer, the wages of sin that is death and, of course, for us the gift is eternal life. Then of course in chapter 22, "Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. Blessed are those who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outsides are dogs, and sorcerers, and sexually immoral, and murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. I , Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you." Jesus is saying to John, I sent my angel to testify to you. By doing so, by saying so, he's talking also to us. These things in the churches... This is testifying these things to the believers. We are not expecting a non-believer to read the Book of Revelation, and to be greatly impressed, I mean. "I am sending my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. [he says] I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride..." As a result of what we know is happening, of what we know, Jesus is saying, "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' " The Spirit and the bride: We are the bride; The Spirit is in us. We need to eagerly wait for his coming, to take us to be with him. We need to say, "Come!" By the way, it's not to be defeated, when you want him to come. It's actually the way we need to be all the time. I remember when I was very depressed during my first few weeks in the military. I don't think I wanted to stay there a minute longer. It was very hard, very tough. I remember every night when I was guarding on my shift, I would literally asked Jesus to come back. I mean, for me that was the comfort. I knew that if there is one thing I can rely on, and one thing I want to ask for is for him to come back. There was a song I remember I used to sing, Ana Hazor Na Yeshua; Please come back, Yeshua. Melech ha-Yehudim, the King of the Jews. [Revelation 22:17-18] "Whoever desires let him take the water of life freely. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book." Look what Jesus is saying, "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book." In other words, if now, people start changing it? They are going to be left behind, and they will be going through the plagues of this book. And then he says, [Rev. 22:19] "And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life." If you're changing this message, you are a non-believer. If you're changing this message, you are not saved. Your name is not in the Book of Life. You are not going to have eternal life. That's how important this book is to Jesus. That's how important it should be to all of us. [Revelation 22:19] "... and from the holy city." [also] You won't live eternal life. [Revelation 22:19] "... and from the things which are written in this book." At no point is Jesus saying here, and there's more things that I want to tell you and I'll let you figure them out. No! All the things that are written in this book, he says. I want to encourage all of you, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16. Then of course all the way to verse 21, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned. But he who does not believe is condemned already." Sin condemned us. Only faith in Christ took us from the camp of the condemned, to the non-condemned. If you have not yet repented and if you are still a non-believer? You are already in the camp of the condemned. They are condemned already, because he who has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." It's amazing. [John 3:20-21] "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen that they have been done in God." I will conclude with Revelation 22, verse 20, "He who testifies these things says, 'Surely I am coming quickly.' " Even so, the Bible says, "Even so, come Lord Jesus!" Father, we thank you for your promise. We thank you for how important it is to you for us to study this word. So we can be encouraged by your promises to us. And we can be thankful that we're not going to go through all those terrible things. We understand that those things, the plagues, and the judgments of this book are not for us. Even by the way this book ends up. It is saying that if anyone adds, or takes away, or changes that is the person that is going to stay behind and go through all of that. If anyone is disregarding this book; If anyone is not holding on to this book. Father, we ask that this teaching of the Book of Revelation will go, as far as possible to bless the hearts of the believers. And to convict the hearts of the non-believers. We thank you and we bless you. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen Thank you. God bless you. Share this message.
