Doug Batchelor - An Overview of Revelation Apocalypse Synopsis - Part 5

it's been 2,000 years since the glorious light of the cross illuminated a world veiled and darkness and confusion about the character of God and still today the greatest need of mankind is a revelation of God's love as revealed in the life of Christ amazing facts presents the everlasting gospel with Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento Central Church in sunny California discover hidden treasures in God's Word today for those who may be visiting today we have been doing a series dealing with the book of Revelation now this is not a thorough exhaustive study it's it's really an overview and so we've been calling this an overview of Revelation today we're in the fifth presentation we try to cover a few chapters at a time and nickname for the series is the apocalypse synopsis so this is part five and by the way I like to remind people I've done it a couple of times along the way there is a website we recommend that it has a lot more information because we can't we're just giving brief high points as we kind of get the overview of Revelation and it's a website called Bible prophecy truth comm it's one of the amazing facts websites probably the second most popular next to our basic home website Bible prophecy truth got a lot of information on Bible prophecy including the chapters we're talking about today today we're going to be talking about chapters 14 through 16 they're talking about the three angels message and the seven last plagues and I'll be doing that I've got a lot to cover so I'll try and do it quickly they'll probably be two more presentations in the series the next one dealing with the themes of revelation 17 18 19 and then 20 through we're going to get you in heaven before it's over and so I'll probably end up with now that would make sense series in Revelation with seven presentations that's a good biblical revelation number anyway you know at our house we're very thankful had someone knock on the door a few years ago and they said we're coming through because we live on arcade Creek they said we're bringing the sum of the first fiber-optic cable into this neighborhood and I did a little research to find out what is fiber optics and the amount of information that can be pushed through just a typical wire has some downsides it's limited if you get your internet or TV or whatever it is through you know copper cable the old TV cable that comes in they can cram a lot of digital information in there but not like the cam with fiber they've been doing more and more tests for one thing a fiber is a little glass wire and they send the information not so much through electricity as through light it's information that is going through light impulses through that wire and of course light travels at the speed of light the other neat thing about fiber is it doesn't get the interference from radio frequencies or other electric apparatus so you can run fiber cables through all kinds of electronic components doesn't interrupt with the signal at all because it's not an electric signal per se Nippon telephone corporation just to give you an idea of how much information that they can take through one of these hair like glass fibers in a fiber optic cable they're able to send sixty nine point one terabytes per second you know terabyte is you know what a megabyte is and then you get the gigabyte and then you got terabytes as that next yeah it's how much one thousand gigabytes is a terabyte yeah and they divide that up then into four hundred and thirty two channels that each have 171 gigabytes that can come pouring through this almost microscopic glass fiber and they when they test them they send it over 240 kilometers that's how far it can go and that's how much can go through this glass fiber and it's information that is traveling at the speed of light through light you know in the book of Revelation it tells about these angels that are bringing information in the last phase to the world just before Jesus comes now where we left off last time in our study we were talking about Revelation chapter 13 we identified this beast and the Beast has a mark and it's those who do not receive the mark are going to be persecuted but that beast is the enemy now when you swing into chapter 14 it begins by talking again about a group that are not marked by the mark of the beast but they're marked by the mark of God it's called the seal of God and we already studied this group they are the 144,000 sealed Saints that have their father's name in their forehead and often when we think about the last days and people talk about the Beast we always have a tendency to think about the mark of the beast prominently but what we really want to be interested in is the seal of God and we talked about that when we talked about 144,000 now it numbers this group and it says there's twelve thousand from the twelve tribes of Israel that's how you come up with this number 144,000 right after it mentions the hundred and forty four thousand then it introduces these three angel messages that go to the world just prior to Christ's coming it's interesting that it juxtaposes the group that are spiritual Israel with a message that then goes to the whole world it's like the spiritual Gentiles and so we're going to take these messages apart one by one and look at them with a little more detail now before we get into three angels I thought it might be interesting talk about angels just to help you know how prominent angels are in the book of Revelation there is no book in the Bible that has more to say about angels than revelation just a few facts there are about three hundred and references to angels in the Bible not always called angels per se but about 300 references of the 300 references to angels in the Bible 76 of them are in Revelation so what is that about 25% of all the references to angels are in the book of Revelation not only all angels are are good and even in the book of Revelation it talks in Chapter 12 about the devil was cast out and his angels so revelation gives us a lot of information it tells us there are good angels with good messages there are bad angels they go forth to the kings of the earth to deceive they're called Devils fallen angels evil spirits and sometimes they're called in the Old Testament it uses the word Seraphim or Malik which means messenger or dispatchers now you know you might have it the police station the police dispatcher well they're dispatching messages for God in the New Testament you've got the word Angelo's which also means messenger now I say that because when we now get to the first angels message that you find in Revelation chapter 14 and if you have your Bibles I hope you're in Revelation 14 now it tells about this angel revelation 14 verse 6 then I saw another angel and you've got angels appearing all through the book so it's normal for him to say another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth to every nation tribe tongue and people saying with a loud voice now what does this angel mean flying in the midst of heaven it's a position of visibility flying is telling us it goes quickly and it tells us who it goes to it's a global message now I've had fun talking with Danny Shelton of 3abn I said you know I've got an active imagination and I thought you know right now as I speak these messages are actually not now it'll be it'll be recorded and this is not going up live this is live on the internet so it is going by fiber you might say but it'll be recorded and it'll be bounced off satellite that have these great big solar wings that are capturing light turning it into electricity so they can take these signals and have these messages and bounce them globally in a matter takes half a second for these messages to go 23,000 miles up to a satellite that is in a geocentric orbit bounce it back down to other places on a round world that's the only way you can get it to hop around the world like that so quickly I've watched it before in the studio where you see the message live you look out the window you see they're actually speaking see the camera is recording it then you look at the satellite feed whenever we do a satellite meeting it says now this is what's going out over the air and it's always got a half a second delay it's amazing to me 46,000 miles and half a second so this message is going with great speed and keep in mind everything you're reading in Revelation also has echoes of the Gospels where did Jesus tell us that the Gospels to go so to go either and teach to all nations now when did the everlasting gospel begin to be preached was that when Christ ascended to heaven I'd like to submit to you that the gospel began being preached when God gave Adam and Eve their coats of skin the good news that there was a substitute for man's sin but in the last days in particular during the time of the beast and the mark of the beast there is going to be a new power because it says this angel is going with great speed and great volume says with a loud voice I was talking to someone last night and tax was yesterday afternoon and they're asking me this is not a member of our church and they were asking me about the signs of the end and I said one of the greatest signs Jesus said the gospel of this kingdom will go to all the world for a witness unto all nations doesn't mean everyone's gonna believe means they'll all have an opportunity there is no other time in history like this generation where through radio television satellite internet the gospel is going to all the world you know I know a lot of other things are using these means of communication but the gospel is also going and so it is just astounding to me that how quickly it is going how fast it is going that's why I really believe this is the last generation Jesus is not nebulous about that he says the gospel will go into all the world he doesn't say then the end might come could come may come says it shall come do you believe Jesus he doesn't say everyone will be believe believers and there'll be a global revival says it for a witness people have an opportunity and then the end will come so this is a message that is going now it tells you the particulars of that message and matter of fact I I need to read this to you right out of well I guess we got it up on the screen and the gospel will go to every nation in kindred and tongue and people and here's what it says verse 7 revelation saying with a loud voice fear God you might underscore that and give glory to him underscore glory for the hour of his judgment is come time of judgment noticed that and worship Him that made worship the Creator notice the words heaven and earth and sea and the fountains of waters so you've got four points we especially want to notice it says fear God says give glory to God I think we're gonna put these four points up on the screen these are the high points of the third angels message you've got fear God give glory to God the hour of his judgment has come and worship the creator these are some of the the particulars I want you to notice of the first angels message now what does it mean to fear God I've got a whole sermon on that but put very quickly please II asked these twelve thirteen let us hear the conclusion the whole matter fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man for God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or evil so what does it mean when it says job was a man that feared God and hated evil it's talking about someone that has reverence for God they realize that we will answer to God they have respect for God they live where God is the primary concern they're not like the Pharisees that are worried about what men think of them they're worried about what God thinks of them so this is what it means to be god-fearing in the last days then it says to glorify God live a life that brings glory to God well let me ask you zooming that you know you are here that you are breathing why why did God make man why are we alive what is our purpose the reason we exist is to bring glory to God by the way that is where you will find your highest satisfaction and joy is when you really live a life of bringing glory to God that's where you find happiness so the purpose of life what is sin we have all sinned Romans chapter 3 verse 23 and done what fallen short of the glory he doesn't say we completely missed it but we've fallen short of it we fail to bring God his full glory and Paul tells us that our lives can be completely immersed in glorifying God matter of fact he says in first Corinthians 10:31 therefore whether you eat whether you drink well whatever you do what you say where you go what you wear whatever you do do all live a life of glorifying God and so this is a people in the last days then they revere God and they want to live lives that will glorify God next aspect of the third angel's message we're considering it says for the hour of his judgment is come in other words this people needs to fear God and glorify God because they've entered the first phase of God's judgment now I this is an overview and you might be saying Doug you need to talk more about these things I can't this is a review I'm already in trouble it was to be a two-part series it's now seven parts because I'm taking more time there are three phases to God's judgment one phase of judgment happens before Jesus comes now it really is easy to figure that out says in Revelation behold he comes every eye will see him my reward is with me so if God is dispensing rewards when he comes does it make sense to you some investigation happens before he comes it does not make sense for him to come take one group to heaven throw another group in the lake of fire and say okay now let's have a judgment find out who's innocent and guilty some investigation happens before he comes that's called the pre-advent judgment or the investigative judgment it's in the Bible you can read about this for instance in Ezekiel 9 some of you have read that very frightening prophecy in Ezekiel 9 by the way it talks about those who get the mark of God and they are saved those who do not have the seal of God the mark of God in Ezekiel 9 are destroyed and what does it say utterly slay zekiel 9 verse 6 old and young maidens and little children and women but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark this is the mark of God the good mark and begin at my sanctuary begin where who does this first judgment begin with those who profess to have accepted the plan of salvation to basically test their authenticity 1st Peter 4:17 for the time has come the judgment must begin at the house of God and if it begins at us what will be the end of them that obey not the gospel so this first phase of judgment by the way when you go through the seven churches in Revelation chapter 2 and 3 the last church is called what Laodicea do you remember what I told you the word Laodicea means a judging of the people so when the age of Laodicea begins you enter the last phase of church history it's also when the pre-advent judgment begins we're living in this time that is a parallel for the Day of Atonement for the Jewish people our Yom Kippur and it was a time when they would examine themselves because it was the end of their their religious year it was a time of putting away of sin and so Christ is coming we've entered a parallel of that time some of you remember the story in the Bible when a woman who I believe was Mary Magdalene caught in the act of adultery is brought to the temple and they are going to stone her in the temple and Christ intercedes in her behalf and it says that this judgment began with the ancient man beginning at the eldest even under the lease they went out one by one they were gonna judge her what does a woman represent in prophecy and symbology there's something to that here is a judgment in the house of God that begins with the eldest and you know that's exactly what it says in Ezekiel 9 so there's a lot of parallels in here and and then it's calling that's the last part of the first angels message remember four things fear God glorify God we've entered a time of judgment just before the end worship the creator worship Him that made has there ever been a generation that needed that message more by the way when we entered this last phase of the church many believe that was around 1844 the Church of Laodicea began the time of judgement began you know what else began Darwin wrote his manuscript on the origin of thesis Karl Marx was releasing his philosophy about communism both are rooted in the atheism and through the influence of those two people you had the birth of communism and atheism and evolutionary thinking which denies the Creator it deletes the Creator and so there is a call in the last days for people to awaken from this hypnotism that's happened to our society that says that we just happen by accident that there's no creator it's a callback to worship the Creator now notice the wording it says here worship Him that made an invitation to worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of water now remember out of the 404 verses in revelation 276 are almost perfectly drawn from other parts of the Bible where do you think that phrase comes from look in Exodus chapter 20 in the Ten Commandments and it tells us in the middle of God's law the one commandment that says remember the one commandment that says holy talks about worshiping the creator for in six days the Lord made we didn't evolve the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them and he rested on the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy see God's people in the last days these messages that are going to the world are messages of restoration of truth they're being restored to Bible truth including the commandments of God remember we read in Revelation chapter 12 17 the dragon makes war we'll get to the Battle of Armageddon later today the dragon makes war with the remnant of God's people they have had a revival they return to the faith that was delivered to the Saints who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus and so part of that is all the commandments including the Sabbath truth being restored so this is the first angels message now we go to the second angels message not as long but it's power-packed second angels message you find it tells us Babylon is fallen is fallen that great city because she made all nations drink the wine of the wrath of her fornication now notice what's happening over and over again in Revelation chapter 13 it talks about the Beast and this word that's being made and then you go a little further and it explains more about what's going to happen to the Beast and then it's talking here in chapter 14 about Babylon well when you get to chapter 17 it identifies who Babylon is and that will be in our next study and so you keep finding it's overlapping back and forth to try and give the picture it'll introduce the subject well here it tells us that Babylon is fallen is fallen when you get to chapter 18 it gives more detail remember we first heard about 144,000 in chapter 7 now in chapter 14 more detail she's telling us about Babel and falling here in chapter 14 chapter 18 more detail what's that extra detail in chapter 18 I heard another voice out of heaven saying not only is Babel and fallen says come out of her my people that you be not partakers of her sins and that you receive not of her plays chapter 15 and 16 tell about the plagues are gonna fall on Babylon so we got to know who that is and we know that if we don't come out of Babylon what do we get plagues fall on us so those people need to come out of that one now why does it say Babylon is fallen is fallen you got two babblings in the Bible that fall so to speak by the way when something falls twice it doesn't rise again it's talking about you got Babel and fell in the Old Testament and God's people were able to come out of Babylon when Babylon fell because the medo-persians attacked they allowed all the Jews to go back to the promised land now when spiritual Babylon falls in the last days it means we God's people are gonna be able to go to the promised land but we must be willing to come out those who stayed in Babylon suffered and in the same way if we stay in battle and there'll be plagues that will fall third angels message now I'm not going to say much more about Babylon because we got another study coming on that revelation 14 verses 9 and 10 and we read here if any man worship the Beast and His image and receive his mark on his forehead or on his hand he himself also will drink the wine of the wrath of God you might underline wrath of God their wrath of God now is going to be explained in the next chapters he will drink the wine of the wrath of God that has poured out full mixture without mixture into the cup of his indignation so you know God often when he sends judgments he's good he mixes the judgments with mercy and God is very kind but when this final judgment comes you know why God often mixes his judgments with mercy he wants us to repent but will there be anybody repenting when the seven plagues fall out when the wrath of God comes which are the seven last plagues at that point probation closes Jesus will declare as it says in revelation 22 he that has just let him be just still he that is filthy let him be filthy still he that is holy he is holy still and righteous he that is unrighteous is unrighteous still and so people's there's no more changing teams people's destinies are eternally fixed you remember the parable of the rich man and Lazarus Abraham said that that rich man there is a great gulf fixed no swapping anymore at that point and so that's why there's no mixture now they're getting there their judgment it's not to be redemptive it's just what they deserve and it says if any man worship the Beast and His image that was introduced in the former chapter and receives his mark on his forehead or his hand he will drink the wine of the rap now how important is it that we don't receive the mark of the beast you know I've had people say to me many times you know Doug I don't read the Old Testament it's you know the God in the Old Testament seems severe you got war and you got death and you got plagues and and I like the Gotham New Testament he's loving and kind and forgiving but you know the most fearful plagues that you find and the most the scariest denunciations are in the New Testament I mean you read some of the things Paul's and Paul was very clear such will not enter the kingdom of God and he talks about the judgment of God and here it says they're gonna drink the wine of God's wrath without mixture and smoke ascends up forever and ever and they have no rest day and night and that's a New Testament so when people say that you know what it is it's ignorance they're just not reading the Bible but if you read the Bible you'll find out you got plagues in the new in the Old Testament you got grace and gospel in the new in the Old Testament it's all the Bible it's all there it's all the Word of God anyway so the wrath is introduced in the third angel's message a warning to come out now you read go back to chapter 14 and I guess you were already there I had to go back to chapter 14 and it goes on and says the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever and they have no rest day or night who worship the Beast and His image whoever receives the mark of his name first of all those who do not have Jesus have no rest is that clear to everybody Jesus says come unto me and I will give you rest you don't come unto him you don't have rest now what does it mean when it says it's the smoke ascends up forever and ever does that mean that it just it goes up forever and ever and ever and smoke ascending up there's a couple of ways you might say the smoke ascends up forever one way you could say it is a smoker sends up out of sight as far as you can see you know when there's a big fire you might not see how far that smoke ascends the other means it keeps ascending forever and ever we know it's not talking about that because it says that those who are cast in the lake of fire this is the second death furthermore it tells us that the wicked will consume away into smoke there will not be a cold to warm at Malachi chapter 4 it says they will be burnt up they are ashes so what he's talking about is this judgment when it comes the smoke is just reaching up into the heavens and for all to see and then you read on after it talks about this it contrasts those in verse 12 verse 11 tells about those who have no rest who have the mark of the beast and contrast them with those who are saved here is the patience of the saints here are those once again who keep the commandments of God and notice the faith doesn't say faith in Jesus it says the faith of Jesus what kind of faith do we want to have not just faith in Jesus but we want to have the faith of Jesus there are a lot of different kinds of faith in the world out there today and people say I don't care what faith you are we can all love each other regardless of our faith and yeah we might all love each other but that's not all saving faith saving faith is not just faith in Jesus it's a faith of Jesus the kind of faith that Christ had in the father we need in Christ and it's the faith in the truth that Jesus had so it's a very particular faith and I heard a voice from heaven saying write blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on yes says the spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them it'll be a good thing to be resting in the Lord before the plagues fall you notice that after these messages go to the world Revelation chapter 14 three angels messages verse fourteen I looked and behold a white cloud and one sat like the Son of Man on the cloud having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle and another angel came out of the temple all of Revelation happens in the context of the heavenly temple on the cloud and he says thrust in your sickle and reap for the time has come for you to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe for six thousand years Jesus has been sowing the seed of the gospel and now he's coming with his sickle and he's going to harvest the earth and he who sat upon the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth and the earth was reaped hasn't jesus said the harvest is great the laborers are few the Word of God is that seed he wants us to be out there what will the wicked declare the harvest is past the summer is ended and we are not saved all of salvation is kind of in the context of a harvest and so and the devil has been sowing tares among the wheat right or weeds among the wheat and here it's though it's in the harvest more grapes any of you ever sung that song mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord he's trampled out the vintage where The Grapes of Wrath are stored that's drawn from what we're about to read talking about this awesome judgment so the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and he gathered the vine of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God and the winepress was trampled outside the city and blood came out of the winepress up to the horse's bridle for one thousand six hundred furlongs that's not a pretty picture but of course I think everyone realizes there's a lot of symbols in these images here the world is not going to run with blood up doors as bridle when Jesus comes that is a picture when they went into battle first of all they often fought near rivers and many times those rivers were running with blood it happened during the Civil War many battles have been like that it's hard to cross a river with a horse and stay on the horse once the water gets up to his bridle the horse then has to swim he can't walk across the river anymore makes it difficult and so it's a picture of this barrier of judgment that's happening now I did a study last night I even talked to Don Mackintosh afterward and I said help me understand why does it say sixteen hundred furlongs it's about two hundred miles all the numbers mean something in the Bible and I looked at the different commentators number doesn't appear anywhere else in the Bible did you know that sixteen hundred it'll have sixteen hundred and this and that but sixteen hundred well of course it's it's a number that's divisible by four some have suggested that's what you get when you circumnavigate the promised land and so I don't know exactly what that means but it's talking about how far and how deep this blood was going to run it's a great judgment now notice what happens after these three angel messages go to the world then it says Jesus comes in the clouds and so the next thing that happens is the coming of Christ now that doesn't mean Revelation is over and Jesus has come Jesus comes several times in Revelation Jesus comes at the end of the seven churches when he says to the Laodicean church amen I stand at the door Jesus comes at the end of seven trumpets Jesus comes at the end of several of the the seven seals and so you always find these different snapshots of history they end with the great climax of Jesus coming and this is the case here after the three angel messages go to the world Jesus comes any of you ever noticed we got a mosaic here in the Church of Jesus but have you noticed the other mosaic on the front outside we've got it right here this is actually I did this I don't know if you know that I copied this I didn't do the podium I did they picture and then I gave it to the artist but that's a copy we took a picture and I framed it in Photoshop of the three angels on the front of our church and you never noticed a three angel' mosaic out there so that's based on these three angel messages that we want to carry to the world and so why cuz then Christ comes Gospels preached everywhere now Revelation chapter 15 16 and I'm gonna go through this quickly you find in chapter 15 that he introduces that this great judgment is about to come and it's talking about the redeemed they see on a sea of glass they sing the song of Moses and the song of God the song of the Lamb why when the plagues begin to fall probation is closed as it says in Daniel chapter 12 Michael will stand up the Great Prince that stands for the children of thy people you know when a judge stands up you know what that means first of all if you've been in a courtroom and the judge comes in they say all rise and they say in the name of the judge the Honorable so-and-so and everyone stands up judge sits down he listens to evidence he weighs evidence when he bangs that gavel down case closed he gets up you don't saying anything else judgments over no more intercession no more pleading it's telling us when Michael stands up the judgments over the saved or save the lost are lost now that's bad news for the law that the good news for the saved they're on the other side now of the Red Sea like when Miriam crossed over and they saw the Egyptians did when the plagues fell on Egypt and they sang the song of Moses that song of victory so you'll you'll find that in the Bible by the way you can find this in Exodus 15 14 we're getting ready to go into the seven plagues now where do you find a pile of place in the Bible before the children of Israel left for the promised land what happened to Egypt plagues how many plagues ten plagues now pastor Doug that doesn't make sense how come there's seven in Revelation some of the plagues are similar but there's ten in Exodus well there is seven particular plagues in Exodus the first three of the ten plagues that fell on the Egyptians were also experienced by the Israelites the last seven plagues that fell on Israel God protected Israel from those plagues and so you notice that it was dark in Israel light or dark in Egypt light in Israel plague falls hail falls in Egypt doesn't fall in Goshen he ends up protecting them through those when the seven last plagues fall will God protect his people you notice we started with Psalm 91 as our scripture reading neither will any plague come nigh his dwelling when people think about the last days until pastored I gotta know if I'm gonna make it through the plagues I'm so worried about the plagues I think if you're saved up to the plate you're home free don't worry about it says your bread is sure your water is sure you don't have anything to worry about at that point my worry is I just want to be faithful if I make it till Michael stands up on the world is gonna fall apart around you but under his wings he protects you so as we read about these plagues don't wring your hands worrying about the plagues make sure you're saved and you won't have to worry about the place you know people I got to make sure I don't run out of time I talked to my friends that believe in the secret rapture no we believe in the rapture in that there will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air right we don't believe in the secret rapture and you know the Left Behind scenario is that Christ raptures some away and the rest of people have to stay down here and they go through the plagues here on earth the righteous in the wicked and and seven years of tribulation you've probably heard about that even though it's not in the Bible you don't find seven years of tribulation anywhere in the Bible and and they say oh hi I'm so scared that I might have to live through the tribulation I think if you're saved why would you worry about that and so I said I'm not the least bit worried about the plagues if God protected the Israelites during the plagues is he gonna protect modern Israel so don't don't worry about these things as we dive into them here so they rejoice and they sing that song of Moses in the land verse 5 chapter 15 I saw and behold the Temple of the tabernacle of the testimony was open in heaven and out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues clothed and pure bright linen having their chests girded with golden bands that's the way Jesus appears in Chapter one then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and and from his power and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed now what happened in the temple atonement was made intercession Redemption forgiveness the fact that no one can go in the temple means atonement is over the redemption is over by the way do you know there's another place in the Bible where it says they couldn't enter the temple because of the glory of God when Solomon's Temple was dedicated you don't find this in first kings you do find it where it tells a story in first chronicles when the first offering was made they put it on the altar just like Moses did fire came down from God he ignited the first sacrifice they from then on were to use those coals from that holy fire for every other fire in the temple was called holy fire ignited by God the Lord lit that fire it happened in the wilderness when they inaugurated that temple when Solomon built his temple the fire of God came down that says the Shekinah glory of the Lord filled the temple so the priests could not minister because the glory of God was so intense so it's either John knew his Bible really well and made all these things up or everything in Revelation links back to another story in the Bible they couldn't even minister so when it tells us the smoke is in the temple at saying intercession has ceased for men at this point now it tells us verse 1 chapter 16 about the plays begin to come then I heard the voice from the temple saying to the seven angels go and pour out the bowls of wrath of God on the earth so the first angel went and poured out his bowl upon the earth and a foul and loathsome that means a bad smelling and an obnoxious sore or boil came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image now this I believe is literal you know and sometimes it's hard to know where do you transition between is this just a symbol or is this literal were there literal plagues that fell in the Old Testament now the probation is closed that the needs for these symbols is it's not as strong and so I think this is a real sword now I won't ask for a show of hands but I don't know if you've ever had a boil I'm not talking about pimple most of us have had a pimple at some point a boil is different there's a lot bigger it's gotten under the skin and it's throbbing it's loathsome it smells and it's basically saying these people who rejected the seal of God and took the mark of the beast they're being flagged physically for destruction they're being branded for destruction by this boil and so this is the first the first plague is this painful boil by the way what happened when they failed to worship God when the Philistine stole the Ark of God what happened to the Philistines First Samuel 5/9 so it was after they carried away the Ark the hand of the Lord was against the city and a very great destruction and he struck the men of the city small and great with tumors broke out on them for Samuel 5:12 and the men who did not die were stricken with tumors in the cry of the city went up to heaven and they were crying all the pain the pain finally they gave the ark bed it was because they had stolen and defiled the Ark of God the law of God is in the ark isn't that right tumors what happened to job when God withdrew his protection from job covered with boils this is just one very bad boil well that's enough about boils number two a plague strikes the sea and that's chapter 16 verse 3 it tells us that the sea is as the blood of a dead man now it doesn't say it becomes the blood it is as the blood a dead man being dark thick and congealed I know that's not pretty but you know what some have said and it makes you think I'm not I'm not voting on this right now but it is making me think some up said well you know they just had this big old oil spill in the Gulf and they say it's you know the worst in American history and and that we're set up where if there was some kind of geological earthquake all these wells the whole if all the wells that are in the ocean right now suddenly broke because of some catastrophic catastrophic earthquake man you'd have just though all the shores would be washing of oil and and it's dark some of its red depends what kind of crude it is it's like a reddish dark the congeals it kills things in the sea I don't know I've just thought it'd be worth thinking about what that is is hard to pinpoint it says it's as the blood of a dead man oh by the way have you noticed the parallels and as we go through the plagues I didn't want to miss this when it talks about the seven plagues look at the similarities between the seven it's that we've studied the first four of the seven plagues and the trumpets talk about the earth sea rivers Springs and heavenly bodies the fifth trumpet and plague deals with darkness the six mentions the Euphrates River the seventh loud voices and noises such a mathematically perfect book the other thing I was looking at the parallels between the plagues and creation look at the words that are mentioned in creation and go to the seven last plagues the seven last plagues are creation in Reverse the whole creation right now is groaning and travailing and when the seven plagues come you've got creation going backwards whole creation is imploding it mentions in creation in the plagues and creation god man earth the number seven Euphrates Sun water darkness a lot of the language that you find in creation suddenly appears in the seven last plagues but it's going backwards all right where did I leave you I think I left you with oceans of blood now we're going to go Springs of water the third plague strikes the rivers and springs now this is a plague that also affected Egypt the Nile turned to blood and it says here it doesn't say as blood it says turns to blood it's it's pretty clear remember Moses Exodus seven lifted up his rod and smote the waters that were in Egypt in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants and all the waters in the river turned to blood and the fish that was in the river died and the rivers stink and the Egyptians could not drink the water what's gonna happen most of the world's population now lives in the cities wasn't that way is mostly rural you go back a hundred years where are most cities located two spots rivers and oceans it's either San Francisco on the ocean or Sacramento on the river right but the majority of the populations of the world are located by rivers because he need water for life or the the bounty of the sea usually we're River runs to the ocean by the way now that's being plagued what's that gonna do to the population of the world fourth plague the Sun strikes the plague strikes the Sun burning heat what is it that most world religions worship Sun worship now the supreme object of their worship is being struck Luke 21 verse 25 jesus warns speaking of the last days there will be signs in the Sun and the moon and the stars and upon the earth distress of Nations with perplexity talk about the ultimate global warming men someone's gonna read this men are being struck with great heat well I think it's gonna be a lot more than global warming I think that's been the earth is gonna be scorched and can you imagine this they get sores these things are gonna happen in quick succession I think how long will the seven last plagues last jesus said except those days be shortened no flesh would survive now I can't tell you the exact time but I have a theory you read in Revelation 18 when it talks about the fall of Babylon and it mentions one hour one hour one hour if a day is a year one hour is 15 days 3 times 1 hours 45 days now don't take too much out of this but it is interesting to me that in Daniel 12 there's a 45 day difference between the 12 and 90 in the 1335 I believe in the historic interpretation of prophecy but I do think that's interesting how long do you think the plagues lasted it fell on Jobe months years probably a few weeks maybe 45 days when the plagues fell on Egypt when you add 1 in 1 you put it together some days are left out but it all happens in a few weeks it's very quick so when the seven last plagues happen I know it seems like God makes us wait forever but you won't need to wait at that point because you're saved I think it's gonna happen quickly and so don't know but based on what I see in the Bible it seems like these final plagues they happen in rapid succession maybe a couple of months it'll all happen can you imagine having those boils not having clean drinking water the oceans and I mean the economies of the world are going to come to a standstill you find that when we get to chapter 18 anyway cheer up it's gonna get worse so burn and then you have burning heat nothing to drink plague five a plague of darkness on the throne of the Beast now this seems to be more located darkness also represents a lack of spiritual illumination darkness on the seat of the Beast is telling us the Beast has claimed how great light jesus said of the blind lead the blind to law fall in the ditch he says there in darkness and so their light is withdrawn and this is also talking about the fall of Babel and you'll find in chapter 18 darkness on the seat of the Beast was darkness one of the plagues that fell on ancient Egypt a thick powerful darkness that you could taste and feel and so all of a sudden they're plunged into darkness talk about a blackout all right and then we get to by the way Jesus says in Matthew 6:23 if your eye is bad your whole body will be full of darkness therefore if the light that is in you is darkness then how great is that darkness there's one verse darkness darkness darkness Jesus says three times and he's talking about people that say if you are spiritually blind you'll be caught in terrible darkness at some point plague number six the river Euphrates again in the trumpets your freitas is mentioned too and it's telling these weak wicked demonic spirits are released now turn with me to chapter 16 of Revelation and when it talks about this last plague you you read about the darkness on the seat of the Beast and the seventh Bowl finally when the seventh angel pours out his bowl in the air oh wait one more thing on the I'm sorry under the sixth Bowl because I want to talk about Armageddon it says I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the Beast by the way the frogs goodnight darkness doesn't bother frogs and they catch things with their tongues coming out of the mouth of the beast out of the mouth of the dragon out of the mouth of the false prophet for their spirits of Devil's performing signs that go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the Battle of the great day of God Almighty and then it interjects here just before this final showdown to annihilate the people of God Jesus inserts a promise you have red-letter addition in your Bible this isn't read crisis behold I'm coming it's like saying don't give up hang on behold I'm coming as a thief blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see a shame then it finishes where they're being gathered for the battle he gathers them together to a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon now that word Armageddon is a conundrum it is a mystery it is an enigma because you don't find the word they haven't yet maybe someday they will there is no ancient Hebrew literature that fight you where you find the word of course it's written in Greek then they try and translate it over to Hebrew and they can't find that word nearest they can come is it's very similar to the word Megiddo and they're wondering if it means horror Megiddo which means the hill of Megiddo and some have thought over there in Megiddo and all these armies are gonna gather and there's gonna be this great battle and everyone's heard the word Armageddon because it represents a great final battle something it means World War 3 that'll be fought somehow between China and Russia in the US and Israel and I don't know there's all these different theories Battle of Armageddon is not between political powers the Battle of Armageddon is already given to us in Revelation 12:17 it is the dragon making war on the woman it is those who have the mark of the beast making war on those who have the seal of God it is a final war between those who worship the devil and have the mark of the devil wanting to destroy those who worship God and so don't get distracted by some of these popular televangelists you can't trust Angeles Canyon that if they got all these convoluted ideas about what the Battle of Armageddon is it's the Bible is very clear what it is now what does the word Armageddon mean you know like I said I've told you it's somewhat of a conundrum but I want to share with you I've done some studies on it and a number of major battles did happen near the valley of Megiddo the battle between Deborah and Balak and the forces of Sisera where God fought for his people they had all these iron chariots they were going to annihilate God's people but he fought for them and there was a miraculous deliverance so it's telling us about that but you know there's also another great battle that happened by the valley of Megiddo between a hero named Gideon where he divided his forces in three parts to fight against a three part enemy now we've just learned in Revelation you got a three part enemy beast dragon false prophet right in Gideon's day it was the Amalekites the and the people of the east I'm sorry Midianites Amalekites and people of the east and so you've got a lot of similarities now if you look in the original Hebrew and I think I've got the word Armageddon we're gonna put up on the screen there when God speaks to Gideon and it says jehovah spoke a Gideon in judges 72 here's how it would look in the Hebrew yeah holla Omar get Owen now Moffat who wrote his commentary says Armageddon is talking about Gideon and by the way the word Gideon means a feller of trees someone who cuts down the big trees and it's saying that as God spoke to Gideon and did God's people have to fight in the days of Gideon or did they blow the trumpets they let their light shine and the enemy destroyed himself when you read in Revelation and Babel and Falls what happens the enemy turns the kings of the earth turn on the Beast they turn on each other what did Moses say by the Red Sea to the children of Israel stand still and see the salvation of God and the Lord fought for them so what does it tell it's about the Battle of Armageddon God is going to come Jesus is gonna come himself and fight for his people with all of his angels and he will fight in our behalf and so then it goes on the seventh plague is poured out and what does it say it is done Babel and falls so God is telling us in oh by the way you know I think yeah in the verse of Joel chapter three verse fourteen one more thing about the Battle of Armageddon it's happening in this valley it says multitudes multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision so there was this great deliverance God fought for Jehoshaphat in this valley and delivered them alright I've got to move on final plague says it is done Babel and falls now when else do you find in the Bible where someone declared it is finished when Jesus died on the cross after it says it is done under the seventh plague there's a great earthquake was there an earthquake did the ground shake when Jesus said it is done back then so when Christ said it was done and he died on the cross whereas the devil and his angels rejoicing they thought we've got him now he's dead they sealed his body now the next time this final vial this final plague that's poured out again Christ is saying it is done but is he coming now as a defeated carpenter or is he coming as a conquering king the lion or tribe of Judah he said it is done again and now it's not just that the salvation sacrifice is complete now the redemption is complete because God's people are caught up they'll get their glorified bodies never going to be touched by sin again Matthew 27 says the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom the earthquake the rocks were split the graves opened many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised will that happen again when Jesus comes so it's an echo of the things that happen at the cross they're going to happen again in Christ come triumphantly well friends I'm looking forward to that day aren't you when Jesus comes again and he comes with all of his angels

Channel: Amazing Mission

Views: 12,377

Rating: 4.9139786 out of 5

Keywords: An, Overview, of, Revelation, Apocalypse, Synopsis, Part, Gospel, Church, Christian, good, faith, hope, sin, love, salvation, christianity, philosophy, lecture, bible, coming soon, gospel, review, reviews, Jesus, Christ, angel, lucifer, devil, dragon, 666, john, 144, 000, blood, preaching, inspirational

Id: I9JPy8q8qpw

Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 07 2011