Lesson 29 - Revelation 13 Cont.

[Music] [Music] we only got two verse 6 of chapter 13 last week but there's still more to say about those first several verses that makes it important to spend some time with them there's also some important applications that I think we need to take to heart so let's reread part of Revelation chapter 13 if you have a complete Jewish Bible we're gonna be on page 15 44 Revelation chapter 13 we're gonna start at verse 4 follow along with me please they worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the Beast and they worshipped the Beast saying who was like the Beast who can fight against it it was given a mouth speaking arrogant blasphemies it was given authority to act for forty-two months so it opened its mouth and blasphemies against God to insult his name and his Shekinah and those living in heaven it was allowed to make war in God's holy people and to defeat them and it was given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation everyone living on earth will worship it except those whose names are written in the book of life belonging to the lamb slaughtered before the world was founded those who have ears let them hear if anyone is meant for captivity into captivity he goes if anyone has to be killed with the sword with the sword he is to be killed this is when God's holy people must persevere and trust then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth it had two horns like those of a lamb but it spoke like a dragon it exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast the one whose fatal head wound had been healed it performs great miracles even causing fire to come down from heaven onto the earth as people watch it deceives the people living on earth by the miracles it is allowed to perform in the presence of the Beast and it tells them to make an image honoring the Beast that was struck by the sword but came alive again it was allowed to put breath into the image of the Beast so that the image of the Beast could even speak and it was allowed to cause anyone who could not worship the image of the Beast to be put to death also it forces everyone great and small rich and poor free and slave to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead preventing anyone from buying or selling unless he has the mark that is the name of the beast or the number of its name this is where wisdom is needed those who understand should count the number of the beast for it is the number of a person and it's number is 666 now we previously met the Satanic sea beast we learned about several of his attributes perhaps his chief attribute is the most visible one it is that he appears much like a dragon that is he has seven heads and ten horns now the dragon being like Satan empowers the sea beast with his own wicked power in imitation of the way that the father empowers the son with his own godly power now stop and make a mental note of that Satan has the ability to give some of his power to other beings including humans we learned that citizens of the earth are going to be so bedazzled so infatuated by the power and the abilities of the sea beast that they're going to lavish worship upon it they will give in to the sea beast every command because they will determine as it says in verse four well who can fight against it in John's vision the sea beasts became a spokesman if you would for the devil and against God which is why one aspect of the sea beast is as the Anti Christ now I say one aspect because the sea beast has how many heads seven indicating a coalition of seven persons or entities not just one and they'll all play different roles and bringing the Antichrist into power so the sea beast doesn't just represent a single person or entity but rather several all of them evil of course now the spokesman part of the sea beast is said to speak blasphemies against three things against the Lord against those living in heaven and according to the complete Jewish Bible against the Shekinah sorry to say the complete Jewish Bible is way off course on that third thing it is not the Shekinah rather it is in the Greek the skinny and the skinny means Tabernacle as in wilderness Tabernacle the blasphemies of the devil will be but not only does he speak against God against and against his earthly abode and against those who have died in the faith but also the devil counterfeits these three things in order to deceive both believers and non-believers who are alive on earth at that time all of this was prophesied by Daniel nearly seven centuries before John received and recorded his divine visions now we're gonna go to the Book of Daniel to get a broader picture of just what Satan is up to in this regard you can look up here because I'm just gonna read it to you this is Daniel 11 verses 31 to 36 armed forces will come in his order and profane the sanctuary and fortress they will abolish the daily burnt offering and set up the abomination that causes desolation those who act wickedly against the Covenant he will corrupt with his blandishments but the people who know their God will stand firm and prevail those among the people who have discernment will cause the rest of the people to understand what's happening nevertheless for a while they will fall victim to the sword fire exile and pillage and when they stumble they will receive a little help although many who join them will be insincere even some of those with discernment will stumble so that some of them will be refined purified cleansed for an end yet to come at the designated time the king will do as he pleases he will exalt himself and consider himself greater than any God and he will utter monstrous blasphemies against the God of gods he will prosper only until the period of Wrath is over for what has been determined must take place now because this section of Daniel will take place in the end times and therefore ought to be of great interest us although it has already happened by the way in one form in the 160 s bc with when Antiochus Epiphanes took over the temple and defiled it let's look at what we learn from this passage in Daniel now remember we need to take this section of Daniel in the context of revelation 13 and vice versa because they worked together Daniel speaks of Satan co-opting those who act wickedly against the Covenant who are those people what does that mean the Covenant is referring to the Covenant of Moses but might also include by extension God's covenant with Abraham yet it says Daniel those who know their God will stand firm and they will prevail what this passage is speaking about is people who claim to worship the God of Israel but yet they act against the Covenant the Covenant the law of Moses see this is in contrast to those who truly know God study and obey God's covenant and so they have the knowledge the understanding and the devotion that they can stand firm in the truth so in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes this was speaking mostly about wicked priests who ignored the God ordained rituals and instead they used the temple as a treasure chest for their personal benefit even the high priests in this era were illegitimate because they were not descended from the God ordained line that comes from Aaron however as concerns the end times it's being spoken of here is religious Jews who claim knowledge of the Torah yet nonetheless act wickedly by violating God's Torah because they place their own traditions and laws of the rabbis above the law of Moses but this also includes Gentiles Christians who have been taught by church authorities that the covenants of God have no place in their lives and thus they refuse to learn about them or to obey them so these Christians this group of Christians indeed acts wickedly against the Covenant all the time thinking they're supposed to and also believing that ignoring even slandering God's laws and commandments well that's the righteous thing for Christians to do as is condemning other believers who do try to uphold those Commandments both groups religious Jews and Gentiles were said to act wickedly against the covenant are therefore easy marks for the dragon they're easy for him to co-opt why because they lack wisdom they lack divine truth and instead rely on weak man-made doctrines and traditions perhaps accompany with kind of a patchwork of Bible passages that's used to validate their position against the covenant however says Daniel other God worshippers as it says who truly know God those who do not act wickedly against the covenant will be able to stand firm and continue to be obedient to you all day so I want to be Laer this is important this is not a contrast that we're reading about between pagans and God worshipers this is a separation of those who claim to worship God but do not obey Him versus those who claim to know God but do obey Him and their obedience is based on God's covenant Christ commented on this exact matter and it's something you heard me quote a hundred times at least in here in Matthew 5:17 through 90 please again think about all the context you just heard now hear this do not think I've come to abolish the Torah or the prophets I've not come to abolish but to complete yes indeed I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away not so much as a uterus strokes gonna pass from the Torah not until everything that must happen has happened so and here's the bottom line so whoever disobeys the least of these Commandments and teaches others to do so I was going to be called the least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever obeys them whoever teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven you see all that works together see I get a substantial volume of email and as you might imagine there is a short list of a few questions and comments that I get repeatedly now one that I regularly receive goes something like this why do you constantly quote Matthew 5:17 through 19 what Jesus is saying that he didn't abolish the law how about what Paul says in Romans 7 are Galatians 3 in other words all these emailing folks don't deny the Christ said that he didn't abolish the law and that his followers should obey those laws and believers future status in heaven is going to depend on that level of obedience to the Covenant in their minds Paul tells a different story and he tells us that the laws abolished and so obedience no longer matters and they prefer to go with Paul and fault me for going with Christ now I usually reply by pointing out two things first the last time I checked Christ is the master and Paul's the disciple so if Paul is actually contradicting Jesus which in reality he is not then we have the disciple contradicting his master or worse in this case we have a mere human contradicting the son of God and second if one studies the Torah then it comes as no surprise that Yahshua a Torah observant Jew said what he did the shock for a Torah student would be if he did say he came to abolish what his father gave to Moses that would be the shock so it is those who deemed the Covenant irrelevant or abolished that are being spoken about in this passage in Daniel continuing Daniel 11 still in Daniel 11 now the next verse says that those who have discernment those who are true to the Covenant the law of Moses will cause the rest of the people other God worshippers understand what's happening so those who know and obey the covenant are those who can discern and it is they who are able to teach the totality and the meaning of God's Word and to help those who are bewildered and they're bewildered because they don't know the Torah it's to help them understand what all these calamities and cosmic events that are devastating the earth mean what they're leading towards even so that does not say that knowing God's Word and obeying his covenant is going to protect these discerning believers from harm they we are going to be pursued and persecuted for therefore our faith and I would add they will be pursued by evil followers of Satan and by deceived believers as well as people closest to them Yeshua spoke a warning about this happening that we find in the Gospel accounts in Luke 21 10 through 19 we hear this from Christ then he told them people will fight each other nations will fight each other there will be great earthquakes there will be academic epidemics there will be famines in various places and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven but before all this they will arrest you and persecute you handing you over to the synagogues and to the prisons and you will be brought before kings and governors this will all be on account of me but it will provide an opportunity for you to witness so make up your minds not to worry rehearsing your defense beforehand for I myself will give you an eloquence and a wisdom that no adversary will be able to resist or refute you will be betrayed even by parents brothers relatives friends some of you they will have put to death everyone's going to hate you because of me but not a hair of your head will be lost by standing firm you will save your lives the dedication and the boldness that the obedient believers display is going to attract many followers says Daniel but some of these new followers are going to be insincere that is these new followers are really after a solution maybe just some comforting for their very bad circumstances I mean the ongoing horrifying results of God's wrath not so much have they had a true change of heart with a new goal of an intimate relationship with God coupled with an intent to obey Him so when they realize that actual trust in God and obedience to his covenant is not some magic elixir that protects or saves them from earthly trials and tribulations they're gonna lose interest gonna move on to the next trendy thing that promises them protection from armed further those who are incensed and who are insincere and yet still suffer from an earthly perspective let me change I'm sorry those who are sincere but still suffer from an earthly perspective well actually gain from it we're told because from a heavenly perspective Daniel says their faith is gonna be further refined and purified and finally in Daniel 11:36 we come to the part where the King Satan in the form of the sea beast are probably better way to think about it the Antichrist he will consider himself greater than God and will utter monstrous blasphemies as we find John reiterating by the way in revelation 13:6 and the devil has been given a period of time that God is going to allow him to utter such blasphemous and false things revelation 13:5 says this period of unrestricted blasphemy by the sea beast is gonna last for forty-two months now during this time many God worshippers are going to succumb to the power and the majesty and the blasphemies of the sea beast but many others won't and those who won't are said to be those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life that is those who put their eternal trust in the lamb in Yeshua are going to have their souls held safe for an eternity with God but also will have their minds protected from the seduction of the sea beast Christ spoke of this time and it is recorded for us in the Gospel of Matthew Matthew 24 verses 24 to 25 for there will appear false messiahs and false prophets performing great miracles amazing things so as to fool even the chosen if possible there I've told you in advance I want to say a couple things about this matter first of all this verse in Matthew is often used to back up the dispensational pre-tribulation doctrine that claims that before a seven-year period of tribulation begins believers will be raptured away that is they can't be fooled by the blasphemies of the Seabees for the reason that they're not going to be here but when we see that Christ is speaking in reference to those written in the book of life not being fooled not being deceived by the false messiahs and the false prophets in the end time then we understand that whenever it is that the rapture occurs what we're reading here in Revelation about some believers being deceived occurs before them so fellow believers should we be alive at that time we are destined to go through a terrible time of suffering and tribulation and many are going to witness the Antichrist and his deceptions and not be rescued from it because the rapture comes later now the second point I want to make is that today it is a truism that one way to discern on earth a person who claims to be a believer but isn't from one who claims to be a believer and is is the fruit they bear Matthew 7:15 through 20 be aware of false prophets they come to you wearing sheep's clothing but underneath they are hungry wolves you will recognize them by their fruit people can pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles likewise every healthy tree produces good fruit but a poor tree produces bad fruit a healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit a poor tree good fruit any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down throwing to the fire so you will recognize them by their fruit now I say one way to discern is because while we can look at the lives of professed believers and observe their their attitudes and their behaviors and make our own judgments about them that does not necessarily mean that we see them through the same eyes that God does okay we can have our opinions based on what we see but these opinions have no bearing on that person's eternal destiny later in the final days of the end times the outward indicator of who is written in the Lamb's Book of Life verses those who aren't will be those who choose to follow the devil and the way of the world versus those who trust the lamb and stay true to him by not succumbing to his deception smoke enough from the blasphemous mouth of the of the sea beast probably in the form of the Antichrist well the believers will not be exempted from tribulation is emphasized by verse 10 that is in in revelation 13 that really is combining to two passages from the Book of Jeremiah the two passages from Jeremiah are Jeremiah 15 - which says and when they ask you where they should go tell them that this is what ad and I said those destined for death - that to death those destined for the sword - the sword those destined for famine - famine those destined for captivity - captivity he says something similar in Jeremiah 43 11 he will come and attack the land of Egypt those destined for death - death those destined for captivity - captivity those destined for the sword - sword see that we see these two similarly worded passages coming from Jeremiah and now appearing in John's apocalypse tells us that this is a particular way of saying something that comes from the mouths of prophets and the point is that regardless of who you might be whether saint or sinner who what whatever has been permitted in heaven for you will play out on earth God's will cannot be thwarted your questioned thus in the conclusion about what this prophetic Pattison means for believers that very next passage says in verse 10 this is when God's holy people must persevere and trust that is even when the worst possible things happen to us and they will happen recognize that God is aware and in control so it falls to us our job is to persevere to continue trusting despite all those terrible circumstances that were enduring well suddenly now in verse 11 things change a second beast appears the land beast whereas the first beast emerged up out from the sea the second one emerges up out of the earth from the soil in Greek the word translated or for soil is ghee and it means solid land as opposed to water receives now some scholars think that this is attempting to translate the Hebrew word Eretz which indeed also means land however in the Bible especially after the time of the Exodus when Israel seized the land of Canaan Eretz became a term that meant the land the land specifically meaning the place where God's people lives if that's the case then this verse is saying that out of the Land of Israel will arise the land beasts now while that's not impossible such an interpretation involves considerably more speculation than evidence rather than normal unusual use of the words land and earth fit much better with the theme of Satan mimicking that mighty angel all right his and his symbolic assertion back from Revelation chapter 10 by putting one foot on the land the other foot on the sea that God is sovereign over all parts of the globe this is because Satan has now brought forth a beast from the sea he's brought forth another one from the land and both of them take their orders from him for the purpose of trying to retain Satan's sovereignty over the earth even though God has removed that from him Michaels war remember that Michaels war against Satan and his victory over him in heaven we read about just a couple three weeks ago that's now moved to Planet Earth and it's happening here now we're told that this land beast had two horns like a lamb not like the lamb but like a lamb that is the greek definite article tone which means the is not there it would seem that this lamb is probably not the same as the lamb that was slain Christ but rather is Mary merely like a generic lamb as it regards its horns now the reason this point important to ponder is because some early church fathers and several modern Bible scholars believe that it is the land beast that is the Antichrist not the sea beast because the two little horns like a lamb indicate that Satan is mimicking Christ now I find this doubtful rather it is more likely that this beast with the two horns that speaks like a dragon depends upon Daniel chapter 8 in Daniel chapter 8 verses 3 and 4 we look we look at it we see this I looked up and as I watched there in front of the stream stood a ram with two horns the horns were long but one was longer than the other and the longer one came up later than the other I saw the RAM pushing to the west north and south and no animals could stand up against it nor was there anyone that could rescue from its power so it did as it pleased and it became very strong look as we've already read we have this hierarchy the land beast is subservient to the sea beast the sea beast is subservient to the dragon okay revelation 13:12 explains that the land beast gets its authority from the sea beast whereas the sea beast gets its authority from the dragon and the land beast uses his authority to force the Earth's inhabitants to worship his boss the sea beast this land beast is better known in Christian circles as the false false prophet and this is correct in my view and clearly the land beast operates under the control of the sea beast just as the true prophet John the Baptist announced the coming of the true Messiah Yeshua so does the false prophet the land beast deceptively announced the sea beast the Antichrist as a messiah you see how that compares however we shouldn't take the John the Baptist versus land beast false prophet thing too far the Baptist did not receive his authority from Christ and he did not by the way entice people to worship Yeshua now this land beast false prophet performs great signs and miracles and these great miracles convince people that he's authentic he's for real biblically speaking a prophets credentials were established only once he performs miracles signs and miracles that was the proof that God's people needed in order to believe that he was genuinely sent from God as a prophet so using the power that came to him second hand from Satan the land beast of course performed miracles to establish his own credentials and these miracles convince pagans and the believers who are weak in covenant faith not only that the land beast is a true prophet but also the one that he glorifies the sea beast is a true Messiah this connects us back to verse 8 when we are told that everyone living on earth will worship the Beast meaning the sea beast that is also the Antichrist except for those whose names are written in the Lamb book of life and those who are written in the book of life are identified as those who do not act wickedly against the government even more the land beast is false prophet is going to tell the world that an image of the sea beast as the Messiah should be built and honored and once it's built the land beast will use its satanic power to make that image come alive to the point that it can speak now upon this mind-boggling happening that no doubt is going to be broadcast worldwide who among men could argue against the reality of the otherworldly power and abilities of the Antichrist in his false prophet I mean clearly those deniers who refuse to worship the image of the Beast would likely fall mostly into one category true knowledgeable devoted believers that see through this fraud and know that it's Satan's doing now God's now naturally a believer in the in in the God of the Bible could not possibly knowingly bow down to a talking image no matter the personal cost and so according to verse 15 those who refuse to worship the talking image are going to be executed now from a practical viewpoint think about this how would the Antichrist and his henchmen know who among the several billion people still alive on our planet refuses to bow down to the talking image are they going to know peer pressure political correct a mob mindset these are all very powerful forces especially when fear and self-preservation are at stake and by the way this is nothing new to humanity nearly every generation and every culture has examples of this in action while many examples past and present are available from evey use perhaps the easiest one the most recognizable one in our time to compare with the end-times insistence that all humans worship the image of the beast or die is the nearly global climate change Asteria and by the way I'm not debating or commenting on whether climate change does or doesn't exist that's not my point those who subscribe to whatever is your current belief about the existence and extent and cause and ultimate effects of climate change have coined a name for those who are skeptical of it or reject it outright they are deemed deniers and in the climate change adherents mind a denier is a dirty name akin to being labeled a traitor to mankind today there are serious calls in Europe and in the USA for climate change denial to be classified as a crime against humanity serious calls there for those judges deniers would become criminals and we'd be prosecuted again I'm not taking sides on this issue rather I'm saying that it's not unusual that when a perceived danger erupts on a large vocal and determined number of people decide that everyone must join them and all who don't are worthy only of scorn or worse precious few are going to resist because keeping their friends reputations fortunes mortal lives important to them so it's not a very major leap to see just how easy it is gonna be for the Antichrist and the false prophet to force all humans to bow down to the image for them to for them to ferret out the deniers are going to consist mostly believers in Christ the image deniers neighbors maybe even members of their own families are gonna turn it turn them in as a civic duty you know we only have to look back a few decades to Hitler's Germany to see this very thing happen with the full belief of many German Christians that obeying Hitler's agenda was the right and righteous thing to do for the sake of their country if not for the whole world well then vs. 16 brings up one of the most well known apocryphal scenarios of modern times the mark of the beast now the words of the scripture passage are quite clear that the evil trio of the Dragon and the sea beast and the land beast also known as Satan and the Antichrist and the false prophet they will put into place worldwide a requirement that a special mark be placed on every person's right hand or on his forehead otherwise that person may not buy or sell now the mantra among Western Christians today is that the technology that finally exists in the 21st century could make something like this completely possible but in fact marking people to control them in various ways as ancient practice in the Roman era soldiers were branded usually on their hands slaves were branded as well in the reign of deci as' who was a Roman Emperor in 250 AD every man had a certificate that he had sacrificed to Caesar or he was not allowed to earn a living that man could even face prison or death so in modern times naturally modern technology could be employed to control buying or selling on a near global basis I'm not even gonna get into all the speculations of how it could be done because it is endless I will say however that for me without doubt the first step for government to strictly control financial transactions is that you have to end the use of cash you have to and in fact the use of cash is on its way out in all the major world economies now Sweden is very nearly a cashless society you cannot buy so little as a pastry with cash merchants no longer have cash drawers there they don't keep any cash on hand none of the major banks handle cash any longer if one is so unfortunate as to have some cash that you need to deposit you pay a fee for the privilege therefore all monetary transactions are digital and it's accomplished with cards and pin numbers and passwords that we we all we know all about that but this means of course that the robbery of money from stores and persons and banks is kind of a thing of vast it means that illegal transactions for drugs is nearly impossible but it also means that every purchase you make right down to a stick of gum is tracked every penny you earn is instantly recorded therefore it becomes nearly impossible for the average person to avoid paying taxes which of course delights the government but it also means you can have your ability to buy or sell cut off immediately with only a few keystrokes that a government computer for whatever reason they deem justifiable what I'm telling you is not science fiction it is the way it is today in Sweden and elements of their cashless society are spreading because every government desires to have the nearly unlimited control of their citizens finances and the flow of money that the Swedish government now has so this question then must be asked in ancient times a brand or a mark on the body was needed to identify into control people but today it's not fingerprints facial recognition retinal scans are so easy in common that some smartphones now have that ability built into them so why must a person in the end times still future to us have a mark placed on their hand or their forehead because basically if a blasphemous counterfeit of the marking on the forehead of the hundred and forty-four thousand witnesses for God that we found back in Revelation chapter 7 but it also mocks the most important and fundamental commandment of God found in the Torah such that if this commandment this principle has been given its own name it's called the Sh'ma Deuteronomy 6:4 through 9 Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai outside here Israel at an eye our God Adonai has one and you're to love ah deny your God with all your heart all your being all your resource these words which I'm ordering you today are to be on your heart and you're to teach them carefully to your children you are to talk about them when you sit at home when you were traveling on the road when you lie down when you get up tie them on your hand as a sign put them at the front of your headband around your forehead and write them on the doorframes of your house and on your gates I'm hoping you see after all we've discussed today why it is so critical that believers all believers all of our millions and millions of brothers and sisters across this world set aside erroneous church doctrines that belittle the Torah and deny what Christ so emphatically said in Matthew 5 that he did not come to abolish the law of Moses revelation 13 cannot be properly understood if you don't know the Torah and the prophets it's not possible get all kinds of wacky ideas the puzzle of the end times can't be pieced together without knowledge of the Old Testament in its Hebrew context and without taking seriously God's eternal Commandments and as this chapter reveals countless believers at the end of days who think they know what's to be expected they're gonna be befuddled they're gonna be confused when the dragon begins his dirty work and then especially when the Antichrist and the false prophet emerge because these believers are going to have been fed nonsensical doctrines and traditions while being told that God's Word prior to the book of Matthew has no value or meaning for you in your life if you are one of these believers I just spoke about I'm telling you repent open your Bibles to the book of Genesis and start reading believe what you read and especially believe that it's for you today just as it was for God's chosen people 3,000 years ago we'll continue with the book of Revelation next week [Music] you

Channel: Torah Class

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Keywords: New Jerusalem, Son, Holy Spirit, Father, New Testament, John, Armageddon, Coming quickly, Millennium Reign, Seven Churches, Second Death, Tom Bradford, Jerusalem, Bible Study, Streets of Gold, Torah Class, Revelation

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Length: 53min 16sec (3196 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 22 2019