The Bible from 30,000 Feet,
soaring through the Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. Tonight the plane lands. Finally, we're going to get
through the book of Revelation and all 66 books of the Bible. Yeah, it's been a long time
coming, and COVID didn't help. In one sense, when
it hit, I think the most common
question I was getting is, is this the
end of the world? Surely this has to be
the end of the world. Well, I don't exactly know
when the end of the world is going to be, but I
do know that predicting the end of the world is
not a new enterprise. I want to show you
a sampling of that, we're going to put it on
the screens, of people who have predicted the end
of the age, end of the world. And I'm giving you a sampling of
hundreds, even thousands, even multiplied thousands
of predictions made about the end of the world. First of all, 2000
years ago there was a community
down by the Dead Sea known as the Essenes
community where the Dead Sea Scrolls have been found. That community believed that
the Roman invasion of Jerusalem and its subsequent
fall in 70 AD, they saw the great struggle,
the revolt of the Jews against the Romans
in the year 66 to 70 as being the final battle
that would bring the Messiah. This is it, they said. This is the end of the world. Finally messiah
is going to come. He had already come, and
he had already predicted the fall of Jerusalem. They missed that. In 365 AD-- and again,
I could give you several others in between. I'm just giving you
sort of highlight dates. 365 AD, a French bishop
named Hillary of Pointers announced the end of the
world would happen that year. 500 AD, Hippolytus
of Rome and Irenaeus who lived in Lion,
France at the time predicted the return of Christ. 1000 AD, a variety of clergymen,
including the Pope Sylvester II, the speaker was in the way,
predicted the end of the world and the beginning of
the new millennium. Now, when that happened, there
were riots all over Europe. Think of it. It's like the new
millennium is coming up. And so they thought
that this is it. We're entering into
the millennial age once we hit the year 1000. And there were riots
all over Europe, and several people
headed east to Jerusalem to be there to wait for
the event to happen. In the 1500s, Martin
Luther interestingly predicted that the
end of the world would take place no
later than 1600 AD. In the 1900s, there's a variety
of cults that have arisen. Herbert W Armstrong and
the Worldwide church of God made four predictions
of the end of the world, and they're listed there. The first in 1943,
the last in 1975. In the 1900s, David
Berg who is the cult leader of the Children
of God predicted that the end would be in 1974. And they, the Children
of God, that cultic group would save the world
from the Antichrist. Somehow they had the power
and the authority to do that. The Jehovah's witnesses
have been notorious for predicting all
sorts of things that have never
happened, But they predicted several wrong dates. The return of Christ in 1874,
the end of the world in 1914, then revised to 1918,
then revised to 1925, then revised to 1975. That's just a sampling of
their false prophecies. Edgar Whiesenant, I don't
know if you guys remember this if some of you are old enough
to remember a booklet that was passed out called 88
Reasons Why the Rapture Will Take Place in 1988. It was sent to clergymen. 300,000 of them sold. I remember people taking
that and shoving it in my face saying, you owe
it to this congregation to tell them that Jesus will
be back on this date in 1988. Well, he was wrong, and
then he revised it to 1989. He had two dates in 1988,
and then 1990, and then 1991. Harold Camping, notorious for
saying that the world will end. Gave several dates. Interesting, to sort of
throw this in at the end, Nostradamus said that in August
of 1999 it would be the end, and he said from the sky will
come the great king of terror. And some people interpreted
that as Satan, the Antichrist, a whole bunch of things. So the end of times
has been predicted by a number of people for the
last couple thousand years, and people are still writing
books and telling you when Jesus is going to return
even though the Bible clearly says of that day and
hour knows no one. Not the Jehovah's
witnesses certainly, not Harold Camping,
not Whiesenant and the other ants that have
been wrong throughout history. We have in Revelation
chapter 1 an outline in 1:19. Now, we're going to be
in chapter 12 tonight. But if you remember
in chapter 1 verse 19, there is an outline
that is given to John, and John follows the outline in
writing the book of Revelation. Write the things
which you have seen. Write the things
which are, and then what will take place after
these things or after this. And that is how the book
of Revelation unfolds. John writes what he sees-- a glorious vision of
Jesus in chapter 1. He writes the things
which are or were at his time contemporary
in chapters 2 and 3. Seven churches in Asia Minor. Letters from Jesus to them. Special messages for each one. So he sees the
vision, writes it, writes about Jesus,
messages to the church the things which were
taking place at that time. Then beginning in
chapter 6, he writes about the things which
will take place after-- or chapter 4, actually--
the things which will take place after this. He is caught up
into heaven, and he sees everything
from that vantage point all the way to chapter 22. Now, in case you don't
know, I have a literal view of the book of Revelation. And I just want to explain that
because not everybody shares my view. There are four major
interpretations or major viewpoints in
interpreting eschatology in general and the book of
Revelation in specificity. One is called the
preterist view, and the preterist view is that
the things written in the book of Revelation all are historic
and have all been fulfilled. They've all been fulfilled
within the first century of church history. Seen in the destruction
of the temple in 70 AD. But within the first century,
all of it has been fulfilled. There's a little modified view
called a partial preterism that says most of what
is in Revelation has been fulfilled with the
exception of the last couple chapters where there's a
new heaven, a new earth, and the final
judgment, et cetera. But other than that,
it is all historic and has been fulfilled. The problem with
that view is it goes against what Revelation
describes itself as no less than seven times. It calls itself a prophecy. Verse 3 of chapter 1,
"blessed is he who reads, those who hear the
words of this prophecy." something is being
predicted in this book. So that's one viewpoint. Let's push that
aside for a moment. The second viewpoint is
the historical viewpoint, meaning the book of
Revelation is essentially a panorama of the ages-- a historical presentation
from the invasion of Rome, the rise of
the Catholic church, the rise of Islam, some even
see the French Revolution in the book of revolution-- Revelation. Revolution, the
book of Revelation. And again, that defies
that it is a prophecy. They just see it as a
panorama of church history that has mostly been
fulfilled historically. A third viewpoint is the
allegorical viewpoint. The allegorical viewpoint
is it doesn't really mean what it says. It is simply lots of
mumbo jumbo written to tell you the cosmic
struggle of the ages between good and evil. And boy, if you want to see
conflicts in interpretation, just look at people
who have viewed the Bible, and especially
the book of Revelation, allegorically. Because no two people agree on
anything because you're making it mean what you think it means. It's all allegorical. The fourth is a
futuristic viewpoint. That is the viewpoint
that I hold. The futuristic viewpoint
is interpreting the book of Revelation,
especially chapters 6 through 22, as something
that will happen yet future. Than what we have
here are emblematic predictions of literal events. Listen to that again, emblematic
predictions of literal events. Sure, they're in emblem form. Sure, they're in sign form. That's what it says
in Revelation 1:1, the revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show His servants. Things which must
shortly take place. He sent and signified
it, or told it by signs. So the picturesque language
is emblematic in form, but it predicts literal
events that will take place. A literal tribulation. A literal return of Jesus
Christ to the earth. A literal millennium. A literal future judgment. A literal recreation--
new heaven and new earth in the eternal state. That viewpoint I
believe does two things. Number one, it harmonizes
with Jesus' own prediction of the end time
events in Matthew chapter 24, and Luke 13, and-- excuse me, Mark 13 and Luke 21. Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21. The Olivet discourse. Jesus predicts future events
that correspond beautifully to the book of Revelation. Revelation expands
that teaching of Jesus, but it harmonizes beautifully
when you look at it futuristically-- literally. And number two, it follows
the grammatical, historical interpretation of the Bible. When you take a historical or
preterist or allegorical view of eschatology,
what you're saying-- many are saying-- the
millennial reformed will say, I believe in the grammatical
historical interpretation of the Bible except when
it comes to eschatology. Except when it comes to
the book of Revelation. This, the futuristic view,
holds the grammatical historical interpretation and keeps
it homogeneously the same no matter what
type of literature you are dealing with. Well, beginning
in chapter 12, we are well in the
tribulation period. We began that last
week when we took the first half of the book
of Revelation, Chapters 1 through 11. We summed it up by
saying that there are a series of
judgments portrayed during that future
time of judgment. There will be seven seals,
followed by seven trumpet judgments, followed by
seven bowl judgments. They are progressive, and
they are progressively intense as time goes on. When God is done with
the final pouring out of the seventh bowl
or vial, then God is done judging the earth. And he will then
establish his kingdom. When we go to Revelation
chapter 11 toward the very end, it's a parenthetical
statement in the formulation of judgments given. In chapter 11 verse 15,
the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud
voices in heaven saying the kingdoms
of this world have become the kingdoms of
our Lord and of his Christ. And he shall reign
forever and ever. And the 24 elders who sat
before God on their thrones fell on their faces
and worshipped God, saying, we give you thanks,
oh Lord God almighty. The one who is, who
was, who is to come, because you have taken your
great power and reigned. The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come. And the time of the dead
that they should be judged, and that you should reward
your servants, the prophets, and the saints, and those who
fear your name small and great, and should destroy those
who destroy the earth. Now, in chapter
12 and 13, we are introduced to a great
conflict-- a cosmic conflict. One that has been going on
from the beginning of time. It began in heaven, and it
finds its fullness on earth. And that's where chapter 12
and chapter 13 come into play. It's a conflict that started in
the heavenly places with Satan and his minions at the fall. But then the great battlefield,
the theater of the earth is in question,
and that takes us well into chapter 13
with the Antichrist. Now before we jump right
in, as I am wont to do-- I often give long introduction,
sorry about that-- but I wanted to
underscore something that I think you need to know
as we finish out the tribulation period and see the coming
of Christ in chapter 19. I mentioned last week that
the tribulation isn't going to just be another bad time. It's going to be
the worst time ever. Underscored, exclamation,
point, exclamation point, exclamation point. Ever. And I'm going to read
you three passages. The first is
Jeremiah chapter 30. Listen to it in poetic language. "Ask now and see--" this
is Jeremiah 30 beginning in verse 6, "ask now and
see whether a man is ever in labor with a child. So why do I see every man
with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor,
and all faces turned pale? Alas, for that day is great
so that none is like it. And it is a time
of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be
saved out of it." That is, Jacob or Israel
will be saved out of it. And then, I won't read
the whole chapter, but at the end of the chapter
it says, "in the latter days, you will consider it." So here is a prediction that
will find its fulfillment in the latter days, and we
are dealing in the tribulation period with the latter days. The second scripture is
Daniel chapter 12 in verse 1. "At that time, Michael
shall stand up-- the great prince who
stands watch over the sons of your people--" it is told to
Daniel that his people would be the Jewish people-- "and there will be a time
of trouble such as never was since there was a
nation even to that time. And at that time,
your people shall be delivered, everyone who is
found written in the book." Finally, Matthew chapter 24,
these are the words of Jesus. Verse 21, "for
then there will be great tribulation
such as has not been since the beginning of
the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be." Sounds pretty bad. It sounds like the worst
of the worst of the worst. He continues and says,
"and unless those days were shortened, no
flesh would be saved. But for the elect sake, those
days will be shortened." They will, indeed, be shortened. They'll really only last
42 months, 3 and 1/2 years, 1,260 days. All of that is given in
the book of Revelation and the book of Daniel. So far worse than World War I,
far worse than World War II, far worse than COVID-19, far
worse than the Holocaust. The very worst time in history. And when you read the
book of Revelation in a grammatical, historical,
futuristic, literal interpretation, you walk
away saying, I get it. That sounds-- it's
depicted, it's described as the very
worst of the worst. Now we're into chapter
12 verse 1 of Revelation. Now, a great sign
appeared in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun
with the moon under her feet and on her head a
garland of 12 stars. Then being with child, she
cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared
in heaven, behold, a great fiery red dragon having
seven heads, and 10 horns, and seven diadems on his head. Fortunately, we are not
left with our own devices in making interpretation of any
part of the book of Revelation. I mentioned last week
that out of the 404 verses in Revelation, there
are 360 direct quotations from the Old Testament. The only other time
in the Bible where we have an emblem like
this, where you have a sun, and the moon, and 12 stars,
is in the book of Genesis. And the Father of
Joseph, named Jacob, gives us the interpretation. So we don't have
to figure out, is this the virgin Mary like the
Catholic Church has depicted? Is this that person,
or that, or this thing? We don't have to guess. We know. It is the nation of Israel. The woman is Israel. How do we know? Well, Joseph had a dream. And it was pretty
graphic, and he was naive enough to tell his
brothers about the dream. He goes, hey, you
guys, I had a dream. And it was in two parts. He said, here's the second part. He goes, yeah, so in this
dream, the sun, and the moon, and 11 stars all bowed down to
me-- my star, the last star. And Jacob knew exactly
what the dream meant. He said, what? Do you think me, or I, and your
mother, and your 11 brothers are going to bow down to you? Now, that's exactly
what happened. Before the end of Genesis,
they all bowed down before him because he is the second
in command in Egypt, right? But here he gives us
the interpretation. Jacob, and his wife,
and the 11 sons-- Joseph being the 12th, so you
have 12 stars, sun and moon, all emblematic of what would
become the 12 tribes of Israel. It is the nation of Israel. So if we take scripture and let
scripture interpret scripture, it can only mean one thing. It is a woman giving
birth to a child. The woman is Israel. Then being with child, she
cried out in labor and pain to give birth. Some people say, well, this
is the church giving birth. No, it's not the church. The church is a virgin bride the
New Testament describes her as. If this is the church,
she's in trouble because she's pregnant
as a virgin bride. So it is, if you interpret
it out of Revelation or out of Genesis, it is
the nation of Israel. Being with child, she cried
out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared
in heaven, behold, a great fiery red dragon. We're told who that
is as we go on. That it's Satan in this chapter. Having seven heads, 10 horns,
seven diadems on his head. Now, we are not
surprised to find Israel prominently displayed
in end times prophecy. After all, like I just read
to you out of Jeremiah 30, for it is a time
of Jacob's trouble. Jacob is another
name for Israel. It's the first name given
before God changed it to Israel. It is the time of
Jacob's trouble. Daniel chapter 9, the
Daniel 70 week prophecy. 70 weeks are determined--
listen to the language-- for your people and for your
holy city that is Jerusalem. So there is so much
about Israel in end times prophecy throughout the
Old and the New Testament, this doesn't surprise
us to see this here. Look at verse four. His tail, the
dragon's tail, drew a third of the stars of heaven
and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood
before the woman who was ready to give birth to
devour her child as soon as it was born. And she bore a male child who
is to rule all the nations. We know who the male child is. There's only one
son that was given who would rule all the nations. The prophecy and Isaiah
said the government will be upon his shoulder, and
that is Christ the Messiah. And her child was caught up
to God and to His throne. Amazing, in one verse we
have the life of Christ from the incarnation to his
ascension and coronation. That's verse 5. So we have predicted
the persecution of the Jewish people by Satan
historically and into the end times, all because of
one child and in hopes of destroying that child
before the child's birth. Now, all you have to do is
go back to Genesis chapter 3. You don't have to do it now,
but you can write it down to look at it later. Genesis 3 verse 15 where
that first proto-evangelium is given, that first promise of
the salvation through messiah. Where God said to
Satan, to the serpent, I will put enmity between
your seed and her seed-- between you and the woman,
between her seed and your seed. And you will bruise his heel,
but he will bruise or crush your head. So there is a
prediction that you're going to cause a child who is
going to be born suffering. You're going to bruise
his heel, but he's going to crush your head. He's going to take
your authority. He's going to crush you. Ever since that promise
in Genesis 3:15 was given, we see the battle laid
out in the scripture. I mean, think of it. If I told you before
church, after church I'm going to hunt you down and I'm
going to crush your skull-- don't worry, I would never
say those words to you. But if I did, and you
thought I was serious, you would do everything
you can to avoid that, to evade that from happening,
or to counterattack. So we see throughout
the Bible Satan's desire to get at the seed. The first occurrence of
that is Cain killing Abel. Maybe Abel is the one. Maybe that child is
going to take me out. So Satan inspires
Cain to kill Abel. That doesn't work
because God upholds his seed through
another lineage, that is of Seth that is born. And the promises continue. As time goes on, Satan
corrupts the entire world so that God has to judge
the world in a flood, and everyone is destroyed. Almost. Eight people survive-- Noah and his family. And the lineage
continues through Noah. Then there is Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob steals Esau's blessing. Remember the story? Esau doesn't care
about his birthright. Sells it for a
bowl of red chili, if we were to contextualize
it a little bit. Esau gets the blessing, or
Jacob gets the blessing. As soon as Esau finds out that
his brother has tricked him, he says, I'm going to kill him. Strong language, I'm
going to kill him because he took what I
didn't want to begin with and I sold it for
a bowl of chili. Yes, I'm going to kill him. Why? Why so violent? Satan is inspiring him to get at
the seed that would eventually take out Satan. Keep following that through. Pharaoh gives this crazy
order to the Hebrew midwives, kill all the Hebrew
male children. If baby girls are
born, let them live. If it's a male, kill them. This continues on
as the prophecy is made that through the line
of David the Messiah would come. So Saul is inspired
Satanically, I believe, to try to pin David to
the wall-- to kill David. To chase him for almost a
decade to exterminate him. It was, yes, anger, but more
than that it was something provoked, I believe, by
Satan because of the prophecy in Genesis chapter 3. It gets worse as you
keep going in the Bible. Haman decides, I'm going
to kill all the Jews in the kingdom of Persia. Every one of them, all of
them will be exterminated. Same ideology. You can look it up later,
but 2 Chronicles chapter 22, Athaliah is
successful in killing all of the royal heirs
in the kingdom of Judah. All of them except one. A kid by the name
of Joash is hidden. If Joash would have
been exterminated, God's promises would be null
and void to provide a seed to crush Satan's kingdom. So you see this revelation
and counterattack all the way through the
scripture all the way to the time when the male
child is born in Bethlehem. And this crazy king
by the name of Herod says, kill every male child two
years and lower in Bethlehem. Gruesome. Why? All an attempt to
exterminate the seed. But as soon as
the male child who was to rule all the
nations with a rod of iron, her child was caught up to
God and into his throne. Jesus was born, he
ascended, he was coronated. Then the woman, Israel,
fled into the wilderness where she has a place
prepared by God that they should feed her
there 1,260 days, or 3 and 1/2 years,
or 42 months. It is the second half of
that seven year period, and that second half is
called the great tribulation. The great tribulation
begins with the abomination of desolation-- that's the
middle part of that seven year period. The last 3 and 1/2 years,
42 months, 1,260 days is the last 3 and 1/2 years. Let me take you to verse 13. Now, when the dragon saw that
he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who
gave birth to the male child. But the woman was given two
wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness
to her place where she is nourished for a time,
times, and half a time-- an Old Testament rendering
for 3 and 1/2 years-- from the presence
of the serpent. So in the tribulation period,
in the coming tribulation, Satan is going to unleash his
fury on the nation of Israel. That's why it's called a
time of Jacob's trouble. A time of Jacob's trouble. Jesus put it this way. "And when you see the
abomination of desolation as spoken by Daniel the prophet
standing in the holy place, let him who reads understand. Then those who are in Judea,
let them flee to the mountains." And so what he said is
emblematically shown here as something that they will do. They go to the wilderness. We don't know where. Some have guessed the Rock City
of Petra in modern day Jordan because it's a safe place. I guess it's a safe
place in ancient times, but in modern times when you
get bombs dropped from the air, I wouldn't want to be there
during a bombing raid. But people have made a
big deal out of this. It's going to be in Edom. It's going to be at
the Rock City of Petra. I honestly have no idea
where it's going to be. All I know is it
says God is going to protect Israel for
that 3 and 1/2 year period when she is being persecuted. Now, it talks about
a great eagle, and people have been very
creative in interpreting these things. First of all, do
you remember what God said to the
children of Israel when he took them out of
Egypt in exodus chapter 19? He said, "you saw what
I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you
on eagle's wings and brought you to myself." That was an emblem of
protection in the wilderness. But some have said, because
it mentions an eagle, it's probably showing that
the United States is, indeed, in prophecy. This is the eagle that is
emblematic of our nation. It is on the great seal of
the United States of America, and maybe this refers
to the United States Air Force protecting Israel, or
the 6th Naval fleet which has a very cool symbol of
a protective eagle that is stationed-- that
fleet is stationed off the coast of Italy, I believe. I don't know. Chapter 13 takes us to
one of the main characters during this time, and
that is the beast. Now, we don't typically
call him the beast. God does, though. God knows his real character. This leader in the
tribulation period goes by-- you could count almost 50,
five-zero names, in scripture. He is called the
Antichrist by John. He is called the
lawless one by Paul. Also called the man
of perdition by Paul. He's given a number
of titles by him. He's called the
little horn by Daniel, but we typically call
him the Antichrist. God calls him a beast. Chapter 13, verse 1,
then I stood and saw-- I stood on the sand
of the sea and I saw a beast rising up having
seven heads and 10 horns. And on his horns, 10 crowns. That is the crowns of a
king or a ruling authority. And on his heads,
a blasphemous name. Go down to verse 4. So they worship
the dragon that is Satan who gave
authority to the beast, and they worship the beast. Saying, who is like the beast? Who is able to
make war with him? And he was given a mouth
speaking great things and blasphemies, and
he was given authority to continue for 42 months. And he opened his mouth
and blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name,
his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And it was granted to him
to make war with the saints and to overcome
them, and authority was given over every
tribe, tongue, and nation. And all who dwell on the
earth will worship him whose names have
not been written in the book of life
of the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. He comes not as a beast,
he comes as a peacemaker. He comes with smooth language. He comes with an
economic plan when the world is in economic
and political chaos. He comes with a solution. He is seen back in
Revelation chapter 6 as riding a white horse, like
the good guys in the movies. White hat, white horse. And he comes in
with a peace plan. He comes in probably
solving some of the great problems in the
Middle East between the Arabs and the Israelis, the
Palestinians and Israel. But there is a change. He also has a mouth
speaking great things, and in the middle of
that seven year period he will demand to be worshipped. How do we know this? Not only Revelation, but
2 Thessalonians chapter 2 tells us. This man of sin who
opposes and exalts himself above all that is
called God or that is worshipped as God so that
he sits in the temple of God and shows that he is God. Those are the words of Paul. This will take place
according to Jesus in the middle of that
seven year period called the abomination of desolation. At that time, his peace
plan will be unmasked. His suave temperament
will become unmasked, and he will make all-out
war against Israel. I'll take you down to verse 16. And he causes all, both small
and great, rich and poor, free, enslaved to receive a
mark on their right hand or on their foreheads that
no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark,
or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. We don't know what
this will look like. A chip perhaps. Here is wisdom. Let him who has
understanding calculate the number of the beast, for
it is the number of a man. His number is 666. Pretty obvious that in
the tribulation period, the only solution to
the woes of the world will be something that some
leaders dangerously are looking forward to called globalism. There will be a massive
demise of nationalism. It will be global
all the way around because everybody
will be in turmoil. The whole world
will be in turmoil. Up till now, people have
counted on the stability of the dollar, and the euro,
and the yen, but people-- globalists, even leaders in
Russia at the last G20 summit, or one of the G20 summits-- advocated not for individual
currencies or the dollar, but a world currency that
would tie everybody together. That will become a reality. Chapter 14 are a variety
of announcements given. One in particular that
fulfills a prediction made by Jesus Christ
himself in Matthew 24. I'm going to take it down
to verse 6 of chapter 14. "Then I saw 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." Now understand this. During the tribulation,
the great tribulation, the worst time in
history, the rapture will have already taken place. Some people mistakenly think
people will not get saved. I mentioned last week, I believe
the greatest revival ever is going to be at future
during the tribulation period. There's going to be, first
of all, two witnesses in Jerusalem. 144,000 Jewish people--
their tribes are listed-- will convert and
believe in Jesus Christ. So you got the witness
of the two witnesses, you have the witness
of the 144,000. The rest of that chapter
that introduces the 144,000, Revelation 11, talks
about a host of people-- an innumerable group
of people from nations of the world who have
come to believe in Christ in the tribulation
period, evidently, because of the 144,000's
witness and the two witnesses. So you got two
witnesses, 144,000. You have this huge multitude
around the world of believers from nations who have come
to put their faith in Christ. Now it's as if God gives one
last-ditch, all-out effort to get the gospel
preached to the world, and notice an angel flying in
the midst of heaven preaching. Now honestly, I have
in the past thought, you know, God, you'd do
yourself a favor and all of us if you'd pull this off earlier. Like imagine if an angel
flew through heaven tomorrow all 24 hours to every single
nation, every language, and proclaimed the gospel. But that aside, in the
tribulation period, two witnesses, 144,000 this
innumerable group of gentiles, and an angel. This is what I believe Jesus
referred to in Matthew chapter 24 when he said this,
"this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all
the world as a witness to all the nations, and
then the end shall come." I've heard that verse for years. Used at missionary
rallies saying, we've got to get the
gospel out to every nation. It's on us to do it, and
Jesus won't come back until we get the gospel to
every creature, every tongue. We're holding Jesus back, and
if you become a missionary, you share the gospel, who knows? You could be the one that
hastens the return of Jesus. All that's nonsense. We should be preaching
the Gospel, yes. You're not holding anybody back. God's going to come on
his own perfect good time, and it's not up to you to
bring Jesus back sooner. What he is referring
to in Matthew 24 of the gospel being preached to
the world is 144,000 people-- witnesses-- the two
witnesses, and the angel flying through heaven preaching
the everlasting gospel. Then the end will come. It goes perfectly--
by the way, you see the word nation
in that verse? Ethnos is the word. Ethnos. It means every
ethnic group on earth will hear the gospel in their
tongue, in their dialect, or in their language. Now, chapter 15 is
the shortest chapter in the book of Revelation. It has all of eight
verses, but it introduces the final
round of judgments called the bold judgments. Or the vials that are poured. They are rapid
fire judgments that come from the throne
of God on the earth, and they seem to be worse
than all of the previous ones. As I said, it's the
worst time in history. But after this, God is
done judging the earth. After this, Satan is bound. After this, Jesus comes. After this, he sets up
his kingdom on the earth. And it gets good. So chapter 15 introduces that. Chapter 16 is a list of
those bold judgments. Verse 1, I heard a loud
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 went out and poured
out his bowl upon the earth. A foul and loathsome
sore came upon all men who had the
mark of the beast and those who
worshipped his image. Seems to be a very
targeted judgment. It is. God will judge
those and those only who have the mark of the
man of sin that is on them. And they are loathsome sores. It's some kind of plague. Jesus predicted that there
would be pestilences. We're going through a
pestilence right now, and we have learned
something very interesting in the midst of COVID-19. That it does not
take much to control a population by means of fear. Tell them something
that will give them so much fear, like
this will kill you. You can make a population do
just about anything you want. That's why I said
before, I believe what we're experiencing
isn't the book of Revelation chapter 13, 14, 15 or 16. I believe it's a dress
rehearsal, though, for it. It shows that governments
can say, you have to do this, and now you have to
take this vaccine. What if the vaccine
comes with a chip that you can't buy
or sell anything unless you prove that
you've had that vaccine? Verse 3, then the second angel
poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became as blood of
a dead man and every living creature in the sea died. I remember living on
the coast of California we had this thing
called red tide. Remember red tide? The ocean turns red. You have these dinoflagellates
in the ocean that give this pigment, and it
stinks, and it looks bloody. But this is a
divine judgment that affects not just one coast,
but the oceans of the world. Verse 4, "the third
angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of
water, and they became blood." So you have the entire
hydrological cycle being messed up from what's
going on in the oceans, to rainfall, what feeds into
the rivers, and back again. Verse 8, "the fourth angel
poured out his bowl in the sun, and the power was given to
him to scorch men with fire." Some kind of radiation
burn from the sun. Could be explosions on
the surface of the sun. I don't know. Could be a burning of the-- or
depletion of the ozone layer. We're not sure exactly. Verse 10, the fifth
angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the
beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness. And they nod their tongues
because of the pain. It's interesting. I have for years noted that
secular scientists, including Carl Sagan, said that if there
were the use of nuclear weapons on the earth that the
particulate and the particles that are released
in the air could plunge the earth into what
he called nuclear winter. Where you wouldn't have the
sun shining upon the earth any longer. That aside, verse 12. The sixth angel
poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates,
and his river was dried up. So the way of the kings of
the east might be prepared. The word east is the
Greek word on anatolia. If you know your geography,
you know that Anatolia is modern day Turkey-- ancient Asia minor. So there's a lot of
ways to look at that. I don't have time to break it
down like I did in the book that I wrote, You Can Understand
the Book of Revelation, but thought you
should know that. Let me take you with
that down to verse 14. No, verse 16. "And they gathered them together
to a place called in the Hebrew Armageddon. The seventh angel
poured out his bowl in the air and a
loud voice came out of the temple saying from
the throne, it is done." Armageddon is a valley. It has been known as
the Jezreel valley. It is a real valley
in Israel today. Our first day of
touring, usually we take you to an outlook
so you can look down at the valley of Armageddon. You have a beautiful
view of it from Nazareth. So Jesus saw the valley
of Armageddon every day from where he lived and grew up. It's also called the
Valley of Jezreel. It is about 150 square miles. Today, it is used
for agriculture, but in the past the greatest
battles that took place in that part of the
world, the armies converged on that valley floor
in the valley of Armageddon. Historically, it was the time
for conflagration in the Middle East, and the Bible predicts
it will happen again. So Euphrates is dried up. Armies can now converge
upon that land. This is the last great battle,
the battle of Armageddon. And the seventh bowl, which
completes God's wrath, now, chapter 17 and 18 show you a
couple facets of God's judgment when he judges a city
known as Babylon. Chapter 17 is religious
Babylon, chapter 18 is commercial Babylon. But I want to skip
ahead to chapter 19. "After these
things," verse 1, "I heard a loud voice of a great
multitude in heaven saying, hallelujah salvation, and
glory, and honor, and power to the Lord, our God. For true and righteous
are his judgments, because he judged the
great harlot who corrupted the earth that is Babylon. with her fornication. He is avenged on her. The blood of his
servants shed by her. And again they said,
allelujah, and her smoke rises up forever and ever." In chapter 19 of the
book of Revelation, we have the culmination of
Christian hope for the last 20 centuries. This is the pinnacle of it. For it presents the second
coming of Jesus Christ. It will be the answer to all
of the prayers for the last 20 centuries. Thy kingdom come, thy
will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now it gets answered. This revelation 19, what you're
about to read with me in verse 11, is what Isaac
Watts had in mind when he wrote a song that
sadly we just relegate to a Christmas hymn. But he didn't write it about
the first coming, he wrote it about the second coming. He wrote about revelation 19. Joy to the world,
the Lord is come. Let earth receive her king. Let every part
rejoice, et cetera. No more let sin or sorrows
grow or sin infest the ground. All of that language is
employed as the fulfillment of Revelation 19. Or how about this great hymn,
the Battle Hymn of the Republic written after the Civil War? Mine eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord. He has trampled out the vintage
where the grapes of wrath are stored. He has loosed the
faithful lightning of his terrible, swift sword. His truth is marching on. That was written
about this chapter. Now let's read it together. Not together out loud, but
follow along in verse 11. "Then I saw heaven opened,
and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on him was
called faithful and true. And in righteousness,
he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame
of fire," like the vision in chapter 1. "On his head were many crowns. He had a name written that
no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a
robe dipped in blood, and his name is called
the word of God. And the armies in
heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a
sharp sword that with it he should strike the
nations, and he himself will rule them with
a rod of iron." Stop right there. Remember Revelation 12? The male child who will rule
the nations with a rod of iron. This is the male child,
Jesus, born in Bethlehem now returning to the earth to rule
the nations with a rod of iron. He himself treads the wine press
of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God, and he has
on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of
King and Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel
standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud
voice saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of
heaven, come and gather together for the supper of the
great God that you may eat the flesh of kings,
the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty
men, the flesh of horses and those who sit on
them, and the flesh of all people free enslaved,
both small and great. This is Jesus coming
back at the end of that battle of Armageddon. It really won't be a battle. It'll be a total wipe out. Jesus won't be fighting,
working up a sweat. He'll just end it
all at his return. But this is his return. This is his second
coming to the Earth. And if I go, I will come again,
Jesus said to his disciples. The second coming of
Christ is the subject-- well, let me put it this way. Next to the subject of faith,
next to the subject of faith, the second coming
of Jesus Christ is treated more than any
other subject in the Bible next to the subject of faith. 1,844 times it is
predicted in the Bible. One out of every 30 verses
in the New Testament is about the second
coming of Christ. For every one time the
first coming is mentioned, the second coming is
mentioned eight times. For every one time
atonement is mentioned, the second coming is
mentioned two times. Next to the subject
of faith, it is talked about more than
any single subject in the scripture. Notice that Jesus is
coming back with a sword. He is coming back as the King
of Kings and the Lord of Lords. This is Jesus, but not
like his first visit. Remember that
Sunday school song, gentle Jesus meek and mild,
look upon this little child? That works at his first
coming, not his second. This is not gentle
Jesus, meek and mild. This is giant Jesus,
mighty and riled. And he will give to
the earth the judgment that is due the earth
for what they have done-- for what we have done. Chapter 20, "then I saw an
angel coming down from heaven. Having the key to the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand, he laid hold
of that dragon, that serpent of old who is the
devil and Satan and bound him for 1,000 years." Yeah. "And he cast him into
the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and
set a seal on him so that he should not
deceive the nations-- he should deceive the nations
no more until the 1,000 years were finished. But after these
things, he must be released for a little while." Now briefly, six times
in these seven verses in Revelation chapter 20
the word thousand years is mentioned. That's where we get
the term millennium. Millennium simply
means 1,000 years. It's spelled out here,
but it is written about in gobs of texts
in the book of Isaiah, chapter 11 of Isaiah,
chapter 35 of Isaiah, several chapters in Isaiah. All the details about what will
take place in the Kingdom Age. Some of the book of
Psalms especially. But the Bible anticipates a
time when the earth-- the world, the physical universe,
the physical earth-- is restored to
Eden-like conditions where there will be massive
geographical, topographical, and climactic changes. That is, if you
take the scripture in a grammatical,
historical approach, you take it to be literal,
then you must concede that this isn't figurative. This is literal. It's an actual thousand years. Now, I know not
everybody agrees. The amillennial
interpretation is to say, well, it says a thousand years,
but it doesn't mean that. So then ask the
amillenialist this question. OK, if it doesn't mean that,
you tell me what it does mean. He can't give you an answer. Well, whatever it
means, it doesn't mean what it says it means. You see, this is where
the amillennialist is left in interpreting the
scripture because the Bible is very number-specific, right? There are seven churches. There are 12 tribes. There are 144,000. There is 1/3 of mankind. There is 1,260 days. There are two witnesses. There are 42 months. There are 144,000. There's 12,000 furlongs. The whole book of Revelation
is filled with numbers. So you're telling me, you
go through the whole book only to say it
doesn't mean a thing? So why did God spend
22 chapters to tell me what I said doesn't
mean what it reads? It is the wildest way
to look at the Bible. If you look at it in a
normal, natural, grammatical, historical interpretation, then
you can take it chronologically and you see the emblems speaking
of great but literal events in the future. Verse 11, "I saw a
great white throne--" and there are several
reasons why I believe the millenium is a necessity. I just don't have
the time to do it. I'm out of time. "I saw a great white
throne, and him who sat on it from whose face
the earth and heaven fled away, and there was found
no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, standing before God. The books were open. Another book was open
which is the book of life, and the dead were
judged according to the works by the things
which are written in the books. The sea gave up the
dead who were in it, and death and hades delivered
up the dead who were in them. And they were judged each
one according to his works. Then death and hades were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death, and anyone not found written in
the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." It is the most sobering
scene what I just read to be found anywhere. It is a courtroom scene. There is a judge but no jury. There is no debate
over guilt. There is the sentence, but no
acquittal, no parole, no debate. Just a sentence is rendered
and judgment continues. Now, the last two chapters-- just look them over because
we're going to end the book-- is the final phase of forever
called the eternal state. The eternal state. It is new heaven, new
earth, and new Jerusalem. New Jerusalem is
the capital city. This earth after the millennial
kingdom gets uncreated, gets completely wiped out
and destroyed by God, God pushes this one aside,
creates something brand new-- new heaven, new earth,
with a new capital city. What's odd about
the capital city is that it's a satellite
of the new earth. It measures in this
chapter 1,500 miles cubed. Think of a square about roughly
the size of the moon coming out of heaven toward the earth. Well, let me just read it to
you so we can close the book. "I saw a new heaven,
a new earth," verse 1, "for the first heaven and
the first earth passed away. Also, there was no more sea." I have mixed feelings. I have-- no, I have very
strong feelings about that, but I won't tell you what
they are at this point. I, John, saw-- but you could
ask a question next week. That's what next
week is all about. "Then I saw the holy
city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice
from heaven saying, behold the Tabernacle
of God is with men and he will dwell with them. And they shall be as people. And God himself will be
with them and be their God, and God will wipe away
every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death,
nor sorrow, nor crying. There will be no more
pain, for the former things have passed away. And he who sat on the
throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said to me,
write, for these words are true and faithful." He has given in this chapter
more detail, beginning in verse 9, of the new Jerusalem. Let me just throw
this out at you. 2,250,000 square
miles in cube form. It is estimated
conservatively that it could house 20 billion people,
each with 75 acres to himself. Fun to look at it. Don't have the time
to really get into it. Chapter 22 takes us full circle. "He showed me a pure
river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
from the throne of God. And from the lamb in
the middle of its street and on either side of the
river was the tree of life," connect this with Genesis,
"which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding
its fruit every month. And the leaves of the
tree were for the healing or the therapy of the nations. And there shall
be no more curse, but the throne of God and
of the lamb shall be in it. And his servants
shall serve him. They shall see his
face, and his name shall be on their foreheads." Verse 6, "and he said
to me, these words are faithful and true. The Lord God, the holy
prophet, sent his angels to show his servants the things
which must shortly take place." Remember that term from last
week, [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]?? We get the word velocity from
that, tachometer from that. Once they start,
they'll happen quickly. "Behold, I am coming
quickly," verse 7, "blessed is he who
keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." Go down to verse 20. "He who testifies
to these things says, sure I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus." Now, before we read
that last verse-- and yes, I know we're
a couple minutes over, but do you notice how the
Bible has come full circle? Life began in a
garden for mankind. Life in the new heaven and
new earth, the new Jerusalem, will be in a garden city,
a garden environment. There was a tree
of life that man was banished from in Genesis. Now the way is opened up
for the tree of life here. There was death and
sorrow back in Genesis. Death, sorrow, tears,
all wiped away. We have come full circle, and
now we come to the last verse. "The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you all." Amen. The plane has landed. Father, thank you
for the time tonight, for the last
several months where we have looked at an
overview of your revelation from Genesis to Revelation. All 66 books. Every historical, every
narrative, every poetic, every eschatological,
every gospel narrative. Book of Acts, all the letters. We've looked and
considered them all. But you said, blessed are those
who hear and keep the words. Lord, you said you
are coming quickly. Lord, I pray we would be ready. We don't know the
day or the hour, but your servant Paul
did say of the times and the seasons,
brethren, you have no need that I write to you
for you yourselves know. So we believe, Lord,
some of us, that we are experiencing birth
pangs that are leading up to the time of the end. We pray, Lord, that your peace
would prevail upon your people in the midst of this
worldwide pandemic. In the midst of all that
has come along with it, parents, Lord,
that are feverishly trying to figure out how to
educate their kids because of closed schools. People who are juggling
work, or the lack thereof, trying to find work. Lord, I pray that you will
bless, and strengthen, and infuse your people with
hope as we wait for you to come. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's all stand. For more resources,
visit calvarynm.church. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from The Bible From 30,000 Feet.
