Crisis may come and go, but
a crisis in the throne room of
00:00:01.36\00:00:05.13
heaven, now
that's something else.
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And how they solved it
means everything to you and me.
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The book of Revelation
reveals a tremendous crisis
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in the throne room of heaven.
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As we go to chapter 4,
which is the set-up for that,
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we want to, first of
all, look at who is there.
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So we're going to look, first
of all, at where Jesus is at.
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And I'm going to go
to the book of Revelation
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chapter 4 and we're
going to read verse 5.
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"And from the throne..."
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So we're in the throne room.
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I'll talk about that
throne in just a moment.
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"And from the throne
proceeded lightnings,
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thunderings, and voices."
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That means
that's executive power.
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Decisions are being
made, orders are being given,
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things are being carried out.
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And then it says, it
helps us with the location,
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"Seven lamps of fire were
burning before the throne,
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which are the
seven Spirits of God."
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So the seven lamps of
fire here before the throne
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tell us that we're
actually in the Holy Place
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of the heavenly sanctuary.
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Not the Most Holy Place.
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But we're in the Holy
Place of the heavenly sanctuary.
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That's the context.
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Now this throne,
however, can move.
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Now the Bible doesn't
say anything, or the book of
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Revelation doesn't say anything
about the table of showbread.
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If you remember, just
to recap, in the Holy Place
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of the heavenly sanctuary where
Jesus is ministering for us
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there are three
articles of furniture.
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There's the candlesticks,
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and then there's
the table of showbread,
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and then there's
the altar of incense.
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The altar of incense
and the seven candlesticks
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are mentioned by name.
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But the table of showbread
is not mentioned by name.
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But I believe
that's the throne of God.
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Now some people say,
"Well, how can the throne of God
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be in the Holy Place when
it's also above the mercy seat
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in the Most Holy Place?"
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You have to remember that
Jesus is moving through time.
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And the book of
Daniel tells us that the
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throne of God has wheels.
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It moves.
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So it will move depending on
the time and the circumstance.
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But right now I believe
it's the table of showbread,
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and I want to show you
some of the reasons for that
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from the book of Ezekiel.
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But before we go
there, let me talk about
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the picture in the
book of Revelation.
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The throne is
surrounded by 24 elders.
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Now that word, "elder,"
you don't hear that word
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except when it's applied to
somebody that's been on earth.
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And of course, the
elders are also messengers.
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Some people may
call them angels.
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But they are God's messengers.
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Who are these elders?
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We will not see them when we go
to the book of Ezekiel chapter 1
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that gives us a parallel picture
of the throne room of heaven.
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But these 24 elders are now
seated around the throne of God.
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I think that they are
those who were resurrected
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when Jesus was resurrected,
because the Bible says
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that people were resurrected
when He was resurrected
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from the dead, and they
actually witnessed to people
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in Jerusalem about
the resurrection of Jesus.
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But we don't know their names,
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we don't know
who they are, per se.
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But there they are.
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And I think and believe, this is
just my comment, if you please,
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that those 24 elders, if
indeed they are those that were
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resurrected from the dead,
they are the constant reminder
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to God the Father
who sits on the throne
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that He has unfinished
business on planet earth.
00:04:05.94\00:04:10.28
Because there's going
to be a huge multitude
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of the righteous
that will be resurrected
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when Jesus comes again.
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Now back to the
throne room of heaven,
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and listen to this
description of who's there.
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We've talked about the
24 elders, but there's also
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four other beings there.
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And John says that
they have faces like a calf,
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a lion, a man, and an eagle.
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On top of that, there
is a crystal sea there.
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The book of
Revelation pictures the redeemed
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gathered on that
crystal sea some day.
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But here, that crystal sea
has on it the throne of God
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with a beautiful
rainbow around it.
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And on that throne sits
somebody who looks like a man
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glorious to behold.
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And I believe the picture here
is a picture of God the Father.
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It makes me flash
back to the book of Genesis
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where He says, "Let Us
make man in our image."
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And so the one sitting on that
throne has the form of a man.
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Before that crystal sea
is spread all the angels
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of God around that throne.
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So you have the
throne, you have the 24 elders,
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you have these four marvelous
beings with these four faces.
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In fact, the book of Ezekiel
says each one had four faces
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of these four faces.
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But John sees
only these four faces.
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And it's surrounded
by this emerald rainbow.
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However, when you go
to the book of Ezekiel,
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I want to share with
you what Ezekiel sees.
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It's very similar, but there's
some interesting differences.
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First of all, he says
these four beings actually have
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above their
heads the crystal sea.
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So they're
holding up the crystal sea
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like four legs on a table.
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Isn't that interesting?
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Because the table of
showbread has four legs on it.
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And then he says that
their legs were straight.
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That's an
interesting description.
00:06:09.16\00:06:11.50
So table legs are
normally straight.
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And on top of that crystal
sea is also the throne of God.
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And it has also a
beautiful rainbow.
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But in Ezekiel's
picture there's no 24 elders.
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That only comes into view
in the book of Revelation.
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You can go to Ezekiel 1
and compare it to Revelation 4,
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and I think
you'll enjoy doing that.
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So I think it's a
perfect representation
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of the table of showbread.
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And the table of showbread also
had two stacks of bread on it.
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And on this
throne is God the Father,
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but later in the
book of Revelation
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He's going to be
joined by the slain Lamb,
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or the Son of God.
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So it's a picture of the
Father and the Son together.
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And of course, through
the book of the New Testament,
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through the books
of the New Testament
00:07:01.25\00:07:02.65
the apostles are constantly
saying that Jesus sits
00:07:02.68\00:07:06.22
at the right hand of God.
00:07:06.25\00:07:08.29
He's at the right hand of
God also as our High Priest.
00:07:08.32\00:07:11.09
But in symbolic language
He's going to be pictured
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as the slain Lamb.
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Now the scene changes
as we get into chapter 5.
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But before we go to
chapter 5, I want to talk about
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this song that they
sing, they sing to the Father.
00:07:24.51\00:07:27.88
Revelation 4:8 says...
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And this is a song, we
don't have the music to it,
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but these are the words to it.
00:07:33.25\00:07:34.92
"Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty..."
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And then it says, "Who was,
who is, and who is to come."
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In other words, the One
who sits on this throne,
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God the Father, is eternal.
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There never was a
time when He was not.
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There never will be a
time when He will not be.
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He was, He is,
and He is to come.
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And then in verse 11
they say in the song,
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"You are worthy..."
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Now that word, "worthy,"
is going to come up again.
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"You are worthy..."
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And then they give the reason
why He is worthy of worship.
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And they say, "For You
have created all things,
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and by Your will they exist..."
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Not only did God
create all things,
00:08:26.10\00:08:29.70
but He actually upholds them
now by the might of His power.
00:08:30.11\00:08:34.18
The whole existence of
the universe is held in place
00:08:34.68\00:08:39.25
by this mighty God
that we may not see,
00:08:39.48\00:08:42.95
but we've seen His Son.
00:08:42.98\00:08:45.25
Now we want to go to
chapter 5, because in chapter 5
00:08:45.75\00:08:48.42
the scene changes.
00:08:48.46\00:08:50.19
And it's a fascinating scene.
00:08:50.96\00:08:52.49
It's a scene that brings
a crisis to the throne room.
00:08:52.53\00:08:57.37
So in Revelation
5:1 we have these words
00:08:58.03\00:09:02.17
from the apostle John,
"And I saw in the right hand
00:09:02.20\00:09:05.34
of Him," the Father,
"who sat on the throne
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a scroll written on
the inside and on the back,
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but sealed, and
sealed with seven seals."
00:09:14.52\00:09:19.02
Now what is a seal?
00:09:19.42\00:09:21.36
Well in those times
seals were often made
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by people in authority, and
they usually said some kind of
00:09:25.26\00:09:29.76
agreement or some
kind of declaration.
00:09:29.80\00:09:32.73
And it made it
authentic or authoritative.
00:09:33.13\00:09:36.17
Seals were often
made out of clay.
00:09:36.40\00:09:39.77
And then they had
the person's name,
00:09:39.81\00:09:42.78
or maybe some image,
but his name of authority.
00:09:42.88\00:09:45.98
And he would push that into wax.
00:09:46.01\00:09:48.62
And when the wax would
dry there would be his seal.
00:09:48.65\00:09:51.45
It could also be a
stone that had been carved.
00:09:51.55\00:09:53.89
By the way, they
have found in Jerusalem
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through some of the
excavations and archaeologies
00:09:57.83\00:10:00.53
some of the seals of the
people mentioned in Scripture.
00:10:00.86\00:10:03.67
Now if my
memory serves me right,
00:10:03.70\00:10:05.20
I think they found Hezekiah's
seal and Isaiah's seal.
00:10:05.23\00:10:08.80
It's very, very fascinating.
00:10:08.90\00:10:10.57
So seals were
around in those days.
00:10:10.67\00:10:13.07
And that showed authority.
00:10:13.84\00:10:16.24
Now we use a notary republic.
00:10:16.28\00:10:18.08
At least when I was growing up
the notary republic had a seal.
00:10:18.11\00:10:20.72
So if you bought a
house or you bought a car,
00:10:20.75\00:10:23.18
the title would be stamped
and pressed into the paper.
00:10:23.22\00:10:26.69
And that would be the
seal that this was authentic
00:10:26.72\00:10:29.46
and it had authority.
00:10:29.49\00:10:30.99
Or if you had two
parties and you want to witness
00:10:31.03\00:10:34.80
that this is the truth, then you
would have a notary seal that.
00:10:34.83\00:10:39.63
It was used
primarily, of course, for deeds
00:10:39.67\00:10:42.74
and those kinds of things.
00:10:42.77\00:10:44.21
So we have this scroll
that's sealed with seven seals.
00:10:44.54\00:10:50.35
Now listen as John
continues the scene.
00:10:50.45\00:10:54.65
"Then," he says,
"I saw a strong angel
00:10:55.52\00:10:58.89
proclaiming with a
loud voice, 'Who is worthy
00:10:59.15\00:11:04.59
to open the scroll
and loose the seals?'
00:11:04.63\00:11:08.00
And no one," John
says, "in heaven or on earth
00:11:08.46\00:11:12.47
or under the earth was
able to open the scroll
00:11:12.50\00:11:15.90
and look into it."
00:11:15.94\00:11:17.34
And then he says,
"So I wept much..."
00:11:17.57\00:11:21.84
In other words, John weeps.
00:11:21.94\00:11:23.81
This is not just a tear.
00:11:23.85\00:11:25.21
He is weeping
bitterly because no one
00:11:25.25\00:11:28.68
is found to be able
to open that scroll.
00:11:28.72\00:11:32.62
So what must this scroll be?
00:11:33.15\00:11:35.82
Why would the inability to
open it make John weep bitterly?
00:11:35.86\00:11:43.06
Well that scroll must contain
something very important.
00:11:44.23\00:11:48.30
I want to go back and listen
to another picture in the Bible
00:11:49.10\00:11:54.61
from the book of Jeremiah
that might give us an insight
00:11:54.64\00:11:58.18
as to what
actually is happening here.
00:11:58.21\00:12:00.58
Jeremiah 32, and let
me set the setting here.
00:12:01.32\00:12:05.79
Jerusalem is being surrounded,
or pretty soon at least,
00:12:06.05\00:12:09.82
by Nebuchadnezzar's
Babylonian armies.
00:12:09.86\00:12:12.66
The prophet Jeremiah is
telling the king of Israel,
00:12:13.19\00:12:15.10
"You better cooperate
with that Babylonian king,
00:12:15.13\00:12:17.00
because if you don't, it's going
to go even worse for Israel.
00:12:17.03\00:12:20.70
They're going to take Jerusalem,
00:12:20.74\00:12:22.74
they're going to
breach those walls,
00:12:22.77\00:12:24.61
and you need to
surrender to make things easier
00:12:24.64\00:12:26.88
for yourself and
all the rest of us."
00:12:26.91\00:12:28.44
That was his main message.
00:12:28.48\00:12:29.94
But he was resistant, resistant.
00:12:30.18\00:12:32.25
And this was
coming as punishment
00:12:32.28\00:12:34.42
on ancient Israel
for their apostasy.
00:12:34.65\00:12:37.85
Then God does something
very strange to Jeremiah.
00:12:38.69\00:12:42.39
Here you've got the Babylonian
armies have taken most
00:12:42.42\00:12:44.83
all of Judea, and now
they're getting ready to
00:12:44.86\00:12:47.66
surround Jerusalem itself.
00:12:47.70\00:12:50.53
And then God
says this to Jeremiah.
00:12:50.97\00:12:53.67
He says to get a deed
and go buy some property.
00:12:54.60\00:12:58.77
What?
00:12:59.17\00:13:00.51
Why would you buy property?
00:13:00.54\00:13:01.88
I mean, using a picture
out of the American history,
00:13:01.91\00:13:06.08
why would you buy
property if the confederacy
00:13:06.11\00:13:10.22
was about to go down,
and they were the ones
00:13:10.25\00:13:12.35
that had the authority?
00:13:12.39\00:13:13.76
So John weeps bitterly.
00:13:14.52\00:13:17.13
And he's puzzled, "Why
does God give him these
00:13:17.16\00:13:21.06
seemingly foolish instructions?"
00:13:21.26\00:13:24.40
So he said he
took the purchase deed,
00:13:24.57\00:13:28.00
both which was sealed according
to the law and to the custom..."
00:13:28.57\00:13:32.71
In other words, the seal
made it possible for anyone
00:13:33.07\00:13:38.35
to know that this
property belonged to Jeremiah
00:13:38.38\00:13:42.18
and they could only have
it with Jeremiah's permission.
00:13:42.22\00:13:46.05
They would have to beat
the seal, break the seal.
00:13:46.09\00:13:51.76
We'll find out what all of
that is about in just a moment.
00:13:51.96\00:13:55.86