IIW-2016-3 --- All eyes looking in the wrong direction #1 00:00:01.20\00:00:03.87 IIW-2016-3 --- All eyes looking in the wrong direction #1 00:00:04.20\00:00:07.57 IIW-2016-3 --- All eyes looking in the wrong direction #1 00:00:07.97\00:00:11.64 IIW-2016-3 --- All eyes looking in the wrong direction #1 00:00:12.01\00:00:15.14 IIW-2016-3 --- All eyes looking in the wrong direction #1 00:00:15.54\00:00:18.48 IIW-2016-3 --- All eyes looking in the wrong direction #1 00:00:18.88\00:00:21.92 IIW-2016-3 --- All eyes looking in the wrong direction #1 00:00:22.35\00:00:25.29 IIW-2016-3 --- All eyes looking in the wrong direction #1 00:00:25.69\00:00:28.62 IIW-2016-3 --- All eyes looking in the wrong direction #1 00:00:28.99\00:00:31.69 IIW-2016-3 --- All eyes looking in the wrong direction #1 00:00:32.09\00:00:34.56 IIW-2016-3 --- All eyes looking in the wrong direction #1 00:00:35.00\00:00:37.63 IIW-2016-3 --- All eyes looking in the wrong direction #1 00:00:38.03\00:00:43.17 >>Announcer: It has stood the test of time. 00:01:31.59\00:01:34.79 God's book, The Bible 00:01:35.32\00:01:37.93 Still relevant in today's complex world 00:01:38.79\00:01:42.26 It Is Written 00:01:43.93\00:01:45.60 Sharing messages of hope around the world! 00:01:46.37\00:01:50.54 "Is the city of Jerusalem the centre of attention for the unfolding of events in the final 00:02:00.12\00:02:05.25 crisis here on this earth?" Today let's take a journey to the city of Jerusalem. We will 00:02:05.35\00:02:12.96 stand overlooking the city of Jerusalem. We will see some magnificent places, some ancient 00:02:13.06\00:02:20.90 places - but the centrepiece and most recognizable structure of modern Jerusalem is the Temple 00:02:21.00\00:02:28.31 Mount. There on the temple mount stands the Dome of the Rock, which was built at the end of 00:02:28.41\00:02:35.35 the seventh century. Now many of the conflicts that have occurred in Jerusalem over the 00:02:35.45\00:02:39.95 years have occurred because the Dome of the Rock. It is one of the most holy places for Islam, 00:02:40.06\00:02:46.96 and is actually built on the site of Mount Moriah, which is where the ancient Jewish temple 00:02:47.03\00:02:53.34 was. This mixture of two religions has created considerable issues in the 00:02:53.44\00:03:00.58 Middle East. In fact at the bottom of Mount Moriah there is the Wailing Wall, and up at the 00:03:00.68\00:03:11.09 top you have the Dome of the Rock. Two religions in continual 00:03:11.19\00:03:17.23 tension. It has led to the question that many Christians are asking, that many people 00:03:21.30\00:03:30.34 around the world are asking, is, "Will the Jewish temple - which was burned down and destroyed in 00:03:30.44\00:03:37.45 70 A.D. - at Jerusalem be rebuilt?" And the question we must ask is, "Is this temple, a 00:03:37.55\00:03:47.52 rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, the focus of our attention in the 00:03:47.62\00:03:54.00 last days?" In order to answer these questions, along with the question of the mysterious 2300 00:03:55.00\00:03:58.83 days, we must step back further in time. We must understand a little bit of the history of the 00:03:58.93\00:04:05.21 temple in order to answer these questions. We must go to those ancient ruins of Egypt. If 00:04:05.31\00:04:12.51 you're familiar with Biblical history.God's people, the Hebrew people, were taken captive into 00:04:12.61\00:04:17.82 Egypt. Initially, they actually were living there by free choice. The Egyptians provided a 00:04:17.92\00:04:25.96 shelter in a time of famine. Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob, became the chief of the 00:04:26.06\00:04:31.20 commanders in Egypt. And then his brothers and father came to the land of Goshen in Egypt to 00:04:31.30\00:04:38.57 live and find refuge. Now if you go to Egypt today, you will see these magnificent structures - 00:04:38.67\00:04:44.81 some of these structures were likely built by the Hebrew people, not the pyramids, but 00:04:44.91\00:04:50.32 many of them. The Hebrew people, over time, begin to grow and multiply in population and 00:04:50.42\00:04:58.53 became a threat to the Egyptians. The Egyptians then enslaved the Hebrew people to 00:04:58.63\00:05:07.27 control them.. The Hebrew people were enslaved for over 400 years and sometime around the 16th or 00:05:07.37\00:05:13.61 15th century B.C., God's people are reconnected to Him. A leader, Moses, rises up. Moses 00:05:13.71\00:05:22.85 was a Hebrew; however, he was brought up in an Egyptian home. He was trained in the royal 00:05:22.95\00:05:29.42 courts of Egypt and Egyptian schools. He was being groomed to be a leader in that land. Later 00:05:29.52\00:05:37.97 in life, he became reconnected with his Hebrew roots, he became reconnected with God, and God 00:05:38.07\00:05:43.91 called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. That event is called the exodus, 00:05:44.01\00:05:50.48 and it is recorded in the book Exodus. 00:05:50.58\00:05:53.62 Through the Hebrew people's 400 years enslavement, they had become disconnected with their 00:05:56.89\00:06:03.43 God. As they made their way out of Egypt, God wanted to reconnect with them. And God 00:06:03.53\00:06:10.87 instructed them, in the Sinai peninsula, in Exodus 25, for them to build a sanctuary. The 00:06:10.97\00:06:20.11 purpose of that sanctuary is stated plainly: 00:06:20.21\00:06:23.35 The sanctuary was to be a reminder to God's people of the relationship he desired with 00:06:31.19\00:06:35.52 them. This is why the sanctuary, when it was set up amongst the Israelites, among those twelve 00:06:35.62\00:06:41.93 tribes, that the sanctuary was right at the centre of the camp. It was symbolic and the physical 00:06:42.03\00:06:49.64 location was indicative of what God wanted for His people. It was to be at the very centre of 00:06:49.74\00:06:57.81 their life. And so that is what they did. Additionally the Bible says that God would lead 00:06:57.91\00:07:06.55 them by a pillar of fire at night and protected by a cloud during the day. The Hebrew 00:07:06.65\00:07:13.16 people became reconnected with God. The sanctuary system set up a system of sacrifice that 00:07:13.26\00:07:22.14 pointed forward to Jesus as the Messiah, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 00:07:22.24\00:07:28.54 world. Within the sanctuary, there was a courtyard, in that courtyard, the altar, and laver. 00:07:28.64\00:07:35.48 Within the very structure, called the tent of meeting, wasthe holy place, and the most 00:07:35.58\00:07:43.96 holy place. Every day, sacrifices were made in the sanctuary. Every day, people 00:07:44.06\00:07:49.90 would bring their sin offerings. Every day, sacrifices would be made. Lambs would sacrificed. 00:07:50.00\00:07:57.57 Then the priest would take the blood into the sanctuary. He would take the blood into the 00:07:57.67\00:08:03.91 sanctuary, into the holy place. And that was a daily activity. The sinner's guilt was 00:08:04.01\00:08:12.15 symbolically transferred to the perfect lamb, then - don't miss this - that sin that had been 00:08:12.25\00:08:23.30 transferred to the lamb was symbolically transferred to the sanctuary. Understanding the 00:08:23.40\00:08:30.54 symbolism of the sanctuary, the sanctuary is a demonstration, is a physical manifestation of 00:08:30.64\00:08:36.21 where God wants to dwell. And so sin was actually transferred from the people into God's 00:08:36.31\00:08:47.22 dwelling place. So the perfect lamb was slain and its blood caught in a basin, that basin 00:08:47.32\00:08:54.96 taken into the sanctuary. All of that is symbolic of the sacrifice of Jesus and remember 00:08:55.06\00:09:05.77 that happened daily. Then once a year, on a special festival or a special feast, something 00:09:05.87\00:09:14.92 different occurred. It was called the Day of Atonement. The definition of atonement is 00:09:15.02\00:09:22.26 contained in the very word. If you break the word "atonement" up into separate parts, it is 00:09:22.36\00:09:33.80 "at-one-ment." That's all atonement is. Atonement is bringing us back into one with 00:09:33.90\00:09:41.14 God. 00:09:41.24\00:09:42.08 The day of atonement brought abouta unique happening. The sacrifice would be made, the 00:09:42.98\00:09:48.62 blood would be collected into the basin, but there would no sprinkling on the way into the 00:09:48.72\00:09:55.29 sanctuary. The priest would go all the way - only once a year, into the most holy place. And 00:09:55.39\00:10:04.93 there, he would place blood upon the altar, and then he would place blood going out of the 00:10:05.03\00:10:11.74 sanctuary. Don't miss the direction. Daily, the blood goes in; once a year, it comes out. 00:10:11.84\00:10:22.32 The Day of Atonement was a day of cleansing where the sanctuary would be figuratively, 00:10:22.42\00:10:28.22 symbolically cleansed of all the sin that had been placed there throughout the year. The 00:10:28.32\00:10:35.06 wildernesses sanctuary was a temporary structure. It was a structure that was set up, and 00:10:35.16\00:10:40.44 then would be taken down. As the Israelites eventually settled in Jerusalem, they built a 00:10:40.54\00:10:49.88 permanent structure, and that permanent structure was Solomon's temple. The Day of 00:10:49.98\00:10:55.28 Atonement was at the end of the Jewish year when the high priest entered the most holy place of 00:10:55.38\00:11:01.72 the sanctuary. It was a day of repentance and confession. It was the most solemn day of the 00:11:01.82\00:11:08.20 year because it was a day of judgement. The Day of Atonement was a day of judgement and it 00:11:08.30\00:11:16.50 was the cleansing of the sanctuary. After Israel entered the promised land, the 00:11:16.60\00:11:22.34 wilderness sanctuary was replaced by Solomon's magnificent temple. And at 00:11:22.44\00:11:27.18 Solomon's temple, the same activities continued throughout. 00:11:27.28\00:11:34.76 There have been volumes written on this topic and what I have presented is a simplified 00:11:36.59\00:11:41.73 version of a lot of history and theology. The sanctuary system continued in Solomon's time. 00:11:41.83\00:11:48.57 However, Solomon's temple didn't last forever. In 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed that 00:11:48.67\00:12:00.95 temple. Jerusalem was destroyed and the people were taken into exile into Babylon. Years 00:12:01.05\00:12:10.03 later, they were allowed to come out of Babylon, under the Persians and commissioned to 00:12:10.13\00:12:15.13 rebuild, and they being rebuilding. The temple was rebuilt and existed in Jerusalem 00:12:15.23\00:12:21.94 during Jesus' time. Eventually that temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. This is the temple that 00:12:22.04\00:12:31.18 Jesus was referring to when He was looking over the city and He was weeping and He said, 00:12:31.28\00:12:35.42 The sanctuary was left desolate. It was fulfilment of the prophecy of Matthew chapter 24, 00:12:53.60\00:13:01.14 that the Roman empire would come in 70 A.D. and destroyed the temple. This event is recorded 00:13:01.24\00:13:07.75 in one of the reliefs of the Arch of Titus. Will the temple at Jerusalem be rebuilt, and is 00:13:07.85\00:13:15.42 this the temple that is the focus of last-day events? And here's what we find as we look 00:13:15.52\00:13:23.06 at the Scriptures. Although the earthly temple played a vital role, the earthly temple has 00:13:23.16\00:13:29.30 been destroyed, and God directs our eyes to another temple. The Apostle Paul says in writing the 00:13:29.40\00:13:41.38 book of Hebrews: 00:13:41.48\00:13:42.88 This word "main point" literally means, this is the chief point. This is the capstone of 00:13:51.33\00:13:53.53 everything we've been saying to you. It goes on 00:13:53.63\00:13:56.06 This is remarkable. There is an original sanctuary, because God asked the Israelites to make a 00:14:09.78\00:14:19.05 copy. What was it a copy of? It was a copy of the temple in heaven. And the Apostle Paul 00:14:19.15\00:14:28.26 writes in Hebrews 00:14:28.36\00:14:33.20 Paul says this is the chief point. That's the capstone. That's the capstone of 00:14:41.48\00:14:50.39 everything I've been teaching you, that we have a high priest, and He serves in the true 00:14:50.49\00:14:52.92 tabernacle made by God and not man. While much of Christianity has been almost duped into 00:14:53.02\00:14:57.89 believing we need to look to literal Jerusalem, God is saying however, "Listen, Jerusalem is 00:14:57.99\00:15:09.20 an important place, but I need you to stop looking to the east, and I need you to look to the 00:15:09.30\00:15:14.94 north and look to the heavens, because what I want to show you is up in heaven." This is why in 00:15:15.04\00:15:23.15 Hebrews 4:16 says, 00:15:23.25\00:15:28.02 You see, when Paul is writing Hebrews, he doesn't write Hebrews in a way in which he's 00:15:38.30\00:15:47.28 speaking symbolically. He's writing in a way that is literal of things that are happening and 00:15:47.38\00:15:59.02 literal places that are in heaven. So to help us understand this, we need to go back to the 00:15:59.12\00:16:05.99 book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 7 specifically. Daniel sawfour beasts. Then Daniel sees in 00:16:06.09\00:16:24.28 vision a judgment scene, and it says: 00:16:24.38\00:16:26.58 Daniel uses throne room imagery that has language that is very similar to the sanctuary. And 00:16:52.87\00:17:01.35 Daniel says that judgement commences in a courtroom that has a lot of language that looks 00:17:01.45\00:17:09.26 like the sanctuary, where books are opened. In last book of the Bible, in Revelation 14 is 00:17:09.36\00:17:18.83 recorded God's counterattack to Satan's deceptive assault on the church. Revelation chapter 14, 00:17:18.93\00:17:31.98 God sends three angels with three messages. The first message is a clear one: 00:17:32.08\00:17:40.59 What is God's counterattack to Satan's counter-attack? The everlasting gospel. But it's not 00:17:49.50\00:17:55.07 just any gospel. The everlasting gospel that says something, to preach to those who dwell on the 00:17:55.17\00:18:03.68 earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. So the everlasting gospel has no one 00:18:03.78\00:18:10.82 that is left out. It goes to any and all people, and this is the 00:18:10.92\00:18:20.56 message: The hour of His judgement has come. Is that future tense? No, no, it doesn't 00:18:31.54\00:18:44.95 say "The hour of His judgement will come." It says, "The hour of His judgement has come." We 00:18:45.05\00:18:48.12 have a sanctuary, Day of Atonement, judgement; Daniel 7, judgement; Revelation 14, 00:18:48.22\00:18:55.56 judgement. What's going on here? You see, Revelation 22:12 records that at His coming 00:18:55.66\00:19:04.84 that... Friend, if Jesus is coming to give His reward at the second coming, what must happen 00:19:12.55\00:19:19.72 before He comes? Judgement. Jesus Himself, said Matthew 00:19:19.82\00:19:31.43 16:27: Too often in Christianity we talk about judgement and it makes us very nervous, 00:19:42.28\00:19:47.35 frightening. But Jesus wants us to understand something. Before Jesus comes, something needs to 00:19:47.45\00:19:57.36 happen. 00:19:57.46\00:19:58.76 Jesus is coming again to make all things that are wrong right. Jesus is coming to take His 00:20:00.30\00:20:04.40 people home with Him to heaven. And in order to take people home with Him to heaven, He needs to 00:20:04.50\00:20:09.57 know who has fitted themselves for citizenship in heaven. And in order to do that, the Bible 00:20:09.67\00:20:15.61 is quite clear, that judgement must happen before He comes. While Revelation describes the 00:20:15.71\00:20:22.95 details about the judgement, the book of Daniel predicts when and where the judgement will occur. 00:20:23.05\00:20:29.92 The book of Daniel, we left off in Daniel chapter 8. Daniel chapter 8 ends with these words: 00:20:30.03\00:20:38.67 What didn't he understand? And what was he astonished by? Daniel chapter 8 and verse 14. 00:20:51.31\00:21:00.89 2300 days. It's a time prophecy. What's this all about? It would seem to be very important, 00:21:08.36\00:21:16.47 because we just talked about this. The Bible talks about how critical the sanctuary is. The 00:21:16.57\00:21:22.81 Bible talks about a sanctuary in heaven. Daniel was given a vision of 2300 days, and the 00:21:22.91\00:21:29.75 sanctuary will be cleansed. Now, the angel visitor Gabriel gave him some key pieces that will 00:21:29.85\00:21:37.96 help us understand this. Gabriel, make this man understand the vision. 00:21:38.06\00:21:42.70 Daniel didn't understand the vision, but here are the elements he does understand: 00:21:57.05\00:22:02.48 number one: the vision is for the end of time. Number two: it speaks of the sanctuary being 00:22:02.58\00:22:08.06 cleansed. Now, how did Daniel know that it was referring to the heavenly sanctuary? Was 00:22:08.16\00:22:16.00 there any sanctuary existent when Daniel was given the vision? There was no sanctuary. 00:22:16.10\00:22:20.10 So Daniel's mind would not have been drawn to the sanctuary in Jerusalem because there was 00:22:20.20\00:22:29.24 none. His mind would've been drawn to the heavenly sanctuary And number three: it is a 00:22:29.34\00:22:35.65 symbolic time period because the Bible says 2300 days, but then it says it's at the time of the 00:22:35.75\00:22:43.29 end. Did Daniel live in the time of the end? No, because we're all here. And unless some of us 00:22:43.39\00:22:51.47 are about 2,500 years old, it wasn't the time of the end when Daniel was alive. So there must 00:22:51.57\00:22:58.97 be something symbolic about this 2300 days. 00:22:59.07\00:23:03.11 Daniel longed for an answer and while it only takes mere seconds for you or me to turn the pages 00:23:04.85\00:23:12.12 from chapter 8 to chapter 9, for Daniel, that time span was 13 years. Daniel chapter 9 records 00:23:12.22\00:23:21.46 his continued prayers: 00:23:21.56\00:23:25.57 Daniel studied his Bible, and he prayed. He didn't give up on God, even though during that 00:23:51.43\00:23:57.47 13-year timespan, God did not tell him what this vision meant. It is a lesson for us in our 00:23:57.57\00:24:05.84 practical, spiritual walk with God. Don't give up on God. Don't stop praying. Don't stop reading 00:24:05.94\00:24:11.01 the Bible, because as soon as we do that, we turn off the communication. Stay in 00:24:11.11\00:24:17.29 communication with God. Specifically Daniel was studying the prophet Jeremiah, the 00:24:17.39\00:24:23.16 message of the prophet Jeremiah was very simple for 70 years, you will be in captivity in 00:24:23.26\00:24:32.03 Babylon. In Daniel's later years that 70 years was coming to an end. And so as he was reading 00:24:32.13\00:24:38.57 this, he prayed. He asked for the sins of his people to be forgiven and not to forget the 00:24:38.67\00:24:47.22 Hebrews. Something notable happens. In Daniel chapter 9 verse 23, the Bible says that an 00:24:47.32\00:24:55.26 angel visitor comes and begins speaking to Daniel and says, 00:24:55.36\00:24:59.19 Friends, Daniel chapter 8 leaves off with Daniel not understanding a vision. The 2300 00:25:15.58\00:25:20.85 day vision. Now in Daniel chapter 9, the angel says, "I have come to help you understand 00:25:20.95\00:25:26.45 the vision." What vision was he coming to help him understand? Without a doubt, The 2300 00:25:26.55\00:25:33.23 days.The angel Gabriel comes to Daniel and says, "Listen, I've come to help you understand the 00:25:33.33\00:25:40.64 vision of the 2300 days. It is in that vision, that we can answer all the questions 00:25:40.74\00:25:47.54 surrounding the Jerusalem factor. But we've run out of time today. Next week, the 00:25:47.64\00:25:57.15 answer will thrill you, you won't want to miss it. 00:25:57.25\00:26:03.16 Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that You are in control of all things. And dear Lord, 00:26:04.89\00:26:12.50 You want us to be ready. You've told us about the judgement. You've not kept it secret from 00:26:12.57\00:26:17.31 us. But we know in that judgement, You're not looking to keep us out of heaven; we know 00:26:17.44\00:26:22.24 in that judgement, you are looking for every opportunity to get us to heaven. And so today, 00:26:22.28\00:26:29.28 as we pray, we place our faith and trust in You, knowing that You will give us the strength, 00:26:29.38\00:26:34.46 you'll give us the courage, and that we would be ready when Your Son Jesus comes again soon. We 00:26:34.56\00:26:41.76 pray this in Jesus' name, amen. 00:26:41.86\00:26:44.13 Dear friends, the sanctuary message, the 2300-day message can be a very confusing message. 00:27:01.35\00:27:06.42 Hopefully this program has helped make it simple. But I want to give an offer to you 00:27:06.52\00:27:12.29 today for further reading to help it be even more simple. I want to offer to you the little 00:27:12.39\00:27:18.90 booklet Blood Behind the Veil. This book was written by Joe Crews, and it will help you dig 00:27:19.00\00:27:26.81 deeper and understand more completely this prophecy of the 2300 days, this prophecy of the 00:27:26.91\00:27:34.65 sanctuary message and the hope that it brings that Jesus is coming soon to take us home. 00:27:34.75\00:27:42.06 Here's the information you need to receive today's offer. 00:27:42.16\00:27:45.56 Friends, the greatest assurance in a time of judgement is to be on the side of Jesus, to be in a 00:28:46.65\00:28:53.83 relationship with Him, to have security in Him. I want to invite you to go to our web 00:28:53.93\00:28:58.57 page, www.itiswrittencanada.ca, and there you'll find resources on how to dive more deeply into 00:28:58.67\00:29:07.18 relationship with Jesus. You'll find some of our programs there along with an ability to sign up 00:29:07.28\00:29:13.82 for Bible studies and other resources to develop your spiritual library. You can also 00:29:13.92\00:29:20.09 go to our YouTube channel, youtube.com/iiwcanada, and there you can find all of our archived 00:29:20.19\00:29:28.30 programs. You can follow us on Twitter. You can like us on Facebook. You can follow me on 00:29:28.40\00:29:34.74 Twitter @PastorHolland. My dear friends, Jesus desires to take us all to heaven. I hope you 00:29:34.84\00:29:43.31 enjoyed today's program. I invite you to join us again next week. Until then, remember, it 00:29:43.41\00:29:49.38 is written: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the 00:29:49.48\00:29:56.09 mouth of God." 00:29:56.19\00:29:57.79 ######### 00:29:59.86\00:30:00.60