[uplifting music]
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[uplifting music]
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>>Eric Flickinger:
Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
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brought to you by It Is Written.
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We're glad you're with us today.
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We are continuing
our journey through
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a fascinating series of subjects
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looking at how to
study Bible prophecy
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so that we make
sure we're headed in
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the right direction
rather than the wrong direction.
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This is lesson
number 10 out of 13.
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And today we are looking at
"Upon Whom the Ends Have Come."
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These next several lessons,
we're going to be looking
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at some stories
in the Old Testament
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that help us to make
sure we're on the right path,
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on the right track,
in understanding prophecy
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as it is fulfilled
in the New Testament
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and in our days and
the days shortly to come.
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So we're glad that
you are with us today,
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but before we begin, as always,
we will begin with prayer.
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Father, thank You
for being with us today.
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We're asking once again that
You will bless us abundantly
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as we delve into Your
Word and that You will help us
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to understand what is
going on in the world today
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and what is soon to come.
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We thank You in
Jesus' name, amen.
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We're grateful also, once
again, to have the author of
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this quarter's
"Sabbath School" lesson with us:
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Pastor Shawn
Boonstra. Shawn, welcome back.
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>>Shawn Boonstra: Hey,
thank you. I really didn't
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have a choice. I've been chained
to this chair for 10 weeks.
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>>Eric: Whatever works,
whatever works. [Shawn laughing]
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But we're being
blessed as a result.
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So, don't expect
that chain to be let up--
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>>Shawn: Help. Help. [laughs]
>>Eric: ...any time soon.
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We got three
more to go after this.
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All right, so this week,
"How to Study Bible Prophecy:
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Upon Whom the Ends Have Come,"
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now, this particular part of the
quarterly of the lesson study--
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I know that this is a
favorite part of yours
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because it really
does help us to know
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that we are on the right track,
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that we don't have to
be apologizing for things,
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that when we look at what was--
what has happened in the past,
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we can see the
confirmation in what we see
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over in the book of Revelation.
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Walk us through some of this.
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>>Shawn: You know,
I find it interesting
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when I'm teaching
Bible prophecy publicly
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how shocked the
average audience is
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when I tell them that
the way they read prophecy
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is a recent invention,
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that it's just a little
more than 170 years old,
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1830s onward.
But for 1,800 years
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Christians tended to
read prophecy roughly--
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now, there are obviously
some variations on the theme--
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but roughly we all
read it the same way.
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We read it historically.
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And when we were
reading it historically,
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yeah, we had to adjust some
minor details along the way,
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but we didn't have to
change the entire scheme,
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and I'm watching the
broader Christian world today.
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They have to change--
they have to do a rewrite
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on their interpretation of Bible
prophecy about every five years,
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it seems, and they never
seem to have to apologize
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for the fact that
they're just way off base
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every five years
and have to rewrite.
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Somebody handed
me when I was a kid
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"The Late Great Planet Earth"
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by Hal Lindsey,
and that one was like,
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okay, Israel's been
reestablished in the 1940s,
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we've got one generation,
and then Jesus is gonna come.
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There's gonna to be
a rapture, and, well,
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we're now about 40 years past
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when that was
supposed to happen,
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and Hal Lindsey never
seemed to have to issue
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an apology for that.
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I also remember in
the '80s and '90s--
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even though in the '80s
I was a bit of a heathen--
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but I was paying attention.
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I was raised in
a Christian home.
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They were playing pin
the tail on the antichrist,
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and that game's
been going on forever.
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At first it was, "Okay,
Ronald Reagan is the beast."
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It's like, "How can
Ronald Reagan be the beast?"
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"Well, he's
Ronald Wilson Reagan,
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three--six letters in
each name, that's 666."
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Of all the horrible
ways to read a prophecy,
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that doesn't even make
sense, but that's what happens
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when you're not anchored
in the entirety of Scripture
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and you look at
something and you just try to,
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"Okay, I'll find some
detail from modern society
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that seems to fit."
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After that, Obama
was the antichrist.
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I remember that one, right?
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Luke, chapter 10 and verse 18,
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Jesus says, "I saw Satan fall"
from heaven "like lightning."
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Well, that's "astrapé."
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"Astrapé" is the
Greek word for "lightning,"
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but if you go back to Aramaic,
which Jesus would have spoke--
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somebody got really excited:
"Ooh, the word's 'baraq.'"
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And it was like, "Come on, man."
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So you change the
language of the New Testament,
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and it lands on "baraq."
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And then they go to Isaiah 14:
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"I will ascend above
the heights," Lucifer says.
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Well, that's "bamah." So
now we have "baraq-bamah."
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And like this--it's so silly.
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And now that's come and
gone. That was clearly wrong.
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Saddam Hussein was
supposed to start Armageddon.
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Never happened. My
Baptist neighbor at one point
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was telling me,
"Oh, this is it."
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We were watching the Gulf War
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and the tracer
bullets going through the air.
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Then it was gonna be
a computer in Belgium.
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You remember that one?
>>Eric: I remember that one.
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>>Shawn: That's actually
out of a William Cooper novel.
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It's entirely fiction.
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It's a novel that came
out in the '60s or '70s,
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"A Pale Horse Rides,"
and somebody read the novel
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and said, "Well,
that's gotta be it,
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the supercomputer in Belgium."
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They're playing pin
the tail on the antichrist.
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Nobody ever seems to
have to own what they said
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or apologize for it.
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And meanwhile in the background,
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Adventists have followed
what our Christian ancestors
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have followed.
We've had a general
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historic view of prophecy.
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We have sometimes
gotten details wrong.
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Like, you know, I
think in Uriah Smith's book,
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we had a couple of details
that were not entirely accurate,
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but as a general scheme,
for 100-- how old are we now?
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A hundred and--
well, it depends on
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where you want to
start--1844, 1863.
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For--going on to two centuries,
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we have not had to apologize
for our general understanding
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of prophecy
because it has held up.
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It's anchored
in the entire book.
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It's anchored in all of history,
and it has been standard.
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And so, yeah, this
becomes one of my favorites
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because not only
do we find references
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in Revelation to
the Old Testament,
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and you find, okay, Daniel
explains a lot of Revelation.
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Exodus explains a
lot of Revelation.
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Genesis explains
a lot of Revelation.
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But then when
you go back to read
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the key stories
in the Old Testament,
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they seem to
foreshadow last-day events,
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and it's not
like it was crafted.
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God somehow picks real people
in real places at real times.
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They all happen to be
in the lineage of Jesus,
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and he uses
details-- he doesn't tell us
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all that happened to Abraham.
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He got to be a really old
guy. The book would be huge.
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But there are
details in Abraham's life
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that God weaves
together and says,
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"Ah, here's what's coming."
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Same with Jonah, same
with Job, same with everybody.
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And so, yeah, I
love this because--
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a friend of mine once said,
"Look, you know something--
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the difference
between man-made and divine,"
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he said, "a
snowflake, that's creation.
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"God's got a hand in that.
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"Put that under a microscope,
and the closer you look,
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"the prettier it gets.
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Take a tablecloth," he said,
"put that under the microscope.
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"It looks real pretty
until you get really close
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"and you see that the
warp and the woof is off,
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"and there's flaws in it.
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"If your system is
wrong, the deeper you look,
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the more flawed it gets."
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What I love about the way
that this movement interprets
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the three angels'
messages is I've been looking
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for three decades-plus,
and the deeper I go,
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the more detailed
and perfect it gets,
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not the other way
around. So there you go.
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If that's all
you study this week,
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it's to know that there
is a right and a wrong way,
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and one of them results
in long-term consistency,
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and the other one results in
having to change your course,
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you know, reprogram
the GPS every five years.
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Which one might be right?
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>>Eric: Well, I
think we're gonna find,
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pretty conclusively, as we
study the next several weeks.
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One of the stories that
you draw our attention to
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is the story of Noah.
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Noah's a significant
one. Walk us through that.
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>>Shawn: Yeah, we're gonna start
with the really obvious ones,
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and then we'll go to some
of the not-so-obvious stories
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over the next couple of weeks.
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But as you look at
the details of Noah,
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sometimes people who are into
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"Okay, there's a secret rapture,
another seven years of history."
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I know they don't quite use the
term "secret rapture" anymore,
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but everybody knows what
I mean when the rapture--
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the pre-trib rapture,
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and then another seven years,
and then Jesus comes finally
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after antichrist
reveals himself and so on,
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and some of them have
anchored it in the story of Noah
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that Jesus tells in
Matthew, chapter 24,
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and they point out, "See,
some are taken, one is taken,
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the other one's left behind."
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And so there's an entire popular
series now, "Left Behind."
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And they say, "You
don't wanna be left behind."
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That's the sinners, the
lost, are left behind, and the--
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well, is that really
what the Scriptures say?
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If you read it in context,
is that what that passage says?
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Matthew 24, this is verse
38, the words of Jesus, okay:
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"For as in those
days before the flood
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they were eating and drinking."
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See, here's the
whole theme of the nations:
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Humanity is concerned
with their own interests first.
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There's nothing wrong
with eating and drinking,
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marrying and giving in marriage.
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I've done all those things--
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although my
drinking is non-alcoholic.
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There's nothing
particularly wrong with it,
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but that's all absorbing.
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That comes ahead of God.
Our own interests come first.
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"Eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
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until the day...Noah entered the
ark, and they were unaware"--
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which is a tragic statement--
"unaware until the flood came."
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How could you be unaware?
Noah preached for 120 years.
00:09:08.78\00:09:11.75
How could we be unaware
when Jesus shows up in the sky?
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I've noticed in
Revelation, chapter 6,
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that when Jesus returns
and the wicked are crying
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for the rocks and the mountains
to fall on them, they're saying,
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"Oh no, it's the Lamb."
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Oh. They know who it
is. They know who it is.
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It's not an entire shock.
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They chose to ignore
it and be absorbed by
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the cares of this life.
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So they're "unaware
until the flood came...
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swept them all away, so will be
the coming of the Son of Man."
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All right, in verse 39,
Eric, who got taken away?
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The wicked did.
Who's left behind?
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Noah. Noah.
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That's the opposite of the
way we've been telling the story
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over the last 50 years.
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Now we can understand the rest.
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Verse 40: "Then two
men will be in the field;
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"one will be taken and one left.
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"Two women will be
grinding at the mill;
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"one will be taken and one left.
00:10:01.43\00:10:03.67
"Therefore, stay
awake, for you do not know
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on what day
your Lord is coming."
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If you read the
whole thing, it's obvious
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you wanna be left behind, right?
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When Jesus returns,
the wicked are slain
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by the brightness of His coming.
00:10:15.31\00:10:16.61
We can't stand in the
presence of a holy God
00:10:16.64\00:10:18.35
if we're not right with God,
00:10:18.38\00:10:19.68
not covered by
the blood of Christ.
00:10:19.71\00:10:22.35
Those that are left behind
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are those that
are right with Christ.
00:10:23.75\00:10:26.05
So because we're picking
and choosing and cherry-picking
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the Scriptures,
we've come up with a theory
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that has zero anchors
anywhere in the Bible.
00:10:30.76\00:10:33.56
And fortunately, a
lot of modern Christians
00:10:33.60\00:10:35.53
are now abandoning this
whole "left behind" thing
00:10:35.56\00:10:38.00
because the deeper
you get into Scripture,
00:10:38.03\00:10:40.34
the more silly it looks.
00:10:40.37\00:10:42.17
>>Eric: And one of the
beautiful things about this
00:10:42.20\00:10:43.97
is, as you look
at the story of Noah,
00:10:44.01\00:10:47.31
one group is
taken, one group is left,
00:10:47.34\00:10:49.31
but neither group
gets to go through
00:10:49.34\00:10:51.01
a seven-year
tribulation. >>Shawn: No.
00:10:51.05\00:10:53.01
>>Eric: One group is
saved. The other group is lost.
00:10:53.05\00:10:55.18
I mean, there's no
second chance. It's--that's it.
00:10:55.22\00:10:58.52
>>Shawn: Yeah, and people are
shocked when I show them that.
00:10:58.55\00:11:02.66
You know, people were confused
00:11:02.69\00:11:03.99
when Paul wrote
his first letter.
00:11:04.03\00:11:05.33
"Oh, Jesus is
gonna come any day."
00:11:05.36\00:11:07.00
And in his second letter
to the Thessalonians, he says,
00:11:07.03\00:11:09.80
no, that day will not
come unless the antichrist
00:11:09.83\00:11:12.37
be revealed first. And
that confuses some people.
00:11:12.40\00:11:14.54
They say, "Well, no, no,
Jesus is supposed to come.
00:11:14.57\00:11:16.54
The Christians leave.
Then the antichrist appears."
00:11:16.57\00:11:19.37
Paul has it in
the opposite order.
00:11:19.41\00:11:21.94
The system falls
apart very, very quickly.
00:11:21.98\00:11:26.05
There is no second chance.
00:11:26.08\00:11:27.72
The Bible's
picture of Jesus's return
00:11:27.75\00:11:29.12
is pretty simple:
He returns. [laughs]
00:11:29.15\00:11:32.12
>>Eric: Yeah, it's
pretty straightforward.
00:11:32.15\00:11:34.12
>>Shawn: It's not that
more-- it's no more complicated
00:11:34.16\00:11:35.96
than that. >>Eric:
No, but what you have
00:11:35.99\00:11:37.46
is a lot of teachers
today, popular teachers,
00:11:37.49\00:11:39.26
who are teaching with authority,
00:11:39.29\00:11:41.56
and even though there may
not be a biblical foundation,
00:11:41.60\00:11:44.43
when people
speak with authority,
00:11:44.47\00:11:45.77
people will listen.
Other people will listen.
00:11:45.80\00:11:47.44
And unfortunately,
they're being led down
00:11:47.47\00:11:50.64
the proverbial
primrose path to destruction.
00:11:50.67\00:11:53.48
>>Shawn: Absolutely, if
you think that you've got
00:11:53.51\00:11:55.48
a bankable second chance--
00:11:55.51\00:11:56.81
"Well, let's see
how this plays out"--
00:11:56.85\00:11:59.05
no, and that's
horrible strategy anyway.
00:11:59.08\00:12:02.35
It's like even if that
was true, why would you
00:12:02.38\00:12:04.52
"I'll see what happens"?
00:12:04.55\00:12:05.95
Why would you play with
your relationship with God
00:12:05.99\00:12:09.62
that way? You're right.
They do teach with authority,
00:12:09.66\00:12:12.63
and it illustrates a problem
00:12:12.66\00:12:13.96
that we as a
people are not immune to.
00:12:14.00\00:12:17.90
Yeah, I trust preachers who
are great students of the Word.
00:12:17.93\00:12:21.84
I have sat at the feet of
people that were very godly,
00:12:21.87\00:12:24.34
knew their
Scriptures. I learned a lot.
00:12:24.37\00:12:27.24
But at the end of
the day, it is up to me
00:12:27.28\00:12:30.25
to become
familiar with this book.
00:12:30.28\00:12:33.11
And so if you're just leaning
on the word of popular teachers
00:12:33.15\00:12:37.12
and not doing your
homework, be careful.
00:12:37.15\00:12:39.49
And that could be inside
the Adventist church, too.
00:12:39.52\00:12:41.49
You know, we've got
some great teachers,
00:12:41.52\00:12:43.96
but go home and
do your homework.
00:12:43.99\00:12:45.46
Never take what
I say for granted,
00:12:45.49\00:12:47.36
what you say for
granted. Do your work.
00:12:47.40\00:12:49.93
>>Eric: Very, very
true. We're gonna to come back
00:12:49.96\00:12:51.60
in a moment and take a
look at Sodom and Gomorrah.
00:12:51.63\00:12:55.47
>>Shawn: Hot subject. [laughs]
>>Eric: But before we do that,
00:12:55.50\00:12:58.31
there is a companion
book to this quarter's lesson.
00:12:58.34\00:13:00.61
>>Shawn: There is.
00:13:00.64\00:13:01.94
I believe it's called
"How to Study Prophecy."
00:13:01.98\00:13:03.45
It's not a
blow-by-blow on technique.
00:13:03.48\00:13:05.55
There are good
exegetical textbooks out there.
00:13:05.58\00:13:08.52
This is more looking
at the themes in the Bible
00:13:08.55\00:13:10.89
that support what you
find in Daniel and Revelation,
00:13:10.92\00:13:14.42
including some of the stories
we're gonna look at today.
00:13:14.46\00:13:16.96
It'll really help you
build your study for class.
00:13:16.99\00:13:19.63
>>Eric: Very good. If
you'd like to pick that up--
00:13:19.66\00:13:21.60
and I would
encourage you to do so--
00:13:21.63\00:13:22.93
you will find it
at itiswritten.shop.
00:13:22.96\00:13:25.40
Again, that's itiswritten.shop.
00:13:25.43\00:13:28.30
We're gonna come
back in just a moment,
00:13:28.34\00:13:29.90
and we are going to continue
looking at how we can understand
00:13:29.94\00:13:32.94
these
prophecies of the end times
00:13:32.97\00:13:35.28
in the context of
things that have happened,
00:13:35.31\00:13:36.95
stories that
have happened before.
00:13:36.98\00:13:39.11
We're gonna be right back.
00:13:39.15\00:13:40.45
[uplifting music]
00:13:40.48\00:13:42.82
>>John Bradshaw: An
elderly prophet is cast
00:13:44.79\00:13:46.42
into a den of lions.
00:13:46.45\00:13:48.42
The king of the
greatest empire on the planet
00:13:48.46\00:13:50.73
has a sleepless night,
00:13:50.76\00:13:52.76
and God works a
remarkable miracle
00:13:52.79\00:13:54.73
still talked about
more than 2,500 years later.
00:13:54.76\00:13:58.93
The story of
Daniel and the lions' den
00:13:58.97\00:14:01.10
shines a bright light on events
00:14:01.14\00:14:03.00
that will take
place in the final moments
00:14:03.04\00:14:05.41
of this earth's history.
00:14:05.44\00:14:07.21
Don't miss "Daniel
and the Lions' Den,"
00:14:07.24\00:14:09.94
a story of faith under fire,
a story of the goodness of God,
00:14:09.98\00:14:14.82
a story that looks forward
to events that will unfold
00:14:14.85\00:14:17.95
in earth's last days.
00:14:17.99\00:14:20.29
How was Daniel able to have
faith when it mattered most,
00:14:20.32\00:14:23.63
and how can
people today do the same?
00:14:23.66\00:14:26.39
A study of Daniel,
chapter 6, in our ongoing series
00:14:26.43\00:14:30.10
on the book of Daniel.
00:14:30.13\00:14:31.77
Don't miss "Daniel
and the Lions' Den."
00:14:31.80\00:14:34.47
Be encouraged, inspired,
and grow your faith in God.
00:14:34.50\00:14:37.44
Brought to you
by It Is Written TV.
00:14:37.47\00:14:40.98
[uplifting music]
00:14:44.78\00:14:49.28
>>Eric: Welcome
back to "Sabbath School,"
00:14:49.32\00:14:50.69
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:14:50.72\00:14:52.72
We're looking at this
section, lesson number 10
00:14:52.75\00:14:55.39
of "Upon Whom
the Ends Have Come,"
00:14:55.42\00:14:57.73
looking at stories
from the Old Testament
00:14:57.76\00:14:59.79
that lead us to
understand New Testament themes
00:14:59.83\00:15:02.46
in Bible prophecy.
00:15:02.50\00:15:03.87
We looked at Noah,
Shawn, in the last section.
00:15:03.90\00:15:06.67
Let's take a look
at Sodom and Gomorrah.
00:15:06.70\00:15:08.50
This is--there's some pretty
incredible parallels here,
00:15:08.54\00:15:11.67
not very pleasant ones sometimes
00:15:11.71\00:15:13.91
but instructional
and informative, anyway.
00:15:13.94\00:15:17.28
>>Shawn: Yeah, this is
one of those stories that's
00:15:17.31\00:15:18.95
really obvious
that it's supposed to be
00:15:18.98\00:15:20.95
a type of last-day events.
00:15:20.98\00:15:22.62
Again, it literally happens.
00:15:22.65\00:15:24.29
It's a real story, but then God
takes that story to illustrate
00:15:24.32\00:15:29.82
what's going to
happen at the very end,
00:15:29.86\00:15:32.63
and I suppose, in one way,
00:15:32.66\00:15:33.96
that's possible
because our human problem's
00:15:34.00\00:15:35.90
been the same for
thousands of years.
00:15:35.93\00:15:38.00
We react the same way
to God and His authority.
00:15:38.03\00:15:41.97
We--our
sin--we're not very original,
00:15:42.00\00:15:44.14
and neither is the devil.
00:15:44.17\00:15:45.54
I often say he
gets an A for effort
00:15:45.57\00:15:46.37
but an F for originality
00:15:46.41\00:15:47.94
because it's just the same
play again and again and again.
00:15:47.98\00:15:50.95
But to know that
play, you've gotta study
00:15:50.98\00:15:52.95
and gotta make sure
you have enough information
00:15:52.98\00:15:54.78
to know what the play is.
00:15:54.82\00:15:56.28
So both Peter and Jude,
00:15:56.32\00:15:58.82
those two books
influenced each other.
00:15:58.85\00:16:00.56
It's pretty clear that they were
at least sharing a source or,
00:16:00.59\00:16:04.53
you know, sharing
information or something
00:16:04.56\00:16:07.96
because there is some overlap,
00:16:07.96\00:16:09.80
distinct overlap,
in 2 Peter and Jude.
00:16:09.83\00:16:11.97
We're going to go to the 2
Peter version of this story,
00:16:12.00\00:16:16.04
and it begins in verse 4,
and there's probably more here
00:16:16.07\00:16:19.57
than you could cover in
an hour of "Sabbath School"
00:16:19.61\00:16:22.18
because, you know,
there's the obvious details
00:16:22.21\00:16:24.45
in the story of
Sodom and Gomorrah,
00:16:24.48\00:16:26.05
the ones we gravitate
to-- and we'll touch on those--
00:16:26.08\00:16:28.88
but there's a lot
of detail here that
00:16:28.92\00:16:30.59
a lot of people
don't slow down to read
00:16:30.62\00:16:32.29
because it's bigger
than just the obvious details
00:16:32.32\00:16:35.09
about what was going
on in Sodom and Gomorrah.
00:16:35.12\00:16:37.13
So, 2 Peter,
chapter 2 and verse 4:
00:16:37.16\00:16:40.16
"For if God did not spare
angels when they sinned..."
00:16:40.20\00:16:44.50
All right, there's enough there
for an entire hour's discussion.
00:16:44.53\00:16:48.90
We often think,
"Well, God's just too nice.
00:16:48.94\00:16:50.74
"Nobody will be lost.
00:16:50.77\00:16:52.07
Everybody's going
to heaven in the end."
00:16:52.11\00:16:54.14
That's not what
the Bible teaches.
00:16:54.18\00:16:56.08
God didn't even spare angels.
00:16:56.11\00:16:57.68
He said, "Really, you
think you can do what you want
00:16:57.71\00:16:59.81
and God's going to spare you?"
00:16:59.85\00:17:01.52
Angels didn't make the cut when
they rejected God's authority.
00:17:01.55\00:17:05.65
"If God did not spare
angels when they sinned,
00:17:05.69\00:17:08.46
"but cast them into
hell and committed them
00:17:08.49\00:17:10.19
to chains of gloomy darkness
to be kept until the judgment"--
00:17:10.23\00:17:13.96
notice "judgment" is future;
even angels are waiting for it--
00:17:14.00\00:17:17.67
"if He did not
spare the ancient world"--
00:17:17.70\00:17:19.53
he shifts from angels
to the patriarchs now,
00:17:19.57\00:17:22.64
the original
people on Planet Earth.
00:17:22.67\00:17:25.27
And again, the warning is
00:17:25.31\00:17:26.98
angels weren't
exempt from judgment.
00:17:27.01\00:17:29.84
The first humans
weren't exempt from judgment.
00:17:29.88\00:17:32.21
Why do you think
you're exempt from judgment?
00:17:32.25\00:17:35.88
It's not unlike the thinking
we've got today that says,
00:17:35.92\00:17:39.52
all right--and this is
part of that prophetic scheme
00:17:39.55\00:17:44.16
that we call dispensationalism
we discussed a moment ago.
00:17:44.19\00:17:47.96
But God had moral
standards in the Old Testament,
00:17:48.00\00:17:51.10
and He expected
people to keep them.
00:17:51.13\00:17:53.27
And then, you
know, after Christ comes,
00:17:53.30\00:17:55.20
He'll have moral standards
and expect people to keep them.
00:17:55.24\00:17:57.67
But somehow for 2000 years now,
00:17:57.71\00:17:59.31
they're just--
it's a free-for-all.
00:17:59.34\00:18:02.08
Same thing here:
We are not exempt.
00:18:02.11\00:18:04.11
God doesn't change.
00:18:04.15\00:18:05.85
His character, His
morals don't change,
00:18:05.88\00:18:08.42
and our problem
hasn't changed, all right.
00:18:08.45\00:18:11.09
"He did not spare
the ancient world,
00:18:11.12\00:18:12.52
but preserved Noah"--
and here he comes again--
00:18:12.55\00:18:15.42
"a herald of righteousness,
with seven others"--the kids--
00:18:15.46\00:18:18.49
"when He brought a flood
upon the world of the ungodly;
00:18:18.53\00:18:21.26
if by"--here we come--
00:18:21.30\00:18:23.26
"turning the cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes,
00:18:23.30\00:18:26.07
He condemned them to..."
00:18:26.10\00:18:28.74
>>Eric: Destruction.
>>Shawn: Destruction.
00:18:28.77\00:18:30.61
What I like in one of the
more recent translations--
00:18:30.64\00:18:35.51
"destruction" is accurate--
00:18:35.54\00:18:38.48
in the ESV it says "extinction."
00:18:38.51\00:18:41.95
"By the way, I thought God
was gonna flip and fry people
00:18:41.98\00:18:44.82
in the fires of
hell for all eternity."
00:18:44.85\00:18:46.32
No, the end result of Sodom--
00:18:46.35\00:18:48.69
which is a comparison to
what happens to the wicked
00:18:48.72\00:18:50.53
in the end--destruction,
extinction. It's the end.
00:18:50.56\00:18:54.93
"Making them an example
of what is going to happen
00:18:54.96\00:18:58.73
to the ungodly."
00:18:58.77\00:19:00.50
This is a big
point: When God deals with
00:19:00.54\00:19:04.47
those who have
rejected Him ultimately,
00:19:04.51\00:19:06.34
the wicked in the
end, it's extinction.
00:19:06.37\00:19:09.94
You don't come back. I love
that verse in Nahum 1, verse 9.
00:19:09.98\00:19:13.45
You know, "What do you
[imagine] against the Lord?
00:19:13.48\00:19:15.35
"He will make a complete end;
[affliction] will not rise...
00:19:15.38\00:19:18.29
a second time."
00:19:18.32\00:19:20.29
God--you know, imagine: God's
a God of love, and He says,
00:19:20.32\00:19:23.32
"I'm gonna wipe every tear away.
00:19:23.36\00:19:25.43
"There will be no more sorrow,
no more death, no more pain,
00:19:25.46\00:19:29.23
for the former
things have passed away."
00:19:29.26\00:19:31.50
But if He takes the
wicked and sticks them somewhere
00:19:31.53\00:19:33.37
in the universe and
tortures them without end,
00:19:33.40\00:19:36.81
unimaginable pain
for all of eternity,
00:19:36.84\00:19:39.97
is His promise to
eliminate suffering true?
00:19:40.01\00:19:43.51
Yet we borrowed this
from the Greek pagans.
00:19:43.55\00:19:46.72
In North Africa, when we
wanted to impress the Greeks
00:19:46.75\00:19:49.92
with how
intellectual we also were,
00:19:49.95\00:19:53.69
we began to do a
little syncretism.
00:19:53.72\00:19:55.76
We began to
blend pagan philosophy,
00:19:55.79\00:19:57.93
trying to impress people to the
point where the church father
00:19:57.96\00:20:00.13
Tertullian had to say,
00:20:00.16\00:20:01.60
"Wait a minute, wait
a minute, wait a minute.
00:20:01.63\00:20:03.40
What hath
Jerusalem to do with Athens?"
00:20:03.43\00:20:05.13
Or he might have said
it the other way around.
00:20:05.17\00:20:06.70
Like, these are
incompatible systems.
00:20:06.74\00:20:09.27
The pagans taught
you just float on forever
00:20:09.30\00:20:12.44
to whatever your fate was.
00:20:12.47\00:20:14.21
God makes a final end:
extinction, destruction.
00:20:14.24\00:20:17.85
Verse 7: "If He
rescued righteous Lot,
00:20:17.88\00:20:22.05
greatly
distressed"-- here we go--
00:20:22.08\00:20:24.29
"by the sensual
conduct of the wicked."
00:20:24.32\00:20:27.89
That's ESV. I can't
remember what it says in--
00:20:27.92\00:20:30.63
>>Eric: This is New
King James; it says,
00:20:30.66\00:20:32.29
"Who was oppressed by the
filthy conduct of the wicked."
00:20:32.33\00:20:35.26
>>Shawn: Yeah, filthy, sensual--
00:20:35.30\00:20:38.03
those are both good senses
of what it says in the Greek.
00:20:38.07\00:20:42.57
We know for a fact that--
00:20:42.60\00:20:45.54
and people have become more
uncomfortable with this story,
00:20:45.57\00:20:48.28
but we know for a
fact that sexual misconduct
00:20:48.31\00:20:50.88
was a part of what was
going on at Sodom and Gomorrah.
00:20:50.91\00:20:53.72
Now, we tend to zero in on that,
conservative Christians do,
00:20:53.75\00:20:56.15
there was more going on,
the problem was more widespread,
00:20:56.18\00:20:59.79
but this is
absolutely a part of it,
00:20:59.82\00:21:02.02
and it makes me
wonder sometimes.
00:21:02.06\00:21:03.79
You know, I think it
was Ruth Graham that said,
00:21:03.83\00:21:05.46
famously, years ago, "If
God doesn't come pretty soon,
00:21:05.49\00:21:07.60
He's gonna owe Sodom
and Gomorrah an apology."
00:21:07.66\00:21:10.13
We're there again.
00:21:10.17\00:21:11.87
If you look at just
the sheer rate of kids born
00:21:11.90\00:21:14.74
out of wedlock, if you look
00:21:14.77\00:21:16.07
at the sheer rate of
STDs among young people,
00:21:16.10\00:21:19.87
sexual
promiscuity is here again.
00:21:19.91\00:21:22.54
And, again, as we've
looked at in previous lessons,
00:21:22.58\00:21:25.08
what we've done is we've
put our own reason and passions
00:21:25.11\00:21:28.32
above God's revealed will
00:21:28.35\00:21:30.35
instead of anchoring
it in God's revealed will.
00:21:30.39\00:21:32.85
We're entirely
driven by passion.
00:21:32.89\00:21:34.56
And as a result,
Western civilization--
00:21:34.59\00:21:36.62
even if you're
perfectly secular,
00:21:36.66\00:21:38.03
you've got to admit
it's starting to crumble.
00:21:38.06\00:21:40.63
You can't just live
on unbridled passion
00:21:40.66\00:21:42.56
and expect things to go well.
00:21:42.60\00:21:45.40
Verse 8: "(For as
that righteous man
00:21:45.43\00:21:47.04
"lived among them day after day,
00:21:47.07\00:21:48.60
"he was
tormenting his righteous soul
00:21:48.64\00:21:50.14
"over their lawless
deeds that he saw and heard);
00:21:50.17\00:21:53.94
then the Lord"--verse 9--
00:21:53.98\00:21:55.61
"knows how to rescue
the godly from trials,
00:21:55.64\00:21:58.81
"and to keep the
unrighteous under punishment
00:21:58.85\00:22:00.45
until the day of judgment."
00:22:00.48\00:22:02.25
All right, what
does that tell me?
00:22:02.28\00:22:03.72
Well, if there's hope
for Lot, there's hope for me.
00:22:03.75\00:22:08.62
Now, Lot actually is saved.
00:22:08.66\00:22:10.99
It says he's tormented
living in that environment,
00:22:11.03\00:22:14.10
but he also chose to
live in that environment.
00:22:14.10\00:22:16.10
Lot's not entirely innocent in
the way that he sort of moved in
00:22:16.13\00:22:20.47
and became culturally relevant
to the city he was living in
00:22:20.50\00:22:22.97
and so on. He
didn't escape unscathed,
00:22:23.00\00:22:27.34
but God saved him.
00:22:27.38\00:22:29.44
God knows how to
rescue the godly from trials.
00:22:29.48\00:22:31.55
And I have to look at my life
sometimes and say, "All right.
00:22:31.58\00:22:35.62
"There are some
extremes Christians can go to.
00:22:35.65\00:22:37.72
"I can become an ascetic.
00:22:37.75\00:22:39.05
"I don't want to
have any contact with sin.
00:22:39.09\00:22:41.22
"So, like the monks
in the third century
00:22:41.26\00:22:43.49
"that moved out to
the African desert,
00:22:43.53\00:22:44.99
I will just remove
myself from the situation."
00:22:45.03\00:22:47.73
That's not what God
asks us to be, either.
00:22:47.76\00:22:49.13
We're supposed to
be light in the world.
00:22:49.16\00:22:50.80
We're supposed to be in
the world but not of it.
00:22:50.83\00:22:52.80
We're supposed to
reach out our hand to those
00:22:52.83\00:22:55.00
who are looking for Christ.
00:22:55.04\00:22:56.97
Asceticism only
underline the problem.
00:22:57.01\00:22:59.07
A lot of those monks, when
they got out to the desert,
00:22:59.11\00:23:00.91
realized their worst
problem wasn't their neighbor.
00:23:00.94\00:23:02.91
It was their own sin. And
now they're sitting alone,
00:23:02.94\00:23:04.91
contemplating how evil they
are, and they were tormented.
00:23:04.95\00:23:07.68
How long did Simeon Stylites sit
up on a pole and he realized,
00:23:07.72\00:23:11.02
"I'm actually wicked
without my neighbors"?
00:23:11.05\00:23:13.39
That's asceticism.
00:23:13.42\00:23:15.19
But then you can become
so absorbed in the culture
00:23:15.22\00:23:18.86
and try to fit in that
you start to lose your way
00:23:18.89\00:23:23.37
as far as God's
will for your life goes.
00:23:23.40\00:23:26.23
Somewhere between those extremes
00:23:26.27\00:23:27.87
is how a Christian
is supposed to live:
00:23:27.90\00:23:29.80
in the world but not of it.
00:23:29.84\00:23:32.84
Sometimes we think "Touch
not, taste not, handle not"
00:23:32.87\00:23:36.58
is appropriate in
every circumstance.
00:23:36.61\00:23:38.81
And then again, I have
to challenge that sometimes,
00:23:38.85\00:23:41.48
thinking, yeah, but--
here's an example: parenting.
00:23:41.52\00:23:45.65
This one's
hard, and I don't know
00:23:45.69\00:23:47.49
that there's a right answer,
and there's no two kids alike,
00:23:47.52\00:23:50.33
but I wanna raise godly kids.
00:23:50.36\00:23:52.69
Do I cut them off
from the entire world
00:23:52.73\00:23:54.56
and let them go experience
everything for the first time
00:23:54.56\00:23:56.77
at 21 on their
own without me there?
00:23:56.80\00:23:59.73
Or do I wanna control
what they're exposed to when
00:23:59.77\00:24:02.70
and make sure they're
aware of the danger of the world
00:24:02.74\00:24:05.74
before I release them
into it? And it's a gamble.
00:24:05.77\00:24:08.41
There is no guarantee
with your kids, parents.
00:24:08.44\00:24:10.58
I don't want you to
feel bad if you've got a kid
00:24:10.61\00:24:12.38
that has wandered
away from the Lord.
00:24:12.41\00:24:14.02
You may have
done your very best.
00:24:14.05\00:24:15.52
You know, I'm
always soul-searching, too.
00:24:15.55\00:24:17.09
It's like, "Did I really
do the right job by my kids
00:24:17.12\00:24:20.32
that I promised You,
Father? I don't know."
00:24:20.36\00:24:24.53
But do you
isolate, isolate, isolate?
00:24:24.56\00:24:27.30
On the one hand,
I look at the Amish,
00:24:27.36\00:24:28.80
and I think I'm a little
jealous. I'm a little jealous.
00:24:28.83\00:24:31.63
I could live
without electricity.
00:24:31.67\00:24:33.40
But on the other
hand, some of those kids,
00:24:33.44\00:24:35.74
they have the
Rumspringa program.
00:24:35.77\00:24:37.24
Some of them--it's interesting
to me that 90-some percent
00:24:37.27\00:24:40.08
come back, but some don't.
00:24:40.11\00:24:43.65
Do you--and that's
a-- how much of the world
00:24:43.68\00:24:46.15
do I wanna understand?
00:24:46.18\00:24:47.68
And that's a wrestle
that's up to every individual.
00:24:47.72\00:24:50.32
I don't want to be an ascetic;
I wanna win souls to Christ.
00:24:50.35\00:24:53.32
So I need to understand
the culture I'm speaking to
00:24:53.36\00:24:56.19
without immersing
myself into it and adopting it.
00:24:56.22\00:24:58.86
I don't know how you feel,
but it's, like, how do I live
00:24:58.89\00:25:01.63
among the people
I'm trying to win
00:25:01.66\00:25:03.20
but not become the
people I'm trying to win?
00:25:03.23\00:25:05.30
>>Eric: Yeah, there's--somebody
once put it to me this way.
00:25:05.33\00:25:07.47
They said, "A
ship, to be effective,
00:25:07.50\00:25:09.80
must be in the
water." >>Shawn: Yeah, great.
00:25:09.84\00:25:12.31
>>Eric: "But if the
water gets in the ship,
00:25:12.34\00:25:14.51
the ship goes down."
>>Shawn: Oh, that's brilliant.
00:25:14.54\00:25:16.85
>>Eric: So we are ships
in the sea of the world.
00:25:16.88\00:25:20.58
We have to be there.
00:25:20.62\00:25:21.92
Otherwise, there's no purpose,
no point in being a ship.
00:25:21.95\00:25:24.62
But we gotta make sure that
the world doesn't get in us.
00:25:24.65\00:25:26.79
So there is that
balance that we have to have.
00:25:26.82\00:25:29.52
Shawn, let me ask
you this question.
00:25:29.56\00:25:32.03
There are probably some people
who are watching this today
00:25:32.06\00:25:36.33
who know people who
have been caught up in some
00:25:36.36\00:25:40.34
of the more "exciting ways"
of interpreting Bible prophecy,
00:25:40.37\00:25:43.87
and there are new
flavors of this that pop up
00:25:43.91\00:25:47.24
with great regularity--
00:25:47.28\00:25:49.11
some within the faith
and some outside the faith.
00:25:49.14\00:25:51.25
And they just--they're a
little bit more exciting,
00:25:51.28\00:25:53.21
and they're new.
00:25:53.25\00:25:54.62
What
encouragement would you give,
00:25:54.65\00:25:56.18
what advice
would you give to them
00:25:56.22\00:25:58.39
to try to help guide
their friends, their family--
00:25:58.42\00:26:02.92
maybe themselves--to get
back to the straight and narrow
00:26:02.96\00:26:06.36
of legitimate understanding
and interpreting Bible prophecy?
00:26:06.39\00:26:10.20
>>Shawn: Yeah, and you're
right about the excitement,
00:26:10.23\00:26:12.17
and it seems that
when you're not anchored
00:26:12.20\00:26:15.74
in the deep things of
God, in the Scriptures,
00:26:15.77\00:26:18.94
that your heart is
still hungry for something.
00:26:18.97\00:26:20.94
So you latch on to
what is shiny and new.
00:26:20.98\00:26:22.71
It's crow syndrome:
You'll grab something shiny.
00:26:22.74\00:26:25.68
"The Four Blood
Moons" and John Hagee--
00:26:25.71\00:26:27.32
that was a few years ago,
00:26:27.35\00:26:28.68
and I remember
people coming to meetings--
00:26:28.72\00:26:30.12
"What do you think of this book?
What do you think of this book?"
00:26:30.15\00:26:32.12
Here's what I'm going to say:
00:26:32.15\00:26:33.46
You cannot possibly
study every false idea.
00:26:33.49\00:26:36.62
There's a new
one every other day.
00:26:36.66\00:26:38.29
What you can do is
anchor yourself in the Word.
00:26:38.33\00:26:40.60
And so when I saw John
Hagee's "Four Blood Moons,"
00:26:40.63\00:26:44.50
I knew immediately.
00:26:44.53\00:26:46.00
I only had to
read the introduction.
00:26:46.03\00:26:47.94
It's, like, this is
false. This is not true.
00:26:47.97\00:26:50.64
How do you get there?
00:26:50.67\00:26:52.01
You read the whole thing,
and you read it comprehensively,
00:26:52.04\00:26:55.24
and you find those
threads throughout Scripture,
00:26:55.28\00:26:58.08
and suddenly what is not true
becomes immediately obvious.
00:26:58.11\00:27:01.45
You just get--now, this
is terrible talking about
00:27:01.48\00:27:04.22
"Don't immerse
yourself in the culture,"
00:27:04.25\00:27:05.55
but your
spidey-senses go off, right?
00:27:05.59\00:27:07.72
You're just like, "Okay, this
does not pass the sniff test."
00:27:07.76\00:27:10.36
And you might
not know exactly why,
00:27:10.39\00:27:12.83
but if you're
anchored in the Word,
00:27:12.86\00:27:14.30
that's what starts to happen.
00:27:14.36\00:27:16.00
>>Eric: Yeah, and
there's not a shortcut
00:27:16.03\00:27:18.27
to getting to know this.
00:27:18.30\00:27:19.80
You just have to read
it, and you have to study it,
00:27:19.83\00:27:22.20
and you have to ask
the Lord to impress you
00:27:22.24\00:27:24.27
and the Holy Spirit to
bless you with an understanding.
00:27:24.31\00:27:27.08
And that's the way it works.
00:27:27.11\00:27:28.28
We wish there was a shortcut.
00:27:28.31\00:27:29.61
We wish there was a
microwave method. There's not.
00:27:29.64\00:27:32.11
It's crockpot all the way,
and it does take some effort.
00:27:32.15\00:27:34.92
But by the grace of
God, you will be blessed,
00:27:34.95\00:27:38.09
and you will be protected from
a lot of those false theories
00:27:38.12\00:27:40.76
that are
floating around out there.
00:27:40.79\00:27:42.19
This quarter,
that's what we're doing:
00:27:42.22\00:27:43.73
We're looking at how
to study Bible prophecy.
00:27:43.76\00:27:46.23
We still have three weeks left.
00:27:46.26\00:27:48.36
We're gonna look
at some more stories
00:27:48.40\00:27:50.10
that will help us to understand
00:27:50.13\00:27:51.43
what's happening
in the last days.
00:27:51.47\00:27:53.27
You don't want
to miss any of this.
00:27:53.30\00:27:56.04
We'll see you again next
week here on "Sabbath School,"
00:27:56.07\00:27:58.21
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:27:58.24\00:28:00.21
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