Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS025024S
|
00:00 ♪♪♪
00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:13 >>Eric Flickinger: Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:15 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:17 Thanks for joining us today. 00:18 We are on a 13-week journey through an incredible subject, 00:23 how to study Bible prophecy. 00:25 If you happen to have missed previous episodes, 00:28 be sure to go back and take a look at them. 00:30 You can find them on itiswritten.tv. 00:32 Also, you can find them on our YouTube channel. 00:35 Just look for the It Is Written channel there. 00:38 Today, we're going to take a look at Ruth and Esther. 00:42 This is an exciting subject-- or exciting subjects-- 00:46 as we take a look at the concept of the bride in the Bible, 00:51 especially in Bible prophecy. 00:52 You're going to be blessed by today's study. 00:54 Let's begin with prayer. 00:56 Father, we thank You for being with us today 00:58 as You have been in the past, 01:00 and we anticipate that, once again, 01:01 You're going to open our eyes, our hearts, 01:04 our minds to significant and deep themes 01:07 in the study of Bible prophecy. 01:09 We ask Your blessing upon us, and we thank You, 01:11 in Jesus' name, amen. 01:14 Well, with us today to guide us through our study 01:16 is the author of this quarter's 01:18 "Sabbath School" lesson, and that is 01:20 Pastor Shawn Boonstra. Shawn, we're glad you're here. 01:22 >>Shawn Boonstra: Thanks for having me back. 01:23 It's always nice to get a return invitation, a repeat. 01:26 >>Eric: And we've still got a couple weeks left, 01:28 so we still have options of not--of disinviting you. 01:31 >>Shawn: I can still be canceled. 01:32 >>Eric: You can still be canceled. I don't think 01:34 it's going to happen, but we'll see how today goes. 01:35 >>Shawn: I'll see what I can do to get canceled. [both laugh] 01:38 >>Eric: We're looking at Ruth and Esther, 01:40 Ruth and Esther here. 01:41 This concept, the biblical metaphor of a bride, 01:45 why is this something that you're 01:47 particularly interested in? 01:49 >>Shawn: Well, all right. 01:51 There's a, there's a personal level of engagement. 01:53 I grew up in a predominantly male house, 01:56 so just, here's Shawn. 01:59 And now I've been married to this incredible woman 02:01 for 32-plus years, had two daughters, 02:06 and got quite an education along the way. 02:08 A house full of boys is not the same 02:10 as a house full of girls. 02:11 There are some differences, and here's what I know. 02:15 I thought I was in love with my wife the day I met her. 02:18 I mean, I was just, I was gushing. 02:20 I told her I loved her like almost right away, 02:22 and I was just like head over heels. 02:24 But I had no idea how much stronger 02:26 that would get as the years went by, 02:28 and I know for a fact I would do anything for her. 02:32 I would throw myself on a grenade 02:33 to make sure she lives. 02:36 And I started to think about that. 02:37 It's like, that appears to be hardwired into a lot of guys, 02:40 and I understand that today people are saying, "No, no, no, 02:44 there's no hardwiring of male and female in the brain." 02:46 It's like, yeah, there absolutely is, 02:49 there really is. And while there's overlap, 02:52 there are, you know, males that tend to have 02:54 some female-typical traits and vice versa. 02:58 Generally speaking, there are patterns to our behavior. 03:01 And for guys, yeah, we want to defend our wife, 03:05 we want to protect our wife, 03:07 and I'm thinking, well, no wonder, you know, 03:10 it's more than, "Oh, I love you" 03:12 and soft feelings when Jesus says, "You are my bride." 03:15 I think in marriage we can learn something 03:17 about how He feels about us. 03:20 Jesus would throw Himself on a grenade for me? 03:23 Well, yeah, figuratively speaking. 03:25 But literally speaking, He went to a cross for me 03:28 to make sure I would survive. 03:30 He is the heavenly husband. We are the heavenly bride. 03:34 And so, when I see the bride show up in prophecy, 03:36 I'm thinking, this is ripe for understanding. 03:39 And we're going to look at a couple of famous brides 03:43 in Scripture. 03:44 And I know that we're not going to have time in half an hour 03:47 to even get close. 03:48 I guess what I'm hoping is that you'll take 03:50 a few seed thoughts into your "Sabbath School" class 03:53 or that you'll spend some time in the Word digging 03:55 so that you come to your class with a real awareness 03:58 of some of the prophetic themes 03:59 you find in these two famous brides 04:01 and what we might learn about what's coming down the pike. 04:04 >>Eric: So we've got Ruth and Esther that we're going to try 04:06 to cover this week. Let's start with Ruth. 04:08 >>Shawn: Okay, all right, the story begins with tragedy, 04:13 kind of like the whole human story. 04:15 There's death, there's famine, 04:17 and, and again, we want to be really careful 04:20 that when bad things happen, sometimes it's our fault. 04:24 You know, with Israel, we know for a fact when Assyria was able 04:27 to come into the northern tribes, Babylon was able 04:29 to come in, that was their fault. 04:32 But we have to be really careful when we look at a situation 04:35 like the story of Ruth. 04:36 One of the first things we can learn is, 04:38 is she at fault for all of the hardship? 04:41 No, no, and we see examples of that elsewhere, like Job. 04:47 Job is afflicted, and it's not his fault. 04:50 So that also happens. 04:52 It's one of the first things that, that I see. 04:55 Now, when the entire land of Israel 04:57 is going through famine, 04:58 there's a pretty good chance that something was remiss. 05:01 Leviticus 26, this is verse 3, God says to Israel, 05:05 "If you walk [on] my statutes and observe my commandments 05:07 "and do them, then I will give you your rains 05:10 "in their season,...the land shall yield its increase, 05:12 ...the trees of the field shall yield their fruit." 05:15 God said, "If you stay in the covenant with me, 05:18 the land will be abundant." 05:19 In this story, the land's undergoing famine. 05:23 There's a lot of hardship. 05:24 And the point that God's illustrating 05:26 is it didn't have to be like this, 05:28 "It's not me so much lashing out at you 05:31 "as you let go of my hand. 05:32 "And the only way this works 05:34 "is if I'm running the show, and I'm not going 05:37 to force myself on you," so they let go of God's hand, 05:40 and, and they went the same way 05:42 every other nation does, so-- there's other details in here. 05:46 >>Eric: So walk us through this story of Ruth. 05:48 Ruth talks about a kinsman-redeemer. 05:50 What do we learn from this concept 05:52 of a kinsman-redeemer? 05:53 >>Shawn: So much, so much. 05:55 God instituted laws to take care of the poor. 05:58 If you go back and look, you know, 06:01 in the medieval period, well, a little later, 06:03 1600s, 1700s, a lot of Western Christians 06:06 were starting to refer to the system 06:09 that the Hebrews lived under as the Hebrew Republic. 06:12 It had a lot of features that were very republic-like, 06:16 and God had woven in all kinds of things to help people, 06:20 including mandates that would take care of the poor. 06:23 You're not allowed to forget the needy. 06:26 And we still see that in last-day events. 06:27 God--Jesus says in Matthew 25, 06:29 "I was hungry. You didn't feed me." 06:32 "Well, where did we see You, Lord?" 06:33 "You didn't feed the hungry. 06:34 I expected that of you." 06:36 So there was a law that provided for gleaning. 06:38 You weren't allowed to take everything off your own field. 06:40 You had to leave some on the edges for the poor, 06:44 for dispossessed people, like Ruth is. 06:47 Ruth is a dispossessed bride, which is what we all are, 06:50 which should ring a bell. 06:51 Wait a minute, so there's a bride in Revelation. 06:54 Was she once dispossessed? 06:56 Yeah, yeah, we handed the keys to this planet 06:58 over to a fallen angel. 07:00 We gave up what was our inheritance through Christ, 07:03 and Christ wins it back for us. 07:05 And we're--repossessed is the wrong word, but, 07:08 you know, we're no longer dispossessed from the land. 07:12 And the kinsman-redeemer is another provision God made. 07:16 In that structure, a widow was in big trouble. 07:20 She didn't have land, she didn't have an inheritance, 07:22 and so on, 07:24 and there's a remedy for that as well. 07:27 A near relative was to take you in and take care of you, 07:31 and so you're in the inheritance again. 07:34 And I look at that, and I'm thinking, well, 07:36 isn't Jesus a near relative? 07:39 He not only made us in His image, 07:41 we know Jesus is the Creator 07:43 from John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1. 07:46 Not only did He make us in His image, 07:49 making us related to Him, 07:51 He identifies with us from Eden all the way 07:54 to the Exodus, He's present in the cloud, 07:56 He becomes one of us, God in human flesh, 08:01 and then He takes our penalty on Himself. 08:03 We are quite literally saved by a kinsman-redeemer, 08:06 Somebody who is a near relative, who is one of us. 08:10 >>Eric: So that's, that's powerful. 08:11 And not only is this, this kinsman-redeemer-- 08:14 there's an expectation that this kinsman-redeemer would step in. 08:19 But in the story of Boaz and Ruth, 08:21 not only is he expected to do so, he wants to do so. 08:25 He intentionally does so with his heart. 08:31 So walk us through that. 08:32 >>Shawn: Yeah, and here's what's interesting. 08:33 In the story of Boaz and Ruth, you don't have somebody saying, 08:36 "All right, you see the poor girl 08:37 on the edge of the field, Boaz? You know what your duty is?" 08:40 "No, what's my duty?" "Well, take a look at the laws." 08:42 "Ahhh, I guess I'd better." It's not like that at all. 08:45 This reflects God's attitude toward you. 08:49 This is how Jesus feels about you. 08:51 Ruth 2, verse 8: "Then Boaz said to Ruth, 08:54 'Now, listen, my daughter'"-- it's on his own initiative-- 08:57 "'do not go to glean in another field 08:59 "'or leave this one [alone], but keep close 09:02 to my young women.'" 09:03 He sees her. He's smitten. He's like, "Okay." 09:07 That's the way I felt about Jean. 09:08 The first I ever saw her, I was talking to her dad 09:11 in his living room. The poor guy brought me home. 09:14 And, you know, why would you ever bring a 19-year-old male 09:17 into your house if you've got daughters? 09:18 It's like that's-- but I saw a picture 09:21 on the sofa table behind him, and it was a picture of Jean. 09:24 And I stopped the conversation at one point: 09:26 "Is that your daughter? I need to meet this girl." 09:29 This is Boaz. That girl there-- 09:32 "Don't go glean somewhere else." 09:34 She could have-- She could have gone 09:35 to another wealthy person's field 09:36 and taken the--"No, stay here with me." 09:40 That's how God feels about you. 09:41 You might be dispossessed, you might be broken, 09:43 but He looks down into this world, 09:44 He sees you, and He says, 09:46 "Don't go somewhere else, don't go. You belong with me." 09:50 >>Eric: That's pretty powerful, beautiful parallel. 09:53 You also do something interesting on Tuesday's lesson. 09:55 You tug--you bring in the investigative judgment 09:58 into this. How does that fit in? 10:01 >>Shawn: It's absolutely in there, 10:02 and these are the details that blow my mind. 10:05 It's when you keep finding prophetic themes woven through 10:08 the stories in anticipation of what's going to happen. 10:11 You know you're on the right track. 10:12 So, Boaz wants to marry Ruth, 10:16 and he's a near relative. He's a kinsman-redeemer. 10:18 But what does he discover in the process 10:21 of "I want this girl"? There's a closer relative. 10:24 There's a closer relative with a bigger claim on the girl. 10:28 Ruth 12, he decides he wants her. He has to sort this out. 10:31 This is Ruth 3 and verse 12, I should say: 10:34 "And now it is true that I am a redeemer," he says. 10:37 "Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I." 10:39 Do we have somebody that we are more closely aligned with 10:43 that has a claim on this planet than we are to Jesus? 10:47 Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer, but does somebody 10:49 have a prior claim on us? 10:51 >>Eric: It's a bit of an illegitimate claim, 10:52 but he claims to have it. >>Shawn: We gave him the keys. 10:55 He believes he owns the place. He says in Job, chapter 1, 10:58 "I've been just walking to and fro on the earth." 10:59 He's not saying, "I went for a stroll." 11:01 Feet on the earth is a symbol of ownership, right? 11:04 He comes to Jesus and says, "If you just bow down to me, 11:07 I'll just give this all back." 11:08 He claims that he owns this. He claims that he owns us. 11:11 And to an extent, there's some truth 11:13 in that because we willingly put us under-- 11:16 ourselves under his dominion. 11:19 And does he have a legitimate claim 11:22 on us as human beings? Yeah, we're sinners. 11:25 Do we rightfully on our own belong 11:27 in the kingdom of heaven? No. So in some ways, 11:30 this fallen angel is a closer relative 11:33 because our personality, our character 11:35 is more closely aligned with him. 11:39 He even disputes about the body of Moses. 11:40 Moses gets raised from the dead, 11:42 we see in Jude. 11:43 The devil's saying, "No fair, you can't do that. Mine!" 11:46 Closer relative. So what does Boaz have to do? 11:49 He has to meet with the elders 11:51 to get a decision that he can be the redeemer. 11:54 They meet at the gate of the city, 11:56 which is where the elders gathered for judgment. 12:01 That's where the judgment was held. 12:04 Boaz has to earn the right to have the bride. 12:08 And at the end of that story, a shoe changes hands. 12:11 It's a symbol of the transfer of who you belong to, 12:14 of ownership. 12:15 So we have Jesus who said, "Look, I'm going to go away, 12:19 and I will come again." 12:20 And we know prophetically that before Jesus returns 12:24 in Daniel, chapter 7, 12:25 the books of judgment are open. 12:26 They declare, "Yes, You are the Son of Man. 12:29 The world belongs to You. Every nation belongs to You. 12:32 You're the new rightful King." 12:33 He goes away, and once the judgment is held, 12:36 He comes back and gets His bride. 12:38 The New Jerusalem comes down 12:39 as a bride out of heaven. 12:40 We have the wedding supper of the Lamb. 12:42 But it's after He goes away to the judgment, 12:46 and it's determined that yes, 12:48 You are the rightful kinsman-redeemer. 12:51 >>Eric: Beautiful picture there. >>Shawn: Yeah. 12:54 >>Eric: There's more to this story than we can fit 12:56 in the lesson. Tell us about the companion book. 12:58 >>Shawn: The companion book, I think they called it 13:00 "How to Study Prophecy." 13:01 I've never titled anything in my whole life. 13:03 Somebody else put a title on that. 13:06 But it is true. 13:07 And again, it's not going to be an exegetical guide, 13:09 here's principle one, two, and three. 13:11 We're just looking at key themes in the Psalms and in the stories 13:14 of the Old Testament, saying, "What does this do to inform us 13:18 when we're reading a book like Revelation?" 13:20 And there's material in there that we're not going 13:22 to cover in the show today and is not in the quarterly. 13:25 You probably want to add that to your study. 13:26 >>Eric: Absolutely. 13:27 If you'd like to do that, you can find the book 13:29 at itiswritten.shop. 13:31 Again, that's at itiswritten.shop. 13:33 Just look for the companion book to this quarter's 13:36 "Sabbath School" lesson. 13:37 Pick it up, read it, study it, 13:39 share it with people in class, 13:41 share it with people that you know in church 13:44 or around the community. 13:45 Give them some encouragement, give them some hope, 13:47 give them some things to chew on 13:48 and to think about, and they will be blessed 13:51 as much as you. 13:52 We're going to be back in just a moment 13:54 as we look at the story of Esther 13:56 and what we can learn from the story of Esther 13:58 about end-time Bible prophecy. 13:59 We'll be right back. 14:01 ♪♪♪ 14:05 >>John Bradshaw: There's something I wanna tell you about 14:07 that is so important. 14:09 It's My Place With Jesus, It Is Written's ministry 14:13 to children. 14:15 Take the children you care about to myplacewithjesus.com. 14:20 At My Place With Jesus, you'll find so much 14:22 that will bless your children 14:24 or grandchildren or great-grandchildren 14:27 or the children at church. 14:29 There are the My Place with Jesus Bible Guides, 14:33 21 studies that will take the children you care about 14:36 into the Word of God. 14:38 They'll learn the important things, 14:40 especially the love of God and the sacrifice 14:43 Jesus made for them. 14:45 As well, take your children to Journey Through the Bible. 14:49 It's there at myplacewithjesus.com. 14:51 It's a special Bible-reading program that will get children 14:55 into the habit of reading their Bible daily 14:58 and connecting with God regularly. 15:00 So don't forget myplacewithjesus.com 15:03 from It Is Written. 15:05 ♪♪♪ 15:09 >>Eric: Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 15:11 brought to you by It Is Written. 15:13 We're looking at the stories of Ruth and Esther 15:16 as we compare them to events that are going 15:18 to be happening in the near future, 15:21 as far as Bible prophecy is concerned, 15:23 learning some interesting things. 15:24 Shawn, we looked at Ruth in the first half 15:27 of today's episode. Let's shift gears. 15:29 Wednesday, you talk about Esther 15:32 and kind of an interesting parallel 15:34 between Haman and Satan. >>Shawn: Yeah, I know. And like, 15:37 let's go right for the most sort of exciting bit. 15:42 Yeah, it's true, Haman is a pretty evil character. 15:45 Who is Haman? He's an Agagite. 15:47 That's how he's introduced. 15:49 Well, who are Agagites? 15:50 Well, the Amalekites had a king named Agag 15:54 in 1 Samuel, chapter 15. 15:56 Saul is told, you've got to get rid of Agag. 16:00 You've got to get rid of him. 16:02 And, of course, he second-guesses. 16:03 He applies human reason: Well, God's too nice, 16:06 and maybe we shouldn't, and that can't be accurate. 16:10 And that's where we find out that God really knows 16:12 what He's doing. Had Agag been eliminated-- 16:16 there was no hope for Agag; we can trust God on that. 16:18 At that point, there is no more hope. 16:21 Agag's a notorious enemy of God's people. 16:23 He's a serious problem. 16:24 And you start going down his family line, 16:26 and who becomes the serious problem 16:28 in Persia for the Jews? It's Haman the Agagite. 16:32 So maybe God knows what He's doing when He says, 16:35 "I'm sorry, but that segment 16:37 of the population needs to go away." 16:39 Maybe there is no more hope. 16:41 Maybe there is a problem, a much bigger problem coming 16:43 if we're not listening to what God does. 16:46 We don't want to second-guess God. 16:48 And I agree, I don't like the fact that God says, 16:50 "Yeah, nobody can survive this one." 16:52 Okay, that makes me squirm a little. I wouldn't like that. 16:56 But as you continue to study prophecy in detail, 16:58 you start to find out, well, 17:00 maybe God knew something we didn't because 17:01 maybe this is the apogee-- the apex of evil, 17:07 and maybe it only gets worse from here, 17:09 and maybe God is trying to stop worse problems. 17:12 So, we get to Haman in the book of Esther, 17:14 and what does he have? 17:15 He occupies the highest position 17:18 in the land outside the royal family itself. 17:22 He stands right next to the throne, 17:23 in other words. He gets his house near it. 17:26 Where was Lucifer's position before he fell? 17:29 Covering cherub next to the throne of God, 17:31 the most exalted position you could have 17:34 outside of the Godhead itself, outside of the royal family. 17:38 Haman, Haman has everything. Here's what I find interesting. 17:42 But Haman isn't happy with everything because Mordecai 17:45 will not acknowledge how great he is. 17:48 Esther 5, verse 9 tells us that Mordecai the Jew 17:53 would not bow down to Haman, no matter how great he is, 17:56 and he goes home and has a party with his friends. 17:58 "Man, I am something else. 18:00 Have you seen? And the king said this." 18:01 He's name-dropping, "And wow, I'm important." 18:04 But his wife pulls him aside and says, 18:05 "You seem really, really unhappy. 18:07 After everything you've achieved, you seem unhappy." 18:10 He says, "Well, I don't like my promotion, 18:11 not if Mordecai won't acknowledge it." 18:14 What's the lesson there? 18:15 There's no satisfaction in sin. 18:18 Pride is a bottomless pit, and the more you feed it, 18:22 the bigger that monster gets, and there's no end to it. 18:25 You will never find contentment in sin, ever. 18:30 You will always be looking for more. 18:32 In Christ, we have absolute contentment. 18:35 Paul said, "I've learned to be content 18:37 in whatever condition I'm in." 18:38 Haman can't be happy, not in sin, 18:41 not when you're motivated by pride. 18:43 So what does he do? His wife says, 18:44 "You know what you ought to do? 18:46 Put up a gallows. Let's hang the guy." 18:48 And the gallows, I believe, are about 75 feet high. 18:50 We're going to do this right so the whole town 18:52 can see that you have to bow down to Haman 18:54 or you're going to dangle up at 75 feet. 18:57 However, in the story, Haman ends up being hoisted 19:02 by his own petard. 19:04 I think I got that. Hoisted by his own-- 19:06 however the phrase goes. 19:07 Basically, the guy who plants a door bomb 19:09 and doesn't get out in time, and it kills him. 19:11 Haman ends up on the gallows himself. 19:14 What happens with Satan? 19:15 He offers Jesus the world, "There's a shortcut here, Lord." 19:19 Well, he doesn't call Him Lord, "Jesus, there's a shortcut, 19:22 and all You have to do is bow down to me, 19:24 "acknowledge I'm the king of this world, 19:25 and I'll just hand it back to You," 19:26 because all he ever really wanted was to be worshiped. 19:28 He wanted to be a little higher than he was. 19:32 He ends up dying in this world in the very end 19:36 and reaps the consequence 19:38 that he's trying to heap on Jesus. 19:41 Haman, when he's dead, his signet ring 19:45 goes to Mordecai, a symbol of authority. 19:48 Mordecai gets his house, which is remarkable. 19:53 Satan says, "This world's mine. It all belongs to me." 19:57 And in the end, Jesus moves in, 19:58 "No, no, it's my house." 20:01 The parallels are really pretty remarkable, 20:03 really pretty remarkable. 20:04 >>Eric: There's some additional parallels that you draw 20:06 our attention to between Esther 3 and Revelation 12. 20:10 >>Shawn: Yeah. 20:11 >>Eric: Walk us through these parallels here. 20:13 >>Shawn: In the time we have, yeah, let's do it. 20:15 This is from Esther, chapter 3, and I think we're about verse 8. 20:19 Listen to this: "Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, 20:22 "'There is a certain people scattered abroad 20:24 "'and dispersed among the peoples 20:26 in all the provinces of your kingdom.'" 20:28 Where are God's people working in the last days, 20:30 every nation, kindred, tongue, and people? 20:31 They are scattered worldwide. We know that from Revelation 14. 20:37 Here's Haman's description of God's people 20:40 scattered around the provinces of the kingdom. 20:42 There's 127 provinces. The Jews are living everywhere. 20:46 "Their laws are different from those 20:49 of every other people." 20:52 Israel was different than the nations. 20:54 They had human-made laws. Israel had God's laws. 20:58 These people, Haman acknowledges, 21:01 "Their laws are different from...every other people, 21:02 "...they do not keep the king's laws, 21:03 so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them." 21:06 They're held out as potentially treasonous-- 21:09 "These people aren't really with you, Ahasuerus. 21:11 They're not really with you." 21:13 And you find that happening to God's people all the time. 21:16 That happened in the Roman Empire-- 21:18 "These people are a threat to the stability of the empire." 21:20 The very earliest Christian apologists 21:23 spent all their time not debating 21:24 the existence of God but trying to demonstrate 21:26 to the emperors, "We're decent citizens. 21:28 "What you're being told isn't true. 21:32 We live by a different set of laws." 21:33 Then when you get to Revelation 12, 21:35 you find the same issue in the last days, 21:37 not even just the last days--historically, 21:39 throughout Christianity. 21:40 We want to be careful, but not everything in Revelation 21:42 is just the last gasp of history. 21:45 It says, "Then the dragon"-- we know who that is, Satan; 21:48 it says so earlier in the chapter-- 21:51 "Then the dragon became furious with the woman"-- 21:53 God's people, the bride-- "and went off to make war 21:56 [with] the rest of her offspring"-- 21:58 the remnant of her seed-- 22:00 "on those who keep the commandments of God." 22:05 Why is the devil angry? 22:07 They live by God's laws, not by the systems 22:09 that the devil has built in this world, 22:11 not by the laws of the nations which are 22:13 self-serving, and power-grabbing and prideful. 22:17 No, these people live by a different set of laws, 22:20 and that's what infuriates the devil, 22:22 and that's what infuriated Haman. 22:24 >>Eric: Powerful parallels between the two. 22:26 Is there more here? 22:28 >>Shawn: Oh, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, there really is. 22:30 You'll notice in the story Haman can't get to Mordecai. 22:33 He ends up having to lead him around on a horse. 22:35 What does he do after that point? 22:37 Goes after everybody, goes after Mordecai's people. 22:40 In Revelation 12, we find the devil going after Jesus. 22:44 When the child is born, tries to devour Him, 22:46 doesn't succeed. 22:48 Jesus is caught back up into heaven. 22:50 In verse 17, what does he do instead? 22:52 "I can't get to Christ, I'm going after 22:53 "the thing He loves most. 22:55 I'm going after all of His people." 22:58 And then, of course, we have a death decree 23:00 that goes out for a precise time in, 23:03 set time: "It's free rein on God's people. 23:06 When we blow the whistle, go kill some Jews." 23:09 And in Revelation 13, ultimately when God's people 23:12 won't bow down to the system the devil has built, 23:16 really Revelation 13 is the apex 23:17 of all these worldly kingdoms. 23:19 It's the final manifestation of it, a death decree goes out, 23:22 "Okay, fine, I can't win you over, 23:24 I can't force you over, I'll kill you." 23:27 The parallels really runs deep. 23:29 >>Eric: Incredible parallels here. 23:31 You make a really important point on Thursday 23:33 that Bible prophecy is not really meant 23:35 to scare us or to discourage us but to give us hope. 23:39 How do we get past some of the scary bits 23:42 to get to the hope-filled stuff? 23:45 >>Shawn: Yeah, and you know what, I see a lot of people-- 23:48 it's actually one of the emotional reasons 23:49 some people will try to cling to 23:52 the secret rapture theory-- "But I'm gonna be out of here 23:54 when all the bad stuff happens." 23:55 No, you're not. You're not gonna be out of here. 23:58 God's people were never removed. Noah went through the Flood. 24:01 Israel went through the Red Sea, the persecu-- 24:04 God has never spared us from having to be there. 24:08 Here's the way Bible prophecy is structured. 24:10 God doesn't sugarcoat what's going on in this world. 24:12 He says, here is the blank re-- 24:14 the bare reality of what you've done 24:16 to this place, and He holds up a mirror to us. 24:18 That's the hard parts, that's Haman, 24:21 that's Revelation 12 and 13. We did this. 24:25 We created this prime-- and remember, the biggest problem 24:28 described in Revelation is inside Christianity, 24:31 not outside, right? 24:33 We have an unfaithful wife who is the biggest problem 24:36 in the book of Revelation, the harlot of Revelation 17, 24:39 the beast power of Revelation, chapter 13. 24:43 And we're the big problem, and God holds up a mirror, 24:46 but He always holds up a mirror 24:51 and then says, "But here's my solution for it." 24:54 You got to live in the solution. 24:55 The problems we made-- none of us are strangers 24:58 to the fact that this life is hard, 25:01 that there's pain, that there's disappointment, 25:04 and you're going to die. 25:06 So I always put that in the ledger as, okay, 25:08 that's the way it is, it's going to be hard. 25:10 Jesus didn't get spared from all of that. 25:12 He was lonely, He was hungry, He suffered pain, 25:15 He died in, you know, the most humiliating death 25:18 we could arrange for Him. 25:20 So that's a given. In this world, that's the way it is. 25:22 What I have--everybody's there, whether you're a believer 25:25 or not, everybody's in that column. 25:27 It gets a little more intense against believers 25:29 in the end because the devil's angry. 25:31 But what the unbelieving world doesn't have 25:33 is the hope I have in Christ, that last part of the story. 25:37 I mean, it doesn't end with "and the world fell apart." 25:40 It ends with God saying, "I'll wipe away every tear, 25:42 all sorrow, all pain." 25:44 Jesus, you know, "Why do you have fear in your heart?" 25:47 He says that over and over: "Why are you afraid?" 25:49 Well, Lord, we're afraid of what's coming. 25:52 I find it remarkable that everybody, you know, 25:54 all the disciples, except one, died a martyrs death, 25:58 and we don't have their stories in the Bible, 26:00 but we have some records that are fairly accurate. 26:04 And what's remarkable to me is Peter. 26:06 Peter's going to be crucified in the city of Rome, 26:08 outside, actually, where the garbage dump was, 26:11 and when he sees they're going to crucify him, 26:12 history tells us the Christians who were there say, 26:15 "Oh no, that's too good for me. 26:16 That's how Jesus died. I'm not worth that." 26:17 So they said, "Fine, we'll arrange upside down," 26:19 so he goes out that way. 26:22 I look at all those martyr stories, 26:26 and I ask myself, "Could I do that?" 26:27 And then I remember, Charles Spurgeon was asked that once, 26:29 "Could you be," you know, "put to death for your faith?" 26:31 He goes, "No, absolutely not." 26:34 I mean, really, who wants to be tortured? 26:36 He said, "But when the moment comes, it'll be fine. 26:37 God will handle it." 26:39 And that's the story we see. 26:40 We see martyrs in the 1300s, 1400s singing in the flames. 26:44 It's like, you know what, this will pass in a moment. 26:46 I'll be back, I'll be back. 26:48 And so, yeah, you're going to die somehow. 26:50 I'd rather die for Jesus than hopeless. 26:53 Yeah, it just doesn't bother me that much. 26:55 >>Eric: So, so a great deal of this is perspective. 26:58 >>Shawn: Oh yeah. >>Eric: And being able to see 27:00 what's beyond the current, 27:02 maybe difficult, challenging, trying existence 27:05 that we find ourselves in and looking beyond that 27:08 to what God has in store for us. 27:11 And the truth is God has incredible things 27:13 in store for you. 27:15 He wants you to be ready. 27:16 You can be ready. 27:18 In fact, this is something that you can 27:19 and should be looking forward to. 27:22 And it's as we study these stories in the Old Testament 27:25 and understand them in light of what we find 27:28 over in the book of Revelation 27:29 in the New Testament, the fulfillment of these prophecies, 27:31 that we can have hope. 27:33 In fact, let's make that a little bit more personal: 27:36 You can have hope. 27:38 We're going to continue studying, 27:39 looking at these stories so that we can find 27:42 more and more hope as we understand 27:44 the prophecies of the Bible. 27:46 We'll be back again next time here on "Sabbath School," 27:48 brought to you by It Is Written. 27:50 ♪♪♪ 28:24 ♪♪♪ 28:26 [Captions provided by Aberdeen Captioning www.abercap.com] |
Revised 2025-06-03