[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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Glad that you
are joining us today.
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We are now studying
lesson number 13 of 13.
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So this is kind of
the end of a journey--
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hopefully, not the
end of your journey;
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it's certainly not
the end of our journey--
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but we are taking a look at
how to study Bible prophecy,
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and this week we're
looking at "Images of the End,"
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lesson number 13.
Let's begin with prayer.
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Father, thank You for
drawing us together again
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and giving us
more that we can study
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and we can learn about You.
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We ask that You will
bless us with an understanding
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and then also an understanding
of how we can apply
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these things to our lives
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so that we can face
the future with confidence
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and peace. And we thank
You, in Jesus' name, amen.
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We're grateful once again
to have with us the author
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of this quarter's
"Sabbath School" lesson,
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Pastor Shawn Boonstra.
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Shawn, 13 lessons,
13 episodes, 13 weeks--
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we're grateful that you
have carved this time out
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of your schedule to
share these things with us.
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>>Shawn Boonstra: Pretty
exciting! After today's program,
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I get to go home. They're going
to let me out of the studio.
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Then I finally get to go home.
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Thirteen weeks of
sitting on this chair.
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They gave me water and
stuff. It's been pretty nice.
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>>Eric: Yeah, we've
been as generous as we can--
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even tea--even gave you
some tea. [Shawn laughing]
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This week, we've got
an interesting subject:
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"Images of the End."
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We're going to spend some time
delving into the book of Jonah,
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the story of Jonah.
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This has been a story that
you've been very engaged in,
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very interested in.
You've shared some things
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at camp meetings about this.
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Walk us through
the story of Jonah
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and why it's important.
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>>Shawn: This one is
kind of like--you know
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when you break a tooth
in the back of your mouth
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and your tongue just
keeps going back to it,
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you can't leave it alone?
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Every so often, a Bible
passage will do that to you.
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Like Esther--
couldn't leave it alone.
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Ancient Celtic history--
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there's definite
ties to the Scriptures,
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the church in the wilderness,
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couldn't leave that
alone. Jonah's another one.
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I just kept coming
back, kept coming back,
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and I had this
sense: There's more here.
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Here's this
story. It's incomplete.
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It ends terribly.
It's only four chapters,
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and there's got
to be more to this,
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and I couldn't leave it alone,
and I started to drill down,
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and it turns out
there's a really strong chance
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that this one has an awful
lot of prophetic shadowing--
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beyond the obvious.
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A prophet goes to a fallen city,
preaches the judgment is coming.
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Okay, that's kind of like
the three angels' messages--
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fear God, give glory
to Him--there's more.
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I kept drilling, and I
think there's a lot more
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in this story, and I'm probably
not finished with it yet.
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This might be one of those
books that just keeps me busy
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to the day I die.
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>>Eric: It's a powerful story,
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and we're going to
draw some things out here
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that are really deep.
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Jonah was
reluctant to go to Nineveh,
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and maybe that's
an understatement--
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>>Shawn: Yeah, "reluctant."
>>Eric: ..."reluctant."
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What's the
message? Is there a message
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for God's church today
in his reluctance there?
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>>Shawn: Yeah, absolutely,
and I think I can apply this
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personally. Years
ago, when I was young
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and I--starting
out in media ministry,
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somebody called me and said,
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"You need to
write an autobiography."
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And I said, "What
would that be about?
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"I'm, like, young.
I haven't lived yet.
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Like, maybe we should
wait to the end zone."
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Then over the years--
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and I'm probably never
going to write an autobiography.
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What's the point? Like, my
story's not that important,
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but I know one
thing: If I wrote it,
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the title would be "Reluctant."
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It's like, I did not want
to get pushed into a pulpit.
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I did not want
to stand up front.
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I did not want
to live on airplanes
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and be a public
evangelist. I'm an introvert.
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I'm terrified
of public speaking.
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I get it. I look at the
assignment God gives us,
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and I'm, as a fallen human
being, naturally reluctant.
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God says, "Here,
take this message"--
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three angels' messages--
"go preach it to that world."
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And I have trouble
connecting those dots.
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It's, like, I'm sorry,
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I'm supposed to share
this with those people?
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How is that going to work?
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God says, "Trust me. I
didn't get the message wrong."
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And I've learned
30-some years later,
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yeah, it's
absolutely the right message
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for every generation,
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and the closer we get
to the return of Christ,
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but I was reluctant.
I've always been reluctant.
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And we are
reluctant as a people.
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There are parallels.
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We are a last-day
prophetic movement.
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We sit in the seat that
Jonah's in, in this story,
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and we've been told to
preach to a wicked city.
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That city is
Babylon in Bible prophecy.
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But what I find curious
is that prior to the rise
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of the Neo-Babylonian Empire,
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prior to the rise
of Nebuchadnezzar,
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Nineveh was the
stand-in for Babylon.
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That was the wicked city.
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And there's so much
overlap. It's mind-boggling.
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They shared the same religion,
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although the Assyrians
had a version of Ishtar
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that was a little more sadistic.
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The Assyrians were a
smash-and-grab empire
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that just took, you know,
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they pillaged and
took and murdered.
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They--we even have
some doubts--some doubts--
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I'm not the archaeologist,
take it up with one of them--
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some doubts that
the Hanging Gardens
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were actually in Babylon.
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There's some thought
now they might have--
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because we've never
found the ruins of them.
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Maybe they were in Nineveh.
There's that much overlap.
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So we have a wicked city
and a prophet that's told
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to go and preach, and
in the prophet's brain,
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"That's not possible.
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"Lord, have You
seen the Assyrians?
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"You know what they
do to people like me?
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"They impale
them. They skin them.
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"They hang the
skins on the city wall
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"to scare people.
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"And I've got to admit,
Lord, it's very effective
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because I'm scared."
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You know, they roasted
people alive on a waterwheel,
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turned them around and around.
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And we look and
we're that terrified
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of what God's asked us to do.
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So, yeah, I think
that Jonah is our guy
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when it comes to
describing our prophetic mission
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because his attitudes do
show up in our church today.
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>>Eric: So there's
the reluctance element,
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but there's also an
element of rebellion
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in this as well.
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How do we sense that
that's important for us
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to understand today as a church?
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>>Shawn: Yeah, when it
says Jonah rebels in the story,
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at the beginning, it
doesn't say he ignored God
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and went back to work. It
doesn't say he told God no.
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It gets a lot more
specific than that.
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It says that he left
the presence of the Lord.
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And it says that
twice in chapter 1, verse 3:
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Jonah left the
presence of the Lord.
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Jonah--here it is.
It's Jonah 1, verse 3.
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"Jonah rose to
flee to Tarshish."
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Tarshish is in completely
the opposite direction.
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It's on the southern
tip of modern-day Portugal.
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It was a Phoenician seaport.
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Interesting sidebar--
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we're going to go
way off base here--
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there's a pretty good
chance that the ancient Celts
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came from the
ancient Phoenicians
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because we now know
they're not from Ireland,
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they ended up there,
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but they started in
the south of Portugal.
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Gaul says--any time you
see "Gaul" in etymology,
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it means that Celts lived there:
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Portugal; Galicia, Poland;
the letter to the Galatians.
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That was a church of
Celts living in Turkey.
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So Tarshish was
this Phoenician seaport.
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And if you look at
the ancient Irish writing,
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the runes, they
resemble Phoenician alphabet
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quite a bit. All right, sidebar.
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He tries to go the
opposite direction,
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but it says he left
the presence of the Lord.
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"Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish
from the presence of the Lord.
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"He went down to Joppa...
found a ship going to Tarshish.
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"So he paid the
fare... went down into it,
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"to go with them to
Tarshish, away from the presence
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of the Lord."
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Now, what does that mean?
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Psalm 139, I
have, almost any time
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somebody preaches
Jonah, I hear Psalm 139,
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"Whither shall I flee
from [Your] presence?"
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You know, you
can't run away from God.
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Jonah did not know of a
secret place in the earth
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that you could get away
from the presence of God.
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He's not stupid.
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He understands
that God is omnipresent.
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So what does it
mean that he's leaving
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the presence of the Lord?
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Well, a few weeks ago
we looked at this rule,
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this principle of
first mention in the Bible.
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Any time you see a phrase,
ask yourself a few questions:
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"Where have I heard this before?
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And more importantly, where does
it show up for the first time?"
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Sometimes that's very important.
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So we looked in another lesson
at, where do you find a lamb
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for the first time in the Bible?
00:08:01.81\00:08:03.68
It's Genesis 22.
It's a long ways in.
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It's not Adam.
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Some people--"It's got to
be Adam, covered in lambskins."
00:08:07.25\00:08:09.22
Probably lambskins,
it just doesn't say that.
00:08:09.25\00:08:11.95
The first
explicit mention is Isaac:
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"Where is the lamb
for the sacrifice?" Right?
00:08:14.56\00:08:16.99
It's anticipating Christ.
It establishes that symbol.
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So where do we first find
00:08:20.26\00:08:22.53
leaving the
presence of the Lord?
00:08:22.56\00:08:26.27
Well, the first
time it's mentioned is
00:08:26.30\00:08:28.07
in Genesis, chapter 4.
00:08:28.10\00:08:30.14
Here's what this
says in verse 16:
00:08:30.17\00:08:32.47
"Then Cain went away
from the presence of the Lord
00:08:32.51\00:08:36.41
and settled in the
land of Nod, east of Eden."
00:08:36.44\00:08:39.11
Now, does Cain
know a secret place
00:08:39.15\00:08:42.15
where the presence
of God can't find you?
00:08:42.18\00:08:44.25
No, so what does it
mean when it says that Cain
00:08:44.29\00:08:47.49
went away from the
presence of the Lord?
00:08:47.52\00:08:49.06
Now, we've already covered this.
00:08:49.09\00:08:50.33
There's a reason I sowed this
through all the other lessons
00:08:50.36\00:08:53.53
to get ready for this week.
00:08:53.56\00:08:55.16
In Genesis 3, verse 24,
we have already studied--
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and if you haven't, go
back and study it again--
00:08:57.97\00:09:00.57
in Genesis 3, verse 24, there's
a protosanctuary service.
00:09:00.60\00:09:04.24
There are
cherubim-- "tabernacled"
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is the literal
word, kind of shocking--
00:09:07.14\00:09:10.28
tabernacled at the gates of
Eden with a brilliant presence.
00:09:10.31\00:09:13.31
This is where the
patriarchs first worshiped.
00:09:13.35\00:09:17.32
"Patriarchs and
Prophets," page 84:
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"At the cherubim-guarded
gate of Paradise
00:09:19.92\00:09:21.89
"the glory of God was revealed,
00:09:21.92\00:09:23.29
and hither came
the first worshipers."
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It's the first
sanctuary service,
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and the glory of
God was literally there
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at the gates of Eden.
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Hugh Martin--I
mentioned him a while ago--
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Hugh Martin, in 1866, said this:
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"Most probably, in the days
of the first family of our race,
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"the gate of the garden of Eden,
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"where God placed the
cherubims and the flaming sword,
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"constituted the
seat of sacred worship;
00:09:42.24\00:09:44.21
"occupying the place...
served by the tabernacle
00:09:44.25\00:09:46.58
"in the wilderness...
ultimately by the temple
00:09:46.61\00:09:48.42
on Mount
Moriah." In other words,
00:09:48.45\00:09:50.22
it's not just
Adventists who have noticed
00:09:50.25\00:09:53.79
the sanctuary
themes in the Bible.
00:09:53.82\00:09:55.76
And Hugh Martin
says, first sanctuary?
00:09:55.79\00:09:57.96
Gates of Eden.
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So, if Cain leaves the
presence of the Lord at Eden,
00:09:59.33\00:10:03.30
he's literally leaving the
spot where the presence of God
00:10:03.33\00:10:06.90
was manifested.
00:10:06.94\00:10:08.70
What does it mean
when it tells us twice
00:10:08.74\00:10:10.51
that Jonah left the
presence of the Lord?
00:10:10.54\00:10:13.71
Turns out in those days, roughly
seven centuries before Christ,
00:10:13.74\00:10:18.65
there was a belief
that the gift of prophecy
00:10:18.68\00:10:21.18
worked only in
the Promised Land.
00:10:21.22\00:10:23.35
Why?
00:10:23.39\00:10:24.69
That's where the sanctuary was,
00:10:24.72\00:10:26.19
and it only worked if
you were in the vicinity
00:10:26.22\00:10:28.86
of the sanctuary.
00:10:28.89\00:10:30.29
And the belief
was kind of like this:
00:10:30.33\00:10:31.86
If I step over
the national boundary
00:10:31.89\00:10:34.03
into Gentile territory,
the gift of prophecy will stop.
00:10:34.10\00:10:38.07
Kind of like losing
your cell phone tower, right?
00:10:38.10\00:10:41.37
It won't reach him anymore.
00:10:41.40\00:10:43.54
So what in the world
is Jonah trying to do?
00:10:43.57\00:10:47.78
You know, if you look at a map,
00:10:47.81\00:10:49.51
Nineveh is over
to the northeast,
00:10:49.54\00:10:52.45
Tarshish completely
the opposite direction.
00:10:52.48\00:10:54.72
It tells us in the
Bible that he paid the fare
00:10:54.75\00:10:56.82
for the ship,
and in the original--
00:10:56.85\00:10:58.19
I'm no Hebrew scholar--
00:10:58.22\00:10:59.52
but in the
original it implicates--
00:10:59.55\00:11:01.76
and a lot of medieval
rabbis said this, too--
00:11:01.79\00:11:03.73
you know, he didn't just
buy a seat on a Greyhound bus;
00:11:03.76\00:11:07.03
he bought the whole thing;
he chartered the entire ship.
00:11:07.03\00:11:11.23
If he's a poor
farmer-prophet, or, you know--
00:11:11.27\00:11:14.04
how in the world
did he afford that?
00:11:14.07\00:11:15.40
It would be like chartering
a Princess cruise ship
00:11:15.44\00:11:18.21
to yourself--or Air
Force 1. "Just for me, please."
00:11:18.24\00:11:22.11
How expensive is that? How
much did he have to cash in?
00:11:22.14\00:11:25.18
Did he have to
sell his inheritance
00:11:25.21\00:11:26.88
in the land, saying,
"I'm never coming back,"
00:11:26.92\00:11:29.05
to afford that fare?
00:11:29.08\00:11:31.32
"And I'm leaving the
presence of the Lord."
00:11:31.35\00:11:32.79
What's he fleeing?
00:11:32.82\00:11:34.12
Let's think about this
as Seventh-day Adventists
00:11:34.16\00:11:35.49
very carefully.
00:11:35.52\00:11:37.86
If he's convinced
that the gift of prophecy--
00:11:37.89\00:11:40.06
which seems to be
the case in those days--
00:11:40.10\00:11:42.90
works because of your
proximity to the sanctuary,
00:11:42.93\00:11:48.30
he's really running
away from two things,
00:11:48.34\00:11:49.74
and he's cashing
in his inheritance,
00:11:49.77\00:11:51.54
his very inheritance
in the Promised Land,
00:11:51.57\00:11:54.01
to get away from
the gift of prophecy
00:11:54.04\00:11:57.28
and from the sanctuary.
00:11:57.31\00:11:59.15
Now, that ought to
raise up some real alarm bells
00:11:59.18\00:12:02.75
for Seventh-day Adventists.
00:12:02.78\00:12:04.09
What are some of
the unique contributions
00:12:04.12\00:12:05.72
we bring to the table
as Adventist believers?
00:12:05.75\00:12:08.62
The way we interpret
the heavenly sanctuary
00:12:08.66\00:12:11.59
and the way that we
believe the gift of prophecy
00:12:11.63\00:12:14.10
is still active.
00:12:14.10\00:12:15.40
It's some of the
things that make us unique.
00:12:15.43\00:12:17.50
I'll just say this because I
know we've got to take a break,
00:12:17.53\00:12:20.04
and we'll pick this up again.
00:12:20.07\00:12:21.94
Take those two things away,
00:12:21.97\00:12:23.27
and we're no longer
Seventh-day Adventists.
00:12:23.30\00:12:24.81
We can't exist. Our
theology falls apart.
00:12:24.84\00:12:27.21
And I'll leave it
there until after the break.
00:12:27.24\00:12:28.71
>>Eric: That's very true.
00:12:28.74\00:12:30.05
And if that's not reason enough
00:12:30.08\00:12:31.38
for you to come
back after the break,
00:12:31.41\00:12:32.71
I'm not sure how we
could tease it any better.
00:12:32.75\00:12:34.72
But before we go, one
last opportunity, Shawn--
00:12:34.75\00:12:37.72
somebody might be thinking,
00:12:37.75\00:12:39.62
"Should I pick up
this companion book
00:12:39.65\00:12:41.32
to this
quarter's lesson or not?"
00:12:41.36\00:12:43.32
How would you encourage them?
00:12:43.36\00:12:45.09
"Pick it up now.
Don't let this pass you by."
00:12:45.13\00:12:47.30
>>Shawn: Pick it up.
00:12:47.30\00:12:48.60
I can't possibly squeeze
everything into 350 words.
00:12:48.63\00:12:51.73
And so some of the
material that didn't make it
00:12:51.77\00:12:53.74
into the quarterly
ended up in that book.
00:12:53.77\00:12:55.67
Some of it you're
going to hear here.
00:12:55.70\00:12:57.01
You can watch
these shows a few times.
00:12:57.04\00:12:58.34
But the companion book will
give you additional materials,
00:12:58.37\00:13:01.24
maybe some illustrations
that aren't in the book,
00:13:01.28\00:13:03.28
and maybe help enliven
00:13:03.31\00:13:05.28
your Sabbath
school class a little bit.
00:13:05.31\00:13:06.78
>>Eric: So you'll be
blessed if you pick that up.
00:13:06.82\00:13:08.62
It's easy to find.
Just go to itiswritten.shop.
00:13:08.65\00:13:11.82
Again, itiswritten.shop.
00:13:11.85\00:13:13.82
You'll find the companion book
00:13:13.86\00:13:15.16
to this quarter's
"Sabbath School" lesson.
00:13:15.19\00:13:16.89
And also a reminder, if
you happen to have missed
00:13:16.93\00:13:19.83
any episodes of
this 13-week odyssey
00:13:19.86\00:13:23.30
through "How to
Study Bible Prophecy,"
00:13:23.33\00:13:25.67
you can still watch them.
00:13:25.70\00:13:27.17
You can find them
at itiswritten.tv.
00:13:27.20\00:13:29.50
They are archived there.
00:13:29.54\00:13:31.01
They are also archived
on the It Is Written channel
00:13:31.04\00:13:34.01
on YouTube. So, go
back and watch any of them
00:13:34.04\00:13:37.01
that you may have missed,
00:13:37.05\00:13:38.28
re-cover some of them that you'd
like to delve more deeply into,
00:13:38.31\00:13:41.52
and please let others
know that they are available
00:13:41.55\00:13:44.15
to watch as well.
00:13:44.19\00:13:45.82
We're going to be right back
as we look a little bit more
00:13:45.85\00:13:48.49
at the sanctuary
and the gift of prophecy
00:13:48.52\00:13:51.39
and the
significance that they hold
00:13:51.43\00:13:53.50
for some of the things
that are happening in our day.
00:13:53.53\00:13:55.86
We'll be right back.
00:13:55.90\00:13:57.33
[uplifting music]
00:13:57.37\00:13:59.57
>>John Bradshaw: He
could be one of the most
00:14:01.64\00:14:03.44
perplexing
characters in the entire Bible.
00:14:03.47\00:14:07.44
Called by God, commissioned
by God, directed by God,
00:14:07.48\00:14:13.01
but instead of
following God's leading,
00:14:13.05\00:14:15.52
he ran away from God and
went in the opposite direction
00:14:15.55\00:14:19.92
to where God called him.
00:14:19.95\00:14:21.82
While fleeing from God,
he was apprehended by God,
00:14:21.86\00:14:26.03
swallowed by a
giant sea creature,
00:14:26.06\00:14:28.73
and given another opportunity
to allow God's will to be done
00:14:28.76\00:14:32.70
in his life.
00:14:32.73\00:14:34.20
Don't miss "Great
Characters of the Bible: Jonah."
00:14:34.24\00:14:38.81
We'll meet the reluctant prophet
00:14:38.84\00:14:40.44
who fled from
the presence of God
00:14:40.48\00:14:42.78
and didn't want to see a
city full of people saved.
00:14:42.81\00:14:46.55
What does the story of Jonah
teach us about Jonah, about God,
00:14:46.58\00:14:51.32
and about you and me?
00:14:51.35\00:14:52.75
Don't miss "Great
Characters of the Bible,"
00:14:52.79\00:14:55.69
the story of Jonah.
00:14:55.72\00:14:57.53
Watch now on It Is Written TV.
00:14:57.56\00:14:59.73
[uplifting music]
00:15:01.96\00:15:05.93
>>Eric: Welcome
back to "Sabbath School,"
00:15:05.97\00:15:07.64
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:15:07.67\00:15:09.54
We're taking a look at
some images of the end,
00:15:09.57\00:15:11.87
especially
lessons that we can learn
00:15:11.91\00:15:14.08
from the book of Jonah.
00:15:14.11\00:15:16.34
Shawn, we left
off, just a moment ago,
00:15:16.38\00:15:18.81
looking at two
significant elements
00:15:18.85\00:15:21.42
that are
important for us to grasp
00:15:21.45\00:15:22.95
and hold on to when it comes
00:15:22.98\00:15:24.29
to a right
understanding of prophecy
00:15:24.32\00:15:25.95
and end-time events.
00:15:25.99\00:15:27.29
And those two things
are the spirit of prophecy
00:15:27.32\00:15:29.39
and the sanctuary.
00:15:29.42\00:15:30.79
And these are some things that
Jonah was running away from,
00:15:30.83\00:15:33.23
some things that
he was abandoning
00:15:33.26\00:15:34.40
or attempting to abandon.
00:15:34.46\00:15:36.36
What are some lessons
that we can draw from this
00:15:36.40\00:15:37.97
that will help keep us
heading in the right direction?
00:15:38.00\00:15:40.20
>>Shawn: You know,
I've wondered for a while,
00:15:40.24\00:15:41.54
"Is this really
the right track?"
00:15:41.57\00:15:42.87
Is it really true that
they believed, in Jonah's day,
00:15:42.90\00:15:46.51
that the sanctuary was
an important facilitator
00:15:46.54\00:15:50.98
for the gift of prophecy
00:15:51.01\00:15:52.31
and that's why he's running
away? He cashes in everything.
00:15:52.35\00:15:54.32
He buys the whole
boat out. I mean, he pays
00:15:54.35\00:15:56.58
whatever price it
takes to run away from this.
00:15:56.62\00:15:58.99
And then when he
repents in Jonah, chapter 2,
00:15:59.02\00:16:00.82
you'll notice, you know,
twice it says in chapter 1,
00:16:00.86\00:16:03.49
"I'm going to flee
the presence of the Lord."
00:16:03.53\00:16:05.06
He's going to flee
the presence of the Lord.
00:16:05.09\00:16:07.03
But when he returns,
he says specifically,
00:16:07.10\00:16:08.90
"I'm going to
return to Your temple.
00:16:08.93\00:16:10.40
I'm going to
return to the sanctuary."
00:16:10.43\00:16:11.73
It's clearly in the text.
00:16:11.77\00:16:13.40
It is there. And
I find it curious.
00:16:13.44\00:16:16.17
You know, as somebody
who came in from outside
00:16:16.20\00:16:18.21
this movement to the inside,
00:16:18.24\00:16:19.67
the things that I
found most fascinating--
00:16:19.71\00:16:23.21
the most fascinating thing
was just the sanctuary message
00:16:23.24\00:16:26.45
and the way that it pulls
all of Scripture together.
00:16:26.48\00:16:29.18
It permeates every moment of it.
00:16:29.22\00:16:30.65
It's just the most
powerful illustration
00:16:30.69\00:16:32.72
of who Jesus is,
what He does for us,
00:16:32.75\00:16:34.96
what His ongoing
ministry for us is, and so on.
00:16:34.99\00:16:38.96
And so when I see this prophet--
and it's remarkable to me--
00:16:38.99\00:16:43.30
there's no ending to the story.
00:16:43.33\00:16:44.83
It ends with a bitter,
reluctant prophet under a tree,
00:16:44.87\00:16:47.40
and it's not a
satisfactory ending.
00:16:47.44\00:16:49.04
It's just, like, "Lord, I
knew this was going to happen.
00:16:49.07\00:16:51.57
"I knew You were
going to forgive them.
00:16:51.61\00:16:52.97
I knew evangelism was going to
work, and that's why I didn't"--
00:16:53.01\00:16:55.01
it's a really weird
ending to the story,
00:16:55.04\00:16:57.68
and he's under a
tree, and it's unfinished.
00:16:57.71\00:17:01.05
And the question
that occurs to me is,
00:17:01.08\00:17:03.99
why would God
publish an unfinished story
00:17:04.02\00:17:07.62
unless it really isn't
finished and we finish it?
00:17:07.66\00:17:13.09
What if it's
foreshadowing the work
00:17:13.13\00:17:14.93
that we've been asked to do?:
00:17:14.96\00:17:16.26
Preach the three
angels' messages.
00:17:16.30\00:17:18.57
That includes the sanctuary.
00:17:18.60\00:17:20.50
It says they're the ones
that have the faith of Jesus.
00:17:20.54\00:17:22.54
It includes the
gift of prophecy.
00:17:22.57\00:17:24.77
And historically speaking,
00:17:24.81\00:17:26.11
whenever we have
internal conflict
00:17:26.14\00:17:28.14
in the church, it
always seems to boil down
00:17:28.18\00:17:31.91
to those two
issues in particular.
00:17:31.95\00:17:33.88
It always seems to
boil down to the sanctuary
00:17:33.92\00:17:37.15
and the spirit of prophecy.
00:17:37.19\00:17:38.89
And what does this movement lose
00:17:38.92\00:17:40.29
if we let go of
those biblical doctrines?
00:17:40.32\00:17:43.06
We cease to be. There's
no reason for us to exist.
00:17:43.09\00:17:46.90
There are other
churches that teach the Sabbath.
00:17:46.93\00:17:48.83
There are other
churches that understand
00:17:48.86\00:17:50.63
the state of the dead the
way we do. There really are.
00:17:50.67\00:17:54.20
But our understanding of
the sanctuary theme in Scripture
00:17:54.24\00:17:58.64
and the role of
the prophetic gift
00:17:58.67\00:18:00.41
in the last days,
that's pretty unique.
00:18:00.44\00:18:03.78
And we're gone.
Our mission ceases.
00:18:03.81\00:18:05.81
The three--the
loud cry doesn't happen.
00:18:05.85\00:18:08.92
The voice does not go through
the world if we abandon those.
00:18:08.95\00:18:11.35
It happened--Albion Ballenger,
one of the earliest--well,
00:18:11.39\00:18:14.56
Canright, one of
the earliest heretics,
00:18:14.59\00:18:16.83
he was backstage one time
and he said, "You know what?
00:18:16.86\00:18:19.33
"If it wasn't for this message,
00:18:19.36\00:18:20.66
I could be a
really popular preacher."
00:18:20.70\00:18:22.10
It's like, ugh, do
I have to preach this?
00:18:22.13\00:18:24.60
He never understood that
it wasn't his oratory gifts
00:18:24.63\00:18:27.44
that made him great. It was
the message that made him great.
00:18:27.47\00:18:30.04
And what I find interesting
is when he finally resigned
00:18:30.07\00:18:32.37
from the Adventist church
in 1877--Oswego, New York?
00:18:32.41\00:18:35.98
I can't remember
where this happened--
00:18:36.01\00:18:37.95
he said, "I no longer believe
in the law or the Sabbath"--
00:18:37.98\00:18:40.12
okay, and then
he underlined this--
00:18:40.15\00:18:42.85
"the sanctuary
or the testimonies."
00:18:42.88\00:18:45.12
That's his public
statement. Why those two things?
00:18:45.15\00:18:48.16
John Harvey Kellogg--what
do we remember him for?
00:18:48.19\00:18:50.49
Sanitarium was never
going to be as opulent
00:18:50.53\00:18:52.59
as he wanted it to be.
00:18:52.63\00:18:54.03
He didn't
understand what our role was
00:18:54.10\00:18:55.83
in the health message, I think.
00:18:55.86\00:18:57.90
And what do we remember him
for? He becomes a pantheist.
00:18:57.93\00:19:00.80
"Everything around
us is actually God."
00:19:00.84\00:19:02.77
And what is his book called,
00:19:02.80\00:19:04.11
the one that ends up in a fire,
that God says, "You know what,
00:19:04.14\00:19:06.44
if that's what we're
publishing, we're done here"?
00:19:06.47\00:19:09.28
"The Living
Temple." I'm the sanctuary?
00:19:09.31\00:19:11.71
It's a
compromise of the sanctuary.
00:19:11.75\00:19:13.05
Albion Ballenger,
"Holy Flesh Movement,"
00:19:13.08\00:19:15.18
and that one teaches, like,
00:19:15.22\00:19:16.69
"If you're sinless,
you won't even turn gray."
00:19:16.72\00:19:18.52
I'm done for. Look, I got a
little--you're done for, too.
00:19:18.55\00:19:21.36
>>Eric: By a long
shot. >>Shawn: Yeah,
00:19:21.39\00:19:22.89
but he started
to teach that Jesus
00:19:22.92\00:19:25.43
went straight to
the most holy place
00:19:25.46\00:19:27.30
when He returned to heaven,
00:19:27.30\00:19:28.60
not to minister in
the heavenly sanctuary
00:19:28.63\00:19:30.10
in the holy place
until the last phase,
00:19:30.13\00:19:33.10
but right to
the most holy place.
00:19:33.13\00:19:35.00
So, Sister White
tried to steer him right,
00:19:35.04\00:19:37.21
and so he starts attacking
the spirit of prophecy.
00:19:37.24\00:19:39.04
What's he attacking?
00:19:39.07\00:19:40.38
He ends up just
attacking the spirit of prophecy
00:19:40.41\00:19:42.08
and the
sanctuary, again and again.
00:19:42.11\00:19:43.91
Ronald Numbers in
our own generation,
00:19:43.95\00:19:45.31
1976, says, "Nah,
Ellen White plagiarized
00:19:45.35\00:19:48.65
the health message
from other people."
00:19:48.68\00:19:50.22
It always ends up
sanctuary or spirit of prophecy.
00:19:50.25\00:19:52.65
Ford repeats
what Ballenger said:
00:19:52.69\00:19:54.52
Jesus went straight
to the most holy place.
00:19:54.56\00:19:56.99
It's always the sanctuary,
always the spirit of prophecy.
00:19:57.03\00:19:59.09
Walter Rea-- "Ellen
White's a plagiarist."
00:19:59.13\00:20:01.23
Again, it's the
spirit of prophecy.
00:20:01.26\00:20:03.20
By the way, if
she's a plagiarist,
00:20:03.23\00:20:05.00
she's the worst
plagiarist who ever lived
00:20:05.03\00:20:07.10
because, at one
point, she mentions the books
00:20:07.14\00:20:10.74
that people say, "Oh,
she plagiarized from those."
00:20:10.77\00:20:13.64
And she said, "Everybody
should buy these books
00:20:13.68\00:20:15.24
and put them in their library."
00:20:15.28\00:20:16.58
What kind of plagiarist
gives their source material
00:20:16.61\00:20:18.61
and sells it to
everybody? It's just not true.
00:20:18.65\00:20:21.88
There's a reason that
every time there's a conflict,
00:20:21.92\00:20:24.49
every time there's a threat
to the mission of the church,
00:20:24.52\00:20:26.52
it seems to focus
on these two doctrines.
00:20:26.55\00:20:29.39
I believe it's
prefigured in the book of Jonah
00:20:29.42\00:20:31.63
and that there are
warnings for us there.
00:20:31.66\00:20:33.93
The story's unfinished.
00:20:33.96\00:20:35.50
A reluctant prophet is
still reluctant at the end.
00:20:35.53\00:20:38.33
The only righteous people
in that story, by the end,
00:20:38.37\00:20:40.94
are the Phoenician sailors
who repent. [Eric chuckles]
00:20:40.97\00:20:43.87
It's only the nations,
it's only the Gentiles that--
00:20:43.91\00:20:46.81
that's a warning to us.
00:20:46.84\00:20:48.28
I don't want to be the
people inside the church
00:20:48.31\00:20:49.94
that are found unfaithful
and bitter at the end.
00:20:49.98\00:20:52.65
I want to be on
board with what's going on.
00:20:52.68\00:20:54.78
They have to
wake up the prophet.
00:20:54.82\00:20:56.92
>>Eric: So this maybe can
give us some foreshadowing,
00:20:56.95\00:20:59.35
or should give us some
foreshadowing, of movements
00:20:59.39\00:21:03.16
to come, or individuals
to come, who downplay
00:21:03.19\00:21:05.69
those things again,
and we'll see them again.
00:21:05.73\00:21:07.56
>>Shawn: It's
going to come again.
00:21:07.60\00:21:09.26
And I find it interesting.
00:21:09.30\00:21:11.97
The other thing
that I draw from Jonah--
00:21:12.00\00:21:13.64
and I know we spent
a lot of time on Jonah,
00:21:13.67\00:21:15.10
but I'm hoping you
find this a fruitful study--
00:21:15.14\00:21:18.61
it's this fact:
00:21:18.64\00:21:19.94
He's asleep in the
bottom of the boat in a storm.
00:21:19.97\00:21:21.88
Now, on the one hand,
that's a lot like Jesus,
00:21:21.91\00:21:23.81
but on the other hand,
he's completely unlike Jesus
00:21:23.85\00:21:25.81
because he shouldn't
be asleep at this moment.
00:21:25.85\00:21:28.45
And the Gentile
sailors, these Phoenicians--
00:21:28.48\00:21:30.32
I think they're Phoenicians;
00:21:30.35\00:21:31.65
that makes the most
sense. They have to wake him up.
00:21:31.69\00:21:33.72
"Who do you
worship? Who do you worship?"
00:21:33.76\00:21:35.92
And what does he
say at that moment?
00:21:35.96\00:21:38.19
"Well, I am a Hebrew.
00:21:38.23\00:21:39.83
I worship the God who made
the heavens and the earth."
00:21:39.86\00:21:43.53
It's like, there's
the first angel's message,
00:21:43.57\00:21:46.70
but he has to be forced
into it by desperate people.
00:21:46.74\00:21:50.37
And I look at that sometimes,
and I think, my neighbors,
00:21:50.41\00:21:53.84
people who made fun of
me when I became a believer,
00:21:53.88\00:21:57.58
are returning to me now saying,
00:21:57.61\00:21:58.91
"All right, what's
going on in the world?"
00:21:58.95\00:22:00.38
They're panicking.
00:22:00.42\00:22:01.72
The world around us
knows something is up,
00:22:01.75\00:22:05.02
and we cannot possibly
afford to be caught sleeping
00:22:05.05\00:22:07.82
in the bottom of the boat
when the rest of the world
00:22:07.86\00:22:10.03
is desperate
for what God gave us
00:22:10.06\00:22:12.33
to share with them.
>>Eric: Very powerful.
00:22:12.36\00:22:15.53
You bring out this
idea in the lesson also
00:22:15.56\00:22:18.57
of the fall of
Babylon in Daniel, chapter 5.
00:22:18.60\00:22:21.80
There's some
pretty clear parallels
00:22:21.84\00:22:23.51
to the fall of
Babylon at end time.
00:22:23.54\00:22:25.27
Bring those ideas together.
00:22:25.31\00:22:26.61
>>Shawn: Right, and
this one is important.
00:22:26.64\00:22:27.94
I put this in the
lesson because even sometimes
00:22:27.98\00:22:30.25
among our own
people there's confusion
00:22:30.28\00:22:31.58
about what is Armageddon.
00:22:31.61\00:22:33.58
And everybody's
looking for a literal, physical
00:22:33.62\00:22:35.22
last-day battle
somewhere in the Middle East.
00:22:35.25\00:22:37.95
I can promise you: In
that tiny little valley
00:22:37.99\00:22:39.95
about 20 miles
long in the Middle East,
00:22:39.99\00:22:41.69
that you're not going to
get 200 million troops in there.
00:22:41.72\00:22:44.69
It's just--it's
not going to happen.
00:22:44.73\00:22:46.49
And, again, the only
way you come to Armageddon
00:22:46.53\00:22:49.40
as a physical battle that
involves Russia and Israel
00:22:49.43\00:22:51.93
and, you know, all
these players is to follow
00:22:51.97\00:22:54.60
this dispensational scheme
where you pick and choose verses
00:22:54.64\00:22:57.37
and try and make them
match the news every day.
00:22:57.41\00:23:00.31
And it's anchored very
deeply in another story.
00:23:00.34\00:23:02.74
If you look at Revelation 16,
00:23:02.78\00:23:04.25
where you find the
battle of Armageddon:
00:23:04.28\00:23:06.48
"The sixth angel
[pours] out his bowl
00:23:06.51\00:23:07.88
on the great river Euphrates."
00:23:07.92\00:23:10.15
It's very specific.
00:23:10.19\00:23:11.59
"Its water was dried up,
to prepare the way for kings
00:23:11.62\00:23:14.39
from the east," all right?
00:23:14.42\00:23:17.59
Then it talks about
the battle of the great day
00:23:17.63\00:23:19.43
of God Almighty.
Verse 15 of Revelation 16:
00:23:19.46\00:23:22.53
"I am coming like a thief!"
What's that a reference to?
00:23:22.56\00:23:25.03
Well, that's clearly a
reference to the Second Coming.
00:23:25.07\00:23:27.04
That's a pretty
popular metaphor for it.
00:23:27.07\00:23:30.07
"They assembled...[into]
the place that...is called
00:23:30.11\00:23:31.71
[in Hebrew] Armageddon."
00:23:31.74\00:23:34.64
He switches to
Hebrew at this point.
00:23:34.68\00:23:36.68
He's just like,
"Okay, I'm writing in Greek,
00:23:36.71\00:23:38.58
but for this one word, we're
going to switch to Hebrew."
00:23:38.61\00:23:40.38
There's got to be
a reason for that.
00:23:40.42\00:23:42.22
What does "Har Megiddon" mean?
00:23:42.25\00:23:44.95
It means "the
Mountain of Megiddo."
00:23:44.99\00:23:46.96
All right, there's three
mountains on that valley.
00:23:46.99\00:23:49.59
This is fascinating.
00:23:49.62\00:23:50.93
Mount Carmel, that's
where Elijah confronts
00:23:50.96\00:23:53.96
the false prophets of Baal.
00:23:54.00\00:23:55.33
There's Mount Gilboa, where
Saul consults a spirit medium.
00:23:55.36\00:23:59.93
There's spiritualism. We
know that's a last-day issue.
00:24:00.04\00:24:02.14
We got Mount Tabor.
00:24:02.17\00:24:03.47
That's where the
Transfiguration takes place.
00:24:03.51\00:24:05.07
There's a glimpse
of the Second Coming.
00:24:05.11\00:24:06.74
We have a resurrected believer
and a raptured believer--
00:24:06.78\00:24:10.88
using that word
carefully, "raptured"--
00:24:10.91\00:24:13.55
and those are all last-day
events. Why that battle?
00:24:13.58\00:24:16.95
It was the
crossroads of the ancient world.
00:24:16.99\00:24:18.35
They had literal battles.
00:24:18.39\00:24:20.09
They had spiritual
battles that were there.
00:24:20.12\00:24:21.59
Saul lost his at Mount Gilboa.
00:24:21.62\00:24:25.56
And if you start to
piece it all together
00:24:25.59\00:24:27.40
and you go back to Belshazzar--
00:24:27.46\00:24:29.36
I mean, one of the things
that happens in Revelation
00:24:29.40\00:24:31.33
is Babylon collapses.
That's an overarching theme.
00:24:31.37\00:24:35.87
This is referring to the
collapse of literal Babylon.
00:24:35.90\00:24:39.27
Kings come from the east.
It's the Medes and the Persians
00:24:39.31\00:24:41.61
led by Cyrus,
the Persian general.
00:24:41.64\00:24:45.61
He gets there and he
notices, "Okay, pretty secure,
00:24:45.65\00:24:47.95
"these walls are so
high we can't scale them,
00:24:47.98\00:24:49.65
so thick we're not going to dig
through them. We can't get in."
00:24:49.68\00:24:53.29
There's just one weak
point: The Euphrates River flows
00:24:53.32\00:24:55.52
under the city about two-thirds
of the way across the city.
00:24:55.56\00:24:57.96
It doesn't quite bisect it.
00:24:57.99\00:24:59.63
He goes upstream, and he
finds an ancient lake bed.
00:24:59.66\00:25:03.37
An ancient Babylonian
queen known as Nitocris,
00:25:03.40\00:25:06.74
she loved sailing,
had nowhere to sail,
00:25:06.77\00:25:08.67
so she drained the
Euphrates into this basin
00:25:08.70\00:25:10.37
so she could go sailing.
He goes upstream and thinks,
00:25:10.41\00:25:12.37
"You know what else we could do?
00:25:12.41\00:25:14.44
Let's do this again."
He drains the Euphrates in.
00:25:14.48\00:25:16.98
It gets to be about thigh deep,
and he goes under the walls,
00:25:17.01\00:25:19.61
takes the city.
00:25:19.65\00:25:21.18
A king from the east dries
up the river and takes Babylon.
00:25:21.22\00:25:25.49
This is a reference to
an Old Testament story.
00:25:25.52\00:25:29.96
This happens the
night that Babylon falls.
00:25:29.99\00:25:33.50
Belshazzar's
having a drunken feast.
00:25:33.53\00:25:35.10
"Let's get the temple vessels.
00:25:35.13\00:25:37.13
"I know what
Granddad Nebuchadnezzar said:
00:25:37.17\00:25:39.13
"that Babylon's going to fall,
00:25:39.17\00:25:40.47
"that the Medes and
the Persians are coming,
00:25:40.50\00:25:42.44
"and they're outside the city.
00:25:42.47\00:25:43.77
"But one thing we know
is that our gods clearly--
00:25:43.81\00:25:46.21
"Marduk clearly
conquered Yahweh,
00:25:46.24\00:25:48.01
"and so bring out
the temple vessels
00:25:48.04\00:25:49.44
and let's just
drink out of them."
00:25:49.48\00:25:51.55
He's trying to
restore some courage,
00:25:51.58\00:25:53.62
but it's that night
that the city falls because,
00:25:53.65\00:25:57.72
well, the river
runs through the city,
00:25:57.75\00:25:59.05
and there are
walls along the river,
00:25:59.09\00:26:01.36
and they usually
lock those every night.
00:26:01.39\00:26:03.29
It's how you got access to
cross the bridge and so on.
00:26:03.32\00:26:06.66
But they're so
drunk they don't bother
00:26:06.70\00:26:08.10
locking the gates.
00:26:08.13\00:26:09.43
And when you look
at Isaiah 44 and 45,
00:26:09.46\00:26:11.00
it actually predicts more
than a hundred years in advance
00:26:11.03\00:26:12.73
Cyrus would come,
find the gates unlocked,
00:26:12.77\00:26:15.20
and that Belshazzar's
knees would knock together,
00:26:15.24\00:26:17.67
he'd faint from fear.
That's exactly what happened.
00:26:17.71\00:26:20.81
What it's telling us
is that Babylon falls.
00:26:20.84\00:26:23.51
And what it's telling us
in Revelation 16 is like,
00:26:23.55\00:26:25.85
"No, this isn't really
about tanks and airplanes.
00:26:25.88\00:26:28.52
This is about you.
Where do you stand?"
00:26:28.55\00:26:30.19
The night that Babylon
falls, there's only two camps.
00:26:30.22\00:26:33.82
There's the camp of Belshazzar:
00:26:33.86\00:26:36.39
You know the prophecies.
You choose not to believe.
00:26:36.42\00:26:39.36
There's a camp of
Cyrus who identifies himself
00:26:39.39\00:26:41.76
eventually as a servant of God.
00:26:41.80\00:26:44.20
That's Jesus returning
to liberate His people.
00:26:44.23\00:26:45.97
Cyrus liberates them to
return to the Promised Land.
00:26:46.00\00:26:48.60
Jesus comes to liberate us.
00:26:48.64\00:26:51.07
>>Eric: Shawn, we've taken
quite a journey this quarter.
00:26:51.11\00:26:53.81
There might be
somebody who's watching here
00:26:53.84\00:26:55.84
who needs just a
little encouragement.
00:26:55.88\00:26:58.15
They're concerned about the
things going on in the world.
00:26:58.18\00:27:00.75
They need a little bit of
hope. What would you tell them?
00:27:00.78\00:27:03.49
>>Shawn: I'd say
get back in the Word,
00:27:03.52\00:27:05.29
but focus on those promises.
00:27:05.32\00:27:06.65
Start making lists of
promises as you read the Bible.
00:27:06.69\00:27:08.96
"Fear not"
shows up all the time.
00:27:08.99\00:27:11.66
God's love
shows up all the time.
00:27:11.69\00:27:13.46
I make a list of
it because God paints
00:27:13.50\00:27:15.30
a real picture that makes
me trust the document more.
00:27:15.33\00:27:19.17
And then He says,
"But I got your back."
00:27:19.20\00:27:21.40
And you'll find
that same courage
00:27:21.44\00:27:22.74
by spending time in the Word.
00:27:22.77\00:27:24.11
Forget what you've read.
00:27:24.14\00:27:25.44
Forget what you've
been told about it.
00:27:25.47\00:27:26.78
Go read it for yourself.
00:27:26.81\00:27:28.14
Because I think
you're going to find
00:27:28.18\00:27:29.48
that God didn't send
this message to terrify us,
00:27:29.51\00:27:31.95
but to give us
something to hang on to.
00:27:31.98\00:27:33.28
It's a life preserver, and
you got something substantial
00:27:33.31\00:27:36.28
you can hang on to and look
forward to a very bright future.
00:27:36.32\00:27:39.62
>>Eric: Amen, thank you, Shawn,
for joining us for this journey.
00:27:39.65\00:27:41.96
We appreciate your time.
00:27:41.99\00:27:43.29
>>Shawn: Oh,
thanks for having me here.
00:27:43.32\00:27:44.63
>>Eric: Appreciate you
leading us along the way.
00:27:44.66\00:27:46.96
And he's led us to God's Word,
00:27:47.00\00:27:48.26
and we trust that
you will be blessed
00:27:48.30\00:27:49.70
as you continue to study it.
00:27:49.73\00:27:51.43
We'll see you again next
week here on "Sabbath School,"
00:27:51.47\00:27:54.10
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:27:54.14\00:27:56.20
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