Participants: Ranko Stefanovic
Series Code: RCK
Program Code: RCK000019
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00:24 Welcome again to our program that we've titled
00:29 "Revelation of the Coming King." 00:33 I hope that you are excited 00:35 about studying the Book of Revelation. 00:37 There is something, there is something very special 00:40 about when we started the Bible. 00:42 It's when our hearts are open to the word of God 00:46 where the Holy Spirit speaks to us 00:49 through the pages of this Book. 00:51 There is something that happens inside. 00:53 It cannot be explained, it can only be felt. 00:57 As you know that this program is a part of that long series 01:02 in which we try to cover 01:04 all the chapters of the Book of Revelation. 01:07 Not every detail, not every passage 01:11 because it is impossible but we try-- 01:13 we're trying to understand 01:15 what is that so special about the Book of Revelation? 01:19 Once again, I am Ranko Stefanovic, 01:21 professor at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, 01:26 Andrews University. 01:27 I am professor of the New Testament. 01:30 But the most of the class that I teach 01:32 and more presentations that I make 01:35 as I travel are on the topics of the Book of Revelation 01:38 and the time of the end. 01:42 I am so glad to be with you here 01:44 and I hope that you have in you hands 01:47 our text book, infallible text book. 01:50 The best tool that we can have 01:55 that can help us all those difficult issues 01:59 and text of the Book of Revelation. 02:01 But as we mentioned it's almost impossible 02:04 in the time that is allotted to us to cover 02:07 everything that is in the Book of Revelation. 02:09 And the purpose of this program is not really 02:14 to present everything what is in the Book of Revelation, 02:16 it's rather to stimulate our appetite for the word of God. 02:20 So once this program is over that we can take different tools 02:24 and I recommended to you the tool 02:29 titled "Revelation of Jesus Christ" 02:31 which is verse by verse commentary 02:34 on the Book of Revelation. 02:38 I hope that you've provided the copy for yourself. 02:42 If you have done it, I'd like one more time to remind you 02:46 that we are still in the pages that were indicated last time. 02:49 We are from the page 409, 409 and going on. 02:57 We are in Chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation. 03:00 So from page 409, okay. 03:05 You see all these tools are great 03:10 and somehow they really present our limitations. 03:15 By the way, they show what at the present time 03:19 we understand about the Book of Revelation 03:20 and believe me, tomorrow I'll learn something new 03:24 and day after tomorrow I am learning something new 03:26 and there is never end of that. 03:28 And that's the reason why I had to revise my commentary, 03:31 and probably in few years you'll see another revisions 03:33 because there are so many new e-sites 03:36 there at Andrews University 03:38 I am sharing several doctoral dissertations 03:40 of the Book of Revelation. 03:42 So there will be new e-site in few years that will come. 03:45 But what is most important is 03:48 that we always ask God for His guidance. 03:52 That we ask the Holy Spirit to give us that discernment, 03:56 to give us that understanding, okay. 03:58 And I know there are some things from the Book of Revelation 04:03 that probably we'll never be able to understand 04:05 until the events are fulfilled. 04:07 We are doing our best to understand with God's help. 04:10 But there's one thing is that the Holy Spirit is teaching us 04:14 how those messages, they can apply to our personal lives 04:18 to make me to be better Christian, okay, 04:21 to be better husband, to be a better friend, 04:24 to be a better colleague, okay. 04:28 But what is the most important to come much closer to God. 04:33 And one day that I see myself, 04:36 my family and all of you one day in God's Kingdom. 04:39 That's what the purpose of the Book of Revelation is all about. 04:41 That's the reason why we would like to ask God for His guidance 04:45 as we are trying to understand 04:47 Chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation. 04:52 Our heavenly father, here we are again coming to You 04:57 and humbly asking You to give us Your Holy Spirit 05:02 because You promised to us 05:03 when we come with open mind and sincere hearts 05:07 that the Holy Spirit will guide us 05:09 and instruct us into all the truth. 05:11 So, Father, please be with us 05:14 and help us if we can understand these messages 05:17 of the Book of Revelation 05:18 and to apply them to our daily lives. 05:20 Father, we pray all of these 05:22 in the precious name of our Savior Jesus Christ. 05:25 Amen. 05:28 Okay, as you know we are 05:32 in Chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation 05:35 and let me remind you once again 05:38 what we tried to understand last time. 05:41 We saw how the Book of Revelation 05:44 is amazingly structured. 05:47 When you understand how the structure 05:49 of the Book of Revelation work 05:52 you can observe many things from the pages of this book. 05:56 One of those things that we tried to learn last time is 06:00 that actually chapter 12, more particularly, okay. 06:05 Revelation 11:19. 06:07 Okay, divides the Book of Revelation into two parts. 06:12 We call it the historical part 06:15 and the eschatological part, okay. 06:18 Eschatology is Greek. 06:21 It comes from the word eschaton, 06:24 which means the last thing and logos, 06:27 we have theology, astrology, you know all those things. 06:31 Logos, simply means teaching doctrine 06:34 but the basic meaning with the word is the word, okay. 06:38 So it simply means, 06:39 eschatology means a teaching about the last thing. 06:43 So when you say 06:44 the eschatological portion of the Book of Revelation, 06:47 we mean the section of the Book of Revelation, 06:49 the last 11 chapters. 06:51 They talk and focus exclusively, 06:53 exclusively on the time of the end. Okay. 06:59 And we saw how the Book of Revelation is organized 07:01 that shows that actually it is in Chapter 12 07:05 as he's preparing himself for the final events. 07:09 Satan switches, okay, in his tactic 07:15 from what he was doing against God's faithful people 07:19 throughout history by using force and persecution, coercion. 07:22 But the time of the end there is one single word 07:26 or maybe if you want two words 07:28 that really describes the activities 07:30 end time activities of Satan is the word "deception" 07:35 or the word "counterfeit." Okay. 07:39 This is very, very important to help us to understand 07:42 what we can find in the last portion 07:44 of the Book of Revelation. 07:47 So we saw that according to Revelation 13:1 07:53 that if Satan decides to prepare himself for that decisive event, 07:58 final battle that is known from the Book of Revelation, 08:02 the Battle of Armageddon. 08:04 He's there on the seashore. 08:06 Please keep in mind the symbolic language 08:09 of the Book of Revelation. 08:11 And He's calling out of the sea the first of his associates, 08:17 that we will refer to as the sea beast 08:20 because these beast, these political power, 08:23 the beast is the symbol of political power 08:25 actually comes out of the sea 08:29 and steps, and steps on the scene. 08:34 There is one more thing I would like us to pay attention 08:39 as we are dealing with Revelation 13 and 14. 08:43 You see, in dealing with first 11 chapters of the Book 08:49 we really dealt with the prophecies 08:51 that were fulfilled in the past. 08:54 Even though among the interpreters of the Bible 08:57 there are some slight disagreements. 09:00 You know, if that event or that event, okay, 09:04 fits the fulfillment of certain prophecies 09:07 of the Book of Revelation. 09:09 Generally people agree, okay. 09:12 Okay, who believe in the Prophecy of Revelation 09:14 they feel--so it was not too much difficult really 09:18 to find out how the prophecy was fulfilled in the past. 09:23 But the question that is necessary now. 09:26 You see, as we are dealing here 09:28 with this section of the Revelation, 09:30 we are dealing with not yet fulfilled prophecies. 09:36 The prophecies, they are not fulfilled yet. 09:38 We are waiting for their fulfillment,okay, 09:41 to happen in the future. 09:44 So do you understand the difficulty is that? 09:47 We have to keep in mind 09:50 that we know exactly as we mentioned already several times. 09:54 According to the Book of Revelation 09:56 what will happen at the time of the end? 09:58 We will see that the Book of Revelation 10:00 seems to me very, very clear about that. 10:03 But what is the problem is 10:06 that in dealing with these future prophecies 10:10 that sometimes people are using too much imagination. 10:13 Their personal opinions in the way how they think 10:17 that those prophecies will be fulfilled. 10:20 Friends, you have to understand, 10:22 many of the prophecies will be clear to us 10:24 at the time of their fulfillment. 10:28 So we have to take, 10:29 you remember, there are some things 10:31 that God did not disclose to us. 10:34 Do you remember that, 10:35 that small book in the Revelation Chapter 10, 10:37 John was not allowed to write everything? 10:41 Only what God found for good to us to reveal, 10:44 it was revealed to us 10:46 and we know, we know what will happen. 10:48 But how the things will happen, 10:50 we have to wait for the time of their fulfillment. 10:53 There is one thing that I will like to-- 10:59 I want to all of us, there are people in the past, 11:04 were a great experts in biblical prophecies. 11:08 They knew everything about the Messiah. 11:11 They knew when the Messiah would come, they knew the date. 11:15 They knew where the Messiah will be born. 11:19 They knew how the Messiah would be born. 11:22 But you see so many times their private agenda 11:24 prevented them from understanding really 11:28 what the biblical prophecies are meant. 11:30 They put their ideas in those prophecies, 11:33 so the Messiah came, they did not recognize Him. Why? 11:39 Because they didn't follow 11:41 the clear instruction of the word of God. 11:44 They follow their instincts, their desires, 11:47 their plans and their views 11:49 how the prophecies should look like. 11:51 So I will like also to speak to our viewers. 11:56 This is the warning to all of us. 11:59 I would like to suggest to you that we stick there 12:01 to the clear text of the Bible. 12:05 But those are things how the prophecies will be fulfilled. 12:08 Yeah, the Book of Revelation telling us enough, 12:10 how that they will be fulfilled, but let's not go beyond that. 12:16 Let's stay to the clear indication there, 12:18 there in the Book of Revelation. 12:20 Keep in mind, keep in mind, 12:23 that the future fulfillment of biblical prophecies 12:27 will bring us to many, many surprises. 12:30 So let's not repeat the history of the Jewish people. 12:34 Let's be faithful to the word of God 12:37 and try to find out what the Bible teaches us clearly. 12:40 One more time, let's be reminded. 12:43 We're dealing with the first of Satan's associates. 12:49 We call it, okay, the sea beast, okay, the first one. 12:54 But you have to understand something 12:56 about the biblical prophecies. 12:58 The last time we wanted to make the survey of that 13:01 in order to prepare the ground for what we are talking about, 13:06 every time, every time, when the Book of Revelation 13:11 introduces a new actor on the scene, okay. 13:16 The 1 John wants to identify that actor, 13:20 to describe that actor. 13:23 Once the actor is identified 13:27 then he describes the activities what the actor is doing, 13:31 you'll notice, we saw it, just to mention few things. 13:36 In Revelation Chapter 5 and 6, John wants to tell us, 13:41 that the history will be unfolded 13:43 because Jesus is doing that. 13:46 But you need to tell us why Jesus is qualified 13:48 to unfold the future by breaking the seals. 13:50 First in Chapter 5, he wants to identify Jesus. 13:53 Okay, you see in this section, who is a new actor here 13:59 in the steps of the scene in Revelation, its Satan himself. 14:04 But before John is telling us 14:06 what Satan will be doing at the time of the end, 14:08 what does he do in Revelation Chapter 12. 14:10 He wants to identify Satan, 14:12 to tell us he is the one who deceived 14:14 the number of angels there in heaven. 14:16 He was the one who was cast out from heaven. 14:19 He was the one in the history of the Christian church 14:21 persecuted God's people 14:23 and this is the power, this is that arch enemy 14:26 that you will be involved in the final events 14:29 and he will play the key role there. 14:32 Are you still with me? 14:33 Now the same principle must be applied 14:35 with reference to the first of two associates of Satan. 14:39 We call it the sea beast. 14:41 Please friends, this is very, very important 14:44 because there are some people 14:46 who really do not know this principle, 14:48 they're sometimes confused. 14:50 And I will tell you where the confusion comes from, 14:53 you have to keep in mind. 14:55 This is the focus of the first section of chapter 13. 15:01 John wants to tell us about the first of Satan's associates, 15:06 the activities that characterize 15:08 and these activities will be repeated also 15:11 at the time of the end. 15:12 Are you still with me? 15:13 But before explaining about the activities of the sea beast, 15:18 John first wants to identify the sea beast. 15:23 Why is this so much important, please, 15:25 I would like you to turn to Revelation Chapter 13. 15:30 I'm using more opportunity that we get information 15:32 how to interpreter the Book of Revelation, 15:34 once we know how to do it, we can do the rest by ourselves. 15:38 Are you there? Let me now ask you a question. 15:40 I want little bit to confuse you. 15:42 He says, in verse 3, 15:45 "And I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, 15:49 and his fatal wound was healed. 15:52 And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast." 15:56 What do you have here? 15:57 The beast received mortal wound. 15:59 What happened next? The mortal wound was healed. 16:02 What happened next? 16:04 It provoked the admiration of the entire world. 16:07 What happened to the beast? 16:08 Because the beast was killed, now the beast came back to life. 16:12 Now please, would you go with me to verse 5, 16:17 "There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words 16:21 and blasphemies, and authority to act 16:24 for forty-two months was given to him." 16:26 Do you see the problem here? 16:30 At these forty-two months, before the mortal wound 16:34 or after the healing of the mortal wound. 16:38 Are you with me? Are you lost? 16:42 You see, if you do not know these principles and by the way 16:46 I'm explaining about these principles in the very beginning 16:48 of my commentary. It's very important. 16:50 If you don't understand this principle 16:52 then it appears that forty-two months 16:54 come after the healing of their mortal wound. 16:58 That's why many people that we called them, 17:00 futurists as we explained it before. 17:02 Without understanding this principle, 17:03 they speculate and they believe that those forty months 17:06 they come after the healing of their mortal wound 17:08 but it's not so. 17:10 Keep in mind those these first four verses, 17:14 John first want to identify the beast to tell us 17:17 who actually this political power is 17:21 and what this political power is. 17:23 So what do we learn 17:24 about this political power, what is that? 17:26 That this political power 17:28 is the same as the one portrayed where, 17:30 in Daniel Chapter 7. 17:33 That there is so difference between the two. 17:35 This power in the Book of Daniel is identified as a little horn, 17:40 you remember we talked about. 17:41 It was not really the little horn, 17:44 it grew up, very powerful, okay and great horn. 17:50 In verse 2, we learn here, 17:53 also reflecting in the Book of the Daniel is, 17:57 that actually this beast is the successor 18:01 of the previous political powers 18:04 that appeared, that appeared in history. 18:07 Second thing John is wants to tell us and what is that. 18:12 That this political power at the certain point in history 18:17 will be killed and we'll cease to be active. 18:22 However eventually that mortal wound will be healed 18:28 that will provoke the admiration of the entire world, 18:31 please, can you keep in mind something? 18:34 We are dealing with the eschatological. 18:36 We are dealing with the eschatological 18:38 part of the Book of Revelation. 18:41 Really, John is not interested too much to tell us about 18:45 what this political power did during the prophetic period 18:48 or 1260 days of the medieval period. 18:52 You see, he's providing the background to tell us 18:55 about the power that will play a significant role 18:59 and function at the time of the end. 19:03 But he's telling us that this power 19:05 that will really works so powerfully 19:08 at the time of the end, is not really a new power. 19:12 Is the power that was active in history 19:15 more than 1000 years during the medieval period, 19:19 that controlled the human minds. Are you still with me? 19:22 Imposing one religion and controlling 19:24 what people will believe how it will believe. 19:26 Are you still with me? 19:28 This is the point that he is trying to make 19:31 that actually this is not a new power 19:33 that will appear at the time of the end, 19:35 that this power has a long history, 19:38 persecuting God's people and fighting against God 19:40 and trying to take the place of Jesus Christ and His word. 19:43 Are you still with me? 19:45 Once he identified this power, now he wants to tell us, 19:50 what this power was doing in the past 19:54 and what this power will be doing 19:56 at the time of the end? 19:57 That's why it's so much important 19:58 to understand the principle of identification 20:01 of a new actor and then what comes in the next, 20:04 the description of the activities of this actor. 20:07 If you don't understand that, 20:09 then you can go off the road completely 20:12 and bring some interpretation and finally you'll wonder 20:15 that something that only you believe 20:17 but nobody can see it in the text 20:19 because that does not fit in the context. 20:21 So what are the activities of this beast? 20:23 Okay, let's see now about the description of the, 20:28 of the activities of this beast. 20:29 It says verse 5, "There was given to him 20:32 a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority 20:39 to act for forty-two months was given to him." 20:43 Let's stop here for a moment. 20:46 I'd like to mention to you one feature 20:49 that is so frequently found in the New Testament. 20:53 You'll notice that this feature 20:55 is not too much represented in the Old Testament 20:59 for one simple reason. What is the feature? 21:02 You'll notice here it says that it was given to him, 21:07 to this political power a mouth and to do all these activities. 21:11 Okay, it was given. It was given. Who gave? 21:16 By the way you have to understand 21:17 something where the Jewish people 21:20 came out off the Babylonian exile, 21:23 came to Palestine. 21:24 They decided to be so faithful to the law of God, 21:27 so not to repeat the mistakes of their fathers 21:29 and go back to another exile. 21:31 He said, we want now to be 21:33 so faithful to the, to the law of God. 21:36 So they went to the Ten Commandments, 21:37 they came to the Commandment of the Sabbath. 21:40 They made about 413 commandments of that. 21:42 So they wanted, they prescribed every detail 21:45 of the observance of the Sabbath. 21:46 They came to that Second Commandment. 21:49 And Second Commandment, no sorry, the Third Commandment. 21:51 The Third Commandment said, 21:53 "you shall not take the name of God in vain." 21:57 But what else they are doing in vain. 21:58 They said, so any taking the name of God 22:02 in out of mouth is in vain. We can be without that. 22:05 So they would come to statement God spoke. 22:10 Now they would make statement 22:12 it was spoken implying that actually God spoke, okay. 22:16 Or people who were saved implying 22:19 that actually God saved them. 22:21 They used passive instead of active. 22:24 Are you still with me? 22:26 Today we call it the divine passive. 22:29 So when you have a passive, 22:31 it implies that actually God did it. 22:34 By the way in English we use it so often, 22:36 I'm saved. What does it mean? 22:40 It means that God saved me. 22:41 I'm forgiven. It means God forgave me. 22:44 We're using that passive because it comes, 22:46 it comes from the New Testament. 22:47 It occurs very, very often in the New Testament. 22:50 So in the light of this information 22:52 when said, that the beast was given a mouth. 22:56 What does it actually mean? 22:58 That it was actually God who allowed this political power 23:03 a certain period to exercise the authority 23:08 and to do all these activities against God 23:12 and to persecute God's people. 23:13 You see, friends, these effect 23:18 can really provide us with assurance 23:21 that nothing in this world 23:23 happens without God's approval. 23:26 Please, I cannot always explain 23:30 why God allows certain things to happen 23:33 but I've the assurance is that God is still in control. 23:37 So many times we don't understand, 23:39 so many times we have a question why? 23:42 But we have a strong assurance that actually it is God 23:46 and He has the final word in everything. 23:50 He says, it was given to him a mouth to speak arrogant words. 23:56 By the way, the number of biblical commentators 24:00 who actually observed 24:02 something that has been overlooked 24:05 by many as they read the Book of Revelation 24:07 that in the Old Testament 24:10 when prophets were given the mouth to speak. 24:16 It always refers to a speech that person, 24:19 that person delivers. 24:21 It's not simply that person casually speaks. 24:23 It's an order, the person opens the mouth 24:26 and gives direction and everybody, 24:28 everybody has to follow it. 24:30 So talking here about the political power, 24:32 you remember what we saw that, 24:34 that is political power was enthroned by Satan, 24:37 authorized by Satan 24:39 and now this power was given actually 24:41 to exercise the authority-- 24:43 was given a mouth to speak arrogant words and blasphemies 24:49 and receive the authority to act for 42 months. 24:53 It was, it was, it was given to him. 24:57 Let me remind you one more time 25:00 what we spoke last time in our last presentations. 25:03 How Revelation 13 actually reflects Daniel Chapter 7. 25:09 And I have here in front of me, I have here a chart 25:13 and you can see that all these activities, 25:17 okay, of the sea beast actually mirrors 25:21 the activities of little horn of Daniel Chapter 7. 25:24 Let me just point to few verses. 25:27 In Daniel Chapter 7, we have the little word, 25:32 horn has the mouth speaking great things. 25:36 You go here to Revelation 13. 25:38 The sea beast has the mouth speaking great things. 25:42 Going to Daniel Chapter 7. 25:45 The little horn speaks blasphemies against God. 25:48 Here we heard the sea beasts 25:50 speaks of blasphemies against God. 25:52 I'm referring to Chapter 7 verse 25. 25:55 All these informations are found there. 25:57 And then in verse 21 of chapter 7 of Daniel we have, 26:02 "That the little horn wages war with the saints 26:06 and overcomes them." 26:07 And you have here in 37, that the sea beasts wages war 26:12 with the saints and overcome them. 26:13 You can see actually that the little horn 26:18 and this sea beast that is, 26:20 that is mentioned here actually refers to one 26:23 in the same historical reality of the power, 26:27 okay, that control the minds of people for long time. 26:31 But we'd like really to find out 26:33 what those activities are all about, okay. 26:36 Let's go back one more, one more time. 26:38 It says, "Mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies." 26:43 In Greek it can mean that, that mouth 26:48 was speaking arrogant words, namely blasphemies. 26:54 Why is that so? 26:56 Because if you go to the Old Testament 26:57 there is only one entity that was speaking great words 27:01 and that's Lucifer himself. 27:03 If you go to the Book of Isaiah chapter 14, 27:05 Ezekiel Chapter 28, great things, 27:08 what, it's not great things 27:10 that the person make great speeches. 27:12 It means great things that pertain to God there. 27:15 This power claims the quality with God. 27:19 By the way, it showed here in this blasphemies. 27:23 The question is, what are the blasphemies? 27:26 Of course today we can use our imaginations 27:29 and we can, each one of us 27:31 can have different interpretations 27:33 but we have to go to the New Testament 27:36 and to find out really what blasphemy meant at the time 27:41 when the New Testament was written. 27:44 The similar text I'd like to remind you. 27:46 The first text is in Gospel of John 10:33. 27:51 Please, I'd like to go and to read this text 27:53 because this is very important for the identification of this, 27:58 of this political power, okay. 28:00 So the Gospel of John 10:33, let's read what we have there, 28:07 let's see what blasphemy meant, okay. 28:10 Chapter 10 verse 33, 28:12 and Jesus said, okay, to the Jewish readers, 28:17 okay, for a good work. No, sorry, sorry. 28:21 The Jews actually said to Jesus, 28:24 okay, who ask Him why do you hate me? 28:27 Why do you want to destroy me? 28:28 And the Jews said to Jesus, 28:30 "For a good work we do not stone You, 28:33 but for blasphemy, 28:35 because You, being a man make yourself to be God." 28:41 We're not dealing here with the theology of this text. 28:44 Was Jesus God? Did He do blasphemy? 28:47 He did not do blasphemy 28:49 but Jews, they considered Jesus to be mere man, okay. 28:55 And they said, "You're a man and you claim to be God," 28:59 that's a blasphemy. Are you still with me? 29:01 Let's go to another text 29:03 which is the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 26. 29:07 The Gospel of Matthew Chapter 26. 29:12 okay, The Gospel of Matthew Chapter 26. 29:15 Let's read verse, okay, 33 to 35. 29:21 Keep in mind that Jesus is there 29:23 on the trial before His crucifixion, okay. 29:27 He's before the high priest in the trial. 29:30 But Jesus kept silent and the high priest said to Jesus, 29:34 "I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us 29:37 whether you are the Christ the Son of God." 29:40 Are you still with me? 29:41 Because Jesus claimed so many times 29:43 to be Son of God during His ministry. 29:45 And Jesus said, "You have said it yourself. 29:48 Nevertheless, I'm telling you, you will see the Son of Man 29:52 sitting at the right hand of Power, 29:54 and coming on the clouds of the heaven." 29:56 You don't see anything significant here. 29:58 Actually in Greek its identical quotation 30:02 from Daniel Chapter 7 about the Son of Man, 30:04 you remember that coming before the ancient of the day. 30:07 It's their actuations 30:09 and for Jews this statement was very, very important 30:12 with reference to the Messiah. 30:14 When the high priest heard that, he tore his robes and he said, 30:18 he has blasphemed. 30:19 What further need do we witnesses, 30:22 behold you have heard though blasphemy. 30:24 What was the blasphemy? 30:25 That Jesus claimed to be God, the Son of God. 30:28 So we, we get now the first key. 30:31 When this beast is speaking blasphemies, 30:34 what does it mean? 30:37 Claiming to be God, to take the place of God. 30:40 But there is also another aspect 30:42 of blasphemy in, in the New Testament. 30:46 I'd like you to turn to the Gospel of Mark 2:7. 30:50 The Gospel of Mark 2:7. 30:54 Again the Pharisees, 30:57 okay, they're talking about the Jesus and they said, 31:00 "Why does this men speak that way? 31:03 He's blaspheming! 31:04 Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 31:08 What is another aspect of blasphemy 31:10 in the New Testament? 31:12 When the person claims the prerogatives of God 31:15 specially to forgive sins that only God can forgive. 31:20 Do we get to know little bit closer picture of what 31:24 or who this political power or the sea beast is all about? 31:30 Okay, one more time. 31:33 This power is the successor of the Roman Empire. 31:36 Are you still with me? 31:38 It's a political power. 31:40 At certain point of history, this political power is killed. 31:47 Does not have a power in the world. 31:49 But at the time of the end, 31:51 this political power will comeback to life. 31:55 But in describing the activities of this beast 31:57 is that this political power has the same, 32:02 the same desire, the same inspiration 32:05 as the Satan in the Old Testament 32:07 to be equal to God. 32:08 And actually it is expressed, 32:10 it is expressed in terms of the blasphemy 32:13 that this power claimed to be God, 32:17 okay, and claim that it was given to that power, 32:23 the prerogatives of God like to forgive, 32:27 to forgive the sins. 32:28 But there is much more, there is much more, okay. 32:32 Verse 6, verse 6, "And he opened his mouth 32:36 in blasphemies against God," against God. 32:40 We saw what is blasphemy against God. 32:43 Okay, to claim equality, equality to God. 32:47 But says, "To blaspheme his name, 32:50 and his tabernacle." 32:52 So this power trying to take 32:55 the name of God upon itself, okay. 32:59 But second thing is that this power 33:01 somehow try to mess up 33:04 what Jesus Christ is doing in the heavenly sanctuary. 33:07 What is Jesus doing here-- 33:09 there in the heavenly sanctuary? 33:11 Providing for him the sin for us, 33:13 but this power says, I can forgive sins. 33:15 This is what blasphemy is all about. 33:17 I can forgive sins. 33:18 You don't need that sanctuary there in heaven. 33:21 And says also blasphemies 33:23 against those who dwell in heaven. 33:27 Who are those who dwell in heaven? 33:28 Let me remind you one more time, 33:30 in the Book of Revelation, 33:32 God's people are the heaven dwellers. Amen. 33:36 That always goes who dwell there in the heavenly, 33:40 in the heavenly places. 33:42 Actually in the Revelation 14:1, we'll see as this beast 33:48 is forcing the inhabitants of this world 33:50 to accept the Mark of the Beast. 33:51 God's people are on the Mount of Zion 33:55 there before the throne of God. 33:57 Apostle Paul talks in Ephesians 2:6 and 19 34:01 that God's people because they are redeemed by Christ. 34:04 They are already there in the heavenly places, 34:08 that they're reigning with Jesus Christ 34:11 there on His throne. 34:14 That salvation is secured there before God. 34:17 So this beast, this political power 34:21 also tries to mess up with God's people. 34:25 By the way in the light of what, 34:28 we have the description there of the power of the little horn. 34:31 It means, it persecute God's people 34:34 because this people have chosen 34:36 to follow God and His commandments. 34:38 And what God is asking them actually to do. 34:41 By the way let me remind you one more time. 34:45 If you really want to understand little bit 34:47 about this power, this is the same power. 34:49 And please I would like to allow you to go back 34:51 one more time to 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2. 34:55 Apostle Paul, the Book of Revelation 34:58 is not only a book dealing with that. 35:00 Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2-- 35:04 actually he talks about the same power, 35:07 the same activities. 35:08 So please would you, would you, would you go with me. 35:10 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2, Paul said in verse 3. 35:15 "Let no one in any way deceive you, 35:18 for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, 35:21 and the man of lawlessness is revealed, 35:24 the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself 35:29 above every so-called God or object of worship, 35:32 so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, 35:36 displaying himself as being God." 35:39 And then Paul said, "Do not remember 35:41 that while I was still with you, 35:42 I was telling you these things." 35:44 And you know what restrains him now, 35:46 so that in his time he will be revealed. 35:50 What is that that was restraining 35:52 this apostasy to appear in the Christian church 35:54 is the Roman Empire. 35:57 It's actually the fall of the Roman Empire 35:59 that opened the door that this political power 36:03 that that is mentioned here in Revelation 13 36:05 now could come to that political power. 36:08 And then Paul says in verse 7, 36:09 "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, 36:13 only he who now restrains will do so 36:15 until he is taken out of the way." 36:17 And then he says, "Then the lawless one 36:20 will be revealed whom the Lord will slay 36:22 with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end 36:26 by the appearance of His coming." 36:31 Okay friends, for we now comes 36:37 the most difficult portion of this. 36:41 Because I know that there are many faithful Christians 36:44 they're are watching this program. 36:46 And we live today in the 21 century 36:50 when people try to forget the past. 36:55 And many bad things have happened in the past 36:57 now to beautify and nothing happened. 37:00 It happened so with the Holocaust. 37:01 It happens with everything. 37:03 But I'm sorry this has nothing to do with the good Christians 37:07 who really sincerely and they want to server God. 37:10 But we really simply want to find out 37:12 how this prophecy was fulfilled in the past. 37:17 So there are few things that we have to keep in mind. 37:19 We're dealing here with the political power, okay, 37:23 that dominated the western world 37:26 after the fall of the Roman Empire. 37:30 How long, how long 37:34 did this political power exercise its authority? 37:39 By the way I have now to mention something else. 37:43 This is the political power. 37:44 This is what the beast is all about. 37:47 But when you read the clear description 37:49 of these beasts in the Revelation 13, 37:51 you'll see that this political power is really-- 37:56 also a religious power as much. 38:02 It tried to take the place of God 38:06 to provide the forgiveness of sin 38:08 that only God can do. 38:10 It wants to mess up with heavenly sanctuary there. 38:13 Are you still with me? 38:14 And persecuted God's people. 38:16 For how long? 38:18 For the period of 42 months or 1260 days 38:24 or time to times and half of time. 38:27 We already saw that this three time designations 38:31 in the Book of Daniel and in the Book of Revelation 38:34 are the only places where they are mentioned 38:38 and always with reference to one and the same thing is, 38:41 is the antichrist power that dominated the secular world 38:48 during the medieval period and persecuted God's people. 38:52 And please let me deal a little bit 38:55 with the principles of biblical prophecies. 38:59 Do remember when we started the series at the very beginning 39:03 I think it was our second or third presentations 39:06 please I forgot when it was. 39:08 Remember what we discovered that in the Book of Revelation 39:11 the things that John saw in the vision 39:14 all those things were shown to him by means of symbol. 39:17 Do you remember that? 39:19 So we see here, please I need now really your attentions. 39:23 We saw that the beast is not the real beast 39:25 that will come out of the real sea. 39:29 The sea signifies the human society, okay. 39:34 The beast is the symbol of the political power. 39:38 Even the description of the beast, 39:39 everything is symbolic based on the base of Daniel 39:42 and many Christians they'll recognize it 39:45 except in one point. 39:47 When they come to this time designation of 42 months 39:50 and they say this is literal. 39:52 Friends, you've to understand that in the Book of Revelation 39:56 even that the time designation is symbolic. 40:01 Let me explain it in more details. 40:04 You know, today we live in the modern world, 40:07 we try to be literalistic as much as we can. 40:11 But in the Old Testament when people spoke in symbol 40:16 very often they used one day as a symbol for a year. 40:23 I know, I lived, 40:25 actually I was born and I grew up eating some culture. 40:29 People never talk about how many years they have to live. 40:32 They always talk about how many days they have to live. 40:34 People move to another place they ask 40:36 how many days do you plan to spend there 40:38 and he said 20 years. 40:40 Are you still with me? 40:41 People always referred to years in terms of days. 40:45 By the way now there are many texts 40:48 in the Old Testament that I can refer to. 40:50 If you go Psalms 90, David said, 40:55 "Our days are counted before God." 40:58 He meant actually years. 41:00 So, especially in biblical prophecy, 41:02 in biblical prophecies a day is used 41:07 as the symbol for a year, okay. 41:12 This is very, very important that we keep in mind here. 41:17 So when we're dealing here 41:20 with a power, okay, 41:25 that will do all this things, messing up with God's plan. 41:29 We have a 42 months 41:33 or we have a period of 1260 days 41:39 and there is that third expression, okay, 41:43 which goes in this way, okay, 41:46 One plus, two times 41:52 and plus in half, okay. 41:57 Okay, which really means two years, 42:00 one year, two years and half the year. 42:03 If you put it into days 42:05 you get the same number of days, 1260 days. 42:10 So now there is questions. 42:12 This is very important for understanding 42:14 of this, of this power. 42:16 So what are we talking here about? 42:18 Prophet Daniel in Chapter 7. 42:20 He talks about the same thing, 42:22 talking about the same power, 42:23 the same time designation what we're talking about. 42:28 Well, the histories interpreters, 42:32 they concluded on the base of all those informations 42:36 that we have here that after the fall of the Roman Empire 42:40 there was only one religious political power 42:43 that nominated the western world. 42:45 It was the Christian church. 42:48 I call it in my, in my commentary 42:51 the Ecclesiastical Christianity. What do we mean? 42:54 The Christianity that became an institution. 42:57 But that power, okay, that dominated 43:01 the Christian world had the leader, okay, 43:05 in the form of the Roman papacy,okay 43:09 that dominated the Christian world. 43:11 Friends, it is not my purpose now 43:14 that I provide to you all the evidences for that. 43:17 Actually any history book, any history book 43:21 so clearly talks about what was going on 43:23 during the medieval period. 43:24 Keep in mind I'm European. You see my heavy accent. 43:28 If you go there it's still so fresh in the minds of people 43:31 what was going on during the medieval period. 43:34 You who live in Asia you don't know about dark middle ages 43:39 because in Asia they don't have dark middle ages, 43:42 they have the medieval period 43:44 when science flourished, when civilization flourished. 43:47 But in Europe that was the dark middle ages, okay. 43:51 So the Christians they concluded, 43:52 they had hard time to locate, okay, these days. 43:56 So they concluded that this power came, 43:58 rightly they concluded, in the year 1798 44:02 with Napoleons commander in chief of that year 44:06 took the Pope from Vatican and put him in the exile 44:09 and marking the end of the dominion of these 44:13 religious political power during medieval period. 44:15 So if you now take this date deduct 1260 years 44:21 what date do you get? 44:22 The year 538. 44:25 And really people have a problem 44:26 what really happened in the year 538. 44:28 I don't want to go, I'm leaving that to historians 44:30 but we have at Andrews University 44:33 a doctoral dissertation written that shows 44:35 that by the year 538 the stage was set. 44:42 The Pope by that time was fully established 44:45 and recognized as the political leader in Europe. 44:49 Are you still with me? 44:51 So that the year 538 really can take rightly 44:55 and consider rightly as the beginning 44:57 of this prophetic period of 1260 days. 45:01 Are you still with me? 45:03 So we're dealing with the period 45:05 from the year 538 AD to the year 1798, okay, 45:11 of the paper dominium 45:15 over the western world there in Europe. 45:18 When this prophecy from Revelation Chapter 13 45:21 was accurately fulfilled almost in all, in all details. 45:26 So what happened in 1798, 45:29 actually this religious political power 45:33 received the mortal wound was killed, okay. 45:39 Actually the papacy did not owned Vatican any longer. 45:44 There was no any influence in the world. 45:47 By the way that ancient tendency of the papacy 45:53 as the governing body of the Christian church 45:55 during all those centuries was the best expressed 45:59 in modern times by the Pope Leo XIII 46:02 that's he understand the Book of Revelation says, 46:04 "We the pope hold up on this earth 46:07 the place of God, the almighty." 46:10 I believe, we don't need to go. 46:12 I don't want now to go about negative things about anybody 46:15 but we cannot deny 46:16 the historical reality what happened. 46:19 Are you still with me? 46:21 This is what, what indeed happened, okay. 46:24 But, friends, this is not the most important 46:26 in the Book of Revelation. 46:27 Why we're talking about this? 46:30 Is because what will happen in the future. 46:33 And according to the Book of Revelation 46:37 the time is coming. 46:39 That these beast that is killed, it's still killed. 46:42 We live in the time and this beast is killed. 46:43 We do not have persecution by Roman papacy 46:47 or by the Christian church in any Christian country. 46:48 We don't have it. 46:50 But according to the Book of Revelation 46:52 the time is coming when this system, 46:56 this institution will comeback to life again 47:02 and what happened during the medieval period, 47:05 it will happen again at the time of the end. 47:09 But please I'd like you to pay 47:11 something now in Revelation Chapter 13. 47:15 What will happen, what will happen 47:19 when these oppressive religious political rule, okay, 47:25 finally comes back, back, back to life. 47:29 You see, this rule was killed 47:31 with events of French Revolution. 47:33 When the traditional God centered theology 47:35 that dominated the western world for more than 1000 years 47:39 was replaced by the human center 47:41 and not the realistic outlook 47:42 that dominated the western world for those centuries. 47:46 But the Book of Revelation is telling us 47:48 something will happen at the time of the end. 47:51 Please, will you go with me to verse 8, 47:58 "And all those who dwell on the earth will worship him, 48:04 everyone whose name has not been written 48:07 from the foundation of the world 48:10 in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain." 48:17 I'd like you that you pay attention 48:19 something here in the text. 48:22 Can you go with me? 48:23 Just to make a little bit put into the fifth gear. 48:26 I'll travel through Revelation 13, 48:28 I want you and I hope that our viewers 48:31 who will also try to observe something important. 48:35 I like you that you see about the usage of the tenses. 48:39 You know tenses? Past, present or future. 48:42 Let's go from Revelation 13:2, it says, 48:47 "And the beast which I saw was like the leopard. 48:52 The dragon gave him power and the throne and authority. 48:55 Verse 3, "I saw one of the heads 48:58 as if they had been slain," okay. 49:00 "And the mortal wound was healed. 49:03 The whole earth was amazed. 49:05 They worshipped the dragon 49:07 that was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words." 49:10 He open mouth, verse 6 blasphemies against God. 49:15 Verse 7, "It was given to him 49:16 to make war with the saints to overcome them, 49:19 and authority over every tribe 49:20 and people and tongue and nation was given to him." 49:23 They're talking about the medieval period 49:25 of the great persecution of God's people. 49:27 What tense is used here? 49:29 It's always past. 49:31 They call it the prophetic past. 49:33 For John what he saw it was still in the future 49:36 but when his in the vision, okay, 49:39 because he is in the mood, 49:41 he's in the state of the time of the end, 49:43 so all of these activities are in the past. 49:45 Are you still with me? 49:46 But now I'll like you to notice something 49:48 that happens in verse 8. 49:51 "And all those could dwell on the earth" 49:55 what do you have there, 49:56 "Will worship him, all those whose names 50:00 are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain 50:04 from the foundation of the world." 50:06 Can you see the difference? 50:08 Suddenly from the past John moves to the future. 50:14 He's telling us, do you see that all this previous verses, 50:18 verse 7 are talking about the activities of the beast 50:21 during which period. 50:22 By the way we'll try to illustrate on the blackboard 50:25 in our, our next presentation. 50:27 The activities of the beast that are presented 50:29 here in first seven verses are activities 50:31 during the prophetic 1260 day period. 50:35 Are you still with me? 50:37 At the end of this period 50:39 the beast will receive the mortal wound. 50:40 Are you still with me? 50:43 The beast will be killed. 50:44 But then what will happen? 50:46 The mortal wound will be healed. 50:48 And the mortal wound will be healed what happens? 50:52 It will provoke the admiration of all the people on the earth. 50:56 Are you still with me? 50:58 Now at this point the description 51:03 of these religious political power is concluded, 51:05 so now people will say, what's the big deal. 51:09 The mortal would will be healed. 51:12 But you know what is the question 51:13 that our readers of the Book of Revelation are asking? 51:19 How will the mortal wound be healed? 51:24 What will cause the healing of this mortal wound? 51:28 Why suddenly the healing of the mortal wound 51:30 would provoke such a great amazement, 51:33 admiration of inhabitants of this world? 51:38 You see, friends, praise God 51:39 that we have the second part of Revelation Chapter13. 51:44 Because without that our understanding 51:47 of the biblical prophecies would be very, very weak. 51:50 So there is a question, let me go back 51:52 one more time to the question. 51:54 How will the mortal wound be healed? 51:56 Now John is using the future tense. 51:58 He's moving now to the future, okay, 52:00 to the very time of the end. 52:02 How will the mortal wound be healed? 52:05 What will provoke the healing of the mortal wound? 52:09 What is that that will provoke 52:10 the amazement of the entire world? 52:14 And John is giving us the answer that the time of the end 52:20 there is another political entity 52:24 that will appear on the scene. 52:28 You see, this beast is powerless. 52:31 It received the mortal wound. It's dead. 52:33 Does not have too much influence in the world. 52:36 Yeah, it has big mouth but short hands. 52:39 Are you still with me? 52:41 And no power and authority-- 52:43 but the Book of Revelation is telling us 52:46 that the time of the end another political power 52:50 will step on the scene and that power 52:53 will cause the healing of that mortal wound. 52:57 That power will make the sea beast 53:01 with the same authority that the beast had 53:04 during the medieval period. 53:05 Are you still with me? 53:06 And that this new power actually will be responsible 53:11 and we'll be the key actor in the end time scenario. 53:16 So since we have two, three minutes, 53:17 I'd like to make a good introduction to that. 53:20 Please would you turn with me to Revelation Chapter 13? 53:25 We're still in Chapter 13, 53:27 it's in verse 11, okay. In verse 11. 53:32 "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, 53:38 and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke as a dragon." 53:45 Hey, I now, I must find out how good is my audience here. 53:53 Okay, do you remember we already tried to understand 53:58 the meaning of the symbol of the beast. 54:01 It's a political power. 54:02 We don't have a problem with that. 54:04 But it says, did you notice, 54:06 that's why the first beast came out of the sea 54:11 coming out of the disturbed human society so, okay, 54:15 from the turmoil of the human society. 54:18 You'll notice that this second beast came out of the earth. 54:25 This is your final exam. 54:29 What is the fact, the meaning of this fact 54:33 that this beast arises, comes out of the earth. 54:44 Actually it's definite article, the earth, 54:46 because John wants to tell us. 54:48 Do you remember in the Revelation Chapter 12. 54:51 When Satan almost destroyed the church 54:54 that the new entity appear on the world stage. 54:59 A friendly earth that actually provides a refuge to the church, 55:04 save the church from Satan's effort to destroy it, okay. 55:12 That earth that is so friendly from the church 55:14 and save the church from Satan. 55:16 It is actually out of this friendly earth, 55:20 I mean the earth friendly to the church. 55:22 Are you still with me? 55:24 Now this second beast comes out. 55:33 Can you say, wow? 55:37 That's something that we did not expect. 55:40 But not only that how they described this beast. 55:45 It says that this beast, 55:46 this beast has two horns like a lamb. 55:51 In the Book of Revelation the lamb, 55:54 are you still with me, lamb 55:56 is used exclusively for Jesus Christ 55:59 except in this case. 56:00 Twenty seven times the word lamb is used. 56:03 It's always with reference to Jesus Christ. 56:07 So when John says that this beast 56:09 had the two little horns like a lamb. 56:13 It's another way is that this political entity 56:17 is in the Christian robe. 56:19 Somehow it resembles the authority 56:21 and power of Jesus Christ. 56:24 Are you still with me? 56:27 The question is what entity in history 56:32 fits the description of the earth beast? 56:35 There is one thing you'll notice. 56:38 When we're talking about the first beast, 56:40 this first beast has a long history of activities. 56:45 Minimum 1260 days. 56:49 Are you still with me? 56:50 But about this second power, 56:54 this power does not have any historical pedigree. 56:57 It's a brand new power 56:59 that appear at the time of the end. 57:01 When, when? 57:03 At the time after the first beast 57:08 received the mortal wound. 57:10 Oh, boy, we're now coming to very interesting subject. 57:14 You see God knew what will happen in the future 57:18 and that's why we're studying these biblical prophecies. 57:21 The purpose of these prophecies is to tell us 57:24 that we have to study them, not to be surprised 57:27 because God in His care for us. 57:29 He wanted to reveal us, to us, 57:31 to bring us closer to Himself 57:34 and tell us don't be deceived. |
Revised 2014-12-17